The ‘Beauty of the Moment’ – in art and anecdote, poetry and prose
Timeless Moments
Some musings from my nature diaries ... timeless moments.
I’ve travelled the ways of Richard Jefferies much of my life - even before reading the Story of my Heart in my mid teens - I went for long solitary walks in the fields and woods, on hills and downs and by the rivers and lakes, of ‘Jefferies Land’ - seeking solace in nature; questing the nature of the universe, and ‘sun life’.
Songs of Wild Birds
Beatific in its own right birdsong often ‘springs the catch of memory’ - like dandelion clocks drifting in the air, catching the sun ... [a] timeless immersion within a ‘spirit of place’ ...
Mistle Thrush from the Churchyard Yew - the piper at the gates of dawn. Black swift screaming jet-like across a cloudless blue sky, the afterburn of their passing an echo in the still air - a fine fresh spring morning. The gentle purr of Turtle Dove from a nearby copse - lazy hazy summer afternoons. Or the ever present song of Yellowhammer, singing when all others have ceased - the hayfield in the early evening.
For many musicians and composers birdsong is the ultimate musical composition - yet is it music: Birds use variations of rhythm, relationships of musical pitch, and combinations of notes that resembles music, but without fixed musical intervals, as on a scale, there is a chaotic randomness to their singing.
Continue reading Birds in Music
A Song for May - This post is a mashup of anecdote, memoir, and selected prose from Richard Jefferies and W H Hudson, illustrated with seasonal atmospheric soundscapes. Join me for a day, if you will in a celebration of nature’s symphony ...
In a break with what this blog is all about and because it’s fast coming up to Christmas I am sharing some of the love and joy our daughter Bea brings us everyday with her singing.
A few years ago for her 18th birthday we got her into the studio to record some of her favourite songs of the moment. The result was a one-off CD.
It was a special moment in time, one which we will treasure forever. We never came up with a name for the CD and have never had it published. But it is a treasured keepsake.
A follower of my blog - Lavinia Ross - some 15 years or so ago made her own special keepsake CD (Keepsake) and listening to this again made me think it was time to give my daughter’s CD a name and the credit she deserves. So even though it’s maybe a bit cliche we’ve called it ‘A Moment in Time’.
So as a thank you to our lovely daughter and a way of thanking my readers here is a little joy to share this Christmas.
