Saturday 16 January 2010

Friday 15th January

I am supposed to be getting on with difficult paperwork ..... but am looking for distractions!  So far, eating breakfast (unfortunately for me, food is my friend and usually helps), catching up on texts (that is "texting" and not reading classics), looking through the Cotton Traders booklet which the postman kindly delivered to me yesterday, thinking about my upcoming birthday (rather different from last year's spent in Maui), listening to a funny comedy on the radio (Arthur Strong), chatting on the phone, planning a marathon cooking session this afternoon, repeated checks on birdlife in the garden.....oh, it's so easy!

And the postman?  What have I done to upset him?  Could it be the day I opened the door to him in early December with my very fetching "I haven't combed my hair for 6 weeks" look about me, dressed in my very fetching bright red penguin print pyjamas and coughing and spluttering as I spoke my first words of the day, before that most important throat lubricating cup of tea.  Why doesn't he bring me any post......other than the inevitable bills?  Please Mr Postman, bring me some nice letters to read. xxxx

Yesterday I took myself off for a lovely short walk across the local fields.  The snow is still here, but the pavements are getting better by the day and the path through the fields was okay.  Even the stiles were manageable - with no ice.  But I took a walking pole for good measure - just to assist with the balance and to ward off hungry bunnies!  No bears here.....no cougars, no wolves or coyotes.....However I watched an interesting programme recently about the re-introduction of beavers into the British countryside, though not here in York.  I used to hate what I called "miserable days" here in Britain, but now I am able to appreciate what such days have to offer.  Damp and misty, windless and cool would sum up yesterday.....and it was beautiful.  I had the fields to myself for the most part and took the time to concentrate on my senses.


Touch: The rough slippery slimy wood beneath my hand whilst clambering stiffly over the stiles. Feathery grasses dancing in the gentle breezes. Icy cold camera in stark contrast to my snuggly warm hands.

Sight: Amazing eerie mist, with the silhouette of barren trees standing to attention in all directions, as if the countryside's sentries. Small birds fluttering from tree to tree through the hedgerows (sparrows, tits, chaffinch, goldfinch). Larger birds (pigeons) exploding in a panicked mass from the upper reaches of a tree as I approach along the path. Blackbirds industrially searching beneath the hedges in their unforgiving search for calories. A grey heron passing overhead looking so majestic - I almost feel I should salute him. A pair of mallard ducks floating along the amazingly clean and clear waters of the drainage channel. A 'LBJ' (little brown jobbie) silently and mysteriously flitting from bank to bank in its search for food before flying away with an undulating gait way into the misty distance. Wildlife tracks in the snow.....crows (they sometimes drag their toes through the track leaving long lines as can be seen in the photo), bunnies - nothing too exotic! Abandoned farm machinery from times past. I wonder why?

Smell: Sweet and delicate smell of soiled straw piled along the path - I imagine to be the result of a mucked out barn.

Taste: I wasn't tempted to taste old snow, slurp water from the drainage channel or munch on berries!

Sound: A lot of silence interspersed with the endearing lowing of cows at a far away farm, chatter of hedgerow birds, a woodpecker drumming in the distance, cars cruising along a nearby lane, high pitched machinery squealing as it completed its task, flapping of wings from surprised birds - ducks and pigeons, scrunching of crisp old snow underfoot.


Here is a marvellous photo of the heron flying overhead.....(tee hee), accompanied by a photo of what better light would have produced!!

That's enough of my missive for today.  As you can see, I love nature and being outdoors in the countryside and sometimes there is nothing better than alone time, strolling quietly along, taking everything in.  I love where I live!

No comments:

Post a Comment