Awesome everyday things number 1.

Soooo this might seem kind of odd, but here it is, 

Good Friday morning and I'm laying in bed and just allowing my mind to wander a bit. I reflected on some conversations from last evening at the local Full Moon Pizza Night and how much I enjoyed myself catching up with old friends and new. 

Next thing I know I am looking intently at the weave in my sheets. I know, bit crazy. And I thought wow! How beautiful are these things around  me?! I have sheets that cost me $8 each from the op shop, pillow cases that were 50c each, and a bed cover I paid  $10 for at a school fete. 

But what I was noticing was how fine the weave was on those items. The threads are so thin and fine. The weave is so tight. They are so smooth and comfortable. But how do they do that? How do they make these things? Any weaving I've done myself over the years has been clunky and pretty unattractive...think cardboard looms and wool scraps. But this is sublime. So amazing. So very, very beautiful to look at and to feel. Yes, I know, if you weren't fully convinced that I am a nut-case before, perhaps that is clearer now!! Or perhaps I'm not mad at all but awake!

That is the beauty of having a little time on your hands - you notice things you might miss rushing through every day of your life up 'til that moment. How often have you, like me, taken for granted the fabrics that surround you on a daily basis? Stop, take a look and see how truly extraordinary they really are. Usually I'm busy looking at the treasures I find in nature, but this morning I found man-made treasures wrapped around me in my bed. I am so grateful for the ability to see them this way. 

Of course, pondering about my sheets led me to quiz Mr YouTube to find out more about how these wondrous fabrics came into being. Take a look at this and be gobsmacked! 

Here's wishing you a truly blessed day. 

Tell me about something cool you noticed today in the comments. 

Be awake!

Happy Easter.

With Love

Kerry x

The Joy of Going Out for a Walk

How good it is just to get in the car, drive a while, get out and go walking. I'm not talking big walks or hard walks but just being outside in nature, whatever the weather is doing. The feelings I experience aren't easy to put into words, but I am struck with wonder at the immense beauty in this place, many places. It is right to go and feel that. It is right to go and look and see.

A friend and I  talked about the idea that taking photos can detract from an experience, and I guess in many situations that might be true, but for me... For me, walking with my digital camera is like having joy in my hands. I can take as many photos as I like. As many as I want to. I remember the days when the recording of an event was limited to 12 shots...or 24...and chances were they would be pretty disappointing shots by the time they came back a week or two later after being 'developed'.

I am overwhelmed and overjoyed to have this wonderful tool to play with when I'm out walking. I notice the details and love the surprise of finding something quirky or something that stands out to me. Click and I have it to review later. Really, it is just such fun!

So, today I walked with a friend back over the track I walked on Tuesday to Lake Osborne. On Tuesday it was bright and sunny and warm and clear...a perfect day. Today it was overcast and drizzly and misty with a quite cool breeze coming through now and then...a perfect day.

I love the change affected by a differently perfect day. The light, the colours, the feel of the air on my face and in my lungs. Even in the same week.

Here are some snaps for those that don't have the energy or the time or the beautiful places so close by. I hope these bring some joy to you too, or that they will inspire you to go for a walk and notice the little things along the way. I hope that you're lucky enough to have a digital camera...or a camera phone... If not you can take wonderful 'eye' pictures to dream on when you get home. 

With Love

Kerry 

Tiny fungus, so bright it took my attention.

A rock on the path, a work of art. Truly magical.

Not snow but glorious lichen. 

Magnificent Snow Gums...the rain made them 'pop'.

Rocky outcrops shrouded in misty mystery.

Lake Osborne reflecting the mood of the day.

Time, grief, healing, regret, some time in a perfect place...and love.

Today is Bill's birthday. He would have been 64 years old but that possibility was taken from him by cancer in August 2012. His birthday is a day that marks time now in a new way. Birthdays missed. Time with his kids missed. Their time with him...missed. On it goes. 

Mark setting the pace...me, I get distracted.

How wonderful it is to have boardwalk pathways to beautiful places.

The days leading up to 8th March are nervous ones for me because I'm never quite sure how the day will be. I write it on the calendar every year. Bill's birthday. Not because I will forget. Just because. I'm never sure whether to talk about it or not. I don't want the kids to be upset - but how can they not be. But I have to because if I don't it's as if he wasn't here and such a big part of my life. For 33 years of my life. So I thought about him a lot today.

Hartz Mountain

Mysteries unfolding for us in but one tiny place - this world is full of wonder.

I'm grateful that I didn't have to work today, Tuesdays being my 'day off' this year. The weather was beautiful and last night Mark and I had talked about doing a walk today. Doing a walk is a bit different to going for a walk. It means going someplace we don't usually go. It means going with purpose and determination to achieve something new. So today we did a walk. It entailed first a drive. 

Tiny inhabitant enjoying the sun.

Splashes of colour. Note to self - must come back in the springtime.

We headed off about lunchtime with a picnic in the back pack and drove north to Geeveston. We headed out towards the Tahune Airwalk, intending to head off at the Hartz Mountain turn off. Alas, busy chatting, we missed the turn and after a bit of discussion and "We'll just go a little bit further," we got the Airwalk and realised we had something wrong. Conferring with the GPS (last resort, perhaps we should have checked in with it sooner...) we discovered that we were 13kms wrong and had to backtrack that distance to find Hartz Road. 

Lake Osborne - treasure set on a glacial plain.

Tiny plants - Fibonacci wonderland.

Fortunately it was such a beautiful day so a drive through the forest was not a bad thing. Soon we were back on track and enjoying a bumpy ride on the gravel Hartz Road. We soon found ourselves in the more open alpine country and then at the end of the road where a number of walks begin. There was a long drop toilet and a place to register time and date and numbers in our 'party' before heading off. 

King Billy Pine standing guard over the lake.

Wonderful jagged teeth.

The walk to Lake Osborne was our destination today. A short 40 minutes return, but as we have both had health challenges in recent times, it seemed just the right amount of  leisurely exercise for a day out. Hopefully it will be the catalyst for more doing of walks and we will build our fitness and ability to take on more challenging trails in the future.

The clarity of the water was breath-taking - so was the temperature, even at this time of year. I dangled my toes for a while and enjoyed the refreshing coolness.

I thought on the drive that I could have brought a photo of Bill along so he was 'with' us. I'll have one ready to carry with me next year. Anyway, he was in my thoughts and I guess when you have passed it's good to be in the memories of those who loved and cared about you. It's good for those of us left behind to remember good times and to know the great influence others have had on our growth as people and on the direction our lives have taken. For those of you who don't know, Bill and I divorced about six years before he passed away. There were hard times and sad times and they weigh heavily when I give them time and energy. There were also many, many wonderful times and I honour both here because they are part of life.

Gorgeous fungi - part of the joy of doing a walk.

Bill, you would have loved Lake Osborne. Mark pondered why people destroy so many places of great natural beauty when you feel so good just being there and looking at them. Why indeed. It was good to see Mark relaxed and happy in this place. He sat on a rock and drank in the sunshine and the glorious peace and tranquility of this place. We chatted. Took a few photos and headed back. We didn't talk about you but I know you were both with us and on our minds. 

After the walk - so not at all taxing - just right for us today.

Time passes no matter what we do. Grief happens. It's part of life. It's hard and messy and we all have to work through it at some stage. We have to do it in our own way. This is part of my work. Healing comes with tears and talking and not talking and going to beautiful places that soothe the soul and put us back in touch with who we really are. Regret. Yes, there it is. There are things I would love to do differently. Things I would love to be able to change. To wind time back and change direction. With hindsight. How great would it be to be able to go back and change things now and then. Not our job. Our job is to live with what is. To learn from it. To grow from it. To learn love from it. How to give love and to receive love and to celebrate love. 

Divorced, teary, talking on the phone in the months leading up to the end of Bill's life. I said these words to him. The love never dies. No, he said. I know. And there we sat together on the phone, many miles apart but knowing there was love.