Issue #98 The Magical Month of May

Thoughts and photos from a month of sunshine and slow adventure

Hello there! How has the month of May been treating you so far? It has been gloriously warm, sunny and pleasant without fault here for the whole month and even a little before. We had to try hard to remember the last time it rained; a look back through photos told us it was way back in the middle of April!

Although the weather has been perfect for being outside, big adventures and long hikes in the mountains have been scant for one reason or another, but thankfully we live somewhere that small and slow adventures are easy to come by: Swimming in rivers and tarns; short hikes and cycle rides in the valleys; looking for stitchworts and bluebells in the woods; dinners by the lake or parked up in our van in the golden evening light. I would say that we are lucky to live somewhere like this, but it wasn't really luck; it was something we set our hearts on and worked hard at making a reality. Boy are we glad it worked out how it did.

So, I haven’t had one big trip or long hike to write about this week, but I have been writing down thoughts as we go about our little local adventures so I’m sharing them here.

The camera has been out with us as always so I’m sharing some photos as well but conditions for photography have been really challenging, for me at least - a lot of bright sun and clear blue skies and the evenings are so long that the light doesn’t get soft and golden until late. If any fellow photographers have any tips for working in harsh conditions, beyond using filters, I’d be happy to receive them…

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May so far:

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Quiet

When I go out into the world, I find a place in which we have forgotten how to be quiet. How to be comfortable with silence.

Are we afraid to listen to our own thoughts? Are we afraid to simply be? It is almost as if we are afraid to wonder, what is this all for? Is there another way? And so we fill our lives with noise to drown out the niggling doubts.

If we start our days listening to the news, to music, to strangers on tiny screens then how can we listen to ourselves and be sure of what we truly think and feel? If our homes are infused with noise, how can we listen to the wind in the eaves or the rain pattering on windows or the birdsong in our gardens?

If our evenings are filled with audio visual distractions, how can we be present in the company of our loved ones?

I urge you to try. Switch off the devices. Be still and silent in the company of your thoughts and the company of others.

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Farming - after walking through a particularly bleak farm at the start of one our hikes.

It is sad to see the farmer or landowner that does not know how to harvest joy from his or her land. Those that bemoan the wilder parts of their acreage and see no value in the harebell or yarrow, caring only for the costs of fertiliser, feed or fuel. If only they could learn to see beauty in the land as well as the potential for profit they may find they are richer than they think and those who are obliged to walk across their land would be all the richer too.

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On the urge to share

Why do we feel compelled to share our words and images? Is it an innate human urge to tell stories? Or does it simply seek to satisfy our egos? I say I am writing for only myself, but if that were true why bother to publish? I am feeling less inclined to share these days and wonder if the fullness of my life would be better preserved if it were kept a secret.

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On grass cutting

And so it begins - the season for cutting, poisoning and thrashing the green growth we have been waiting for all winter. On every verge and garden path brush cutters, weed whackers and knapsacks of glyphosate are waging a war against wildness. How did people become so intolerant of Nature’s work? I sometimes want to ask those with manicured lawns, why does your quest for green blandness blind you to the wildflowers that stud the grass like twinkling stars? Or would you also have the stars scrubbed from the night sky in pursuit of perfect uncluttered blackness?

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Well, that’s all for now. This warm, sunny spell is due to end this week (just in time for school holidays) and although we’ll miss it, the land needs rain and we need a little rest.

Until next time, warmest wishes,

Andrew, Emma and Benji

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