The night tattoo
On a dusky canvas
No moon, no stars, no rainbow
just your silhouette, pierced in gold.
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Saturday : Night
Month: June 2019
Enchanted
The iridescence blinded me
the kaleidoscope drew me in
spun me like a web
captive,
I wait for that moment, and,
Enchanted I see,
her journey
on fairy wings, paper thin
the gilt, faded,
the reality
she alights
her life, rewritten,
the gift
she stills her wings with grace.
In response to RDP – Friday : Delay
Friends, like this …
Pink Lake, Esperance, Western Australia
I was hotel bound for two days straight. It was dark in the morning and dark when I returned after work with no time to go out with camera. I was feeling tired and trapped, until today.
The flu season is in. With cancelled appointments I finished on time today, did a quick trip to my hotel for the camera and headed to Pink Lake. The lake is no longer pink but the grey of sunset was calming. I needed this today for clarity about where I am and where I want to be.
I stood at the lookout and thought of my dear friend, LR. An American author and activist who I loved dearly so many years ago. I’m not sure if I’ve written about him previously but feel the need to have his presence with me right now, so I’ll write about him again.
I was an undergraduate, working through an essay late one night while my children slept. My paperwork strewn around me as I lay on the carpet. I came across an article and was captivated by the power of words. I flipped back to the front page to look for his university address when I realised it was a home address. I read and re-read the article several times and just knew I had to talk to him. At 4 am Perth time I dialled international directory and they gave me his number. I dialled it not knowing what time it was on the West Coast of USA. The phone did not ring. At all. He said hello. And I went silent. I then stammered who I was and why I was calling him. He was patient with me and let me talk. In that hour we became friends, and remained so, until he passed away a few years ago.
My friend LR taught me about inclusivity. About passion. About acceptance. About outrage. About having a voice and how to use it. About silence. About nature. About the “treasures” one finds in the depths of depression. He introduced me to the works of Joseph Campbell, Elie Wiesel, Viktor Frankl, among many others. And, he taught me how to feel ‘safe’ in a relationship.
In all those years of friendship we talked every week but I met him just once. He was tall and had a flowing white beard. (I’ve just realised, all the men in my life have had beards!). To be in his presence was to be lit up from the inside.
I was at a conference in Washington DC and was invited to a party by a delegate. I sat on a footstool at LR’s feet and we were talking. When he stopped to take a breath I told him, he was the only man on earth who made me wish I was 30 years older. Why? he asked me surprised. I told him with absolute honesty, “because I would ask you to marry me”. A confirmed bachelor, his life committed to activism and community, it was the first proposal he had received as far back as he could remember. We laughed at the reality of our circumstances. His kind blue eyes sparkled at my candour.
I loved him dearly. I always felt safe with him. He encouraged me to use the opportunities I had been given to make a difference. I am where I am today, because of his encouragement.
We all need friends like LR. They may not be around us in their hordes. We just need one, much like a stone cast to the middle of a pond, when they touch our life, the ripples are far reaching.
Until next time
a dawn bird
In response to Word of the Day Challenge : Safe
Never to be …
no morning after
no taste of sweet regrets,
of where we’ve been
just bask in the warmth
of where we are
embraced by the silence
in words unsaid
unspoken
and, a memory
of what might have been.
In response to RDP – Tuesday: Lost
What the eyes see, the heart hears …
Winter has arrived in my garden. There is a carpet of sodden leaves under the mulberry tree that stir imperceptibly with each gust of winter fury. Rugged up, from indoors, I watched them struggle to move and wondered whether that happens to people too.
I was never someone who didn’t move. I have always been productive but there was a time of losses when my mind was too focused on lesser priorities, like career, which I erroneously thought was for the survival of my family, and me. On reflection, my mind stirred but did not move. I did not survive because of career. I survived because I found new meaning for my existence. Back then … I was meant to be, where I was meant to be. Today I am where I am meant to be. Each time I travel, I am where I am meant to be. Acceptance of this was key, and then the universe opened doors for me.
I move now. I see things I didn’t notice before. My hearing is acute for small sounds. I heard a bird call yesterday while working and went outdoors to investigate. I couldn’t see the bird but I heard it. I now live life with curiosity.
End of financial year is an incredibly stressful time. There is extra work on offer. Invoices have to be submitted by deadline and can only be done once the reports are in, so I’m tied to the computer for long periods of time. My home is in disarray. I have damp clothes drying indoors. I hate this! (But, I refuse to use a dryer). There’s dirty dishes in the sink. My bed is unmade. Where ever I look there is something to be done. I felt overwhelmed. With limited time before I drive out today, I took the best option available to me. I looked outside.
This morning, coffee in hand, I looked at the leaves around the crepe myrtle tree. It bloomed well this year, when I saw the last of the leaves.
I had to go out with camera. On the bleakest of days, the leaves are the colours of sunset.
On a tree full of flowers in spring, I did not notice the foliage. Today I saw they were the last of autumn, with winter following close behind, so I knew I would never see them again. Their time had come.
I had to share a moment with the leaves before the winds blew them away. They will be gone by the time I return home from my trip. When they do, it will be a reminder, all life is lived in seasons. Sometimes, overwhelmingly abundant. At other times, there is starkness. It is in that space of stillness, of inertia, where hope finds a home and leads to ‘movement’. Nature tells us, no matter how bleak a winter, spring, a time of renewal and abundance, will follow.
May you find that space of hope today. This is my gift to you.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
At a billabong …
Billabong, outback Kimberley region, Western Australia
I thought it was somewhat ironic the picture I was drawn to for this post is that of a billabong in harsh country, so far away from the manicured lawns and gardens in the city.
The Kimberley region in Western Australia is north of Perth and vast, hugely vast. I’ve visited many times to towns and also indigenous communities, for work. I have also holidayed there frequently when I visited a friend in Broome but never ventured to the true outback.
This is remote, harsh country in East Kimberley. The dust is red and the foliage a beautiful green. The billabongs are magnificent and lush. I sat with a group of strangers, all writers from around Australia, at this billabong for a writing exercise. The memory makes me shiver with warmth. There were blue dragon flies that buzzed around me. The purple water lilies shimmered in the heat. It was one of the most memorable peaceful moments I have experienced. The water looked so tempting. This is saltwater crocodile country and this billabong may have been safe … but we did not take any chances.
I know I’ll return one day.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Saturday: Verdant
Home is, where the roses are
I have two and a half days at home before I leave again. It is such a luxury that I woke this morning like it was Christmas and didn’t know which present to open first. I gathered my thoughts and made a list that included some down time. I’ve had a great day and feel rested.
On returning home from lunch it was like I saw my front garden for the first time. My footsteps veered away from the front door and to the flowers. The delicate roses survived the fiercest storm and that in itself, is a teaching moment.
Some of the white iceberg roses are tinted in the palest pink. They belong on a wedding cake.
Some bloomed off course. Something familiar, to me!
Some were ethereal angels in flight.
And others, so beautiful, even the bee stepped outside for perspective.
My focus today was one directional. I set a task for myself to practice self-care and rest. I achieved this without a twinge of guilt. And, that’s how a day of rest should be.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Friday : Directional
Nature vs Nurture
The concept of self-care was introduced to me about a decade ago. It is not a self-indulgence. It is vital for physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health. The premise is quite uncomplicated. If you don’t look after yourself, you can’t look after others.
I sought to be nurtured in different places and by different people. The mix was never right and left me wanting to fill the void. My only regret in life is that it has taken me so long to discover, nature can be a powerful nurturing force in one’s life.
And so my journey began …
I sought the embrace of tall trees. 
And in the outback where the wide open spaces and empty places are filled, within me.
Usually solitary, there are times I seek footprints left by others.
I neglected this boab bonsai at my peril. It did not survive. The warning signs I’ve since heeded, make time, those who nurture me, deserve my nurturing too.
Best of all … no matter where I am and what I’m doing, just a glimpse of my daughter’s dogs, makes me smile. Their loyalty and companionship is uncomplicated, with the only complication being in the gaze. My kind of relationship!
Winter has arrived in Perth with fury. I returned home last night in a storm. I’m exhausted from the stress of the flight. Today, I plan to have a hot stone massage, get a pedicure, do some cooking and then get back to ‘catch up’ work while watching the steady rain outdoors.
I’ve mapped my day and it looks perfect for me. Wherever you are, may your day be perfect too. Isolate some time for yourself. You deserve it.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Thursday : Nurture
The exchange – sea art
For some the value of the work is in the dollar. I’ve long moved on from that exchange. I still feel child-like excitement as I prepare for each trip, even if I’ve been to the same place three times in a month. I always find something to look forward to. Mostly, I anticipate the natural environment and find an anchor in something wherever I visit.
One of my favourite natural anchors is a rock platform I’ve written about in another post. The word prompt jogged my. memory of the moment of exchange.
It’s the end of a difficult day. I have nothing else to anchor me except the memory of that sea art. I do feel it is an unfair interaction when I visit it; the rock gives me so much more than I have to offer it.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Wednesday – Exchange
The Moonflower
In that garden
there were no walls
just a fence line
that yielded to the embrace
of the bower
and where the moonflower bloomed
at the midnight hour.
a dawn bird
In résponse to RDP – Tuesday : Line
‘Ikigai’
Yesterday my son invited me to breakfast, just the two of us. His exams start on Monday and he wanted to go over some work with me. He is 18 months away from graduation from a four year degree and can’t believe how quickly time has passed. He now realises, when one enjoys what one does, the concept of time is irrelevant. He’s been tapped to do postgraduate study and he’s conflicted if he should or not. His lecturers also asked him to give a seminar to the incoming students, a pep talk, which he really enjoyed doing. It’s such a pleasing thing to see others also recognise his potential. After graduating from a four year spatial design degree and while working ten years in retail, he never worked in his chosen field and made a huge switch by returning to study. I would never have imagined he would be a natural for what he wants to do with the rest of his life. His choices are many but he’s really keen to work in clinical rehabilitation. His mantra, “I want to make a difference”, encapsulates his chosen life.
I was telling my son about a book I’ve been reading, ‘Ikigai’, The Japanese Secret of a Long and Happy Life. I’ve been trying to integrate this philosophy, at times unconsciously, and other times, with awareness. One of the things I’ve been trying to do, is do something new each day. That was enough cue for my son.
Instead of having breakfast at home yesterday, we went to a Korean/Japanese restaurant and I had the best breakfast Asian broth instead of the standard Western fare. It was just what I needed. It felt nourishing and I came home feeling nurtured. 
Today I feel so distant from my city. I no longer recognise the skyline. It has changed while I was not looking. I’m not enamoured by concrete, glass and metal. It leaves me with the sense of window shopping life. But, I do have plans to walk under the arches of the new bridge. When Pink was performing in town, the city council lit up the bridge in pink lights. It was pretty!
To leave the city and work in rural regions, is something that makes me happy. I’m immersed in the moment, which is my chosen life. This is lunch time in Coolgardie, in the Goldfields. I’m far from home here!
I’m off again to the mining region where the mulla mulla is just starting to bloom. There will be carpets of pinky mauve fluffy flowers soon.
And, of course, the golden gum flowers that signal winter are making an appearance. Like me, tightly wound but waiting to bloom, when the time is right.
So I’m off again today. The last two weeks were eventful. I had little sleep but the down time to play, made it worthwhile. That’s just about the sum of my life, for now.
May you experience the philosophy of Ikigai today. May you find what intersects your passions and talents, that makes your day worthwhile.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Sunday: Sum
Lifestyle
West Beach, Esperance, Western Australia
Lifestyle
The sum of his day
calculated
gives him the edge.
a dawn bird
In response to the RDP – Sunday: Sum
Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge : Fringe Lily
Lesueur National Park, Western Australia
In response to FOTD: Common Fringe Lily
Beyond the deck …
Beyond the deck, life is …
Photographing new growth after a bushfire, Esperance, Western Australia.
Sampling beer tasting shots, Margaret River, Western Australia
Walking along the Fascine at sunset, Carnarvon, Western Australia
Falling in love with life and love, iron ore freight lines, Pilbara region, Western Australia
Cosy nights in … romantic B&B, Great Southern region, Western Australia
Best of all … finding joy and purpose working with children, with special needs.
My life journey has not been linear. The sharp twists and turns are now rounded curves. What was, was meant to be. This I accept because it has brought me to this point beyond the deck … a good place to be.
As always
a dawn bird
In Response to Judy Dykstra-Brown Photo Challenge: All Lined Up
Introspection
The inward view
is crowded
with hours of you and me
in the castle of memory
where I now live with you,
alone.
a dawn bird
In response to RDP – Saturday: View
A Shared Space 
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