Mary Oliver, Paying Attention

 

"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work."

Happy Birthday to Mary Oliver, who  is 76 today.  She is one of my favourite poets because of her abilities to connect the soul and the landscape.  She is the favourite poet of many, has authored more than twenty books, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in the US.

Here is her poem:  The Morning Walk

There are a lot of words meaning thanks.
Some you can only whisper.
Others you can only sing.
The pewee whistles instead.
The snake turns in circles,
the beaver slaps his tail
on the surface of the pond.
The deer in the pinewoods stamps his hoof.
Goldfinches shine as they float through the air.
A person, sometimes, will hum a little Mahler.
Or put arms around old oak tree.
Or take out lovely pencil and notebook to find a few
touching and kissing words.

This poem is from Mary Oliver's book Long Life:  Essays and Other Writings, published in 2004 by First Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA.

Dwarf Sunspot Sunflower

I received a gift of a Dwarf Sunspot Sunflower; the first sunflower I've ever had!  I don't know much about sunflowers, other than the obvious, that there are myriad varieties and different sizes of these yellow-petalled wonders.  Doing research netted three intriguing facts.

Heliotropism - There is a common misconception that sunflowers track the sun.  Mature flower heads typically face east and do not move.  The leaves and buds of young sunflowers do exhibit heliotropism (sun turning).  Their orientation turns from east to west during the course of a day.

Spiral Florets - The florets within the sunflower's cluster are arranged in a spiral pattern.  Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5 degrees, providing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers.  Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other.  This pattern produces the most effective packing of seeds within the flower head.

This pattern appears in many other places in nature, such as branching in trees, arrangements of leaves on a stem, the fruit spouts of a pineapple, for example.

In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers are numbers in the following integer sequence:  0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144....   The first two Fibonacci numbers are 0 and 1, and each of the subsequent numbers is the sum of the previous two.

Guerrilla Gardening - International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day is May 1.  It is a day when guerrilla gardeners around the world plant sunflowers in their neighbourhoods, typically in neglected public spaces.  Sounds like fun!

I am grateful for the cheerful sunny flower I received and for the sunflower facts I found.  I'm planting my gift in an oak barrel in my yard, so I can enjoy it outside and it can get the sun it needs!  We'll both be content.

If you'd like more information, you can go to other websites for additional details and pictures by clicking on the words in red.  All photos are mine.

Autumn Moves

We've lived in this house for 6 years; that's the longest time I've spent in one place since my first marriage ended, over 21 years ago.  Between then and now, I've moved ten times.  I suppose I've become used to making a home, "pulling up stakes", moving again and starting over.

I love this home we're in now.  It's become more "us" with each passing season.  This home cradles us in its cozy spaces and offers peace and shelter and comfort.  I do love living here.

There are times when I feel overwhelmed by all the yardwork that needs attention, or walls that need painting, or collections of "stuff" that need sorting...but I know that this dissatisfaction rises within me; it is of my own making.

The house itself doesn't demand any of this from me.  All the house requires is to be maintained and be clean and be tidy.

Most of the times I've moved in the past, it has been in the autumn.  Perhaps there is something about this season that stirs me to dream of moving, of changes, of starting over, of making a new nest.  Perhaps it is some ancient animal instinct about preparing a solid nest for winter, for hibernation, readying a safe, warm space to live a different life.  A life that is hibernation, that is restful, that is more interior, more creative.

I don't know. I don't know why I feel this way when the air begins to cool, the morning mists appear and the leaves, a few at a time, begin to display their bright colours.

Something, unseen and nomadic, in me longs to go, to be somewhere else, to start again as the days grow shorter and the nights grow crisp.

It is my personal mystery!

European Starlings, the Original "Flash Mob"

The European Starling was introduced to North America in 1890 and 1891, when about 60 individuals were released into New York's Central Park.  It was part of the local Shakespeare society's plan to introduce all the birds mentioned in their favourite author's writings, according to Roger Burrows in Birds of Atlantic Canada.

Since the 1890's, the starling spread quickly across the continent, often at the expense of other native, cavity-nesting birds.  Despite efforts to control or to eradicate the European starling, it continues to claim wider territory.

European starlings are perhaps the real originators of the "flash mob" concept!  They are boisterous, loud, travel in large groups, making a constant stream of rattles, whirrs, and whistles.  Much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy feeding flocks.

In summer, these stocky dark birds with short tails, triangular-shaped wings and yellow beaks are actually iridescent purplish-green.  In winter, their plumage changes to brown covered in brilliant white spots; their bills to brown.  Notice the exotic polka dot colouring in this "flash mob" captured by my sister and brother-in-law, at their backyard birdbath.

I also saw starlings just getting into their fall colours, at the Halifax waterfront last Saturday.  As we sat eating our lunch and enjoying the boats on the water, these aggressive birds wandered the boardwalk demanding french fries and any other left-over food from patrons at the Historic Properties.

I did not immediately identify them as starlings, as I thought they kept their dark glossy colours all year round.  As they flew over the water, I saw that in flight their wings are short and pointed, which makes them look like small four-pointed stars.  While doing research, I learned that this star shape is what gives them their name.

These photos were taken by my sister and brother-in-law. 

If you click on any of the red words, you will go to another website with additional information.



Prospect Bay, Nova Scotia

On Saturday, we explored Route 333 in Nova Scotia, turning off on the Prospect Bay Road, travelling all the way out to Indian Point Road.  We ended up in a quaint collection of homes set on the roughly-bouldered coastline of southern Nova Scotia.

We parked the car and walked carefully

through the swampy bits

and over huge boulders

to reach the water's edge.

It was approaching sunset and the wind was up

so we were cautious and stayed well back

from the water's edge, knowing that this particular coast

can be deadly as well as beautiful.

It is wise to treat the Atlantic Coast with respect,

as many have been sucked off the rocks

by a rogue wave, and not all have returned.

For us, on Saturday, it was a windy walk to

a wildly breath-taking coastline, and the

peach-pink glow of sunset for company

on our path home.

All photos are mine.  If you click on the words in red,

you will go to another website with additional information.

Autumn

Autumn again comes round

this season of morning mist

of mustard pickles and raspberry jelly

of homemade breads and rolls and spice cookies

of cooler days and a mellow peacefulness.

All these photos are mine.

Best Part of This Day

One afternoon this week, I attended a wedding shower for the daughter of a dear friend.  Most of the women are much older than the bride-to-be.  We were all close friends of her mother; her mother, who when she knew she was dying, years ago, asked all of us to continue to stay connected with her children.

Now her daughter, a young woman, talented, beautiful, wise and warm as was her mother, is getting married this Saturday. We gathered to share laughter, love, stories, dreams, tea and sandwiches, to give her gifts and our blessings as she enters this new covenant in her life.

Some of the blessings came in the form of advice.  One woman in our group told a gentle story about how, at a particularly trying time in her marriage, her husband asked her to tell him about the best part of her day.  She told him.  They shared with each other the best parts of their day.  It helped them then. She says that they have been holding that ritual every day since.  It still helps.

My curiosity piqued; so I tried it.

Each evening since the shower, I’ve shared what has been the “best part of the day” with my husband and he, with me.  It is amazing what focusing on a positive moment in the day can bring.

Talking about the best parts of our days eases tension, gives perspective, feels good and tempers frustrations.

It blesses the day that has gone and renews hope for the one to come, all the while offering a few moments of tranquility and appreciation to our lives.

Of all the advice and blessings we offered at the wedding shower, I believe that this simple story was the best.

Try it!

What has been the best part of this day for you?