The remarkable thing about waking up this morning is the sound of silence. Well not total silence because the birds are singing and traffic is passing the house BUT there are no gale force north westerlies buffeting the house and roaring in the trees. The noise of the wind yesterday seemed all encompassing as it gusted and blustered at every door and window.
The calm after the storm? I hope so.
I’ve been thinking about a three letter word this week and realise just how much I use it, often at the end of a sentence.
I find it helpful in quieting the negative voice/s in my head.
The little word is “yet”, used as an adverb. “I haven’t written that blog post……..pause and insert “yet.”
Yet can mean “up to the present time, thus far” and I think this offers a great sense of hope, possibility, potential, choice and opportunity. It can relieve pressure, increase a sense of empowerment, capability and capacity, encourage wider thinking or creativity and let our clever brains get to work in a way that supports us instead of beating us down.
A photo of “yet” seemed a little trickier to capture but maybe this pile of wind gathered autumn leaves says “it is autumn here but not yet winter” and thus far the temperature here today bears that out.
It is not often that we experience foggy weather here. Mostly this is because I live in a part of New Zealand that is very famous for its windy climate. But today we awoke to a muffled day of thick fog and low cloud.
I wanted to capture a photo of this foggy day down by one of our lakes. The birdlife was hopeful that I might have bread to feed them but I didn’t today.
Fortunately for the birds a grandfather and his wee granddaughter did have a bag of bread to share in that time honoured tradition of “feeding the ducks”.
A feeding frenzy began with the 4 resident geese leading the charge. The sea gulls skirmished with the ducks and the two pukekos sprinted over to join in the melee. It was chaotic with squawks, honks, and quacks.
The wee one sat wide-eyed but quiet as she ate the piece of bread her grandfather had given her to toss to the starving wildlife!
It was fun to watch and enjoy in the misty, foggy rain.
“ New seed is faithful. It comes on the wind, whether you want it to or not, and it roots most deeply in the places that are the most empty. Don’t forget that.” Clarissa Pinkola Estes
This photo seems to capture this message. Take heart.
Today is the shortest day and many people have been celebrating this winter solstice, acknowledging the importance of the dark but anticipating the return of the light.
It continues to be a very testing year here in New Zealand, especially for the residents of Christchurch and surrounding areas.
While nature has been showing her hand dramatically in many ways, nature has also been kind to us here in “windy” Wellington. We have had an exceptionally long period of calm weather with temperatures being unseasonably warm and none of us have any complaints about those two features.
We have had a good many days of cloud this week and the daylight is very low. However from my living room window there is a flowering cherry tree which still has an abundance of leaves which have all turned into their autumn finery after some clear, chilly nights last week.
Set against the low light it is a beacon of colour and vibrancy to relish and to remind us that sun, light and heat will return in time.
My photos do not necessarily do it justice as it seems to glow to the naked eye.
ordinarygoodness 