winter solstice

how short our days

and doubly so here in the forest as year by year

the trees grow taller wider and claim ever more of our winter sun.

 

 

yet already we are at the turn

the Sun having gone as far down as it can possibly go has  STOPPED

is having a bit of a think about its journey considering its passage and the general state of affairs

and then later on in the weekend will take off again upwards

climbing back up thru the sky little by little a minute here and there.

 

 

and so we too reflect this year past

it hasn’t been so bad says John this morning over a cuppa on a sunny east verandah.

the garden takes my attention neatly snipped al la wallaby style.

what is a bad year anyway I ponder?

a state of mind

a grief without end

a manner of speaking.

 

 

this year has had its share of ups and downs

if anything the truth of the “we are at sea and no one is steering the boat away from the reef “ is striking home…

our captain grins vacuously down a deep fracking well cuts the ribbon of expansion on new coal mines and

makes it his plan to remove precious wild diversity places from protection.

 

 

I wake early and look around

some vague level of lightness.

the moon is waning so this could be moon light

I listen for that first scuffle tweet twitter or rustle.

they are still sleeping

it is winter they say

no need to hurry to be sooooooo busy

time for another dream another snooze .

oh whatever I say and climb out of bed.

two feet hit the floor simultaneously

someone told me it promoted balance as opposed to one foot then the other.

 

 

taking my torch I wander out of the chill bedroom

past the hanging curtain that closes off cold from the loungeroom

the room feels warm and nymphy is still going.

I praise her service add a few more bits of wood and leave the door open.

a short while later I hear the satisfying sound of fire launching into activity.

thank you forest and thank you trees that die that I may claim your wood to warm my body and nourish my soul.

I leave closed the heavy drapes that are keeping at bay the cold lurking in the glasshouse

and pad into the kitchen to light Stanley.

out on the verandah gathering sticks I pause …. a nose twitch a smell of the new day ….an ear cocked…… listening…

there is Venus in the east and I sing out good morning

and while there I shout out hello to Forest and Dawn Sky.

 

 

kettles on I bask in the beginning time

keeping my awareness tuned to the way the light increases

changing from opaque white grey and vague into shaper more defined….

detail emerges and songs are tweeted from every branch.

back in the bedroom John lies still watching a black swamp wallaby on the verandah eating the pink salvias

pulling the slender stems close and nibbling a leaf and another oh a pink flower delicious

eating slowly swiveling its head to check out its domain

I enter and absorb the scene.

I wondered why I hadn’t pruned that bush back this year.

wonder no more.

more and more the wallabies are enjoying verandah space

do they want to come inside ???

is this the direction of our /my evolution ???

 

 

today I picked every orange

I could reach off our tree

possums are munching happily each night safe in the knowing that I will not venture out

and chase them with my witches broom.

 

 

 

brr ing brr ing

hello

hello Grandma its Kingston John

the sweet little sing song voice slides directly into the chambers of my heart and sends pure joy racing along neuron pathways.

hello Kingston John I say

hello he says

we kinda softly murmur together then

it is like an over the phone hug – as if  if we are touching as if our heads are tipped into each other  and

we are breathing deeply  of this well  of love.

once we get that out of the way we get into the business off having a chat.

I tell him about wa wa (wallaby ) he tells me about red dog.

I tell him granddad has hooked up our new (second hand ) deep cycle solar batteries

added in our new regulator that will tell us everything we need to know about our system

once we figure out how to use it

and he tells me that they are cleaning up but cleaning is boring

and he would much rather play with his toot toots.

 

 

I wish Tony would take the Stetson that Texas gave him exit stage left and play toot toots but seriously he isn’t even the problem despite all his brave talk.

I joined a group of people on a beach a few days ago for a meditation and they were really keen on putting tony in the middle of our circle and showering him with love and light.

not wishing to be a party pooper I tried to figure out how to join in.

I added Earth into the middle of the circle and as far as I am concerned that covers all the tonys georges and julies .

as well as rivers and clear spaces

as well as white beech forests and low lying islands

as well as whales dolphins and owls

a well as rainbows stars and wishes.

 

 

 

so here we are

a wish for the winter solstice.

 

may this new year reawaken our sense of interconnection

open our hearts to beauty

and bring us all into closer harmony with all of life.