a little bit of heaven on earth
The wind and rain was raw and mean and would change but for a moment. It would touch your face as soft as a feather, and then all of a sudden the cold would hit you once again, for when nature’s birthing spring, she gets right down to it thus making sure the blackberries bloom for they will not bloom without it. The trees whip and bend in the sudden rushes of the wind and the sweeps of heavy rain would come rushing from the clouds.
Some of our most under-rated treasures are the clouds. Just to see a full moon riding in a fleece of pearly clouds, or to be caught in a rainstorm with dark clouds above. With the sun gleaming through dark swirling clouds a sun shower brings a deluge of rain shining like crystals as the light hits the heavy raindrops, but it’s just as our creator intended.
In the midst of summer when days are hot and humid and conditions are right for thunder storms, lightning flashes are created. This then generates heat from two gases, nitrogen and oxygen which combines to form a natural fertiliser (nitrous-oxide) and when aided by the rain falls to earth, thus enriching the land making plants and crops much stronger.
Of all the things we can pass on to others and all of the things we can receive, two of the most valuable are zest and enthusiasm. It would seem however, that too few people have their minds awakened to the beautiful varied forms which adorn our countryside and our urban landscapes. I believe that we are separated from nature by technology, each of us immersed in our own flickering screens.
Just to see a spreading oak of which by age is endowed with grace and beloved by many. The blossoms from this majestic tree are the pleasures of life, the branches are what support us and help us on our way, our code of living. I would hear the blackbird singing in a rich sweet succession of musical notes and with wild alarm fly from the tree to the sudden cries of his song folk. Beneath lies a daisy spangled lawn the blooms scattered like summer snowflakes.
When the bee’s natural supply of nectar diminishes they go in search of the aphids as the bees know that they secrete a sweet sugary fluid (honeydew) a somewhat inferior kind of sugary diet.
In the ribbons of soil between the paving stones and the gaps at the base of a wall which are favourable places for plant life. Both these habitats can build up high levels of nitrogen from our four legged friends; calcium is also leached out of the mortar joints in the brickwork. The Dunnock and the Sparrow peck at the leached calcium deposits enabling them to self-medicate. Dust which settles on the leaves of the plants acts as a barrier, a form of greenhouse effect which then helps to promote plant growth. This encourages healthy plants to thrive which attract more insects, more caterpillars on leaves thus attracting more birds. The paving stones absorb the suns heat throughout the day slowly releasing it during the night, enabling many annual weeds to flourish. The moisture from the air condenses off the paving which in turn encourages soft bodied creatures such as worms, slugs and water bears out into the open.
When plants become heavily infested with aphids the bees move in to gather the sugary sweet rewards. Like a spear of summer grass which symbolises the miracle of common things my thankful heart would find in every day some heavenly blessing.
As a boy I was different than others, I would hear a different drummer. I would merely watch, roam and listen and with joyful enquiry and open-eyed wonder I found the beauty and solitude of being a young naturalist would sometimes make me feel like ‘Adam in Paradise’
‘I observed a little bit of heaven on earth’
