summer solstice

the wheel has reached its point and made the turn

back to a miniscule shortening day by day even though for us summer has arrived.

 

on the bike to the beach

a meditation in which my mindful mind notices my fidgety body

sitting on the soft white sand with the sea thudding in mere inches from my feet.

a small rocky island squats off shore home to cormorants and other sea birds.

in this moment it is  calm and unhurried

the sun warmly intense upon our bodies.

and then when prayers are done we strip off and offer our selves to the salty ocean.

it is kidney aching cold says John but he manages to swim a bit anyway while I hop and bob and dip.

it is refreshing to mind body and spirit.

the beach is a mile long and we are the only souls apart from a little sandpiper who flaps and flares at me – beware beware beware

I stop and see two speckled eggs sitting on top of the sand – oh dear it is holiday time and there will be children and dogs and all manner of activities – how will they survive?

it is doing as it has always done and I offer a prayer that it brings its chicks safely into being.

back home the sky darkens and thunder starts its drum roll .

 

 

Noticings since my return home :

dipodium roseum a pink hyacinth orchid rises up on its single brown stalk – at 110cm with tiny orchid flowers sometimes as many as 40.

christmas beetles – member of the scarab family about 20 -30mm long

they are a shiny bronze beetle with a greeny yellowy iridescence – noisy flyers bumbly and clumsy devouring the fresh new leaves of the eucalypts.

 

turtles aplenty on the dams but no sightings of egg laying sites.

 echidna on the move seeking lunch – this little creature a monotreme or egg laying mammal has no teeth but instead uses its sticky tongue to scoop up the termites and ants.

 

a black snake slides across the track in front of us making us wait – what a pleasure to stop and watch the slow sensual undulation, the head raised probing the way ahead -the tongue smelling molecules of air, a finely tuned sensor that locates  prey shelter and mates.

buddleia bushes are in rambunctious disorder heavy with the weight of bouquets –we have lilac crimson and white and together they provide not only beauty in our garden but a haven for birds and nests bees and butterflies.

 

 

john checks in on the top bar hive that he recently built and added a swarm to,

wearing his groovy coverall mesh safety helmet with  not a scerick of flesh visible he brings back a taste of honey .

oh my goodness an explosion of light sweetness into the mouth, my taste buds explore the wild forest flowers and whiffs of sunshine hail rain and moonlight .

pure unadulterated and humbled joy.

thank you bees,  thank you john who said back in January that this was the year of the hive and he meant it.

 

thank you to all of you

friends family community beloveds and blogging partners

I value each and everyone of you in my life  as I value the rain now falling and the ocean salt on my skin…

thank you all for being who you are and offering me a glimpse of your beauty.

may this year bring you all well being and happiness.

 

 

Happy Solstice