Obaitori

the long summer days

The cicadas start at 4:30am, kookaburras at 5am and the cat starts circumambulating the bed at 6. We are in the midst of the beautiful long days and evenings of summer. The sound of the cicadas go all day, mixed with the Bell birds, cockatoos and magpies. At night I hear the lonesome cry of the Mopoke owl awaiting unification with his beloved. The summer has been reasonably mild with no long stretches of days over 35 degrees celcius. At this I'm relieved as any kapha would be. Without the intense heat it means I can do things, think straight, cope. The willow tree is starting to shed it's leaves, they blow in the bedroom door and I admit - to myself - I love this mess. At night the tree's garlands are still heavy enough to sweep the outside walls of the house. Yesterday I wondered if Loreena McKennet buys castles and puts grand pianos in the rooms of the top story and plays and plays and plays.

 

Here on her harp - sigh, at Alhambra palace in Spain.

We've been eating Granny Smith apples by the kilo. This morning, when drawing costumes from Lark Rise to Candleford, Indira saw Laura and Mini receive toffee apples. You can only guess what we will be up to this afternoon. I bought a lot of drawing books for this summer holiday and my favourite pens to boot, Unipin created by Mitsubishi in Japan, if you wanted to know the 0.4 is perfect for drawing the fine lace work. I'm reading Empress Dowager Cixi, the story of a remarkable woman who took on and overthrew the regent's of the Chinese palace. She modernised China from about 1850 onwards. She opened the ports, created the railway systems, made foot-binding and death by one thousand cuts illegal. She was only 24 when she organised the palace coup and made herself the unofficial ruler of China. It is a fascinating look into the modern history of China. It's opening my eyes. Of course the book is banned in China, the same as Jung Chang's other books; Wild Swans and Mao: the unknown story. I love stories about powerful women. I love that my children watch me read these books and watch these films, Elizabeth: the Golden Age - comes to mind. I know - through many lessons, parenting techniques and by example - that our children will be strong, able to make good decisions and have self-confidence. More about this later, right now I'm off for a yoga nidra, a walk and a dive into the deep blue sea.

oh, Nana

I call him Nana - from Peter Pan. He is the best dog, this little dog of our's. Sweet, endearing, fiesty and most often - when not exhausted on the lounge - ready for adventure. The bringer of joy.

the summer sun and three little birds

Diving right into this wonderful new year. We've been at the beach most days and some starry lit evenings too. Today was grey and then the clouds cleared to reveal a majestic summer's day. Now the dog is tired, sandy and red-eyed from being out all morning. He's sound asleep on the bed whilst I write under the fan. I found a lovely site which is a nature soundmap of the world. It's wonderful. You can go to anywhere you want and like my favourite comedian, Michael McIntyre and his Google Earth, I too went to my house! 

How was your Christmas, solstice and new year's eve? I'm really happy for the 'perfect' alignment of the new moon falling on the 31st December encouraging and fostering growth with the strength to push gently and firmly those life changing affirmations which we mostly all make. I hope that you are feeling positive about all the changes 'good' and 'bad' in your life. Lately this quote from Gautama the Buddha has been emerging for me and some of my friends;

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”

It might be a fake quote yet here is the possible original stanza;

Since everything is but an illusion,

Perfect in being what it is,

Having nothing to do with good or bad,

Acceptance or rejection,

One might as well burst out laughing!

The Great Perfection’s Self-Liberation in the Nature of Mind, by Longchenpa(1308-1364)

What it means to me is faith. You must have faith to believe in this statement. To have faith you need proof. Actual proof in your life. Recall a time when everything did work out just right. You may have had to wait a long time for something to seemingly 'fall' into place or you may have been wondering why something happened and then upon reflection you are able to see the rhyme and reason. Look for many examples in your life. This is your proof. Faith takes time and experience to develop. Some are not just born with a certain amount of faith. It develops over the lifespan and across many lifetimes. I like to recall this faith in times of doubt, have a little chuckle and know that everything is going to be all right.

Do you know what? On new year's eve, we were at the Ocean Baths and through the speakers the lifeguard was playing this song;