I am feeling a lot like the muck you find at the edge of a winter pond. Still, a short walk might get the blood moving and the chest clearer. Whatever I managed to contract is making breathing an exercise at the edge of my abilities, and has stolen my energy completely. I looked out the window for sunrise inspiration, but dark grey streaks across a light grey sky was all there was. I shrugged into my vest and clutching a cup of rather foul tasting herbal tea (good for upper respiratory ills) I stepped outside and caught what breath I could…..in the time it took to pull on my vest and grab my cup, the sky had changed to a fantasia of color!
The road was still shone wetly from the evening’s rain, though I retired early and don’t know how long it continued. The dark reflection on the gleaming surface was as fascinating as the sky, if not as spectacular. I certainly got my morning’s inspiration, finished my brief amble, and returned home to the cheering sight of smoke rising lazily from the chimney of my home. Warmth and a better tasting tea await me.
May your New Year be filled with love and joy and hope. Hobbity blessings!
Tolkien said ”Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars”. He wasn’t wrong.
Even the clouds could not block out the light of the full moon here. Though rain was predicted, it did not appear, and by morning the clouds and rain had settled in, but before midnight, the light was so bright I could have read by it. It cast shadows long and black, inky against the grey ground. Spring in Pennsylvania is sure to bring storms. ”Strong thunderstorms” the weatherman said. But the ridges here make their own weather, and often confound the weathermen…and even the meteorologists (who are not necessarily the same). This weekend is a lunar eclipse, it must have been a terrifying sight to early civilizations, but nowadays people travel long distances to see them. If the skies are clear enough, I should have a grand view from my front garden. One thing is for sure though. The moon will be there, and the stars and sun too. Above all clouds, above the smokes and vapors of our earthly conflicts, above the strife and the fury, those bodies which were set to shed a heavenly light on our earthly plane, will still be there, reminding us that we are both small and large, singular and universal. God’s children, both fallen and beloved. I am content.
I have a little clearing in the woods in front of my house where I have put a small iron table and two chairs. From there I can watch the birds, see the nesting robin in my lilac tree, smile at the odd squirrel or chipmunk searching for nuts, and feel the breeze on its way from West to East. That breeze sometimes become quite…energetic, so much so that it ripped our flagpole right out of the porch pillar! My answer was to bolt the holder into a big maple tree on its eastern side. Now it flys, happily protected from the wind, where I see it while I drink my coffee or tea.
I plan on putting a display of shade flowers, probably begonias, impatiens and lobelias, on an old wooden barrow, and some bleeding hearts and lilies of the valley in the ground. I definitely need to weed around the peonies and columbines already there. The trees are mostly white pine, maples, and a few black cherries and oaks, with a lovely patch of sassafras for my teapot. Though I haven’t a mallorn tree, nor any elenor nor nephredil, this will be my small tribute to Lothlorien here in my little patch of The Shire. Long may its memory remain untarnished.
You cant’t work all the time and be mentally healthy. That’s why the military gives troops leave, and why corporations give holidays….not for your entertainment, but because you work better, safer, more efficiently, when rested. I have chairs in my back yard, but they are in sun most of the day. I put some metal chairs in my front yard, but its been largely ignored and is overgrown. I decided to change that.
So I started with this…pretty rough. There’s actually a strip garden, totally overgrown with Japanese Needle Grass, except some day lilies. I live on a ridge, and the ground is about three feet of boulders, and then bedrock! I began raking and pulling needle grass, and realized I had a lily and some columbine too! There is an overgrown peony and its offshoot, overhung by a leggy Morrow’s Honeysuckle. So several hours later, dirty, sweaty, and tired, I had cleared most of the strip, relocated the columbine into a semblance of order, and planted 34 of the 56 lobelia I bought. Have I mentioned I have VERY rocky ground?
The next day I planted the rest of the lobelia, and then uppotted 6 bleeding hearts and begonias, and planted foxglove anf lily of the valley around the glade. The bleeding hearts went on an old wooden wheelbarrow, and the begonias on a tree stump. I got my spring tricked out riding mower back from its spa day, and mowed the front lawn. Tired, sweaty and dirty again!
The third day I was off to trim back the honeysuckle, discovered a patch of poison ivy (visually, not by touching!) and, lacking chemical warfare means or a flame thrower, dumped boiling water on it. Twice. Then it was off to mow the back yard. Have I mentioned my yard is VERY rocky? It is also full of hilly spots, fire pits and raised beds. I left the tough spots for the hand mower. Afterwards, I gathered up my honeysuckle clippings, cleared the tarps and cut logs, chainsawed my way through several rather large limbs cut down for visibility by a wonderful friend. Whew! Sweaty, tired and dirty again. Aren’t I supposed to get used to this? Not be tired anymore? Huh.
So today is finish the mowing, rake the little glade, stack the limbs I cut (great firewood!) and ENJOY MY SHADE GARDEN! Oh yes, and make a fire. I love fires, and its supposed to rain all weekend. We’ll see, I actually live right up against the mountain, so we are in a sort of rain shadow. maybe I can build the brick pillar to put my dyeing cauldron on….that puppy is way too heavy for my tripods!
Now I have a lovely little shade garden with a resting spot, flowers, and a view to drink into my soul. I am very lucky to live in such a lovely part of The Shire. My own Bag End. Have I mentioned I have VERY rocky ground? The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.
Tolkien wrote, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” ….You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ”Well, the Road won’t sweep me anywhere for an hour at least,’ said Pippin” and its the same for me. I plan to enjoy my shady spot and soak in the restful view. (Have I mentioned I have VERY rocky ground?)
My husband calls me alternately an impossible optimist and a doom and gloomer. I guess that’s fair. I try to look at both sides of our world, or country, my community. Some days are filled with so many good things…no, really every day is filled with good things, I just have to look harder on some days. Some days the reality of world problems, loss of freedoms on which our country was founded, and local crises get to me more. Or maybe they are just more in my face.
I try to keep the optimism in the forefront, I have no desire to walk around with a black cloud over my head. It isn’t healthy. But neither is the Pollyanna approach I see some of my dear friends taking. Another blogger I follow said it well. I try to implement her plan… always try to see the good…in people, in situations, in the future. But have a permit and carry, because the world is not an exclusively nice place.
That said, it is a beautiful place, and where I live, I see extraordinary beauty all around me. I try to rise before the sun, and stay up long enough to see the stars in their glory. Each sunrise is different, each star shines with a different twinkle. Last night it was a blustery night with whispy clouds scudding across the sky when I put the trash out for pickup. But as each area cleared, I saw new beauty, and in the past few months, Saturn has reigned supreme in the starry sky. Bright and clear it shines.
My own favorite star is the Morning Star, actually not a star at all, but the planet Venus. In my Tolkien studies (yes I am obsessed) I came across a wonderful Anglo-Saxon quote from the poem Crist “`eala earendel eggla beorhast/ ofer middengeard monnum sended”. This translates to Hail Earendil, brightest of angels, sent over Middle Earth to men. Tolkien then transformed this into a story of one who successfully brings a message to the Valar (sort of semi-gods) asking for aid that essentially saves the world from a fallen Vala. He is then set in the sky in a “boat” made of silver and glass with a brilliant gem as a beacon of high hope for the world’s inhabitants. This is the the Morning Star and the Evening Star, and my star. Tolkien aficionados will know how very abbreviated this tale was rendered here! My apologies to them!
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