Five on Friday: Meandering and Musing

"It is the glistening autumnal side of summer.

I feel a cool vein in the breeze, which braces my thought."

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

When people ask me "So, what's new?" I usually feel stymied for an answer. My life is generally quiet—the usual daily events happen in undramatic ways so it's hard to come up with something that feels fresh and interesting to say. I often end up saying, 'Oh, nothing much." Which sounds kind of dull. Which, of course, isn't quite true but it's the simplest answer. In my imagination, I am much more vivacious and much more interesting, and I wish a little of that would translate into 'real' life conversations when it's needed. Haha

I do think better when I can write it. I have time to think, and my mind more easily scouts for descriptions and scenes that might amuse or catch someone's interest.

Since the question's been raised, what's new? God's grace and mercy are new every morning. Thankfully. New blossoms keep showing up every day on the lacy daylilies, and on those clove-scented dark pink pin cushion plants (for which the name escapes at the moment).

There are new cups of coffee to savour sitting in the garden in the warm breeze. And speaking of coffee, I like coffee in the mornings, tea in the afternoons, but if I have only one to choose from, it would have to be coffee.

I'm ever on the lookout for what beauty stirs me on a given day. What the sky looks like today, how the trees are bending in the wind, if the clouds are drifting or racing, which birds are still singing at this time of year.  It's those kinds of moments where that unexplainable feeling on the inside wells up with delight or contentment or a sense of well-being. But how does one say that out loud into words?

Sitting at my desk today, hopefully a few little things have jostled up to make your visit worth your while. I'm so glad you stopped by. 🥰

One. The weather

"Autumn approaches and the

heart begins to dream."

Bashō

The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets

The morning was overcast and cool. We put off our early morning walk and went straight to coffee as we hoped it would feel less jacket needful later in the day. (Later...) it started raining and got all puddly out there. And since we might melt in the rain, we'll save our walk for tomorrow.

The sun set at 8:58 p.m., more than an hour earlier than it set on Summer Solstice in June. The slant of the sun comes in differently through our west windows. One doesn't have to look at the calendar to feel the season shifting. I am loathe to hurry summer but it's doing so on its own.

 

Two. Summer treats

I am always in need of little treats and tiny adventures (something a little off the beaten path). You probably feel that too. It doesn't matter who we are, we all love those things that add variety and a bit of spice and the unexpected to the patterns and routines of our lives. Just enough to add a sparkle. They could include:

- Fresh peaches, cherries, raspberries

- New baby potatoes cooked with fresh dill

- 'No Sugar Added' dark chocolate almond Revellos

(we called them revels growing up, the "o" is silent - haha)

- Stepping out the front door late in the evening and catching

the fragrance of the evening scented stock in the air.

- A welcome text that says, 'Will you be home Saturday? We're

in the area and would love to stop in for a wee visit'.

Three. Magazine

I have been enjoying finding this British magazine in the stands each new season. This time I'm enjoying the summer edition. The photos are stunning—I'd buy the magazine for that front cover alone. There's something about the deep blue vase alongside the golden sunflower that turns my colour crank to high appeal. Love, love, love the contrast.

Four. Reading

“So many books, so little time.”

New Acquisitions (includes thrift store finds)

Unnatural Causes

by P.D. James (mystery, 1967)

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn

by Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse, 1977)

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

by Dorothy Gilman (mystery, 1983)

Finishing School, The Happy Ending to That Writing

Project You Can't Seem to Get Done

by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton (on writing, 2017)

A Hundred Pieces of Me

by Lucy Dillon (novel, 2014)

Gina, recently divorced, wants to make a fresh start and throw away

all her possessions except for the one hundred things that mean the most to her.

(Borrowed this from the library years ago but it wasn't there

when I hankered a reread, so I bought my own copy.)

Walking Home, A Poet's Journey

by Simon Armitage (2012)

"The Romantic poets tramped all over the Lake District searching

for inspiration. How does a traveling poet fare in the modern world?"

-excerpt from back cover

Three More Books Read From My 'Unread' Shelf

The Royal Librarian

by Daisy Wood (historical WWII novel, 2024)

A young woman from Vienna, at the outset of war, flees to England

where she ends up working in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.

Summer

by Edith Wharton (short novel, 1917)

A young woman living with her adoptive father in a

small village is desperate to escape the tedium of her small world.

Lovely descriptions of the surroundings.

Louisa May Alcott, A Personal Biography

by Susan Cheever (2010)

(Still reading, and enjoying, this bio. I see how

much I didn't know about Louisa May Alcott's background.)

Five. This catches my eye

"No one will ever know

that we lived,

that we touched the streets

with our feet

that we danced joyfully,

No one will ever know

that we gazed at the sea

from the train windows,

that we breathed

the air that settles

on the cafe chairs,

No one will ever know

that we stood on the terrace-of-life

until the others arrived."

NINO PEDRETTI, "Nobody Will Know"

(Italian poet, 1923 - 1981)

Those first two lines especially grabbed me. That's probably why those of us who write, write, isn't it? So that someone will read our words one day, maybe even in the distant future, and know we lived. That we once stood on the terrace-of-life, just as they will one day. I'm glad for Nino Pedretti who wrote these poignant words.

❦

Sending bunches of wishes to you for

a beautiful day and week ahead,

Brenda

Photo credits:

(Top) Image by Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life

(Sunflower) Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

(Raspberries) Image by ... from Pixabay

(Magazine) Image by Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life

(Books) Image by Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful LIfe

(Cafe) Image by Christel from Pixabay