Category: Uncategorized

The Power of a Woman

In response to RDP – Saturday – Flow

Like the tide
That ebbs and flows
to leave a message on shore
Each morning I wake
My heart and mind open
And let my thoughts flow

In that sacred space of silence
I found a truth within reach

I am more than enough, for me

The gift I was given
Are those moments of clarity
When blindsided I can see
intelligence, resilience, generosity
are not gifts I have given others
they were gifts bequeathed to me

So I rise each morning believing
Like the sea, never underestimate me
I am fierce as a storm
With or without you
Life goes on

because
I am more than enough, for me

a dawn bird

She was she

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Glow

I stood still
knee deep in the recesses of memory
uncomprehending
The sense of loss of what was once me
My life flashed before my eyes
at the edge of shore, my steps faltered
unprepared for the darkness that shrouded me
the nights grew shorter, the days longer
when from the emptiness
I heard a voice say
life is finite, each moment precious
waste not and you will see
the sun sets, to rise again
and each wave returns to shore, faithfully
next day from a glowing ember, I emerged
No longer seared
and took a step towards the voice, now stronger, that said
I am here
I am she.

a dawn bird

Hope, a bridge never too far

In response to RDP – Saturday – Bridge

The skydiver opens the door
And steps into the sky
Never knowing whether she will live or die
Until a gust of wind fills her canopy
Lifting her higher so she can see
From the cold space of one
The view of reality

The sky, sea and wind conspire
To keep her there
For as long as it takes to repair
the spiritual tear
Because they know
What is seen, cannot be unseen

When the time is right
from that ascended space
They lower her to earth
On the gift of wings
From the Universe

So she adjusts her sights and alights
Gently bracing for the thud
When feet hit the ground and gathers momentum
in the freedom she has found

As she takes those first faltering steps,
and then runs.

a dawn bird

That moment of … Sliding doors

In response to RDP – Wednesday – Security

It was my last trip to the town for the year. I had been at loggerheads with the hotel management to give me a room off the car park all year. Not that I was asking for an upgrade but for convenience and to reduce the discomfort in my hands while wheeling a suitcase. So like I said, it was the last trip and to my surprise, the hotel gave me a whole suite instead, on the ground floor. The suite has a living area with TV, dining area with adjoining small kitchen, one queen bedroom with TV, and a bathroom with spa. Way too generous for my needs for a two night stay. It has a bank of sliding doors along one whole wall that open to the footpath leading to the office at one end and the car park to the other. It does get some foot traffic early morning and at the end of the day but the luxury of space overrides that. The bedroom has a huge sliding door that opens up to the small patio overlooking the garden and pool. I love this room because, depending on the time of year, the honey eaters sing noisily almost all night in the gum trees just outside the patio. They are so noisy that a hotel guest once asked management could they please turn the birdsong off at night, thinking it was piped through the hotel! True!

I arrived on Sunday night, my usual time and it is one of the few nights in the month I don’t work. I kick back, dinner in hand and watch some Sunday evening TV, usually 60 Minutes, shower and go to bed. I’ve been having organic sour cherry juice every day that has not only helped my rheumatoid arthritis but helps me enjoy a deep, restful sleep. So it was unusual for me to be woken up, wide awake around 1:30 am. nSomething woke me but what? I lay in bed listening, my eyes scanning the dark. My senses on high alert, barely breathing, just silent in silence. Once my heart stopped racing, I decided to go to the bathroom and then settle back into bed. In the dark, I did not flush the toilet, fearing I would wake the sleeping miners who stay at this hotel and go to work early. I washed my hands and as I moved towards the bedroom, I froze. I heard the sliding door of the bedroom move inch by inch and then the imperceptible click of the door latch. Not knowing if the door was being opened or closed, my mind raced back to my arrival at the room, hours earlier, late evening. Yes I had followed my usual drill of checking all doors and windows were locked. It gave me a sense of security. The drill is reflex for me as soon as I enter a hotel room and my actions empowered me. I walked across towards the sliding door and turned the patio light on. I peered through a crack in the curtains and I saw him, pressed hard against the wall in the corner of the patio. I knew he was there, dressed in dark clothing and a baseball cap but he didn’t know I was behind the curtains. I flung the curtains wide open. It startled him! He ran, stumbling over the patio furniture and disappeared into the grounds. I phoned the police who came 30 minutes later and took a statement. After they left I sat on the sofa for a few hours and at dawn, I went back to the bedroom, opened the curtains wide and snuggled in and slept for another couple of hours indifferent to being visible to the miners who were leaving for work.

I checked TripAdvisor and to my amazement found the same thing had happened to a couple about six months earlier. They reported he was in the room even though they were certain they had locked their door. They woke to find him rummaging through their belongings. How can that be, I wondered. Was he in the closet? (I check that too, by the way!). But if he was in their closet why was he trying the sliding door? Was there a way he could open those doors I wondered. When home I started looking at security tips for hotel rooms and to my dismay found security can be breached quite easily, depending on the door design but there are many tips and hacks, too, how to ensure one is safe as can be.

The lesson I learnt is this, one can be as careful as one can be, but if someone is going to break in and steal, no matter how hard you make it, they will find a way.

Same applies to one’s heart.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

Where waterlilies bloom

In response to FOTD – 5 April – Waterlily

To see a waterlily afloat in a pond can take one’s breath away by the sheer beauty of it but to see a carpet of waterlilies, thousands of them, floating in a billabong in the outback, is a memorable experience.

This is Marlgu Billabong in the far northwest of Western Australia in the Kimberley Region. It teems with wildlife (saltwater crocodiles, fish, snakes), waterbirds, and raptors. I saw them all! To experience this oasis in the outback, is not a once in a lifetime experience. It is a place of return.

The waterlily symbolises joy, happiness, … a new spirit. I was never the same after my trip to the region.

Some believe a waterlily is a star that fell from the sky and became a flower (www.pansymaiden.com) which is such a lovely thought and one I’ll leave for you today.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

Venus, within

In response to RDP – Tuesday – Chaos

When dawn broke
I awoke, yet again, to a dark sky
Stood at the threshold
Unconvinced
There was a galaxy up high
Unnoticed, Venus shone bright
Until she caught my eye
That planet, a star
Faithful friend in the darkest hour
She appeared, silent
Predictable
Reliably undeterred
to convince me
In the darkest of nights
I may be blinded by what I cannot see
But that’s okay
I don’t need a galaxy
To brighten my day
I need to seek
that lone star,
Venus, within
That will brighten the way

a dawn bird

As a child I would look at the sky and search for the “morning star” or “evening star”. I did not know I was searching for Venus.

Sometimes, in life, we search for the brightest things, never realising what they really are, except we are drawn to them because they bedazzle us.

Over the years, I have found, when we search outwards, we dim the light within.

May you find your light within and may it shine brightest, in the darkest hour.

Peace.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

The serendipity of discovery

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Discovery

I love that moment of suspension, where one waits for bloom, the revelation, the epiphany, call it what you may, that comes from peering closer into the unknown, hoping for discovery. It is these moments that I find most enlightening and helps my life journey and sometimes they surface during reflection and at other times, during a busy day.

Last year I spent a fair bit of time on ‘organisational porn’. Watched videos on decluttering and minimalism, learned the difference and set my daily tasks. But as my work slows down, the focus now is on budgeting, something I haven’t done in years. Living alone, one can be indulgent and wasteful and this is a habit I’m focusing on this year.

My frequent travel has made me a creature of habit. Some habits don’t cost me anything, for example, requesting the same hotel room each visit. But I pay a steep price in other areas. For example, I hate changing hair dressers and prefer to go to my usual salon. I can relax for a couple of hours but it is a costly exercise every three weeks. Since my mobility and strength has also been compromised, depending on my health on any given day, I’m unable to trim my nails. The fact I hate long nails because they prevent me being functional means this is another added expense every three weeks. So all up … hairdresser, manicure and pedicure … costs me $XXX per month. I never stopped to think about this until late last year when I started my financial ‘tune up’ for the coming year. It gave me reason to pause and reconsider am I paying too high a price for the comfort of the familiar?

Still reluctant to change my expensive habits, yesterday I was forced to look elsewhere to get my nails done as the regular person I see was on holidays and my long nails were slowing my typing. None of the beauty salons could fit me in, so I started phoning folks who run their business from home. I went to a home based beauty salon in the neighbouring suburb where the lady was so warm and welcoming we talked for nearly two hours like old friends. I left with a beautiful pedicure and manicure and paid just $65 (instead of $XXX at a salon). She told me to return every three weeks and she would trim my fingernails and paint them with clear varnish for $10! She has a few other clients with rheumatoid arthritis and they have the same problem as me.

Another area of waste for me in food. I often buy salad items and then throw them out. My salad garden has reduced that expense and interestingly, the two small garden planters produce so many cucumbers and tomatoes, there’s enough to give away to neighbours.

In the last two years I’ve discovered more about myself in a relationship than I ever did before. Each disagreement has led to me saying, “thank you, I didn’t know that about myself!”. My appreciation is genuine. Living alone, one can be too independent (at least that’s how I see myself!) but now realise I come across as “demanding”. Am I set in my ways? I hear a resounding yes each time I ask the question! How has this relationship lasted nearly two years! He works so remote and phone coverage is always an issue and yet our affection for each other has grown stronger. I’m reluctant to unpack this. Maybe there are some things best left undiscovered.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

The State I live in …

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – State

Red Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii)

The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw is the floral emblem for the State of Western Australia. They are gorgeous when found growing in abundance in the wild. I remember some years ago finding a paddock of them in a national park a few kms outside Esperance. I stopped the car and took it all in, a feast for the eyes.

The flower symbolises uniqueness and individuality. Never more true than in these times. In the last two years our Premier has enforced hard border policies, and when things were more relaxed, strict entry conditions. He has borne the brunt of many from all walks of life. And yes, there are memes out there of Western Australia, our State, on one side, and The Entire World on the other! But Mark McGowan, Premier has a great sense of humour. The video of him removing his face mask to the theme song of 2001 A Space Odyssey (when wearing masks was no longer mandatory), went viral. He has had the support of some West Australians and he has endured the wrath of others.

There is talk the borders will open early February. Will this generate a state of collective relief or anxiety? There are some sectors in society that are keen for this and then there are others, who are apprehensive. What is evident is that people have started panic buying, yes the old scenario, of a dash for toilet paper, food essentials and when someone mentioned “stock up on analgesics”, the shelves were soon bare. Restricted buying in supermarkets has extended to fresh meat as well (a new restriction). The reality that a lot of our goods come from the Eastern coast has never hit home harder.

What I have loved over the last two years is that … People make eye contact more readily, and from behind the mask, their smile reaches their eyes. There is a genuine connection when this happens.

Be safe and keep smiling.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

The Block

In response to RDP – Tuesday – Delay

I take a moment
to delay the witching hour
when anticipation flows in streams
I wade, wait and wait
but thoughts fall on barren ground
sterile, neglected and sour
undeterred
in furrowed brows I dig deeper
until the earth within me yields
I lay down my shovel
on soil soften by rain
scoop a handful
inhale the petrichor
feel the trickle
and let the words fall where they may.

a dawn bird

A spring in my step

In response to Breezes at Dawn – Walktober 2021

I’m hoping the difference in time zones means I’ve beat the deadline to this year’s Walktober.

Like many others, finding myself at the end of October has come as a surprise. My initial response was, the only walk I have done is on tarmac, when I realised, not so. I have been committed to going out with camera even on days when it seemed impossible.

Let me start from the Midwest where there are fields of wildflowers in spring. To find tangled old tree limbs entwined with delicate fringed lily made my day.

Then on to the southern Wheatbelt region to my favourite walk in Foxes Lair where wildflowers grow in impossibly hard clay.

And on to the South West region where I’ve walked many times but this year was the first time I found wild orchids growing in this little patch of bush.

And on to the Southern region where no visit is complete until I walk the boardwalk high above West Beach.

And then stop for a few minutes at the Arboretum on the way to the airport to look for wild orchids in the shade of tall gum trees and gum blossoms above.

But nothing has delighted me more when I returned home from one of my trips and walked around my small backyard to find a family of kookaburra have made the space their home.

This is Buddy, a juvenile, and my constant companion when I am home, who observes me as much as I observe him.

And in my neighbourhood, it is never spring until there is a new family of ducklings at the lake.

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, may spring bring you new life, and for those in the Northern Hemisphere, may what falls away, make space for new.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

Why?

As a child I gazed at the sky and asked why
why is the moon so generous to sea and sky,
and yet, like a dream, out of reach for me?

The Universe replied

That symbol of love is there
out of reach, for the child to see
like the moon,
she has the power of one, to blind the sun
she can dance on the sea
at Earth’s seam, beyond the shore
she can fade and disappear
and yet omnipresent,
like hope, she will appear
to the woman
who was once a child that asked why
but bravely followed a dimly lit path shown
under the mother-gaze of the moon
and found, when she dreamed,
she was never alone.

a dawn bird