Nature-ally Beautiful.

There is something just so magnificent about nature.

I understand why the greats like Frost and Wordsworth spent so much time and effort creating some form of beautiful lyric about a single flower or creature. The other day as I sat and ate my lunch at work, I was quietly surprised by a moment of absolute serenity.

The air was calm and quiet; the sun cast a gentle layer of warmth over the trees and grass. I watched as two squirrels flirted around a plant pot in the far corner of the garden. They reminded me of a young teenage couple, when that first relationship is so fresh and so new, so innocent. They darted and dashed, leapt and lingered between the hedge and the pot. It took but a moment where their tiny little eyes met for them to proceed to copulate, at which point a small smile graced my face.

The substance which I was eating escapes my memory.

As I took another bite and returned my gaze to the plant pot, I was distracted by two butterflies that seemed to be floating so effortlessly through the air, the flashes of white and black darting across the grass and along the trees. They directed my attention upwards, at which point a glorious glimmer of orange and blue caught my eye, and ignited some sort of curiosity in me that I haven't felt in a long time. As I struggled to locate where the colours had flown to, I was strangely calm yet excited and intrigued. Searching the branches and leaves above me, the colours flew again, this time to a small tree in the sun opposite my seat.

There I got to see it properly.

Only a few feet away on a branch, was an absolutely stunning Paradise Flycatcher. The glint from the sun lit up this beautiful bird, the brilliant blue and the length of orange tail shimmering gently, almost as if it was magical. The few moments it sat there looking around seemed to last, just taking in its breathtaking beauty at such a close distance was an incredible feeling.

I only wish I had my camera.

Suddenly, as if he had seen his prize, he took flight and headed straight for me, my pulse quickened as he did so and just at the last moment with a tip of the wing he flew up onto a branch just above the table’s umbrella. It took me a moment to collect myself, the blue and orange flashing in my mind. I lost him for a few minutes; he seemed to be hiding in the trees. After a short while I figured my lucky sighting had run its course, and resumed my watch over the flirty squirrels.

Lo and behold, I was wrong.

Igniting the golden sun once again, he flew across from a tree to land on the branch where I had first seen him, concealed by the browning leaves but still visible. It took me a moment to realise what was going on, but once I did I found myself overcome with a mild sense of satisfaction and jealousy.

There was a female.

Just as brightly blue and orange as he, she was perched on a branch just higher than his, the leaves providing a better camouflage. I watched for ages, as the Courting Flycatchers danced around the tree tops, splashing the mesmerising blue and orange wherever they went. She was playing hard-to-get no less and he, being simply male, was infatuated. Following every move from tree to tree, branch to branch, the courtship was a beautiful blend of dance and colour.

In a moment like that, so serene and so perfect, where two beautiful creatures are so involved with nothing but each other, I simply sighed.


I simply smiled.



Till next time,

TT

This Is Life In Colour.

Oh, where to start.....

I feel only slightly bad that I've waited two and a half weeks to write up something after my last post.  Oh well.

The past two weeks have felt like two months.  My most recent endeavour to move out of my parents house has proved to be far more difficult and emotionally draining than anticipated.  I had, up until two weeks ago, found the perfect house...then the owner decided to up the rent to a crazy amount and that saw me looking all over again.   I find myself becoming more desperate to find something; everyday I get hopeful that I've found a nice place, but when I go to see it it's a dump.  It's almost like a daily emotional rollercoaster that's driving me nuts.
I was crazy for thinking this would be easy.

Oh well, perseverance.

In other life news...not much.  It's been an interesting a few weeks, that's for sure, but I honestly don't know where to start.  Things at the Gallery have been slow, but it's pretty much the same old same old.  I did get chatted up by two guys that came by, guess it works out alright to wear mini skirts to work!  One of them is quite cute, there might be something there save for the fact that he's gone back to America and won't be back until next year.

Oh well, patience.

I feel more like a grown up in certain ways each day.  I passed my driving test last week, mum was so excited.  That and the combination of house hunting and planning out furniture, I feel like I'm hitting adulthood at a running pace.

Let's see how long that lasts.

Have you ever looked at the shape or expression of someones face, the way their features are placed or angled, the curve of their lip, or the crease of their brow?  When you study it for a while have you ever felt your own face moulding into what you see?  I don't quite know how to explain it, but it's something I've noticed over the years.  If you look at someone interesting for a while and look away, for a split second it feels like you look like them.  Maybe I'm crazy, but try it some time and let me know how it works out.  It's not a question of moving your own features to match someone else, it's feeling it...

I might be animating my imagination beyond its capabilities.

The title of this post sums up so much for the past almost year.  I was so used to living life in black and white, now it seems to slowly be inching into colour, just like the transition from B/W tele. 

Geez! the things clients say!  Direct quote from a British woman standing not far from me: "Only Americans would buy something so ostentatious!"  (I had no idea that golf ball markers were!)

I suppose I should get back to work now.


Till next time,

Toothless Twiga.