Month: August 2019

Yay!

It’s the first day of spring tomorrow and I feel a sense of urgency for today to end.  I have filled my month of September with wonderful things to do before I am housebound to recover from the scheduled surgery.  I feel I want to do it all … just in case.

One of the things I plan to do in September is visit the Murchison Region.  I had gone there on a work trip last year and promised myself I would return in spring.  The Midwest Outback is awesome country.  Wide open spaces, ranges, old gold mining country.  I’m hoping to see lots of wildflowers at this time of year.  The trip will be basic.  We have to take our own food, and accommodation will be even more basic.  But there will be a canopy of stars at night that I have never seen before, so I’m up for it! DSCN7686
I know for sure there will not be any beautiful beaches.thumb_IMG_3317_1024.jpg
No cosy four poster bed in a rammed earth cottage to keep warm on chilly nights.
thumb_IMG_2333_1024.jpgNo avocado on toast and fresh orange juice for brekky.thumb_IMG_3314_1024.jpgNo chocolates and wine at the end of the day unless we take some of our own (reminder to self).thumb_IMG_2339_1024.jpg
As we will be in the Nowhere, there will be a dress code though, so I’m taking my best sunhat with me, veiled of course, to keep the flies off my face.thumb_IMG_2343_1024.jpgAnd there may be a road train or two for company.

I’m ready for September!  I feel like it’s the home run I need before October rolls in like a storm cloud.  Right now all I can think of is the open spaces, red dust and blue sky and there will be a generous serve of that waiting for us.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Saturday – Enthusiasm

Life, as I know it now

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There was a time in my life I loved real gems, in particular, diamonds, rubies and pearls.  I just loved them and couldn’t resist buying jewellery.  I’m not sure when my view on this changed but soon my wardrobe had a vastly different collection.

This necklace is my favourite accessory.  I can’t remember where I bought it.  It attracts comments from women, men and children, all strangers, who are drawn to the colours and style.  Children usually think the necklace is made from Smarties!

The necklace makes me feel good.  The Tree of Life has so many meanings.  When I’m feeling flat, it reminds me, what falls away makes way for new again.  I remember wearing it during one of my trips to Broome.  As I was walking along through the weekend markets, an elderly indigenous woman reached out and held it between her palms.  She held it for a few seconds, like she was seeking warmth from it.  She told me it was beautiful.  I said to her, “yes, it’s the tree of life”.  Our eyes held the gaze for a few seconds longer than they would have otherwise between strangers.  We were both silent and then she smiled, her energy bright.  In that brief exchange, we both knew exactly what that moment meant for each of us.

The other day I was comparing my blingy sandals with a little three year old girl’s glittering ballet shoes.  She couldn’t get enough of my clothes, stroking my linen dress and my bare arms, staring at my sandals.  She examined the necklace closely, so I gave the necklace to her to wear.  She cherished the gesture and wandered around the room, stopping only to look at her reflection in the glass door.  Her mother was concerned she would not return it to me!  But she did, and placing it around my neck, she looked me right in the eyes and said, “It’s beautiful!”. The shine in her blue eyes was brighter than any glittering diamond I have ever worn.

As I grow older, I’m so grateful my view on life has evolved to becoming more aware of what really counts.  Although there are days I have been struggling with the unknown and may not be as happy as I would like to be, I still get to experience joy.  And, that’s the view I’d like to share with you today.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to Word of the Day Challenge : View

I believe in angels

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Between the ages of infancy and pre-teen years my son had severe asthma attacks.  He was a toddler when he had one particular bad attack and was blue when we found him.  I could hear his breathing on the baby monitor but did not pick up the distress.  Fortunately Dr T did and went to investigate.  We had to rush him to the hospital.  I thought we would lose him in my arms.  I soon watched out for warning signs and he was on preventer medication but still managed to have bad attacks.

Once on my own, it was difficult.  The attacks always seem to come about 2-3 am.  Having to wake an older child and in panic mode to get to the hospital was the stuff of nightmares.

Just before dawn one morning, it was the usual run.  My daughter was around nine, my son about four years younger and both too heavy with sleep for me to carry on my own.  Somehow I got to the hospital but within the short ride, my daughter was in that disrupted space of sleep and wake and combative when we tried to get out of the car.  I struggled with both of them and across the car park I heard a man’s voice approach me.  He asked if he could help.  I told him my son was having an asthma attack and I could not get my daughter indoors.  He offered to help.  Suddenly I felt the sense of urgency disappear.  An intense feeling that all was well, enveloped me.  He scooped her up in his arms and we walked into the brightly lit corridor of the Emergency Department.  When we got to Triage, he put her down, and I turned around to thank the good samaritan.  He was nowhere.  For him to disappear down the corridor he would have had to sprint faster than Bolt.

To this day I remember that act of kindness and wonder who he was and when I do, that feeling, all is well, returns.

May an angel cross your path today.

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Friday: Emergency

Bushwalking, in autumn

In response to RDP – Thursday : Bush

I don’t reblog very often but this post encapsulated everything I know to be true for me in the Australian bush … a heightened sensory experience where, although alone, one is never alone.

A Shared Space

via Daily Prompt: Laughter

It was 7 degrees Celsius in Narrogin, over 200 km south east of home.  I made a cup of coffee in the dark, pulled the curtains wide open and propped myself up in bed.  Sunrise was expected at 6:52 am.  It was worth the wait.

I wasn’t alone.  There was laughter high in the gum trees in nearby Foxes Lair.  The kookaburras were awake too.  I sat in bed and tried to identify the various birdsong.  The noisy Black Carnaby cockatoos, ringneck parrots, New Holland honeyeaters.  I’m getting good at this!  Or maybe the darkness heightened my listening skills.

DSCN7120The view from my hotel bed is always spectacular.  As soon as it was light enough I scrambled out of bed, bed hair tucked under beanie and headed to the Lair.

DSCN7195.jpgThe fog hung low as I walked alone, taking in every sensory experience.  The crunch of…

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About kindness …

IRIS
Iris

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.  Aesop

My work schedule has been so disrupted in the last six weeks with other personal appointments.  When I did work, I threw myself into it to keep my mind busy.  I haven’t been taking care of my inner self and kept pushing harder.  It has come at a cost and I realised this today.  I have been short tempered and alternating between dismissive and demanding of my loved ones.  Not a good feeling!

I carried this knowledge with me all morning and my steps grew wearier by the moment.  I had to go to the shopping centre and quite spontaneously thought I’d buy some clothes while I was there.  I didn’t really need them.  Yes, the old retail therapy instant feel-good option.  But I do believe people’s paths cross for a reason and none more so than today.

When I paid at the counter, the lady asked me the usual question, “Are you with the X club”.  Another sales pitch coming on I thought with irritation, she looked up my name on the computer and then looked at me with surprise.  She asked me about my line of work.  I was guarded in my response.  Then she told me, I had done some work with her little boy and that she and her family remembered me over the years.  That was 13 years ago.  He’s a young adult now and studying towards a profession.  She told me she can still remember me because I worked with “kindness” and was “gentle” with him.  I was really touched by what she recalled and her memory was vivid.

Driving home I realised I was emotionally fatigued and what I was missing was compassion and kindness to self.  So I went out and bought some flowers.  Beautiful, vibrant, purple iris.  The flowers lifted my spirit and they are a luxury because I’m rarely home.  They will probably wilt before I return but it felt good to have them on the table.

I guess when there are no other options available to us, a little self-compassion and kindness goes a long way.  If it generates good memories for others, why can’t we remember to do this for ourselves?

Enjoy your weekend and may a random act of kindness come your way.  And, if it doesn’t you always have the option to be kind to yourself.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Options

Wildflowers in the Midwest

I flew into Geraldton (some 400+ km north of Perth) late evening the other week.  I got into the hire car and took the highway into town.  I drove mindlessly, like I was home and realised, it has become another home for me.

I love Geraldton for lots of reasons.  When I have time between work and flights, I spend my time in a small restaurant that overlooks the marina because the airport only opens when there is a flight.  The restaurant staff know me well now and take me to my favourite table without me requesting it.  They chat to me with familiarity that I enjoy.  I am no longer a stranger there.  I also love a couple of shops where I invariably end up buying clothes or accessories.  And, I love my walk through town and back again.  This is what Geraldton means to me.

This trip I had to drive about two hours east of Geraldton, through wildflower country.  It was magical.  Long solitary drives on back roads flanked by flowers.  It uplifted my spirit and I was in my zone!DSCN9683.jpg
The purple flannel flowers with their soft grey foliage were scattered about in the thousands.DSCN9636.jpg
There were carpets of tiny yellow paper everlastings.DSCN9720.jpg
There were a few of these bushes, a type of hakea, I think.DSCN9715
Oh! those glorious skies and towering flowering trees filled with birdsong.DSCN9725.jpg
These were low growing bushes, blooming, km after km.DSCN9750.jpg
And these beautiful flowers that looked ordinary from afar but each flower within the flower, was so perfect.DSCN9753.jpg
There were literally millions of everlastings as far as the eye could see.  I didn’t have my hiking boots and didn’t want to risk walking in the grass in an isolated place.  We are coming up to snake season!

It’s difficult to describe to others what is means to be ‘in the zone’.  I’m so lucky I get to experience it where ever I am in this large State.  I’ve got trips coming up to the north and then south west next month and looking forward to seeing more flowers on my travels.  I know the wild orchids are blooming in the south west Wheatbelt and no doubt in the Bunbury area too.  I can’t wait to find them!

I’ve been home all week mostly running around for medical appointments.  I’m headed out again over the weekend and although I’ve enjoyed my time at home with loved ones and family, it will be nice to be back doing what I love to do.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Zone

When love conquers all

My body is no longer a safe place
I wake at night, wondering, what else lurks
Hiding, taking hold, infiltrating slyly
So I build a wall, a fortress
I’m good at this, I tell myself
Defender, protector, survivor
This I can do effortlessly
But builders are not soldiers
Not brave, at least, not me
when the enemy is within
So you raise me up to tall
All five feet three, and say,
‘it’ doesn’t know what its up against
unlike you, I’m invincible
But we know in your arms, I am braver
You say softly, come, be braver again
this time, for me.

a dawn bird

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Gesture