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

Ripples

Winter is here. Mornings are colder, evenings come earlier. 

 By the time I've finished the outside chores my fingers are feeling like icicles.  

Let's race inside and get the fire going.  Hold on.... just take a look at that sunset!  

The ducks on the dam are swimming in swirling circles,

 the ripples overlaid with gold leaf.

'Eternally Grateful'.

  This heading caught my eye as I crumpled up the newspaper to start the fire.

 I stopped for a moment to read on.....

A young mother was thanking a man for saving her son's life.  An ordinary day turned out to be quite the opposite. Her toddler was choking on some food and unable to dislodge it she ran out onto the street screaming for someone to help her.   Other cars had driven past but he had stopped and he saved the little boy's life. It seems these people live on the same street and are now good friends.  A heart warming story with profound and far-reaching consequences.

'Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness 

Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.'

Scott Adams

The kettle's boiling. Time for a cup of tea.
Pull up a chair by the fire and we can toast our toes together.
 Do you take sugar?

You can't stop the waves......

Life is a series of waves, up and down, up and down.  

One of those 'downs' found my elderly Aunty unexpectedly taken into hospital.

Off I went some 3 hours south to the beach side town of Port Macquarie to visit her.

I arrived in the evening and as visiting hours were not until 10am

 I thought I would catch a beach sunrise the next day.  

Ha! Well, 6 am found me sitting in the car park staring through the rain spattered windscreen,

surrounded by VW campers and panel vans

 with their occupants still hidden from sight in sleeping bags.

 The sun crept tentatively into view, 

and unbeknownst to me so did the surfies .

But it wasn't long before there was a pitter patter and out came the umbrella.  

Those surfers had sneaked past me while I was engrossed in taking photos

 and there they were catching a wave in the rain!

Out popped the sun and for a while things looked up.

Clouds still hung threateningly on the horizon.

You never know what's around the corner.  

There was just time for me to grab a quick coffee and a bite of breakfast 

before heading into the hospital where Aunty was so happy to see me.

She told me how wonderful the ambulance officers had been

and we laughed when I recounted my beach adventures.

"You can't stop the waves  ~   but you can learn to surf."

Quote by John Kabat-Zinn 

The day brought rain ~ of course it did!

Harbingers of rain, two yellow tailed black cockatoos flew over at sun up,

 and the day was decided.  There would be rain.

Mist followed and a stunning sunset,

 but nothing can beat the call and the flight of the black cockatoo.

 It's like no other and always inspires me to fly just that little bit higher!

~ ~ ~

What motivates you to keep going when you'd really rather not?

Some moments just take your breath away

Like this one when I went out for an evening walk and stumbled upon magic.

No need for words this time

 they only take away from the moment that was there

and all too soon it was gone.

~~~

I know you've had fleeting moments like these when all you could do was stand and watch.

  Mine was whilst visiting my son and daughter-in-law on their new block

 in the Granite Belt region of Queensland.

Where was yours?  Would love to hear about it!

Perfection ~ who needs it? Just enjoy the day.

I've been waiting for the perfect time, the perfect photo, the perfect thought to start back in on my blog again after 2, 3, 4, what surely not nearly 5 months absence?!!
But instead I'm jumping right in with today ~ for better for worse.

Started with a misty morning

Oh Rosemary I love you

Move to late afternoon after a 'nothing is going right' sort of day

Decided to look for the positives amidst the negatives...bee in the weeds

This spider is happily thriving here!

Out cutting and spraying weeds ~ always hard to keep up ~ but something catches my eye

Shadows as the sun goes down

It wasn't perfect...but it wasn't half bad either!

I wish for you a day that is full of light and shadow

~

Would really love to hear about yours!

~