WE ARE OF THE EARTH AND HEALED BY NATURE

April 26, 2020 | gaiainaction

We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts – William Hazlitt

The poetry of the earth is never dead – John Keats

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature–the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter – Rachel Carson

Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth – Walt Whitman

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher – William Wordsworth

All good things are wild and free – Henry David Thoreau

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least – and it is commonly more than that – sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements – Henry David Thoreau

I hope that these nature photos and valuable quotes have been a solace to someone who is disturbed by earth’s current difficulties and dangers. I wish us all well.

STILLNESS

April 8, 2020 | gaiainaction

In the pre-dawn when some half disturbing dream awakens me, I become aware of stillness….. I hear nothing ~ my thoughts wander far into the Cosmos and I wonder if all is stillness there as well. I start to wonder if this is what death is like too.

The stillness is inside and out.

A blackbird starts to sing. When I draw the curtain expecting to see a glimpse of the approaching dawn, I am greeted by a full moon shining through slivers of mist covering the town below in the valley. I marvel at the beautifully diffused sight.

Right now I am fully awake and thoughts of writing stir in my freshly rested mind, so I take up my pen and here I am.

There is an amazing happening right here and now…everything lies still, it’s as if the world has stopped turning.

Awaiting the brightness of the day, gratefulness washes over me.

(Inspired by the lockdown of Corona virus)

THOUGH NATURE IS MEANT TO BE ASLEEP, I SEE MANY SIGNS OF LIFE

December 29, 2019December 30, 2019 | gaiainaction

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Our garden does not know whether it should be asleep or begin to wake up. On this peaceful and last Sunday of the year 2019 I took a little stroll to check on my vegetables and herbs. So far it has been a mild winter except for one morning when all was white with frost. We did have more than usual rain though, and one or two real destructive storms which blew over our bird feeder and destroyed it.

I found that the few bean plants which survived being served as someone’s dinner (the slugs), are doing rather well, the spinach and the kale are doing great too. Among the herbs the oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary are all thriving. The rosemary is even flowering, but then it flowered all summer too, perhaps it is an everlasting flowering type 🙂

The Camelia that I planted out weeks ago has buds and seems happy where I put it. The Californian Lilac is also doing great and I cannot wait to smell its flowers, and to look upon the red Camelia flowers later when spring comes along. Bulbs are pushing through the still very wet soil. And the young Californian Poppy plant I found fresh and green, early flowering is expected. It is always nice to take stock of the garden around the start of a new year I think, and to start planning.

A tender young Lupin plant has pushed through some leaf covering. And the Rudbeckias that I have been carefully tending since last spring when I sowed them, are so far doing fine, I hope that they will become strong plants and I know that they will last for years as I used to grow them before.

But I wanted to look a little further than my own garden today and took a walk through the Boreen and further-a-field. Planning has been received and work has started on building 50 houses for a social housing scheme. This will mean that from next year onward we will be surrounded by houses, whereas up to now we still had so many fields. But I understand that housing is needed badly and that the plan for rural Ireland is to have satellite towns and not much housing in the countryside, this to give easy access to all utilities without too much need for new infrastructure. Anyway that seems to be the plan for the future and the future is now. While walking the Boreen I found beautifully fresh and healthy Yarrow plants, I also found that the Gorse was flowering, and that the sweet little plants of creeping Hypericum are still intact and have not been affected by the wet weather.

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There had been a certain quietness around the place here with some neighbours away over the Christmas period. The land was also quiet this afternoon apart from some starlings, a wagtail and a thrush that I saw along my walk. Year’s ending has that certain feeling about it in nature, a stillness that is a promise of new life and activity to come. I like it.

Along my walk and in the Boreen, Yarrow, Creeping Hypericum and flowering Gorse.

And so we enter the last days of this year. Tomorrow my grandchildren and their mum and dad are coming to open presents, that will be lovely. The rest of the week will also be spent with family visiting and so we will enter the new year surrounded by loved ones.

BRACKEN IN THE IRISH LANDSCAPE

November 28, 2019June 12, 2021 | gaiainaction

Around this time of late autumn, and along the Irish country roads, there is a wealth of bright colours and especially after the many days of rain we have had recently the colours are brought out even more. It is refreshing, bright and yet mellow. I’m inclined to romanticize whenever I’m in nature, colours become very vivid in my eyes. I stopped the car about seven times while on an errand to the next village, it was evening, but not yet sunset time, everywhere was so beautiful.

Bracken, *Pteridium aquilinum*, turn this lovely rusty colour after the first frost during autumn, and during the last cold spell we have had a little night frost. Bracken is found all over Ireland, probably due partly to the damp climate here. Being a very large fern it is not something to grow in a smallish garden, though I do like some of the other fern species as they can be very beautiful. No this species does belong to the mountain areas and typically to the side of the country roads.

The water is actually the river Ilen almost at the point where the river ends into the sea at Baltimore.

Bracken and some of the late and now forgotten blackberries.

Bridge at Skibbereen town, and close to the potato famine graveyard. This is a most attractive bridge going back a good many years and featuring the lovely arches that you see here all over the place. The bridge spans the same river Ilen.
I so enjoyed my little journey today even though I was driving and not walking every now and then I stopped the car to enjoy the views, to get the scents and to listen to the blackbirds. A lovely late autumn day it was.
I arrived home to a cosy atmosphere where Ian was tinkering away on one of his projects. Soon it was time to turn on the light and draw the curtains, these days are very short now – another thing I thoroughly enjoy…….for a while.

SPONTANEOUS ART IN NATURE

November 10, 2019November 10, 2019 | gaiainaction

While waiting for a lift with my daughter, her husband and my grandchildren to travel today I spent this time taking some photos of knots in the Chestnut and Pine trees lining the little park on the outskirts of our town. I also wanted to take some photos of the lichens growing on their trunks, and so I did that too.
It was a glorious and still Sunday morning.

This Chestnut tree is marked by several interesting looking knots, created when the tree was younger by some damage or disease. Interesting and pleasing to the eye.

Some high Pine trees grow side to side with the Chestnut trees. Lichens and some mosses cover their bark.

I’m always fascinated by the bark of trees, they show the most intricate and lovely patterns and subtle colours. Above are some examples of these;
A knot in the Pine tree trunk. Lichens and moss invading a trunk. A close-up of a bark design.

Just as my family arrived I noticed many beech nuts covering an area near the gate.
A colourful leaf of a Cherry Blossom tree twirled toward the lowers shrubs.
This small park is noted for its variety of trees, I often like to take my grandchildren there especially in early autumn to look for conkers, it is nice all around.

AFTER RAIN

November 8, 2019November 8, 2019 | gaiainaction

”Colours shone with exceptional clarity in the rain. The ground was a deep black, the pine branches a brilliant green, the people wrapped in yellow looking like special spirits that were allowed to wander over the earth on rainy mornings only.” – Haruki Murakami

”Nana always said the rain was nature’s way of adding sparkle to the outdoors.” – **Mehmet Murat Ildan**

”Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.” – **Rabindranath Tagore**

”The purpose of this glorious life is not simply to endure it, but to soar, stumble and flourish as you learn to fall in love with existence. We were born to live dear, not merely exist.” – **Becca Lee**

”Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” – **Ashley Smith**

THE BURREN ~ COUNTY CLARE

October 26, 2019February 2, 2020 | gaiainaction

Some while back we drove through the area of county Clare called The Burren. Geologically speaking this is a fascinating place, also for botanist. This area is known for and covered in karst, limestone that is so weathered and cracked that several small plants and flowers grow in the cracks, some of the plants are only found in the Alpine and Mediterranean regions of Europe. Now we did not do any trekking or hiking, we just drove through the area and mainly looked at the interesting landscapes. Partly along the coast, and partly inland.

So here is a photo of what the limestone hills look like in the Burren, it is beautiful and to me it looked like it had been snowing. It’s very impressive though to think of the actual limestone exposure, quite amazing in fact.

On this small stone beach I found different rocks, some where large slabs I could walk on, others were pebbles and still others were small crumbled rock.

A typical and fine example of Karstic landscape. Karst is a special type of landscape that is formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks, in this case limestone. Whole landscapes are formed in this way and the Burren is one of those areas, as seen in the photo below.

We decided to stop for lunch in Kilrush at a traditional Irish pub for some much needed nourishment.

The name ‘Burren’ in Irish is Boireann, meaning “great rock”.

Even though County Clare, and especially that part which is called the Burren is very rocky, there is a softness to the landscape and some of the hedgerows were showing a lovely autumn-like abundance of ripe fruits. The colours were brilliant.

Hawthorn, blackberry, and some black berries of which I am not sure what they are, in full ripeness.

This is just yet another part of Ireland that’s nice to explore. There is plenty of interest there for anyone liking or studying geology, botany, or archaeology. We did not even scratch the surface. I hope it gave people a taste though.

A MELLOW EARLY AUTUMN WALK

September 10, 2019September 11, 2019 | gaiainaction

I strolled around the block this evening. Around the block in this urban area does not mean that I walk totally among houses, no, for a start I walk through the Boreen which is a narrow path where a lot of wild plants and shrubs grow. This 15 minute walk also takes me along a fairly new road which is mostly surrounded by fields. Here I also see a lot of wild flowers, plants and wildlife in general. So it can be quite an interesting walk and all I need is the discipline to do it more often. Today I set off in a mild Irish mist that was softly falling and was hydrating my face, it was gentle and refreshing.

We have been experiencing lovely mild and sunny weather lately, making us think that it is an Indian summer. However, autumn signs can be seen and the lovely bright colours of the berries and the leaves are a pleasure to behold. A mellow early autumn walk was just what I needed after a hard day’s work in the garden.

Lots of lovely ivy
Blackberries a plenty

I was glad to discover that there is plenty of Ivy this year, I always use this to make flower pieces at Christmas time. Apart from that there are moths and butterflies that lay their eggs in Ivy. An important plant. The blackberries are plentiful too and ripening fast now, they are plump and delicious.

March violets
Fern

Talking about the Boreen, this is the Irish word bóthrín, which is a diminutive of bóthar, meaning ‘road’. It is used to denote a narrow country path often surrounded by hedges, or sometimes by stone walls. Here in Ireland you might often see these paths very overgrown, because nature does take over and if the paths are not used regularly they just close more or less with overgrowth of brambles and other wild plants. However, what is very important about these Boreens is that they are ancient, and in this way they often still contain many native plants. This is important for biodiversity. In this particular Boreen I have found the creeping Hypericum plant, and this evening I checked and found that it is thriving. There are also a few different Ferns, and common Violets. Lots of Ivy, Hawthorn and also some Gorse. All of these are native plants or shrubs. I know that some well-meaning people use the strimmer on this particular Boreen several times every summer and it saddens me, I wish that at least they would let flowers come into seed before strimming.

Virginia Creeper
Sycamore seeds

Nasturtium
Zinnia flower
Some of our soft fruit bushes

Meanwhile in the garden lots of work is waiting for me, I did three days of it in the past week, it has only scratched the surface of it. I love autumn though, lots of tidying up, taking notes, and making plans for the next season. All good fun and a great work-out too, especially with nettles that I allowed to grow to 3 meters high!

Sending many thanks this way to all the blessed wishes from everyone on our wedding day.

LATE SUMMER IS MAGICAL

September 5, 2019 | gaiainaction

Today the temperature went up to 28C which is very warm for West Cork. Beautiful sunshine and blue sky added to our pleasures, and a little breeze made it so that I could work in the garden. Our very overgrown and wild garden, our Ark, has attracted an enormous number of insects and butterflies during the summer months, and still there is a great number of hoverflies, a fair number of bumblebees, and many smaller flies, as well as butterflies visiting and making life very pleasant especially knowing that we are helping with the upkeep of biodiversity in Ireland. Very necessary.