Waiting

Doctor's appointments are renowned for being delayed so it was no surprise when I turned up to be told that the doctor was running a little late and perhaps I'd like to go and have a coffee and they would phone me when it was my turn.  I had a coffee before I left home to drive the 40 minutes down the winding mountain road through rain forest towards the coast and my appointment in the little town of Bellingen.  So I grabbed my umbrella and knowing my camera was in my handbag I wandered down the side street to see what I could see.

With no expectations I wasn't disappointed. 

Tin roofed cottages brimming with spring flowers, sweet smelling jasmine, delicious wisteria, 

azaleas and buttery banksia rose, rainbow lorikeets feasting on grevillea's nectar.

 Mallard-type ducks puddling about close to the creek,

 and all the time looming clouds promising rain. 

In no time at all my phone was ringing and I fumbled to answer it with camera and umbrella in hand!  The waiting was over and it was my turn next.  Shucks!  I hurried back disappointed to have to leave but realising that sometimes waiting can be enjoyable.  

What do you do when you have to wait for an appointment?  

Do you carry a book to keep you amused or start up a conversation, 

or perhaps you browse through a magazine?  

I hope you don't sit and get agitated!

Bye for now

Look and see.

How's your week been?  

Two of my grandchildren had birthdays this week, 

so we have had some wonderful family time.

But in between I've been trying to see in a different way. 

Looking as if seeing things for the first time.

Appreciating patterns, shapes and the space between.

 It's surprising what you see when you look through different eyes, isn't it?

Bye for now

What does it all mean?

Waking later than usual, I hurried to the kitchen for a strong cup of coffee. I threw open the curtains to check on today's weather and was met by  'a shower of white fire' which made me jump back in astonishment!  What was a single cattle egret doing sitting on my garden wall?

I dared not open the sliding door onto the verandah but instead took this photo through the glass. This one is the best of the three I managed to click off in quick succession before this stunning creature flew off to a tree quite some distance away, and then was nowhere to be seen.

'A shower of white fire' is a phrase from this lovely poem Egrets by Mary Oliver.

There is much symbolism attached to herons and egrets

 from ancient cultures such as Greece, Egypt, China, Native America. 

Grace, patience, balance, tranquility, good luck, 

or determination, intelligence, independence, resourcefulness....the list goes on.  

To be honest, I could do with more than a sprinkling of each one of those attributes!

I searched in vain for the solitary egret.

I looked in the places egrets go, those transitional places between water, earth and air.

No sign of it on a cow's back either, which is where they are often seen plucking ticks etc.

Looking up into the sky as afternoon was closing in.....could it be....is it my egret?

That cloud really was in the sky that day, and I haven't seen the egret any more since then.  

I do like to think that we notice things for a reason.

What do you think?

I'm planning on grounding myself firmly on my own two feet,

 occasionally treading fearlessly into deeper waters, and delighting in gracefully taking flight.

But I draw the line at picking ticks from a cow's back!

Bye for now

PS.  If you'd like to know more about egrets in Australia this post " Egrets-I've had a few" 

from Paula Peeters at Paperbark Writer is informative and fun!

PPS. Here's another poem about Egrets, this one by Australian poet Judith Wright

Berry Beautiful!

Out and about at this time of year you can't help but stumble across berries. 

Lilly Pilly, Wild Raspberry, and the orange spiky one?  Well, I used to know it but now I don't.

 ( It'll probably come to me in the middle of the night! )

Anyway I bet they are all a great winter feast for the birds and they brighten up the track.

.  

You'll notice Cobba sitting patiently waiting while I take photos....

well I was actually waiting patiently too, for the cattle to come across the road back home.  

So of course perfect time to click a photo of the fantail high up above us!

Every time of year has its highlights doesn't it.  

What are yours at this time of year where you are? 

Autumn ~ From Balmy to Biting

Stirring the porridge on the wood stove I think back to the beginning of May

 when the full moon was out. 

There was a warmth in the air, moisture too.  

That's what caused the fabulous rainbow ring around the moon.  

I scurried up the hill to the west in the early morning

The light shining on this web was just like the ring around the moon the night before.

 I was just in time to catch that same full moon going down behind the farmland.

The mist lifted to reveal bright autumn foliage on the liquid amber trees.

By afternoon the sun's heat tricked us all into thinking that summer had never left. 

The bugs came out in their masses, great feasts for the birds!

The evening sun slid slowly out of sight leaving us bathed in it's warm glow.

Fast forward a week or so and things are changing fast. 

The wind whooshes through the trees and leaves are defenseless, 

falling falling falling....

A chill fills the air, summer's really gone.  Winter's not here yet,

but from the feel of that bite in the wind, it won't be long.

It's comforting to think that whatever the season, 

wherever we are,

 that same moon shine's down on all of us.