Singing as the Darkness Lifts

MANDALAS AND THE JOY OF THINKING Listening Link  This week the air feels slightly colder than a week ago. The air carries a gentle scent which is reminiscent of the smell of the plastic ice box in the freezer. It reminds me how much I enjoy inhaling the scent of ice-cream freezers in the supermarket, and also that I haven’t done that for quite some time.   Alt text says this week’s photo is: a stuffed animal in a room with many circular ornaments. I say it is Ronnie arriving at Yarndale and being delighted by the ceiling displays of colourful mandalas.   There was something magical about the way the display made its own sky as we stood underneath it, and a beauty in the   patterns cast in the shadows they created on the walls.   I had been thinking about thoughts and self-talk before I arrived, and as I stood underneath this new sky and gazed upwards I felt a connection between the vast number of different circles and how thoughts...

WATCHING THE JOKER ALONE      Listening Link This morning the air is cold. I stand underneath two contrails and breathe deeply. I want to sense the scent of the day, but the chill seems to have made it faint. It carries a mix of silage and leaves and I decide to call it Autumn Green.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a book with a yellow figure on it. I say it is one of my yellow stretchy men on top of a copy of ‘Reels’ from The Broken Spine . I love this little collection of cinematic poetry, and it seemed appropriate to photograph it for this week’s blog. I took time to have a gorgeous reread of it while it was off the shelf too which was a lovely accompaniment to a cup of tea!   There has been much for me to enjoy at the cinema lately. I absolutely love going to the cinema – it is one of the places where I know I am likely to be fully immersed in what’s in front of me. Being focused on one thing at a time is a pure joy and some...

DREAMING MORE Listening Link    This morning the wind is wild and whips up the smell of grass under a half-moon and a star.   I recall the scent of dry stone dust from our mountain climb and the fact that although we heard an owl hoot as we started out on the trek I did not notice a dawn chorus.   An app on my phone reminds me that it has been fourteen years since I cried tears of joy when reading an email. It’s not something I have forgotten, but it is something that I absolutely love to see pop up in my reminders. That email was what I always refer to as my Golden Ticket. As a child I loved the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the thought of unwrapping a chocolate bar to find a prize. I also thought I was going to be the one to win the trip to Disney World from the cheese triangle promotion when I was about seven, and asked for them for my packed lunch even though I preferred the cheese and tomato sandwiches my mum made. (I loved those quarte...

SNOWDON   Listening Link  This morning the air brings the gentle cool of herbed Autumn and a tinge of car fumes.   Alt text says this week’s photo is two women taking a selfie. I say it is me and my sister fresh faced and ready just before our midnight walk up Snowdon. I also say we looked fresh faced in a rather different way when we had completed the walk!   It has been well over a year since I decided it would be a good challenge to climb Snowdon. I needed a long lead in period to enable me to work on my fitness levels, and I am very glad I did because it was definitely a challenge! It was o ne of those experiences that had me digging deep for reserves of energy and determination, and my legs are telling me they know I have climbed a mountain. It felt exciting to walk up in the dark and to tackle Snowdon in a way I have never done before, and there were times when not seeing how much further there was to go was very helpful.   I remember writing...

COBWEBS BLOWN    Listening Link   This morning the air brings the faint smell of wood smoke and whispers Autumn .   Alt text says this week’s photo is two women taking a selfie. I say it is me and Kath having a seaside stroll on the last day of August. One of us paddled and we both had chocolate ice-cream. A quick jaunt to blow away the cobwebs which is our way of saying let’s be us and make sure our souls are shiny.   During the week I had a couple of walks to stretch myself. First, I made sure I could walk up Moel Famau without stopping, and on a different day I went for the kind of walk that needed to last for three hours and include some hills so that I could test out my stamina levels. Kath had bought me new socks for the occasion, and I wore my fully loaded rucksack and took two peppermint creams in my pocket. I enjoyed making up my route as I went along and am looking forward to seeing how well it has prepared me for walking up Snowdon for sunri...