Flight

 

 

-for Alex -

 

All has been said

And the silence is loud

I'm laying my head

Watching cloud after cloud

 

Tomorrow I will carve a new world.

New words, new songs, new things.

I'll fly towards the sun, unfurled

And I will watch my wings.

Yesterday I lost a friend to suicide. He was a good guy. He was also the loneliest man I have ever met.

I never understood why blokes don't want to talk when they feel down; why they have to play the "tough guy" part even when they fall apart. Is it a general agreement or peers' pressure that feelings usually belong to the ladies? Well I have news. Depression in men is very real. 1 in 8 men will be experiencing it at a point.
If you suspect someone you care about is depressed, talk to them. Ask them if they are ok. It may not mean much to you, but the world to them. it may also save their life.

If you yourself are depressed, please talk to someone. And if you don't want to burden your loved ones with your problems, there is always help at hand. Beyond Blue has lots of resources and it's a very good point to start. Their experienced counsellors will be able to guide you through. You don't have to go through it alone.

Enlightenment

There is an old saying, attributed to Buddha: "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth".
I spent this Easter weekend chasing a bit of each. To me, all these three things are resumed to one single word: Light. Whether the sun rays caressing the top of the trees or the moonbeams shining through the clouds, I am always chasing the light; I am always out in the Grasslands, trying to get the essence of its life. It has been by far the most intense weekend ever and I have no explanation for that.
The blood moon was supposed to be spectacular but I did not get a glimpse of it. I did however have the chance to take a couple of shots of the moon above the Grasslands on the previous day.
The sun however, is always beckoning me for a few more photos...and a few more... Whether it's dawn or dusk, I am forever amazed at how different every minute is from the next one.
As for the Spiritual light, we are all seeking out our own truth - the very essence of things that make us who we are.
On this Easter day, I wish you all Peace, Love and lots of Light in your life.

Splendour in the grass

"Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass, glory in the flower, we will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind" - William Wordsworth
I am too old to be jumping over fences, but you would too, when you see the view from the other side of the Grasslands. 
Last night's quick walk was a different take on "splendour in the grass"

Valentine's Day

Before sunset, I went on a date on Valentine's Day. Or I should say, on Valentine's Evening.
A date with myself and my beloved grasslands.
Here is what I found: Love, peace and even a rainbow to follow.
I guess the universe is sending me a very strong message: follow your dreams and never give up. You may never know what you will find on the other side of the rainbow.

Caption this pic!

Judging from the time spent around the grasslands these last couple of days, I think it might be mating season again. Some of the roos were sniffing a few others like crazy, which makes me think I might be right in assuming that.
However, I find that I am not very imaginative when it comes to finding funny captions for my photos.
Caption this photo, please. The best I could come up was: "Hands off my Lady!"

Sunset in the Grasslands

The biggest mob of kangaroos (to date)is moving around the grasslands, very closely to our backyard.

I would love nothing more than following them around, but sometimes it is just not possible to juggle my passion for photography alongside little people & daily routines.

Sometimes I get a quick glimpse or even a shot. Some other times, I get to experiment a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to create a ghost - like effect, as if a new life is just catching up, much as a kangaroo multiplying itself.

I think I still have to work on it; I am not quite there yet. It's a very hard theme to achieve not only due to the shutter speed setting but also, it takes ages until a kangaroo moves exactly in the right spot, right position, next to a stationary one...

 

 

Grown Ups, Little People and the Sense of Wonders

 

I don't usually mix personal life and public persona and it is very seldom that I would post personal thoughts but today is an exemption. So here it goes and I am sure many can identify with this.

 

Some mornings I look in the mirror and I can only recognise the eyes. They are truly mines, because the glint of mischief is still there. I am still a 4 year old at heart, trapped into a grown up body, whom I don't know. Some days I wonder who made this silly mistake, putting me in charge of 2 kiddies - surely it must be a joke and any minute now, a responsible adult will come and ask me to go home, as it is time for their kids to go to bed or eat their dinner. 

 

Some other mornings I am quite content, being a mother, and the role fits like a glove. But most of times, I feel it's like a hide 'n seek game, where I am searching for the answers - what is good parenting? The silly things keep running away from me, making my chase a long one. But one day I am going to find those answers and get a good grip on them and never let them run again from me. I am Mother, therefore I have to have the answers.

 

I am not sure whether I am supposed to get upset at my kids for getting muddy from head to toes, or whether I should jump in the puddles with them. Ok, I will probably jump in too. After I take a few pics. I mean, how is one supposed to keep a serious face on these occasions? 

 

I have always been a wanderer - my Nana used to say I have a gypsy soul. I grew up in a village surrounded by hills and forests. I used to leave the house in the morning and come back at noon - or when I was hungry, with armfuls of wild flowers and more flowers knotted in my hair. There was never a safety concern on those days - the whole village was my family - and I never got lost. I knew my way home with my eyes close. I wish my kids had that kind of freedom today and that connection to nature. I was 5 years old and never wrong about the weather. I could always tell a sunny day from storms coming. I still can. Truth be told, an injured knee contributes to my weather sensitivity nowadays but I still have the precision of a Swiss clock. 

 

We live in an age of digital advancement, where there seems to be an app for everything. Sometimes it is vey hard to find the right balance between the "digital" learning and real life, hands-on, direct experience. 

I remember one time in Japan, I saw a group of school kids - aged about 10-12 yo. They were visiting an aquarium at the same time I was. I was amazed at the speed they were taking notes about marine life. And by notes I don't mean pen and pad. They all had phones. They took a picture of the fish, input the information about it, then move to the next tank, new pic, new notes and so on. I am a very old-school gal; while I used to have a reasonably high typing speed on a computer, I was never good at texting. So it was really amazing, seeing these kids typing information at the speed of light. And that was back in the times of the old mobile phones; not the smart phones. Makes you wonder, how much learning has changed over the years. And are all changes good? 

 

We are very lucky to live in our own Paradise corner. While we do use the modern gadgets in our learning and I do understand the benefits of so many wonderful educational tools, I still believe that we must not loose our connection to nature. For me, the Grasslands are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of everything. I love walking around and finding new sights every day. The place looks unchanged, yet never the same. Every day will bring a new adventure. Or a new thought. Sights, colours and shapes. Of course, like any parent, I would have lots of fears - rational or not - when taking the kids along. Like "what if they come across a snake while running around"? Or "what if they trip over the logs, or try to climb trees and fall"? "What happens if we come too close to a kangaroo"? 

 

Of course, vigilance has never hurt anyone. But on the same time, I try not to project my own fears over them, or let my fears prevent them from accumulating the life experience they need. It is a very fine balancing act and sometimes I find myself scrambling for answers. 

But most of the times, the magic of the grasslands will win me over. My 4yo has put this in words the best way. One foggy winter morning, walking to preschool she looked over the misty grounds and exclaimed: Mummy, we live in Fairy Land. And indeed we do. Here is yesterday's walkabout, just after the rain. Examining snails, colours popping up in the wet, birds and we even saw two kangaroos fighting far away in a corner.

 

 

The Aboriginal people talk of this deep connection to the Land. I truly believe they are right. If you take the time to know it and to listen to it, the Land will talk to you. One just has to slow down and listen. I have been travelling a fair bit of my life but I have only felt this connection in two places. One is the stage of my long gone childhood - The Apuseni Mountains in my native Romania. A place of legends and beauty.

 

The other place that I feel deeply connected to is my Grasslands Nature Reserve. The place I learn to love more and more, as the days pass. I don't think I could ever express in words the beauty, the peace and the sense of wonder I find there every day. Most of the time, I'll let my camera do the talking, while my thoughts are running free. Here is a collection of favourite moments. Enjoy the magic of my Grasslands.