Surprises

It was surprising to find mushrooms growing on one of the nearby paddocks this week, albeit a happy surprise. The paddock has a history of cropping, with artificial fertilizers and the usual modern-raping cultivation methods. This ceased nearly ten years ago, and since then has been used to graze sheep, still not an ideal situation on light fragile soils in low rainfall. Yet, after some autumn rains, there they were, little white caps peeking through the dirt and stones.

Then, a couple of days later, I noticed a mushroom had sprung up next to one of my compost bins. As I watched, the resident sleepy lizard wandered over, and with great gusto, proceeded to eat the mushroom! He ate nearly three quarters of it, before moving elsewhere. Never before had I seen a lizard consume fungi…..

This particular lizard during summer liked the flowers of the cucurbits, particularly the cucumbers, and also the flowers on the lucerne and the lippia, and eating a soft juicy tomato absorbed its attention for some time. In other gardens I’ve had to share strawberries with lizards, although this time they are not touched. Perhaps the lizards have individual preferences also.

Another surprise occurred recently when moving a timber sleeper as part of the process of creating a fire-pit for winter evening star-gazing. The sleeper had probably been in the spot for a few years, and as I carefully levered it out of position, a burrowing frog was disturbed from beneath it. I’d expected something to appear, but not a frog! With an apology I moved it to another area where it would not be disturbed again. It is always with a feeling of relief and joy when I find a frog, as they are such a gauge on the health of an area, being so sensitive to poisons. Often I will hear a frog calling from the vicinity of the herb bed and it is a lovely sound to hear. They offer me comfort and joy in an often confronting world, where so much destructive behavior exists in the human species.

Sometimes I am surprised by a fellow human being’s generosity, as occurred this week when a visitor left a unexpected donation to the Hermitage Fund.

Now what was it that C.S. Lewis said, about being “Surprised by Joy”?

Dancing in the Dawn

Standing on top of a hill, a cold wind blowing in our faces.
Standing in the pale dawn light while we wait patiently for the sun to rise.
Standing in the centre of a ‘fairy’ ring of mushrooms.
Standing with a friend who had never before stood and watched the sun rise.
Standing with my dog, who thought the humans so strange.

There is much to commend those
Who break a habit of a lifetime
And rise to the challenge
To experience
A moment
Fully.

There is something very special
To witness another in that moment
And to feel their wonder as they experience
That which has held humans in wonder over eons.
There is something very special
To witness an event that happens every day
Yet happens only once.

The sun has risen.
It’s light casts long shadows
And we play with the shadows,
Dancing in the fairy ring of mushrooms
On top of a hill, with a cold wind blowing.

A Marvellous Misty Morn

Two days ago the rain came, and to date nearly 40mls has been gratefully received. This morning at dawn, I was met with a drizzly mist covering all. A sight for sore eyes. A mist softens the air, the land; it provides another perspective. And now thankfully, an end to the dust, for a while at least….

Mornings such as this remind me of the times I would be galloping cross-country on a horse, with other like-minded riders. The horse’s hot steamy breaths, contrasting with the damp wind on my cheeks, bringing a tingle of exhilaration like no other.

Or, as a child, of mushrooming in the paddocks with my father, gathering the field mushrooms, some as large as dinner plates. The excitement of seeking and finding their snowy white caps was as good as actually eating them. Their rich earthy aroma, so unlike the soul-less supermarket ones of today.

Mushrooms like those may not ever be seen again. The use of superphosphate has killed off the micro-organisms in the ground, leaving it lifeless. The so-called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution was in fact, the biggest con let loose on an unsuspecting public. Simply a ploy by the chemical giants to suck as much money from farmers as possible.

http://www.truthout.org/environment.shtml does a wonderful job of informing people of what is taking place in this fading world, this Earth.

How many children in the future will be privileged as I was, to go out mushrooming; to enjoy the freshness of nature and gather their own food for the table? Very few unless action is taken to cease this exploitation of the land, and to reconnect the people with their origins.

“We are creatures of the Earth, created out of stardust, energized by the sun, carrying with us fragments of the first life-forms – evidence of our kinship with every other creature on the planet.”

David Suzuki – ‘The Sacred Balance’

Reserves of Strength

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds, the ebb and flow of tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after the night and spring after the winter.”

Rachel Carson – Silent Spring