Author: dawnbirdau

The wildflowers are blooming!

It’s about a two hour drive between Geraldton and Morawa through farming country and a drive I always enjoy.  This time, being wildflower season, it was awesome.  It would have been more awesome if I prepared for being covered in pollen and dust.  I was cavalier, “Oh! I’ve never suffered from hayfever!” was my dismissive response.  But I’ve returned home with bigger bags under my eyes than in my hands and feeling totally dehydrated.

This was a bucket list item and worth every discomfort.DSCN7074-2.jpg
We left Geraldton and the vivid, fluoro yellow canola fields behind to enter wildflower country.DSCN7075.jpg
There were acres of yellow, white and pink pom poms, millions of them.DSCN7078.jpg
Egg yolk paper everlastings, too.DSCN7088.jpg
Just carpets of flowers as far as the eye could see.DSCN7105.jpg
These flowers were on shrubs, native, no doubt.DSCN7110.jpg
And entwined around small tree limbs, the gorgeous, delicate, fringed lily.DSCN7118.jpg
I chased this little one from tree to tree.  His call, beautiful and melodic and so strong, for a tiny bird.  My first photograph of a black honey eater.

I’m home for a couple of days resting before another round of travel next week.  And, then, the Murchison region, the Midwest outback.  I’ll heed advice and remember to pack some anti-histamine!

As always

a dawn bird

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Advice

Seeds

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One cannot help but watch in alarm the politics of the day around the world as the perceived security of ‘democracy’, is split wide open.  The world, it would seem, is becoming more divisive by the hour.

Splitting exposes the core.  One can either perceive it as being rotten or within it we can find the seeds for change.

I find it interesting the politics of some nations is focused on a few bombastic individuals whereas the politics of change in another is ‘people power’ driven by youth.  The latter gives me hope.

May peace and hope reign in your part of the world today.  Be the seeds for, and, of change.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Wednesday: Schism

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.

dawnbirdau's avatarA 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