Dobell Park at Wangi, 9th March 2012
March 9, 2012 at 4:42 pm | Posted in Australia, Nature, Writing and Life | 2 CommentsTags: birds, gratitude, Lake Macquarie, petrified wood, pumice, sailing, Wangi Wangi
The lake before me is a deep, rich blue that pales and changes to a soft gold where the water shoals over sand and pebbles near the shore. The sky’s lighter blue is daubed with fluffy white clouds that sail slowly up from the south. I see a couple of white sails in the distance – it is a perfect day to be out sailing.
The water lapping at shore has a different resonance today as it washes onto the pebbled beach. Instead of the usual shhh, there is a deeper sound; more like an eddy gurgling and echoing into a large drain, or a giant coffee percolator bubbling away.
A dainty black and white peewee saunters past my foot, and seagulls wait expectantly for morsels that I do not have. An Indian mynah hops about, picking up tidbits from the grass, whilst trying to keep balanced on its single leg.
From a nearby old eucalypt comes the tinkling call of an Eastern Rosella, almost drowned by the fractious squabbling of Noisy Miners.
I hear a rooster crow in the distance; something unusual in town these days. It brings back memories of the many years we kept fowls and relished the freshness of their eggs.
My piece of pumice
I go for a walk along the shore, looking for pieces of petrified wood. There was plenty of it around at one time I’ve been told, but collectors seem to have scavenged it all now. I do find a small piece of pumice though, extremely light and full of bubble holes; the lava must have cooled very quickly when it hit the water aeons ago.
I am constantly amazed and extremely grateful that I live in such a beautiful place. I hope that I will never take it all for granted.
Do you live in a place that you see as beautiful? Or is there some other place you would love to live? Do you think we too often take for granted the good things we have in our lives?
Pebbles on the lake shore
© Linda Visman, 9th March 2012
Photos: Linda Visman
Small Stones 21-24
January 27, 2012 at 7:56 pm | Posted in Gardens, Nature, Philosophy, Writing | 1 CommentTags: flowers, magpies, memories, petrified wood
Here are four more of my small stones, written as part of the writing our way home challenge.
21. Magpies
I wake up to nature’s summer music;-
the magpies carol with enthusiasm,
encouraging those who hear
to join them in celebrating the day.
Well, that’s what it seems like –
even if they are just saying,
‘Keep out; this is my territory!’
22. Broken Promise
A tiny grey speckled bird’s egg lies in the garden bed.
But for a small hole at one end, the shell is whole.
When I pick up the delicate casing, a single ant emerges.
The empty shell is heavier than it should be, so I check.
A dessicated embryo is stuck to the inside wall,
And it weights the egg at its little end.
The egg’s promise of life is only fulfilled for the ants.
23. Nectarine
Red and yellow skin and soft white flesh.
A nectarine, ripened to perfection.
Succulent; delicious.
I hold the taste in my mouth for as long as I can.
24. Mist
Misty cloud descends on the rainforest;
its cool, ghost-like tendrils spread among the trees and ferns.
They settle on branches, leaves and fronds
and gradually coalesce to drops
that fall to water the earth.
© Linda Visman January 2012
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