Ive never experienced the summer light on Orkney but on the Isle of Arran it doesn’t seem to get properly dark either. There’s always a light touch to the summer night sky especially around the solstice.
This is great to know!! Thank you Margi. It's so tricky to find the balance between sharing enough and sharing too much so really helpful to get an indication :)
Thank you. That was lovely. Simmer Dim! So beautiful. Do you know "A Little Night Music"? Sondheim wrote "Night Waltz I" and "II" about this very thing.
I love the sound of "simmer dim." And I love seals. A few months ago, a seal swam alongside me in the ocean, and it was magic. Thank you for your beautiful words, especially for the poem.
Two posts a week from me would be too much. From you, on the other hand, it’s a joy to behold. Bring it on! Wonderful poetry and, once again, that mixture of the joy of living and the awareness of death that shepherds know so well. Thank you.
oh thank you Dave, I'm so happy to hear this and glad you enjoyed the poem (and the general theme of death amongst the living, as I think there will be a lot of that here!)
Hi Rebecca, I loved reading your Wednesday thoughts and poem this morning as I woke, on the other side of the world. Here we are rolling out of a cold winter, spring is shooting out of the branches everywhere. Summer is coming. Though we never experience the long evening light as you do so far north.
ahh this is lovely to read, Kate, thank you - I hope you are enjoying the warming days and budding shoots. I read an article yesterday about magpies being the not-so-peaceful harbingers of spring in Australia. Do you have any in Tasmania?
The lovely magpie swooping season is in spring here in Australia and Tasmania. I do think there are places where the magpies are more aggressive though. I went cycling in northern Australia last year in spring and had to wear a hat under my helmet and attach plastic spikes to deter the magpies. They were quite ferocious.
Oh I saw photos of people with spiky helmets! It really made me laugh, although I can imagine it is not quite so funny when you are in the midst of swooping magpies. We have skuas here, also aggressive during nesting season, but not quite so ubiquitous as the magpies. I like the idea that there might be an arms race between human helmet design and magpie bravery 😅
I think the magpies would win, they are so clever (capable of recognising human faces and making life long friends too, so that’s a nice trait ti go along with their fierce swooping). I will look up your lovely skuas, even their name sounds like a song.
Orkney images remind me of here on the Otago Peninsular, Aotearoa. .oved your post.
Feed back: I was sometimes sending out two articles a week,which readers told me was too much to keep up with. Now I send out a weekly one, usually Monday, but also another twice monthly, but try to stagger it so they don't get them all at once. Bless
There's a dead seal on my beach, a New Zealand fur seal. (There's a colony of them round the corner.) At first its pose made it look alive, but now it's blowing up like a balloon. A rotten seal is surpassingly stinky, so we have that to look forward to. Once I made a drawing of a dead seal that I would add here if comments allowed images. (Maybe I'll try and add it to a Note.) I think about how seals and humans are roughly the same size, and- I don't know if you've seen a seal's flipper bones, but they're quite fingerish. A few years ago there was a baby seal dead on the beach, and I watched its gradual disintegration into bare bones, which took some months.
I haven't seen a seal's flipper bones but I'm intrigued. I will take a look at some photos. Their size though, it always astounds me. I love it when I'm in the water with seals but usually a little wary too as they are just so much bigger when right next to you! I'll keep an eye our for your drawing on notes!
Your writing is always lovely to read. I don’t mind the emails coming at all. I might not always open them, but they are a great point in the right direction.
Your poem is very powerfull. I love the that you paint the scene - you seem to use language like watercolours.
The poem speaks so strongly for itself that you do not need the explanatory that follows the poem. Your writing is so vivid that it does not need a manual. Now, there is a compliment 😊
Beautiful imagery in your writing
Ive never experienced the summer light on Orkney but on the Isle of Arran it doesn’t seem to get properly dark either. There’s always a light touch to the summer night sky especially around the solstice.
Thank you so much Margi. Ah it's a magical thing to have light through the night isn't it!
Happy to receive a Wednesday piece!
This is great to know!! Thank you Margi. It's so tricky to find the balance between sharing enough and sharing too much so really helpful to get an indication :)
Thank you. That was lovely. Simmer Dim! So beautiful. Do you know "A Little Night Music"? Sondheim wrote "Night Waltz I" and "II" about this very thing.
I had not but I am listening to it now and love it! It's so joyful. Thank you for the recommendation!
I love the sound of "simmer dim." And I love seals. A few months ago, a seal swam alongside me in the ocean, and it was magic. Thank you for your beautiful words, especially for the poem.
oh that is magical! I always feel so in awe when that happens. and always a little surprised by how big they are! I'm so glad you enjoyed the piece.
A very beautiful poem Rebecca - I would look forward to two posts from you each week. 👌
thank you Margaret, that is so good to know!
Two posts a week from me would be too much. From you, on the other hand, it’s a joy to behold. Bring it on! Wonderful poetry and, once again, that mixture of the joy of living and the awareness of death that shepherds know so well. Thank you.
oh thank you Dave, I'm so happy to hear this and glad you enjoyed the poem (and the general theme of death amongst the living, as I think there will be a lot of that here!)
Hi Rebecca, I loved reading your Wednesday thoughts and poem this morning as I woke, on the other side of the world. Here we are rolling out of a cold winter, spring is shooting out of the branches everywhere. Summer is coming. Though we never experience the long evening light as you do so far north.
Thank you for your lovely words
Kate
ahh this is lovely to read, Kate, thank you - I hope you are enjoying the warming days and budding shoots. I read an article yesterday about magpies being the not-so-peaceful harbingers of spring in Australia. Do you have any in Tasmania?
The lovely magpie swooping season is in spring here in Australia and Tasmania. I do think there are places where the magpies are more aggressive though. I went cycling in northern Australia last year in spring and had to wear a hat under my helmet and attach plastic spikes to deter the magpies. They were quite ferocious.
Oh I saw photos of people with spiky helmets! It really made me laugh, although I can imagine it is not quite so funny when you are in the midst of swooping magpies. We have skuas here, also aggressive during nesting season, but not quite so ubiquitous as the magpies. I like the idea that there might be an arms race between human helmet design and magpie bravery 😅
I think the magpies would win, they are so clever (capable of recognising human faces and making life long friends too, so that’s a nice trait ti go along with their fierce swooping). I will look up your lovely skuas, even their name sounds like a song.
With writing this beautiful, I would read it every day 💚🌊
ahh thank you Joel!!
Truly beautiful ….another weekly post. No objection here at all :)
thank you Paul!! glad you enjoyed it :)
Even on the Black Isle we experienced this. Beautifully put. It would be lovely to read more of your thoughts, any day of the week!
Thank you Julian!
Orkney images remind me of here on the Otago Peninsular, Aotearoa. .oved your post.
Feed back: I was sometimes sending out two articles a week,which readers told me was too much to keep up with. Now I send out a weekly one, usually Monday, but also another twice monthly, but try to stagger it so they don't get them all at once. Bless
That is good to know, thank you Jay!
Just beautiful, I was there with you on the beach ! 🥰
Thank you!! 🌊💙
There's a dead seal on my beach, a New Zealand fur seal. (There's a colony of them round the corner.) At first its pose made it look alive, but now it's blowing up like a balloon. A rotten seal is surpassingly stinky, so we have that to look forward to. Once I made a drawing of a dead seal that I would add here if comments allowed images. (Maybe I'll try and add it to a Note.) I think about how seals and humans are roughly the same size, and- I don't know if you've seen a seal's flipper bones, but they're quite fingerish. A few years ago there was a baby seal dead on the beach, and I watched its gradual disintegration into bare bones, which took some months.
I haven't seen a seal's flipper bones but I'm intrigued. I will take a look at some photos. Their size though, it always astounds me. I love it when I'm in the water with seals but usually a little wary too as they are just so much bigger when right next to you! I'll keep an eye our for your drawing on notes!
Such starkly beautiful imagery, and a thoughtful Wednesday read!
Thank you so much!
Your writing is always lovely to read. I don’t mind the emails coming at all. I might not always open them, but they are a great point in the right direction.
This is great to know, thank you Mike!
Hi Rebecca
Your poem is very powerfull. I love the that you paint the scene - you seem to use language like watercolours.
The poem speaks so strongly for itself that you do not need the explanatory that follows the poem. Your writing is so vivid that it does not need a manual. Now, there is a compliment 😊
Thank you!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.