Flowers and some of last year’s seeds.
Photography
Let the sunshine in
For the third month in a row music has provided inspiration for my response to the Bloggers for Peace challenge:
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation
Excerpt from Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In, a medley of two songs written for the musical Hair, released as a single by 5th Dimension in 1969. The picture was taken in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.
Information sources:
Song Meanings
Wikipedia
Joy:
Seeing the new green of Spring;
Hearing sounds of the forest;
Crunching of snow underfoot;
The smell of earth after rain;
Cool touch of breeze on hot skin;
Heartfelt bonds of belonging.
Italian Hibiscus
We arrived in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in the early hours of the morning, buds seemed to be scattered on every surface in our room. We awoke to the sight of fully opened brilliant red blooms. Since that day Hibiscus flowers remind me of the tropics.
I was pleased to see these beauties in Sorrento, Italy.
Marvellous light
In the midst of dank intestinal twists,
A fetid cavernous abyss lies, where
Forgotten rheumy eyed daemons languish.
In the gloom, glowering grotesque gremlins
Grab ghostly globules from around a tomb.
Glistening silver threads of ectoplasm,
Crisscross overhead caught in pinprick shafts
Of moonlight. Crystalline walls emit a
Faint rose pink light, gently pulsing, adding
Incorporeal warmth to the womb like room.
Rise from the depths of despair, grasp the flame
Within, shine it on the sinuous path,
Marvel in the power of inner light.
(c) Robert Jones 2013, All Rights Reserved
Magnolia bouquet
Plenty of sun, not too much wind and a week in time.
The blooms smell as good as they look!
The magic of music
What is music but a collection of sounds and vibrations? For me it is more than that, it is two letters away from magic. At a personal level it has the power to bring pleasure, connect people together, invoke emotions and memories. Collectively it can represent a sense of belonging and national pride. It is inclusive of all age groups and generations.
Childhood
My first memory of classical music was filing into assembly at Welsh House Farm Junior and Infant School to the sound Greig’s Peer Gynt and Holst’s Planet Suite with background crackles and pops of mono vinyl recordings, it was the late 1960s after all.
Count Dracula
My appreciation of music grew during my time at secondary school in the ’70s. I remember a formative moment aged 11, as if it were yesterday of being totally captivated by Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre. Mr Lancaster, our teacher asked us to draw what we heard. I’m sure he told us the story behind the piece as I drew a churchyard scene at night, including graves opening, skeletons appearing and a cockerel heralding the dawn. This experience resonated with me on so many different levels as I had an unhealthy fascination with horror stories and the legends of Vlad the Impaler.
An unholy din
I drove my family to the brink of despair with my attempt at learning to play the violin. Even today I am convinced that the peripatetic teacher disappeared suddenly as a result of the squeals, squawks and squalls from an instrument that in the right hands can bring joy and sadness to listeners.
Knowing my limits
I accept the fact that my musical talents are limited so I have settled into the role of appreciator. Luckily for me Birmingham City Library had a huge collection of vinyl recordings that I took full advantage in borrowing. It was a special moment after a couple of decades and living a dream that I saw Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Holst’s Planet’s performed at the Sydney Opera House.
Even now I’m carried along on the waves of the sound of the strings when listening to Barber’s Adagio, the mournful troughs and sweeping crescendos connect with my spirit. The magic of music has been part of my world for as long as I can remember, it brings me peace.
Winter pink
A walk from Lewisham to Dulwich Hill and back today provided plenty of photo opportunities. I couldn’t resist cherry blossom against a deep blue sky.
The magnolia blooms in the garden have begun to open, capturing images of them is becoming an obsession.
A taxing day
Paperwork
Yesterday trickled like water through my fingers. Our first job was to set up the dining table; the perfect surface to get everything together for the annual tax return. We sorted 12 months worth of receipts into categories ready for data entry and then the motivation to complete the task evaporated.
Spring’s just around the corner
Already the flowers on west facing magnolias are changing from magenta to pale pink while some maple trees haven’t fully shaken off their leaves from last year. Early flowing jasmine buds, tinged with pink look ready to set loose waves of intoxicating fragrance upon the streets of Sydney.
The beautiful blue skied sunny day typical for Winter in Sydney could not be wasted by staying indoors. Following a couple of false starts we walked with Stan from Lewisham, through the suburbs of Petersham, Stanmore, Newtown and Erskineville. We stopped briefly at parks and trees for Stan to mark and connect with our route.
Relief from the dusty road
After walking for five kilometres we were ready for lunch at Bitton, a French inspired cafe in Alexandria. An outside table and a bottle of Baron Edmond de Rothschild Les Laurets, Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion were the perfect accompaniment to slow roasted pork shoulder with fennel slaw and a salmon burger. We did not really need the bread and pudding with sauce Anglaise or rhubarb tart, but it is still Winter after all!
Following lunch it took just over one hour to walk home through Erskineville, Newtown, Marrickville and Petersham. An afternoon nap and the satisfaction of a ten kilometres round trip were the perfect tonic to ease my hot feet.
View toward Erskineville from Bitton Cafe.
Rekindle the inner light
Thoughts of health and work fill every moment;
I think that I’ve strayed so far from the track.
Days of confusion and discontentment;
I believe that I won’t find my way back.
A chorus of raucous cockatoos squark,
In reply to my thoughts as they fly by.
Walk in urban sprawl that pretends to talk
Of civilisation; a dot, a lie
In the wilderness within and around,
Terra Australis my chosen home found.
Walk home at dusk as showers start.
Tree shape standing against rose-pink sky, shifts;
Reminds me of micro-macro tension.
The shroud of fog that clouds my vision lifts,
Providing a glimpse of comprehension;
Explore the Universe within my heart!
