FEARTHAINN (rain)

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water..." -Loren Eisley

                       "Arise my soul and shed the rain of tears..." -Andrew of Crete

"And all the air is filled with the pleasant noise of waters.." - Longfellow

                            "Drip, drip the rain comes falling..." -James Herbert

                                "Let the rain sing you a lullaby.."-Langston Hughes

"All nature mourns, the skies relent in showers..." -Alexander Pope

"I hear the first drops.....the rain changes everything.." -Karen Hughes

"We knew it would rain, for the white poplars showed...is tangled now in tremulous rain..." -Aldrich

                 "The rain comes when the wind calls..." -Emerson

                              "Joy has been a habit. Now this  rain..." -Jack Gilbert

"A little rain will fill the lily's cup, which hardly moistens the field.." 

                                                                         - Edwin Arnold

"He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven..." -Acts14:17

"A wind has blown the rain away...." -e.e. cummings

"You heavens above,  rain down.Let the clouds shower it down.." 

                                                            -Isaiah 45:8

              "Healing rain is a real touch from God...." - Michael W. Smith

"And out of the caverns of rain, like a ghost from tomb, I arise and build it again.." -Shelley

"Rain, soft rain, summer rain whispers from bushes, whispers from trees..." -Hermann Hesse

"The mighty Rain, holds the vast empire of the sky alone..." 

                                                             - William C. Bryant

"....but the rain is full of ghosts tonight..." -Edna St. Millay

Photographs 2024
 

STILLNESS.....

                     "If you want to be happy. BE..." -Leo Tolstoy

          "Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen, takes an inner radiance..." -Morgan Freeman

"In the inner stillness, where meditation leads, the Spirit secretly anoints the soul and heals our deepest wounds..." -St. John of the Cross

"Here will we sit and let the sounds of music creep.....soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony.."  -Shakespeare

"Peace is the fairest form of  happiness.." -W. Ellery Channing (1780-1842)

"Teach me the art of creating islands of stillness, in which I can absorb the beauty of everyday things..." -Marion Stroud

"The greatest revelation is stillness.." - Lao-Tzu   16th century)

                                             "Whenever there is stillness, there is the still small voice, God's speaking from the whirlwind, nature's old song and dance.." -Annie Dillard

"Over all the mountaintops is peace. The little birds in the forest are silent. wait then; soon you, too, will have peace.." -Goethe (1749-1832)

"They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary...."-Isaiah 40:31

"In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear  the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, and hope to despair.." - Howard Thurman

"When you lose touch with inner stillness,you lose touch with yourself. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the 'I Am ' that is deeper than name and form."-Eckhart Tolle

"To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and Eternity in an hour.." -William Blake ( 1757-1827)

"Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall  enjoy peace....If  you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is..." Amy Carmichael

                                "Take the gentle path..." - George Herbert (1593-1633)

" A time to every purpose under heaven..." -Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

 Photographs 2024

WHAT a GOOD DAD...

                    "Determine never to be idle..." Thomas Jefferson

Dwayne  showed up again. He sat on the bird bath. His back to me. Sulking or so I thought. "Sorry, I don't have any worms for  you" , I said.  He ruffled his feathers.

 Dwayne sighed, or so I thought, then hopped back and forth, like a little dance. I imagined  he had one  eyebrow raised in disbelief.  Do robins have eyebrows? (that was my next thought.) His beak was chock full of live caterpillars. Oh ewwwww.  Wriggle wriggle. They writhed like mini pythons.

It was late May of last year, when the trees were full of caterpillars wrecking havoc. Swarming like garter snake balls, falling out of the cherry tree. One massive nest, resembling a large cotton ball. It undulated. It was Alive.

Much to Dwayne's satisfaction. He LOVED caterpillars. He stuffed himself, till he could stuff no more.  He actually brought me a few. I declined graciously. Dwayne ate them  and went back for seconds, and thirds.....and fourths.

One  day, Dwayne brought his baby to meet me.  Big baby. Flew into things. Like the birdbath. The tree. the flowerpot. Made a noise like a clarinet.

I named him Dougie. Dwayne was obviously proud of him. He puffed up with pride. as Dougie marched along the birdbath wall. Dougie  was more concerned with looking at his reflection in the water. He thought he was fascinating.

Dougie was always hungry. So was Dwayne. Ravenous. Dwayne brought caterpillars. Such a good dad. Dougie  stared at his reflection while Dwayne went for grub.

Loaded down with squirmy wormies , Dwayne dropped them into the birdbath. Much to the delight of Dougie.

Dwayne watched Dougie eat his fill, then gobbled up the rest.  

And repeat. Over and over.  Sometimes Dwayne  could barely fly. I thought it was because he was eating too many. All those wriggling things crawling around his little bird stomach......

Dwayne was still not talking. He couldn't stop staring at Dougie, who really liked seeing himself in the water. He screeched for more.

Dwayne dropped caterpillars into the birdbath. Dougie stomped on them. Chomp chomp.

Dwayne plowed after Dougie, grabbing as many as he could. They squawked at each other.

Dougie fluffed his baby feathers. Dwayne  beamed.  "That's my boy," while Dougie splashed in the water.

      Dwayne burped. Then Dougie burped. I think they were full at last. Oh I was so wrong.. 

Dwayne took a dip in the bath, then  headed back to the caterpillar nest . Dougie splashed at himself. He thought he looked pretty good as a robin.

Dwayne didn't return to the birdbath. Instead, he called to Dougie, who  puffed his wings and  took off after him.

Didn't see either of them, after that day. I imagined I heard them calling to each other, in the early hours of the mornings, or at dusk. The bird bath always needed refilling. Dougie really loved the water. Or maybe he just liked what he saw IN the water.  I know I saw caterpillars sinking on a regular basis, some doing the front crawl.....so I knew  Dwayne had been there. What a good dad.

"Always be the hardest worker in the room...." -Dwayne Johnson

 Photographs 2024