Springtime Down Under | Arthritis Information

 

What a beautiful morning I woke up today.  Wow - it's a cracker!!

Made me think of another morning in September, 2000, and I wrote these few words I'd like to share.

SPRINGTIME IN SILVERSTREAM

 

All around me, spring has arrived this morning.  I awoke to the sound of  a  tui’s beautiful song.    One lone  voice ,  which is quickly joined by others.

Later,  I watch a tui as he performs his aerial acrobatics -  turning himself upside down to drink the nectar from the emerging kowhai  blossoms.

I hear the swish of a wood pigeon on the wing as he  flies past  my window looking for a place to land.    He chooses,  I think unwisely,  a tiny frail twiglet of a branch on the skeleton  of the old oak tree.  He defies gravity,  by remaining there,  swaying,  watching,  until his partner too comes to join him. Together they fly off again, only to be replaced quickly by another roving pair.  And yet another pair arrives.   All around, tiny fantails are gathering, swirling and dipping as they practise their emerging  flight skills.   They have not yet learned to be afraid of me,  and come quickly down to  feast on the scraps of bread that I scatter on the ground.   A soft, mysterious swishing of wings heralds the arrival of  yet another gloriously elegant wood pigeon, the sun  by now catches the magnificent colours of his beautiful plumage.   A tiny fantail perches beside him  -   not yet afraid of the big boys either.

I smell the freshness of the morning dew.   Later the clamour of human beings and their machines will drown out these smells and sounds of  nature,  but that intrusion into the sensational beauty of this early morning will soon be followed by the delightful smell of freshly mown grass wafting on the gentle breeze.

As night becomes morning , and morning becomes afternoon, I am more and more aware of all the signs of springtime that are gradually emerging.  The sounds of the birds, the daffodils, camellias and rhododendrons - the blossoms on the leaf bare plum tree and on the kowhai.

The soft spring rain changes the colours of my winter garden into those of springtime.

The springtime changes the colours of my mind after the long dark winter.

 

Oh well, I don't know what happened to the pictures,  as usual, I  st##@**ed up.  They are pictures of  tuis and kowhai blossom, and a  wood pigeon (kereru)  showing their beautiful colours.

Perhaps Joonie might come to my rescue again, as they are so beautiful.   Maybe that could be your new career Joonie, posting pictures for people like me??   But if you try to charge me for this one, I'll charge you a employment/vocational consultancy fee!!

Oh Kiwi, that was beautiful! I definitely want to see the pictures. I was trying to picture it, but I don't know those birds. I love birds! We have lots of hummingbirds and, when I feed them, we have tons of mourning doves. They nest in our lemon tree.

Your writing was great..I love springtime, and that expressed it beautifully!

Waiting for pics

Hugs, Nini

Dear Jeanne, Lovely, thanks, LyndaThanks girls, you're very kind.

Here are some links to the pictures, I hope these work

http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/tui.html

http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/keruru.html

And if you really want to, you can hear the tui's song at

http:/www.nzbirds.com/birds/birdsong.html

The tui is out NZ native bellbird - beautiful song!

Hi Kiwi,

I'd just like to tell you that your writing is so descriptive that it makes one feel not just as if they are there, but as if they are experiencing the essence of it.  The two don't often meld together, so I'd like to commend you on your ability.

Kiwi

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful poem with us.  I felt like I was there with you and that is lovely.

Jeanne - your writing is beautiful. What lovely descriptions, i could almost see the birds. Thanks for the reminder of the other Springtime on the other side of the world.  Especially the birdsong that is so different from the Northeast and so quintessential New Zealand.
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