The magic of nature!

[justify]It is trash night and I have to take the trash out. There is not much, but then there is that compulsion not for keeping the trash, but an urgent need, a pull to step outside. I listen to the feeling and drag the almost empty trash bin out. The gentle breeze surprises me. I place the bin and look up and the sight beholds me. Yes, the crescent moon with Venus and Jupiter right below it twinkling brightly! I am stunned and am left wondering as to what I was thinking staying indoors. I plop myself on the drive way and I am in tears as I thank the creator whoever it is for the beauty that is brought to me. The still stars blinking silently and more of them seem to appear as the eye adjusts to the dim light making me wonder how easy it is to miss the obvious. The blinking lights of a plane so far away every now and then only add to the beautiful stillness of the sky, the swaying branches giving me only a glimpse of the moon from the spot I am sitting at and my attention is drawn to a sudden flash of light high up and as I continue to look up, I realize it is not a shooting star but fireflies dancing in delight to the swaying branches, rustling leaves, the gentle breeze, the moon light! Oh boy what a sight to behold and all I can do is accept all the lovely energy coming my way, thanking every moment that I got to spend outside, alone.

I needed that time to wind down. I have been trying hard but it was not happening. I am not sure about you but some days I do feel bogged down by the happenings of the outer world. I try hard but to no avail. A kind of heaviness settles down and I know not how to react! I look around for help but seem to feel even more lost. My plants are flowering well. Even my Jasmine and kanakambara (crossandra) have decided to bless me this year and oh that curry leaf plant is simply shooting up. I make a note to ask my cousin who has curry plant branching out as to how she does it. I talk to my orange plant asking if it will ever give me a fruit while I see a small leaf shooting from the almost dead stem of beetle leaf plant. I am grateful that it is choosing to grow back after what I put it through, weather-wise! I see that the vegetable patch is growing well but has to fight it's way through the weeds to show me what vegetables they bear. I see them, reap the yield - three beans, 5 pea pods, some strawberries and the flowers in bloom for the hopeful yield of pumpkin and cucumber, not to forget the tomatoes.

Finally the yard work guys show up and clean up the yard like never before. They had to what with the yard having grown like a forest in their absence. There is an incessant steady drizzle but they work through the rain. The birds continue to chirp. All that work kids had put in assembling the feeders and then filling with the seed just the previous day has paid off. So many birds flying by, stopping to get some food and a drink! Oh how nice it feels. My pup continues to look at them with his head going this way and that but refuses to go out. Everything looks beautiful from the safe confines of the house perhaps to him. And oh when I try to take him out with an umbrella, I know I have put fear of rain permanently in him. The tup tup sound on the umbrella makes him drag me, run and hide under a bush looking at me pleadingly once and then again with a "What's up with you lady?" look!

With a sigh I come back in to the house, look at the sink full of dishes to be taken care of. As I do the dishes, looking out through the window at the better view I am gaining because of the clearing, my attention is drawn to an ant dragging a dead fly on the window sill. I smile wondering perhaps for a rainy day and realize hey that day is today! With the dishes done, I make a cup of coffee and on a spur decide to sit outside. Yes, in the rain. I have not done this in a long time. As I step out onto the patio despite the incessant rain, the swing is not wet and I am thrilled for now that can be my perching point. With a book in one hand, the warm mug of coffee in the other, I sit out thinking of those days growing up enjoying the monsoon sitting out in the balcony and eating pakoras! I don't have to tell you that that feeling is so heavenly...being in the open, rain falling in little droplets, the occasional breeze bringing in some mist my way. I suddenly feel calm and all the heaviness that I seemed to have been feeling lifted away suddenly. I then knew that the world knows how to take care of itself. I can only add to the beauty of it.

My DD comes down, finds me gently swinging in the rain and not getting wet and is by my side in a jiffy with a glee.[/justify]

 

Dear Kamalji,

I was exactly thinking of that sleeping on the terrace, eating dinner on the terrace with family and all that. In fact I don't remember much of power cuts growing up but my parents made sure we were up enjoying the moonlit sky

So happy to read your memories of your childhood Kji. Thank you for sharing.

 

Dear Syamala,

Thank you for your words. I did read about the heat wave especially in your parts of the world. I agree with you, thank God it is over and what a relief it must have been to receive all that rain.

We have been having cloudy skies forever and ever and it was treat to have clear skies for sometime in the night. Rain good...just clouds...not so good. So it was a treat.

 

Dear Vani,

Thank you for your words and for enjoying the stillness with me Loved it!