Tag: quiet

challenges

Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Refuge

Joanne8 Comments
We hear him, but rarely see him.

This week’s WordPress photo challenge was announced just this morning and I have what I think is the perfect photo for this week’s theme ~ Refuge.

There are times when I’m sitting quietly at home, listening to the beautiful sounds of silence in my sleepy little village, when the silence will be shattered by a sound I simply love ~ the croaking of a green frog, coming from just outside my office window.

Over the years we have traced our resident frog families sounds to behind a block retaining wall out the front of our house. We hear them there, but we never see them there!

My only sightings of our froggy friends has been a few years ago, when for reasons only known to the frogs themselves, they took it upon themselves to hitch a ride in the boot of my car! You can imagine my surprise at opening the boot of my car at the supermarket, only to find a frog inside!

Not wishing for the frog to lose its way in an unfamiliar place, I would gently close the car boot, drive home and return him to his retaining wall.

I think the frogs became adventurous about three times, always by somehow managing to get into the boot of my car.

One night a couple of weeks ago, my daughter Emma walked out the front of the house and shrieked, thinking she had discovered an unwelcome cane toad, but no, it was one of our little green friends, no doubt thinking it was safe at night to venture out from behind his retaining wall.

So here he is; one of my little garden friends who constantly brings delight to my day with his low-key vocal chords!

Shortly after this photo was taken he was gone again, no doubt having taken refuge yet again within the safety of his home, behind the retaining wall.

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A Time for Silence

Joanne1 Comment

I’ve spent a lot of the day talking today and I think I may well be all talked out.

It hasn’t helped either that the weather has been hot and humid, quite exhausting actually, after all of our lovely summer’s days of late.

Now, it is raining, not surprising after the humidity of today, and the frogs are happily croaking away in the stillness of the night.

Do you ever have days like I’ve had today? Days when your brain and body both feel rather lethargic?

The talking I enjoyed, the heat not so much. It’s Friday, the weekend is ahead of us and the summer holidays are all but over. The last of the school’s will reopen on Monday.

And so begins another year.

A year of new beginnings; new friends; new dreams; making new memories.

New lessons to be learned.

New mountains to conquer.

A year to know when to talk and when to remain silent.

Silence, to restore the soul.

And now is a silent time….

Goodnight. xxx

gardening · Tweed Valley

Shattered Silence…For a Worthy Cause!

JoanneLeave a comment

Before 7am this morning I awoke to the distinct sound of a voice; a loud, female voice, outside my bedroom window and not too far away.

My next door neighbour is not known for her dulcet tones. When she has something to say, the whole street hears it!

Upon inspection, my sleep-eyed cat and I noted our neighbour of loud voice fame escorting workmen down to the bottom of her garden.

Shortly after 7am, said workmen, wearing hi-visibility yellow safety shirts and wielding large chainsaws, had shattered the peace of my last sleep-in before my family returns home today.

They’ve been hard at it all morning, firstly cutting down large limbs of trees, after which the wood is sawn up into fire-place sized chunks for my loud voiced neighbour’s stockpile of wood.

The lady with the loud voice arrived in our peaceful little street six or seven years ago. She purchased a quaint little cottage, built next door to our house at around the same time as we were building our house.

Although only a small two bedroom home, the first owners ensured that only the best quality bricks, timbers, tiles, etc. were used during construction.

Over the next few years the first owners worked tirelessly, spending every spare moment they could find, in planting trees throughout the garden…that would be the whole garden…every available inch of the one acre garden!

The fresh manure that they regularly dumped around any available space at the base of the trees worked wonders in helping the trees to grow…and grow…and grow…

To cut a long and sad story short, we lost the majority of our beautiful view of the Tweed Valley, and we spent a number of years living in the shadows of a veritable jungle.

We rejoiced when the “For Sale” sign appeared outside the house next door!

When the house was finally sold, the residents of the street all rejoiced!

Enter new loud voiced neighbour. Another tireless gardener, she really has worked wonders with the garden.

Huge expanses of neatly mowed grass can now be seen, edged by carefully constructed garden beds, which contain a variety of neatly pruned, flowering shrubs.

Our view is not fully restored to its former splendour, although my loud voiced neighbour has assured me that a lot of the trees remaining are still tagged to go. It all takes time, she assures me; time, and a bank load of money, to have those trees removed!

The trees she inherited with the purchase of her new home were never intended to be grown on a one acre block of land in a sleepy country village, nor should they have ever been considered for planting in such a situation as to prevent the enjoyment of an amazing view.

Some of the rainforest trees planted in our loud voiced neighbour’s yard are expected to grow up to two or three hundred feet in height!

Being in an area where we have regular electrical storms, I shudder to imagine the devastation just one of those trees could cause if struck by lightning, causing it to fall, as has been known to happen with smaller trees over the years we have lived in this area.

Just as soon as another tree is removed, our neighbour relaces it, with a suitable, lower growing tree. As I have said, she is an avid garden and opens her home and garden at least twice a year for the members of a local garden club to admire!

Yes, the hi-visibility shirt wearing, chainsaw-wielding men are still hard at it, shattering my peace, along with interjections of my loud voiced neighbour’s loud voice, conveying instructions to the workers.

And on this very rare occasion, it is all music to my ears!

Moral of the Story ~ Do the research first; plant trees in your garden which are suited to their environment. Your neighbours will love you for it!

(In the photo above, taken three years ago, much of the jungle has been cleared away, although plenty of work is still neccessary. Click on the photo to enlargen).

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The Sounds of Silence

Joanne2 Comments

How long has it been…three, perhaps four weeks, since I have spent the day alone, at home?

I can’t quite remember; it’s been so long, too long.

Days of solitude are a necessity to me, as essential as food and sleep.

But it hasn’t always been that way.

When my four children were all much younger the house was continually noisy, in one way or another. Talking, television switched on by the first child out of bed in the morning, music playing (in more than one room), phones ringing, and usually all at the same time!

On the odd occasion when I would be in the house, in silence, I couldn’t cope; I simply had to switch on music, or the television, anything to cut the deafening silence!

I’m not sure how the changes occurred, the changes within myself, which brought about the demand (yes, it was a demand!) for peace and silence around me.

The sounds around home have altered now. My second oldest lives in her own home now, my eldest is quiet by nature (thank you, God!), and then there’s the two teenagers.

As is the case with many siblings, they are constantly bickering, only pausing long enough to sing together. Yes, sing. They have the same taste in music and, as teenagers do, know every word, to every song they hear.

Their singing can actually be rather entertaining, especially so when I way up the pro’s and cons…would I rather listen to squabbling, or the singing? Hmm…

Today there will be no voices, no phones, no mobile phones, no skype, no texting, no online chatting ~ everyone is out.

I have the house to myself.

My herbal tea is made and my ironing awaits me. Whilst ironing, the only sounds I will hear will be the pattering of the raindrops falling, the occasional chorus of frogs croaking and the distant buzzing of the cicada’s.

It’s a day to restore my equilibrium, to silence my busy brain, to focus on the here and now.

A day to appreciate the Sounds of Silence….

(Photo credit ~National Geographic at Google Images)

advice · gratitude · inspiration · music

Be Gentle with Yourself

Joanne7 Comments

The music of the 1970’s was unlike the music of any other preceding decade. And whilst it was a time when heavy metal bands blared out their raucous sounds, men grew their hair longer than women, wore more makeup than women, and everyone was wearing platform shoes, (much to the disgust of the older generations), some surprisingly sensitive songs beamed across the radio airwaves as well.

As an alternative to the Glam Rock, we enjoyed the soothing sounds of David Gates and Bread, Lobo, Carly Simon, James Taylor, The Bee Gees, Olivia Newton John, Chicago, The Hollies, Tele Savalas…Tele who?

What? You don’t recall the top rating television series Kojak, a detective show centred on a bald headed guy, Theo Kojak, played by Tele Savalas?

Don’t worry, I’ve been left out of the loop too, I have never watched an episode of Kojak; all I remember is the beautiful hit “song”, “Desiderata”.

Unless you heard Tele Savalas’s version of “Desiderata” during the 70’s, you will probably have no idea whatsoever what I am talking about here!

Tele Savalas was an actor, not a singer, however he did own a deep toned, smooth-as-silk speaking voice, and he talked his way all the way through a hit song, “Desiderata”.

As a teenager, I worked in a newsagency and bookstore. Wall posters were very “in” at the time and the newsagency carried a huge range, including one containing all of the verses of “Desiderata”. My interest was piqued.

There appears to be some debate as to the origins of Desiderata. The most popular belief seems to be that it was copyrighted in 1927, by Max Ehrmann, although further debate exists as to whether or not this copyright is still valid.

Regardless, it is a beautiful piece of writing, offering inspiration in all aspects of life, the words still as valid today as they were when Desiderata was apparently penned in the early 1900’s.

I would like to share “Desiderata” here with you today. Even if you have read through the words before, read them again now; an overdose of inspiration never hurt anyone. 🙂

Let me know how you feel about “Desiderata”, whether it is your first, or one-hundred-and-first reading. I especially love the words, “Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself”.

And always remember to be gentle with yourself. 🙂

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Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

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