This morning, the beauty of another day. Small things, coffee, toast, silence. And how amazing is fruit? Having choice? Banana or blueberry? Egg or beans……..?
The sun in the east, the full moon setting in the west. The faintest pastel pink in the sky at the horizon. The same view but on a new day. A day anyone would get up out of bed for, a day that would lift your spirits.
And even in the moment of gratitude, the arising and unsettling longing for a taste of London, or Berlin or New York. And the smell of streets and the wonder of faces passing, fleetingly on a stairs, on a train. The grime of activity and toil. A moment of concrete towers casting shadows on steamy sidewalks.
And as soon as I was there, drinking hot coffee and wearing cool black, a flash of the snowy soft Comeraghs or the silver of the little lake might suddenly overwhelm me. And I would have to stop myself thinking about it with that lonely tiredness. And I would be sick of standing up straight and wearing confidence like the highest of high heels. I would feel myself slipping back into the everyday oblivion of an overgrown meadow, dreamily watching the light of the world flit by in seconds, minutes and hours……
And it’s like every new day I have to decide again, that this is it. One small patch of earth where I seem to belong……and all the sides of it that I don’t even understand……….
Thank you, Catherine. This was a lovely read, a signpost home on a restless day tinged with hiraeth.
Thank you Janice….settling in to the imminent spring…..lovley that you enjoyed it ….
After I caught my breath from gazing at your beautiful landscapes, I really enjoyed and related to your words. I understand that want and need of two different places and how they each can make you feel … love your example
“wearing confidence like the highest of high heels”. and really love your new home here!
Hi Susan! Lovely to see you here. Yes I’m sure you can relate!! As I wrote it I decided to hop over to London for a couple of days…..very exciting prospect and only an hour away!!
Catherine, lovely post.
Would we ever even want to understand all those sides of ‘here?’
Part of me wants to figure it all out, but the wise old dame in me says…..let it go…….let it go!!
Such a beautiful sky.
You put it very well – that longing for something else – a longing that can be indulged because one is exactly where one wants/needs to be, in a heavenly place.
And we can indulge in it whenever we want to!!! And thank you:~)
Visual food-for-thoughts, sublime Catherine! Sometimes our longing is so intense, we fail to see the beauty in our midst.
thanks Deb, and that beauty is everywhere…….in both the country and the city……love it all!
Oh Catherine I can so relate TO THESE WORDS…..I AM TRAVELING RIGHT NOW AND WHILE MY SOUL IS FILLED WITH FAMILY AND NEW SIGHTS, THERE IS A LONGING FOR MY COLD DRIZZLY PATCH, AND REALIZING THE GRATITUDE FOR THESE THINGS HERE WHERE I LIVE.
OH MY THE ALL CAPS WAS ALL MESSED UP ON THIS UNFAMILIAR LAPTOP….
I also think there is something going on with this comment thingy……just another bit of housekeeping for me. Love every moment Donna, the drizzly patch will be waiting for you when you return…..but it is a beautiful patch!!
This very morning I was so very aware of how lucky I was to brew such fine coffee, cut a slice of the crunchy French Bread on the counter, and to bask in the silence of the morning. It brought a smile to my face when I read that across the world, you were experiencing similar gratitude for the same small, wonderful things! After many days of grey skies here in the Midwest, the sun finally made an appearance this morning and it is as warm as a may day. But there is no beauty close to my house that compares with the beauty that surrounds you! Thanks so much for sharing so much of it with us! (just to confirm – only caps were available to enter this post)
Denise well we always shared that I think! I love to think of you and the other women meeting for coffee every week, do you still do that? It’s always the small things that make us feel good to be alive. Bring on the spring. x
Going out to the garden in pj’s!
Every time Kerry!!! Let’s keep doing it as long as possible x