Tag: Nature
Everyday people – Wordless Wednesday…
#relax. #outandabout. #nature. #people. #exercise #powernaps
Nary A Bug in Sight…SoCS
Forget about the fabulous, ginormous buildings and flashy highways, this is an arid desert. It’s so dry to such an extent that even the bugs have reservations about inhabiting this space. When I take my morning walks, I look at the plants/flowers around hoping to catch a bug or two, but nary any to be seen creeping about. They have done well by planting flowers and trees – well maintained and fertilized by our defecation and pee-pee which is routinely collected by special trucks, if I may say so. Luckily, some of these trees can withstand the scorching heat to a large extent, but it seems like all the bugs, butterflies, bees, birds and creepy crawlies hibernate or migrate till the cooler months at the end of the year.
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a caterpillar going to three years now. I guess it’s one of the prices that one pays for living in a big city, you miss out on being out and about in nature as much as you would like and as a result, you don’t get to see Earths minutiae creatures going about their business. One thing that I’m looking forward to sometime in the near future is living again in a proper house with its own grounds where I can grow vegetables, plant flowers, put out birdseed…
Writing this just made me feel nostalgic. I had no idea that there would come a point when I would miss the Squirrels that used to scurry up the tree in my front lawn back in Cypress Fairbanks.
P.S. For some reason I forgot yesterday was Saturday. I have no idea where the days are racing to.
Catching Fishes All Alive – Wordless Wednesday
With the dexterity of an expert fisherman, he cast his line and by the time you could repeat, one, two, three, four, five, he caught a spry fry all alive 😉
…And I Slept Off…
Whatever is it about being out in nature that makes me doze off on my mat after a brief while is a great thing. Does this happen to you?
Going to the park with the children is pure bliss for me and whilst they frolic, I read and simply doze off to the divine sound of birds chirping, doves cooing, sounds of children’s chatter and laughter…and I wake up feeling renewed, refreshed and full of pleasure and gratitude.
I’m already missing this. The infernal heat of the UAE is slowly creeping up on us. By March, the Sun will turn on its rays in full blast. Anyways, let me get every last dose of natures bounty before it presses the pause button.
I even record the sounds – I have one as long as 20 minutes – to enjoy in the forthcoming months of dryness and heat.
What’s your pleasure?
Fishing Hour…Flash Fiction
The Heron stared longingly at the water and the other side. There was barely a nibble in his line of sight, yet across the lake, the tangled webs of deceit from the greedy humans brimmed with fish.
Through the ripples, he could see his own reflection as clear as the day. He noticed his neck had grown thinner and longer from rationed portions of fish and he croaked in annoyance.
His fishing hours grew longer by the day but each new day brought more boats and humans to the quay and the water grew darker with oil from all manner of engines.
In response to the FFAW photo prompt above. Thank you J.S for the photo and PJ for hosting.Â
This Joyful Morning…
I walk with the gentle wind touching my skin, its crispness a delightful contrast to the heated breeze of weeks past,
with my face turned to the sun that glitters off the face of the waters like a thousand stars, I stare at the simpleness, the glorious beauty of everything.
The birds chirp away, cars zoom past mere meters away along the highway, and they seem to be in a different time zone,
the man with his clinking bicycle rides past whistling in tandem to the music in his mind and a barefoot man hurries past me, earthing himself and getting feet tanned, I chuckle to myself, it’s all good.
Full breaths of the briny fishy sea air I take in, my soul is grateful.
my low medidative instrumental shuffles on, no words yet the chords reach deep inside and curl themselves around my bones; they are soul food for a torn spirit; it gives me healing.
Help me to be a vessel of your peace Lord. Though my humanness gets in the way most times and makes me a poor example of your peace, those moments that I have inhaled and held your peace, I can’t even begin to explain the exquisite state that it leaves my senses – filled with the vibes that everything is going to be alright and yes, to the heart that believes, everything will be alright.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Listen. Pause. Inhale…
Listen.
even the water
whispers your name
Pause.
thoughts of you
haunt my moments
Inhale.
you’re the legend
of my soul
©
Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Gathered Blooms…
There’s power in the flower. I wouldn’t have noticed this shop nor curious enough to enter it if not for the flower decor.
Flowers in the city are like lipstick on a woman-it just makes you look better to have a little colour –Â Lady Bird Johnson
Together, We Are…Little Lessons From Ants
Taking a brisk work yesterday morning, I came across a little drama on my path and paused to observe a colony of ant work briskly together to move the dead beetle which must have seemed mammoth-sized in their eyes.
Several lessons came to my mind from this display of unity:
a. Increased performance: You can’t move that mammoth in your life single-handedly. most times, you need to work in unison with others to achieve major goals.
b. Increased productivity: Working together has assured this colony of good food in their belly for many days to come – I suppose.
c. Knowing more about yourself: collaborating with others helps you to identify your strengths and weak areas and to build on them.
d. Skills development: I could imagine the head of the ant colony giving out instructions as the leader and the others cooperating to get their hustle done – wish I had ears to understand ant whispers 😉
d. Team building and mutual support: no member of the ant team is left hungry. Your journey need not be a solitary one.
As I ruminated on these few points, it buttressed in my mind the fact that every successful person out there enjoyed the support of others. In other for one or a team to excel, individual members must learn to work well together. They have to be able to put thoughts of their own personal accomplishments aside to work for the benefit of the team which invariably benefits all.
Are there other lessons you can decipher from this act of togetherness?
a cooking pot and twisted tales 