Tag: RDP

Standing still

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Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia

The moon and the sea conspired
and the tide came in with a rush
with nowhere to hide
I stood still
along with Mother Earth
to take it all in

The force of the water was intense
relentless in its pursuit
stopped me in my tracks
and like the ebb and flow of tides
the force lead me back, to where I had been

In the ivory tower, I let the silence infiltrate
in that space of disquiet
as I watched the scaffolding break away
and crash around me when,
the sledge hammer blows stopped

The clarity of reality is never easy
it takes a brave heart to know this
so I dared to go where angels fear to tread
and I now know
I am braver for having done this

the timing has been impeccable,
breathtaking even
there is no escaping my truth
still standing is not my catchcry
it was never my destiny
but standing still, is

This moment in time may be fleeting
or it may be longer
so experiencing it, as is, a necessity
it gives me clarity to a new reality

My path may be forged in silver
and tactile as silk
but the delicacy of the filigree
lies in the Force
that made me stand still.

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Monday – Impeccable

Where the heart is …

I moved into my home about six or seven years ago and have not yet unpacked most of my belongings.

I refuse to give into the blah of changed circumstances and decided this morning to order a bigger skip for next week and start culling.  There are suitcases and boxes in the garage to be unpacked, sorted and thrown away.  Magazines, recipes books and hundreds of children’s story books have to be sorted.  I still have the Tonka Truck I gave my son for his first birthday and can’t bear to part with it 27 years later.  Children’s puzzles, old video games, DVD players.  Oh! the accumulation of trivia and technology.  All will go.  Except the Tonka Truck.

I sat on the sofa today and looked around my home.  There is so much stuff that can be discarded and I would not miss it.

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Willy Wagtail, Bunbury wetlands, Western Australia

I’m hoping during this self-imposed isolation I will catch up on reports and get my home into shape.  These are my priorities.

When I moved into this house I promised myself there would be no ‘junk room’.  Each room would have a purpose.  My home would be a home where I nest.  Birds do this well.  I plan to do the same.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Saturday – Habitat

On facing crisis – a reflection

It is ironic, my last trip (most likely) for the year was to Geraldton where on the outskirts, in the hamlet of Greenough, is the graceful and iconic Leaning Tree.  I never fail to stop and take a picture of the tree each time I drive past.  It is also ironic that I found a picture that was taken on a gloomy day.  It should have dampened my spirit, when the world has changed so drastically.  Behind each statistic is a person, a family, a community and the reach of this health and economic crisis, is sobering.11043286_951275048218091_1381120800650411949_o
The Leaning Tree, Greenough, Western Australia
Like those who work with people face to face, be it in hospitality or hospital etc, our work lives have changed, at least for the foreseeable future.  The news from one agency, midway through my trip, was to cease operations as we know it.  On the last day of my work in a new agency, we were advised there would be no work until further notice.

After the initial shock of severe financial restrictions, I did what is promoted as a step to maintaining good well being.  In times of crisis return to normalcy as soon as one can.  I sat in the quiet of my hotel room and made a list of priorities.  I usually make a list at night of tasks that I need to tackle the following day but this list was different.  I found I needed to take charge.

The first thing I did was to email the bank and accountant to advise them I would not have my usual income this year.  The bank representative did her homework before returning my call.  She reassured me all was well on that front and they made some allowances that will be helpful should I need it.  It was the biggest relief and allowed me to think more clearly about other matters.

I returned to Perth to empty shops.  The mad panic seems to have subsided or perhaps people are staying home, which is a good thing.  It felt like I was over-shopping and I had to remind myself I usually shop for a day but now I was shopping for a fortnight.

Like the Leaning Tree growth continues when one is bent, but not broken.  I’ve found some positives in going back to basics. It’s all about perspective.  thumb_IMG_1572_1024
Hotel room art, Geraldton, Western Australia
Being grounded in reality is one thing, but we can paint and re-paint the picture in broader and brighter strokes.  Adults can come up with something more abstract and even when broken and distorted, the picture emerges and one finds meaning in it.thumb_IMG_1352_1024The Rainbow Tree, children’s artwork, school in the Midwest, Western Australia
Children, on the other hand, take from what is familiar and make it their own.  I experienced a deep sense of joy when I stood in front of this artwork.  All those discarded buttons from old clothing, the vision of a rainbow instead of a bent, old tree.  The earth coming up to greet it.  To me this is a portrait of a celebration.  Oh! the eyes and heart of a child!

So I share three pictures with you today of gloomy reality, abstract thinking and of creativity.  I know which one I love best!  So I’m channeling my inner child.

I’m going back to where comfort is.  I read in posts, most of us are doing this too.

I’m enjoying cooking.  I’m stewing fruit.  I’m making sauces and pastes.  My home smells like a home.

My home is being spring cleaned.  All those chores that never find a higher priority are being attended to.  I am culling and discarding what I don’t use or need.

There is incense burning and with it, brings a presence.  Together, we are one. 

My faith has never been stronger as I face an unpredictable financial future.

Take care of yourself and each other.  Think of others.  Offer a kind word to the elderly who seem so worried and alone.  Your smile or gesture may make a world of difference to them.  Be the difference.

Anxiety negatively impacts the immune system.  Keep calm.  Calmness can be contagious too.

Look and read the ‘news headlines’ within.  That’s where you’ll find a stronger and resilient you.

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RPD – Saturday – Looking Within

Virus or viral?

I’m home for less than 24 hours before heading out tomorrow, this time for a week. My handbag is stuffed with boarding passes.  I haven’t even had time to clear my purse.

With little time in Perth and several tradies lined up for Saturday morning, my household shopping needed priority.  I checked what time shops open and headed out ten minutes before expecting to sit in my car listening to music but parking was a problem.  I could not believe the number of cars in the usually empty car park.  That should have alerted me but I’ve been away so much I have no idea what’s happening in the city.   I walked in.  From my vantage point in the car I could not see the several hundred people queued up with the line looped outside the shopping centre and around the building.  As people tried to join the queue that slowly grew to four abreast, there was shoving and shouting.  This in my neighbourhood!  The folks were lined up for toilet paper.  They marched out triumphantly with the one packet each allowed.

I have never experienced ‘pack mentality’.  I did today.  It is not something I’d like to experience again.  It felt like I was in a badly made movie.

As I’m going further north and will be working with toddlers, all I needed was sanitizer.  I ended up going to several chemists with one telling me he’s making his own batch of sanitizer because they have run out.  I got the second last packet of toilet paper on the shelf, sent my family a text if they needed some, check out the laundry.  Their priorities have been different as they fret over their pets and if they will have enough pet food.

I have to admit it is difficult to stay calm especially when I’m in a plane so often and in close proximity to others.  Never has a sneeze or cough created such unease.

Today I did fret about losing two hours of my life, chasing sanitizer all because of panic buying.  I’m looking forward to moments of normalcy again.DSCN7441
Singing honeyeater, Geraldton Western Australia

I’m off north tomorrow to red dust country.  My heart and pulse quickens at the thought.

Until next time

As always, stay safe, healthy and happy

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Saturday – Calm

Kindness, matters …

I’ve written about my unease of being alone in the home, especially at night, in another post.  I’m conquering that fear, but every now and then, it raises it’s ugly head.  More so when I’m feeling a bit tired or vulnerable.

Constantly ‘shifting gears’, professionally,  makes my spirit hungry for other things.  Sometimes satiating this hunger happens just by chance when I least expect it, like my last trip.

Usually my trips to the Wheatbelt region are so predictable but this time, there was no room at the inn, so to speak.  All the small motels in town were full, so also the B&Bs and there were no spare rooms available for overnight Hospital staff.  The secretary heaved a sigh of relief when she found a rental home and I could almost hear the plea in her voice when she asked if it would be okay for a night.  I agreed readily.  The alternative, of driving there and back in a day after work, was more daunting.  I attended a meeting before leaving Perth and it robbed three hours of my time, adding to my day’s angst.  I drove when it was nearly dusk, something I avoid doing in rural areas.thumb_IMG_1297_1024The house was in a part of town I’m unfamiliar with and my GPS took me in circles.  I found the home eventually.  It was an old home with beautiful wooden floors, fireplaces, etc.  Inside, it had travelled through a couple of centuries in decor, but it was clean.  Unfortunately, several rooms were not on the same level, some with just a few inches drop which, after jarring my  back, made me more cautious where I was stepping.  I checked all the doors and windows as I always do and once I felt safe, checked out the fridge.  There was no milk!  It was getting dark and cooler.  I knew I would be wanting a coffee in the morning, so I got in my car and headed back to town.thumb_IMG_1293_1024
The streets were deserted.  Even the sun had left the sky.  I have never seen Narrogin in this light before.  It was a moment that ended my frenetic day.DSCN7569I was uneasy in an unfamiliar home.  I reassured myself the floor boards creaked loudly.  Being a light sleeper, it was my only security alarm.  I fell asleep eventually.  I woke early, as I usually do, and was delighted to see a back garden was unlike the front garden.  It was very reminiscent of  Perth gardens of yesteryear.  Contemporary gardens in the city require less work but oh so sterile and boring! This garden was lush with grapevine, shrubs, flowers and trees.  It had a presence. DSCN7616
A pink geranium, the colour of hope, bloomed.DSCN7618There was serenity and peace in the face of garden sculpture.

As I enjoyed my coffee in the quiet a shower of tiny birds descended, like autumn leaves on the lawn.DSCN7593
Inland thornbillDSCN7590
SilvereyeDSCN7625Young Australian Ringneck parrot

I was so enjoying the morning, I left my ironing to the last.  Soon it was time for work but the iron and ironing board were nowhere to be found despite the owner telling me it was in the house.  Fortunately, I had taken my iron with me.  (Having been caught out before in a Wheatbelt motel without an iron, I carry one in the car!).  I improvised using a towel on the kitchen bench top and got my clothes ironed.  When I stepped into the shower, there was no soap.  That would have been a problem for someone else, but not me.  As I’ve started to be mindful about reducing waste, I tend to carry my own soap knowing full well, if soap is left in the shower, it gets discarded.  I got to work 45 minutes late.

There have been some wonderful things happening career-wise but also some directions that I may choose to opt out of.  Prior to coming to a decision, the vortex within has been unsettling.  While enjoying the garden, I dearly wished I had someone in my life to bounce off when the shower of birds descended and brought this message:

You’ve had one of those days
haven’t we all?
see me stand before you
small and stretched tall

In those moments of quiet
you know this is true
there are those with ‘loved ones’
who are more alone, than you.

I opened my laptop and found an email from someone who had written the kindest words to me.  Although I told her, she will still never know how much that meant to me, in that particular moment in time.

The message I have today to share is this.  Never be afraid to be kind to someone.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

 

 

In response to RDP – Friday – Afraid

What do you see?

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The Granites, Mt Magnet, Western Australia

Just nine kms out of Mt Magnet in the Midwest outback is The Granites; a place of cultural significance to the Badimia people where Aboriginal rock art is 9,000 years old (www.australiasgoldenoutback.com).  The cited tourism website has more information about this place.

I absolutely loved visiting here.  While my travelling companion slept, I went by myself early morning before sunrise to experience this vast landscape.  It was silent and inviting.  The previous dusk we could not decide whether we were seeing a turtle or a frog!  We agreed in the end, turtle!

The rock formation is massive but, interestingly, gentle in pose.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Thursday – Pareidolia

 

 

Through the lens …

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1910Hibiscus, Carnarvon, Western Australia

I’m in beautiful, balmy Carnarvon at the moment, north of the State.  I found this hibiscus blooming outside my front door this afternoon.  Gorgeous!  The colours reminded me of the vivid horizon one sees in the Pilbara mining region.  It made my heart skip a beat with nostalgia.

Today was one of those days where everything I touched turned to dust.  The day rounded off with a know-it-all who annoyed me no end.  The emails I sent bounced and those I didn’t want to hear from, arrived in my mailbox.  The quote for maintenance to the roof is as high as my home.  I really didn’t need to hear that today.  I nearly forgot I had to log in for a webinar training and stumbled my way through the technology.  All day I longed to go back to my hotel room, pull the covers over my head and stay there until tomorrow.  I got to the hotel in one piece.  I parked the mother of a 4WD hire car, got it straightened after a couple of attempts, collected my belongings and sighed, I was ‘home’ for the day, when I saw this beauty.  Everything else just fell away.  I went up to it with my phone and in a stiff breeze managed to get a somewhat fuzzy picture.

This is what photography has brought into my life.  Where ever I am, my front door is where I point my camera.  It is the gateway to feeling good again.  It is my soft place to land after a challenging day.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Thursday – Looking out of my front door

Now you see it … now you don’t …

I tried to leave home earlier than my scheduled departure to the Wheatbelt.  The roadworks are a nuisance, as are the monster harvesters that slow traffic.  I dislike driving in this region at dusk, so I drove with a sense of urgency.  As I headed East, just past Muchea I noticed a big swathe of pine trees have been levelled and the new highway that will join Brand Highway is taking shape.  It saddened me.  The trees are disappearing before my eyes.  I can do nothing about it except avert my gaze.DSCN7182
Candy Bush Reserve, Moora, Western Australia
When not at home I seek the company of trees if inland, as much of the Wheatbelt is.  The trees here have a delicate elegance to them.  Tall, slender limbs and the brown bark is smooth and glows in the sun.  This is the main road I take from out of Moora, a good 20+ kms before I get to the main highway.  I often park in the shade and eat a hurried lunch before heading back to the clinic.  This is farmland country.  The paddocks were summer beige and speckled with hundreds of sheep.  There were clouds of white cockatoos everywhere.  There is something very calming about this journey.DSCN7180
It won’t be long before these trees will be earmarked for destruction, to widen the road, no doubt.  In these regions, due to the roadworks everywhere, I seem to have road workers for company, rather than miners.  These folks work hard in heat.  At dusk, they are on their front porch of the chalets, downing a few cold ones and talking about their day.  Much like me, these folks are away from home and family.  They create their own community.  I’ve learnt to do the same.thumb_IMG_1004_1024
Sunrise, Moora, Western Australia
Like me, they wake early, coffee in hand, some with cigarette in the other and watch the sunrise.  It’s an easy feeling, waking among strangers and feeling completely at ease. Or perhaps, it is a feeling that comes from being among trees.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Monday – Evanescent

Details! Details!

It was the days before mobile phones had good coverage.  Conversations often dropped off and the listener caught skimpy details as one struggled to stay on topic ….

I phoned my then husband, Dr T, late one afternoon.  With little ones in childcare I had time to cook a special meal for the family and was looking forward to everyone being home.

The conversation drifted to other areas and between laughter and whispers, it became more risque.  He decided to come home early.  I promised him it would be worthwhile.

The conversation went on a bit in more explicit detail, sparing nothing and then I added, “… and then you can pick up the kids from childcare after”.

There was silence.  It seemed to last forever.  He broke it say, “what kids?”

“OUR kids”, I said, laughing.  He, the prankster, on numerous occasions.

“No, seriously, what kids”, he enquired slowly, his voice sombre.

My silence was longer.  I hesitantly said, “Is this X?”

“No, it’s John”, he said, repeating his phone number.  I had misdialled the number by one.

We started laughing.  He told me he was really looking forward to going home but what a letdown!

I’ve never forgotten that conversation.  I wonder if he has!

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Monday – Skimpy

 

I could turn vegan for this …

Eggplant!  One of my favourite vegetables!  Believe it or not, there was a time I looked forward to my trips to Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields region because dinner on the first night was an eggplant stack.  True!  Three pieces of eggplant stacked, fresh tomato sauce topped with cashew nut cream and a sprinkle of pine nuts.  I didn’t regard it as such then, but a truly delicious vegan meal.  But it took only a couple of trips to undo my enjoyment.  The first time, my order was obviously sitting around waiting to be delivered to my room.  It came cold.  I sent it back.  The young waiter who picked it up was insolent when I complained, did not apologise but said, “everyone has off days”.  Maybe.  But when I arrived tired and hungry, and paid $34 for the meal, I expected someone to be on pointe.  The second time, after a change in management, my ‘stack’ arrived horizontal in a fancy spread on a smear of processed sauce and cashew nut cream nowhere to be seen.  It didn’t look or taste the same.  Sigh!

Things happen for a reason.  This I know to be true.

Instead of staying in the hotel with room service I started to go into town for my meals and ventured further.  Kalgoorlie, a gold mining town, has gorgeous buildings.  The streets are wide from the days of wagons.  At dusk the light catches the old buildings.  I’m looking forward to experiencing that again as my plan in 2020 is to focus on architecture in the regions I visit.  But there was a time when I woke really early and before I got to work, went out with camera.DSCN8839
Mt Charlotte, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia
The sunrise over the gold mine viewed from Mt Charlotte is stunning.  I would often be in the car park of the lookout by myself.  I’ve not done this in a while and need to experience this again.DSCN8818
Freight train from the gold mine, Kalgoorlie
I grew up in a town of trains.  The sound of clickety-clack  is synonymous with childhood.  It is a sound I often hear in the Wheatbelt or mining towns.  It is soothing and reassuring as a heartbeat.

Perhaps this is why I was an indulgent mother to a young son and bought him over 100 Thomas the Tank trains!  When he was very little I remember taking him to toy train exhibitions and was enthralled by the exquisite train sets grown men obviously enjoyed putting together.  I’ve moved on from there.  I now enjoy watching grown men.  🙂DSCN8827
Mt Charlotte
This is obviously lush for the Goldfields regions.  It is a memory from one winter.  In winter the temperature drops suddenly around 4 pm and being open country, the extremes are harsh.  I’m headed to the Goldfields today.  The temperature is expected to be in the high 30sC.  It will be uncomfortable.  But I have other things to look forward to … perhaps eggplant will be one of them!  What I do know is that I am drawn to the parks with my camera …DSCN8853
Book-leaf mallee (eucalyptus kruseana)
I love photographing the untidy shrub that is the book-leaf mallee.  The honey eaters love this shrub.  Their birdsong is sharp and sweet and only overshadowed by the perfection I see when the shrub is looked at closely.DSCN8806
The leaves are perfectly placed and symmetrical.  DSCN8562
And from such an untidy shrub, the most delicate and beautiful gum blossoms.  What’s not to love about this!

So I’m back to where I started this post … I’ve been mostly vegan since November.  I thought I would miss eating cheese, red meat and bacon.  Oddly enough my body has adjusted really quickly.  I no longer crave it.  When I do eat those foods, my body screams in protest.

In this frenetic lifestyle that is of my own making, I love order and predictability.  I try and seek it in different ways.  So as this is my first trip for the year to the region, it’s quite possible I’ll go full circle and order eggplant again!

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Tuesday – Eggplant

The things I see …

There was a time in my life when I loved visiting art galleries and museums and would seek them out where ever I travelled.  I am not knowledgeable about art.  I just know what I love.  So it is not surprising when I see a piece of art, my eye is immediately drawn to the aesthetics of it.

The wall sculpture below is huge on a bigger wall.  It is striking and I was drawn to it immediately.  I looked at it from close up.  I stepped away from it.  The beauty was the same.  I would have loved to have touched it, run my fingers on shapes and colours and connect with the artist.  But when I read the plaque, I realised I do connect with that master artist, Nature, in a different way.thumb_IMG_4834_1024
Art in foyer, Crowne Plaza Casino, Perth, Western Australia
“Reverie of Land, Line and Form by Jenny Nayton is the study of the ancient geology of Western Australia.  The artform draws on the distinctive character and connection to place created by the unique colours and shapes of the Western Australian landscape.  The sculptural forms are reminiscent of the fluid curves of eroded rocks, such as the local monument Wave Rock in Hyden.”thumb_DSCN5006_1024
Sooty Oystercatcher, Turquoise Bay, Exmouth, Western Australia
I still love art but it no longer just hangs on a wall or from a ceiling.
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Sunrise, Exmouth Gulf, Exmouth, Western Australia
I’ve found the sky, a canvas.thumb_IMG_4921_1024
Bee in flower
I love when still life stills me.thumb_IMG_0713_1024
Succulent, Esperance, Western Australia
And I love looking at the ordinary and find it extraordinary. 

The aesthetics of nature may not be visible to all.  A blindness to be cured for sure.  If it was, would we live differently?

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Thursday – Aesthetics

A sure thing …

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The touch was light
imperceptible, except to eye
as I watched him reach,
where battle lines were once drawn
he stopped awhile
and traced the scars
he didn’t ask how, where or why
I let him wander to the edge
his footfall hesitant,
picking his way through sticks and stones
at the juncture
he paused, and tested yield
and in my eyes
the path of least resistance

a dawn bird

 

In response to RDP – Sunday – Wander