On my way home today I found myself kicking through the autumn leaves already collecting in drifts on the pavement... one of my seasonal pleasures in life!
As I did so I remembered being on the bus to Swarthmoor and Jonathan saying how amazing it was that in a month or so the trees would all look so different and then a month or so later different again and so on through the year. There aren't many deciduous trees in Aotearoa NZ - that is going to take some getting used to! It made me wonder whether I'd miss having the leaves changing as my main markers for the passing seasons - having grown up in a wooded valley deciduous trees have always been my main indicators of the turning of the year and I love each and every season of them. I'm going to have to learn a whole new set of markers, not just my beloved pohutakawa trees flowering! I wondered would seeing Scotland on film bring the same pangs of what I can only describe as homesickness that I feel when I watch something like 'Lord of the Rings' - the next Harry Potter film is due out in November, after the glorious views of Glen Coe and Loch Tummel in the last one anything similar in this next one could well bring a lump to my throat!
For the next 200 yards down the road I was asking myself am I doing the right thing? Then I went into a shop (will this be the last time I'll be buying Jordan Valley chocolate flapjack in Margiottas ready for a train journey?) and when turning round from chosing which box of Scottish biscuits to get for FWCC World Office when I go in next week (oops - sorry if I've spoilt the surprise Nancy!) I found myself facing a stand of greetings cards - a whole rack of Martin Hill images, the kiwi answer to Andy Goldsworthy (if you don't know either check them out - amazing natural sculpture that they photograph and then let nature reclaim). Any doubt fled at speed - lump in the throat, tears welling up, heart pounding - of course I'm doing the right thing, it's where I'm meant to be.
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