Feeling guilty

The stars wink out as night's silence is broken
Early birds start welcoming dawns gift of day
My brain charges me to get up like a child
Whose only options are to eat, sleep or play

So I do, out of the blue, jump out of bed
Skip shower, don jeans and sneakers "Hello Day"
It's a bit drafty out here, don't care, I'm wired
I'm off, I'm happy, don't care what you all say!

I"m on the walking trail, not many about
Just a twitter and hoot, but look there's a Jay
Tinkle of water means a stream is nearby
I stray from the path, take care, don't lose your way

The water's so clear and the bottom is sand
I sit on the bank, fish fry darting in play
And all manner of things, and weeds wave to me
Squeak behind as grey squrrel says "Go away"

But the clouds have come up; pity, just my luck
It looks stormy up there and now it's quite gray
That has marred my wonderful adventure out
Feeling guilty; as what will the nursing home say?

Image found at https://www.videoblocks.com/video/old-man-sitting-on-a-bench-180224_41wga

A ship sails in sight

Oh that I would drownèd be
Wrecked on lonely shore is me
Dressed in rags no sustenance
Such terrible happenstance
Not one soul to accompany me

Shelter shelter I must find
Lest I fail in this cruel wind
Cursing captain and the crew
That met this storm for they knew
The sea is not always kind

Palm fronds shall my shelter be
Coconut to comfort me
Blow wind blow go blow away
Let me see a sunlit day
Now saved I am from the sea

What speech this, not heard before
As I awake upon the shore
Oh no! The natives of this place
Will surely show death's cruel face
Not give me some succour

They jabber and laugh with glee
Then they pull me to my feet
I see some now fishing by
The tide is now at its high
Children run to look at me

They poke their hands in my skin
And scamper off all laughing
The women now come to stare
I gulp seeing breasts all bare
They chatter and all do grin

Before long I'm one of them
Accepted they do not condemn
My clumsy tongue and strange ways
One girl sets my heart ablaze
I love her she is a gem

One day a ship sails in sight
Now I'm fearful of my plight
Should I sail with them again?
No this is my home, no pain
I'll not leave my future's bright

As always my mind takes me on adventurous journeys and the prompt word "Despair'" although not used is implied in the first four verses and the last of course! It is best to read this with an 18th century English accent! Verses rhyme 1,1,2,2,1. 

Image 1 found at www.gettyimages.com

View over the ocean (Dum Tales no 30)

It was a beautiful morning. The skies were blue and the air was still and there was barely a cloud in the sky. Song walked through the village and saw that Dum was repairing a post in the barricade around the settlement that kept wild animals away at night. Yum sat outside their hut threading shells on a small necklet for one of the children of the village.

“Let’s go for a walk” invited Song. “I know a place where there is a great view of the sea". She pointed to the hills behind them, “Dum can come too.”

“What are you planning, Song?” Yum asked.

Song smiled, “I have a yearning. I want more; I want to see more; I want to learn more.”

Yum looked sadly at Song as they walked along, “Sometimes happiness is staying still, just living our lives in safety.”

Dum finished finished his work and caught up with them. It was just the three adults as the children had been left safely behind within the village playing with their friends.

They climbed higher up the mountainside than they had ever done before. A light breeze blew their hair and the smell of the trees and the flowers was much different than on the plain and by the seashore.

Dum kept looking out to sea. He could see further than he had ever done before even with his one eye, as the air was so still and the sky so clear and the heat of summer was not yet upon them.

"I must rest" said Yum finding a small open area to look out over the ocean. Song sat as well and they noticed she extracted some nibbles for them to eat while they admired the view. While they chatted Yum continued to observe the horizon and suddenly called out, “Look, look far in the distance do you see what I see?” all the while pointing with her fingers to where she was looking. Dum of course only had one eye so he said “What is it you see?”

Song just smiled. “That is why we have come up here. When the sky is so clear we can see so very far, far away when we look out from here. I have seen it before. It looks like another land...I want to go there.”

Dum looked at Yum and Yum looked as though she would cry, for she loved Song for she was such a strong woman and knew so much. She did not want to lose her. So then Dum asked Song “How will you get there?”

“Well Dum, you will build a boat for me...well, for us all perhaps. We should all see what is there. We have the ability, we have the courage and we have the love to explore our world.”

Yum looked doubtful, “What if it is terrible or dangerous there?”

Song put her hand on Yum’s face “Then we will come back” she smiled. “But remember we have much to trade.”

So this was the day that man instead of wandering by foot on land decided to explore the world by sea.

Note that Song’s reference to their having much to trade was of course their knowledge.

I cannot guarantee that we shall hear any more of Dum's family but there is always a chance my time machine will take me back there again.

Image found at www.spatialdrift.com

The road that leads nowhere

                            Brolgas dancing                          

Many years ago my wife attended a series of talks on bird watching run by an expert in the field. So enthusiastic was she that she went to weekend retreats looking for birds on deserted sea shores, impenetrable bush and even sewage farms where only the elite species gather.

It wasn’t long before I was roped in on this pastime and wide eyes and extreme quiet were necessary to go on such adventures together with drinking water, snacks, stout shoes, binoculars, hat, insect repellent, notebook, field book to Australian birds and of course a good measure of patience.

We each kept our own sightings list but hers was longer than mine as she had started well before me with guidance at her side. The lists kept were endless; sightings for all time, sightings for this year, for last year and the years before that. Birds seen in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland all had their own lists.

Visitors from abroad would often be taken on drives in the country to the real Australia on dirt roads that probably hadn’t seen any traffic since bullock wagons were the transport of choice. We would take a break by the roadside and just sit while the feathered inhabitants would realize that all was well and they could start fossicking for food again and we would have front row seats.

If we spoke it was in whispers and no more to the inhabitants than the susurration of the wind. There seemed to be a tacit agreement if we did not disturb them they would tell us their secrets. On a trip to Victoria we took the back roads and hunted for good sites to see birds. It was winter and many fields were flooded. Much to our surprise we came across a flock of birds far from what we thought was their native habitat in the Northern Territory. Brolgas are a species of Australian crane that loves to dance; and so they did.

                               Echidna checking for ants

Back in South Australia we found a conservation park that promised much but yielded few birds for us so after a fruitless search we returned to a clearing and sat down and had bite to eat and drink with our backs to the scrubby trees. Watchful always for snakes we listened for slithery sounds in the undergrowth. There were none so we ate our meal and as we did so we heard a movement in the bushes. Very quietly we turned to see an Echidna snuffling about not mindful of us at all, just busy looking for ants. He looked at us as if to say “Oh yes, the birds did say you were here looking for them, but they said they are not going to fly around in this heat just for you.”  With his long sticky tongue he slurped up a few more ants and then went on his way with barely a nod.

Another time we were in Queensland in a national park. We knew there was a lake in the middle of it so we walked a few kilometres there noted a few birds all of which we had seen before then trekked our way back to the car left under the trees.  There were a number of angry wardens there circling the vehicle. We had met their kind before Lace monitors were their name and they were opportunists knowing that vehicles meant food might be available. Leaving my wife hidden I approached from a different direction. I got into the car whilst they were checking their appearance in the nearside mirror. As soon as I started the engine they scattered and my wife was able to jump in as well.

Bird watching gave us a broader view of the environment, so remember if you take a road that leads nowhere you might have the time of your life and meet who really lives close by.

                              Lace Monitor looking for a free lunch

 

 

 

 

 

My Backyard

My backyard did not end at the rusty three wire fence at the bottom of the garden. That was merely the portal to my magical world so that I could leave the confines of home with a troublesome brother, parental stricture and the mundane life of ordinary average people that association with would stunt my growth and development.

So I slipped away between that fence's wire strands to set foot in a land of every wonder and delight. The clucking of the hens and the order of my father’s vegetable garden were gone and I like Livingstone before me could view a land of deepest mystery and untold delights.

The grass was high (for me that is) and I strode my small steps across that meadow with haymaking still far off and observed by unseen rabbits and probably a fox cross that his stalking would come to nothing as I reached the woodland not a hundred yards from home.

If the meadow was the sea through which I sailed, my entry into a fantastic wood filled with tall trees and hazel bushes and the calls of birds warning of my approach were to me a jungle in Africa where my eyes were peeled for dangers underfoot and as well heeding the scampering of squirrels in the trees chirping their disgust that this explorer should invade their territory.

The occasional clearing would be invaded with brambles to snare my clothes as I ploughed my way through this jungle realm and acute hearing would alert me to the tinkle of a water course where my parched lips could find relief in the pristine stream that wound its way through this new found paradise.

A flash of blue darts past my eyes and a kingfisher flees from my approach as the moist ground now sucks at my feet and there looking down I spy the disappearing tail of a grass snake disturbed in its hunt for food.

I kneel down on the banks of the stream and scoop up a welcome draught of fresh water in my hands to cool my endeavours thus far. Near by is a fallen tree whose old trunk is now covered with moss that forms a right royal seat for the explorer who sit and waits, listening for the sound of the natives of that magical place.

All is silent even the wild creatures are stilled as they sense another presence yet still far off. I too strain my ears to hear that fearful sound now booming with frightful import sending all my fellow creatures fleeing for safety.

“Robin, its lunchtime!” Came the call.