"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
WHAT?!!! No comments?!! Hi Brenda, it is Ann ( from Ohio)!🤗. OH you have brought JoY to my Sunday morning!!🤗🤗🤗. Where have I been?!! I am not sure why I have been missing! Anyway I am SO thankful to “see you this morning!! 🤗. I LOVED how you began that when you are asked ,”What have you been up to?” ~ that your answer seems so dull! I am also always perplexed by my own feeling of discomfort when I have to pause and think because I, like you ,am very busy,every day,with everything I love!! I loved each of your “ things”you love. Reading each of them found me thinking ,as I often have, that we are “ Soul Sisters!”
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I found myself stopping in a little “Pretty, Artisan shop that I hadn’t been in in years. It was a random stop . I wish I could share the 2 items that I decided to bring home! One was a handmade leather journal with a very Neat clasp. The paper inside is a bit like rice paper. Not sure yet how I will use it! I also found a lovely necklace made with beautiful light blue glass beads. Perhaps some time I”ll take a photo of both and send to you.☺️
As for magazines, like the British Country Living, YES! I am drawn to lovely covers and lovely. Magazines as little gifts. I did not see that edition and will look for it before the Summer ends.
Sweet treats, Yes!! ~ and of course, BOOKS! I always love to look at your stack! Our book club book for this month is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans and I am liking it a a lot! The reader is reading her previous letters to and from various people in her life . There is a narrative and underlying story through them.
Well, too much that I could say but I will simply say how HAPPY I am to catch your thoughts on both of your logs this morning!!!🤗.
Hope your Sunday is wonderful! Love to you Brenda!🌸
- Ann
Thank you, dear Ann, for your lovely note. I am off to reserve that title at the library that your book club is reading "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans. It sounds most interesting. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteWelcome back, Brenda! You have been missed. Your way of writing simply draws me in and makes me feel that a close friend has returned, safe and sound. Always happy to see your book stack, your gorgeous photography and beautiful way of putting things into words and images. Have a blessed week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear reader, for your lovely note. Your words made my day!
DeleteBrenda, I’m wondering if you are familiar with the Canadian poet Edna Jacques? She wrote several books of poetry in the 30s. I think you would really enjoy them. Hugs, Elaine (in Toronto)
ReplyDeleteElaine, I am not familiar with the poet Edna Jacques. I went in search of her to learn more, and I hope that I'll find some of her poetry somewhere, perhaps in a thrift store or used bookshop. Thank you for bringing her to my attention. Wishing you a beautiful day.
DeleteYes, thrift stores or antique malls is where I found most of mine. She wrote the poem “In Flanders Now” as a response to John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”. I believe Thrift Books might have some of her books of poetry. Hugs, Elaine (in Toronto).
DeleteThanks, Elaine, for the tip - I will check out Thrift Books. :)
DeleteBrenda,
ReplyDeleteI'm taken with your thought about the reason we write. I have stopped journaling, but I think I will take it up again. I want my grands and great grands (one day) to know me.
Deanna, thanks for your note. I think it's an awesome undertaking to consider journaling your stories with your grands and great grands as possible future readers. It's a lovely focus to write with them in mind. I wish you success.
DeleteI can totally relate to your simple response to the "So, what's new?" question.
ReplyDeleteMy life's not that exciting ("Not a lot going on at the moment")...except when Taylor Swift releases a new album. HA!
Ah, Margie, so you're a Swiftie fan. I do hope you'll love her latest. Thanks for your note, appreciate it. xo
DeleteI'm a morning coffee and afternoon tea kind of person as well. But both morning and afternoon are fine for reading. Another lovely post!
DeleteAmalia
xo
Amalia, absolutely! And well in the evening is also fine for reading. Thanks for stopping by! xo
ReplyDeleteBrenda that lovely poem by Nino is so poignant. Yes I suppose that is one of the reasons I journal daily. Perhaps someone may take the time to read the pages and find help for their own journey in life. Coffee is a necessity at my home...although when sick there is nothing better than a cup of tea to perk one up! Have a lovely day. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie, thanks for your note. I've been thinking about what to do with all my journals - I have boxes filled with them from when I started journaling in the 1980s. I don't have kids or grandkids to pass anything down to, but perhaps my nieces would take an interest if I prepared them in a way that was just a glimpse of my life rather than all the tedious details I end up writing down sometimes.
DeleteDid you know that Louisa May Alcott annotated her old journals? As she re-read them, she'd add little notes to explain things, to say how she saw things looking back, e.g., how she saw that some of the disappointments of her youth turned out to be a good thing in retrospect. And I thought maybe could be one way to give a future reader, whether a granddaughter or great-granddaughter or a stranger, the benefit of our youthful rages and tears and joys alongside our wiser maturity.
And L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables fame) knew that people would want to read her journals when she was long passed, and wrote them with that in mind, trying to be honest but aware other eyes would one day see them. Her editors years later published volumes of "Selected Journals" -- not everything from her original journals were published, editing to take out the humdrum stuff, the repetitious stuff, etc.
Something to ponder as we age and think about how to prepare our things for posterity.
Wishing you a beautiful day.