Back in
OZ. You eagle-eyed regulars will be
saying, "yes YAM, for 10 days …"
This is
true my dears. However, the ol' grey
matter has been struggling with dates times and places a bit. Not so much due to the air(almost not)travel
as to the usual complaint of menopolyxinaemia.
You
thought I had menosouped that did you not??
&*> Heehehhh. No. I
do think that I am not quite so bad as I was in the short-term memory
lapses. However, am inclined to think
that I have also become adept at working with it; getting round it; forgetting
that it is a problem and accepting it as normal life…
At least
it can be said that perhaps am not worrying about it anymore. Just getting on. I have to.
There's too much else to do...and am worried I forget something!
There is
a sense of disassociation and although everything around me is familiar to the
point I am pinching myself as to whether the last two years were a dream, it is
also rather surreal. I cannot allow
myself to 'settle' back into Australia, or the way of life that is doing its
best to reach out and grab me. Already
in a few short weeks, the secure
regularity that was life in the ashram is under threat. Each day I have to sit 'within' for as long
as possible in order not to lose that subtle connection.
It struck
me as I commenced writing this that the etherwobblies I am having here are
almost a physical representation of that.
Down here in the hollow and at the bottom of an extremely solid building
- as material as it gets! - my connection to the greater world is sorely
diminished. I have to trek up the
hillside, lodge myself on higher ground, in order to strengthen that link. Make no mistake, when you know how to read
them, the spiritual signals are ever present amidst the density of life.
The home
unit in which I am staying is large, airy and well-situated. I have all that I need. By Friday of last week, I had begun to feel
more present, but that became very much more congruent when I took myself off
to walk in the park over the other side of the busy road.
I was
aware that there was a creek on the opposite side and a walkway there, but I
was not prepared for the absolute delight of finding history. Not just local, nor simply State, but
National history! That too, in a much
larger area of bushland than I had anticipated.
It was so fascinating and to think that in all the time I lived up the
road and walked past this place I had not a clue what lay behind the
fencing. I am going to reveal the story
of the place to you tomorrow (hence the 'part one' up top). Today though, let me whet the interest with a
few piccies. In passing, let me also
comment that although it is only spring here and despite the nights being
rather chilly, there have already been some serious bush fires and last
Thursday, the whole of Sydney was under an enormous pall of bush smoke. One can only pray for early summer storms to
damp it all down, or this could be a very nasty summer indeed.
Natural bushland with lots of rocks.
....yes rocks - mainly sandstones.
...and ancient tree ferns. Well, they look ancient. Primordial almost. You only have to look at how the fronds emerge to get that feeling.
Native Orchid species and the famous "Bottlebrush" bush
The sky and clouds reflected in the Hornsby Creek and the tall timbers reaching for those very same clouds...
Come back tomorrow for some very special information about this place and more piccies will follow in upcoming posts as I went a bit mad with the 'Nik'...&*>
Intrigued already.
ReplyDeleteWe are all worried about the summer to come, it is going to be very hot and dry bushfires are everywhere at the moment.
ReplyDeleteMerle...............
It's a beautiful autumn day here and I'm so sorry to learn about the bushfires. I used to live in the interior of British Columbia where forest fires were a big problem. A few years ago, fires in the town where I grew up, in BC's Okanagan Valley, sent smoke across the Rocky Mountains all the way here to southeastern Alberta, almost 1000km. Our sunsets here were very hazy for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteK
Isn't it always the case though: you never visit the thing closest to home because you can always do it some other time! But when away, you will visit everything in sight and out of sight!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to tomorrow's post!
Fancy not knowing that was there. It looks wonderful and looking forward to reading all about it.
ReplyDeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteGlad that you are exploring this beauty!!