Some Other Sunrise

You know how it is. You're doing ordinary things - we were on our way to the Docs early on this morning. As I was locking up - this fabulous sunrise. Just had to go back and grab my camera. Moments later the sky lightened and it had disappeared.
We went to a funeral this afternoon. A close friend of ours had died suddenly on New Year's Eve. After the shock and disbelief, I'm glad that there was a space of just over three weeks before the actual funeral took place. Time to get my head around things. He was a character and a half, a sharp wit and a practical joker. One of those people, just having him around made the day a little bit brighter. All of two hundred people were packed in that little church.
It was just a privilege to have someone like him walk through my life. I'm sure a lot of people felt the same as I did. More, 'the celebration of a life' than 'the mourning of a death.' Is it wrong to admit that you enjoyed a funeral?  But this one I did.
Hey Gordon. We'll miss you.

Happy ........ ?

What puts the 'Happy' in 'Happy New Year'?  I was watching 'Breakfast', this morning.  The presenter was interviewing someone talking about what makes people happy. What makes you happy?

I thought about it as we went for our morning walk. It was blooming cold last night. Everything was frozen solid this morning and the roadsides covered in rime. Being able to go for a walk makes me happy.

Early morning silence and pausing on the bridge to watch the stream go rolling down makes me happy.

Rime covered grass makes me happy. Love the crunch it makes.

Finding frozen seed heads makes me happy.

A pile of sticks floated down on the last storm. They'll be cut up and put in the log pile tomorrow.
Those also.

Not going A over T on the ice, like my friend Miriam did the other week. This part of the road was just like a skating rink - that definitely made me happy.
Happy New Year

Sometimes ......

the truth hurts

What Makes You Feel Happy?

Go on - tell me.

Our Planet Earth

I took the above pictures through the past year or so of life in the mountains here. (Still getting the hang of You tube)

Sometimes you see something or read something and it just sort of clicks. I love the creative work that some people are able to do. Recently I stopped by a hand made card stall. All the cards were exquisite, but the one that really appealed to me had these words in calligraphy.

"The wind that gave our father his first breath

also receives his last sigh

Whatever befalls the Earth

befalls the son of earth

Man did not weave the web of life,

he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web

he does to himself,

The earth does not belong to man

Man belongs to the earth."

David Wood - Attributed to Chief Seattle

 So much so that I bought it and kept it. Then I had to find out a bit more about  Chief Seattle who lent his name to the city of Seattle. I think he could well be right.

Keep Between The Lines

 Following on from John and Tom's recent blog posts, I'm writing another of those 'funeral' stories.  It really isn't intended to make light of someone's pain. No way! That's the last thing in the world I would want to do. The events just appealed to my wooky sense of humour. Bear with me.
It happened in Welshpool a couple of years ago when there was rumour of a tanker driver's strike.  The price of petrol and diesel was going through the roof and the petrol station was choc-a-bloc.
'No worries for him about the cost of diesel', Other Half remarked. We were quietly waiting our turn in the queue at the pumps. A sleek black hearse passed by on the main road ahead of us. The coffin was draped with the Union Jack and a wreath of white roses and lilies balanced on the top of it. The driver drove sedately over the mini roundabout and disappeared from view towards the town centre. Our turn to fill up - £1.33 per litre, cripes! (and that's nothing to what they're charging now). O/H did the necessary and joined the other queue at the till in the shop. I sat in the passenger seat idly watching the world go by. Suddenly the same hearse appeared from the opposite direction, going like a bat out of hell. Oops! Wrong venue! Oh shite!

The driver, mobile phone pressed against his ear - never-mind-the-law and one hand rolling the steering wheel. He shot over the mini roundabout, the coffin fairly bounced.  I was quite expecting his fare to sit straight up and tap him on the shoulder and tell him to slow down or end up by the side of him in the passenger seat. I never forgot it.

Another near death experience I had this week We have a green rain barrel at the top end of the poly tunnel. As I bent down to fill the watering can, I noticed something strange floating on top of the water. It was yellow and black no more than 2 “ long, with drooping exhausted wings. I picked a leaf from the apple tree and gently scooped the little insect to the relative safety of an upturned plant pot. It was a baby dragon fly. The warmth of the afternoon sun dried the tiny wings and before too long he was buzzing again with the joy of life and in the morning he was gone!