Saturday, September 12, 2009

their small flights

saturday morning.
lemon yellow sunshine.
coffee.
a small stack of novels partly read.

almost autumn.
my favourite time of year!


the acrid scent of burning weeds
came up from an unseen fire
somewhere in the meadows
below the road.
a thrush, balanced on the top twig
of a fragrant fir-tree,
sang with piercing sweetness.

in and out of the yellow broom-coverts
woodlarks played,
made their small flights
and sang their small songs.

words excerpted from texts by mary webb

hans anderson brendekilde

33 comments:

Margaret Pangert said...

Songbirds in the woods all playing at different games! And soon the trees will be the palette of the painting. even the sense of smell is evoked: the fragrant fir, the weed-burning fire. No school, great mugs of coffee, and novels waiting to be read. But before the novels, the walk through the woods... a yummy way to start the day. Enjoy!

Alexandra MacVean said...

Beautiful photo and writing. Hope you are doing well.

Kathleen said...

Absolutely stunning! I can smell it. I can hear it. And I most definitely hear it So many senses in so few words.

Delwyn said...

Hi Steven,

I like your introduction to Saturday...

lemon yellow sunshine.
coffee.
a small stack of novels partly read.

what a promising way to start your day of rest.

I hope that you had a great first week...and enjoy the first weekend...

Mary Webb is going on my ever-growing list...I did go on a poet hunt this morning which was very fruitful...

Happy days

NanU said...

so lovely. September is indeed a special time of year.
oh, and I'd like to say thanks for sharing all the beautiful thoughts with one of these: http://sciencegirltraveler.blogspot.com/

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Steven:

So many of us seem to prefer autumn over the other seasons (as incredible as they are). It is so rich with colour, and awakens all the senses. At the same time it is bittersweet and teases us with hints of the cold air to come and then ooops back to the golden warmth of summer. I rather think Autumn is like a beautiful, auburn-haired, mischevious woman running through the woods, saying "Catch me if you can . . ."

Have a lovely weekend with your loved ones Steven.

Anonymous said...

Blissful words and images as ever.
Sign me up for loving autumn too.

Just popped over from Bee.
How can you possibly, possibly have avoided Austen?.
I know there is a dreary OVERBUzz about Austen right now.
How much more delicious it is to discover someone secret just to you but she is a very sly observer of human foibles.
Happy weekend.

Pauline said...

lovely jubbly!

steven said...

i have to start with your comment pauline because early saturday morning, "lovely jubblies" to a vigorously heterosexual north american -based male could be something quite different to what you intended!!! so here is the possible definition of this term as sourced out on google: "superb, excellent, great, etc. 'lovely jubbly' was originally an advertising slogan for 'jubbly', a triangular-shaped frozen orange drink which was popular in the 1950s and 60s. later popularised by the character 'del boy' in british comedy 'only fools and horses'.
rodney: "'ere del boy, geezer over there says he'll give you a pony for the betamax video recorder if you throw in a case of that yugoslavian scotch."
del: "lovely jubbly!" there you go!!! have a lovely day pauline. steven

steven said...

hi margaret, it's amazing that two months of summer holiday with all the freedom can pass by and then a morning opens up even wider freedoms that are of themselves so small but precious. have a lovely saturday yourself!!!! steven

steven said...

hello sophia - thanks for dropping by!! i am doing well thankyou. have a peaceful saturday! steven

steven said...

hello kathleen, i think the source material for this captures essences of autumn as i know it and remember it so well. it's an amazing time of year for me and obviously for so many others!! have a lovely saturday. steven

steven said...

hello delwyn, the week was exhausting fun! can those two go hand-in-hand? oh yes they can! last night was my own staff party and then we hosted one for my wife's staff at our home. so two parties to end the week!!! lots of yummy food and drinks and good fun people to laugh and chat with! lucky boy. a relaxing day today has been promised and the little stack of half read novels will be getting a visit or two from me that's for sure!!! have a lovely evening by the river. steven

steven said...

hello nanu, i'm so glad that i can read the blogs, write the comments and enjoy the day in full from a different perspective!!! have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

hello bonnie - that's a really poetic and insightful way to portray the autumn!!!! lovely. have a peaceful day! steven

steven said...

hello elizabeth, i avoided austen because i thought she'd be dry, victorian in the worst use of that term, and i wasn't really into family drama. but then i got older, felt more life, opened up to the value of beautiful writing and let lots of the authors (in addition to austen) who i had consciously avoided. so here i am!!! with a heap of great writing still to enjoy . . . . lucky boy that i am. have a lovely day in ny. steven

Golden West said...

It is a wonderful time of year, with quieter, cooler days. So glad your first week back at school went well!

The Weaver of Grass said...

You really are a Mary Webb fan aren't you, steven? I like her prose too - it has a timeless quality to it.

steven said...

hello golden west, i had a ton of fun, slept the moment i walked in the door each night for half an hour, started to work on finding a way to take care of my boy and my girl, mark off and plan, write and answer blog comments, read, write, think, and be!!! it's a work in progress so some parts of that are not being done as well as they will be at some time down the line!!! have a lovely day out there. steven

steven said...

hello weaver!! lovely to see you. yes i really love her writing a lot - i hope i'm not overdoing it!!! it does have - as you say - a timeless quality to it. it also paints a picture of a world i feel at home in. have a lovely afternoon. my mum's in england as i write, on a holiday with her best friend who lives in elsecar!!! have a lovely afternoon. steven

Cheryl Cato said...

Autumn is my favorite time of year. We are now seeing birds migrating through our backyard... ruby throat and buff belly hummingbirds and Baltimore orioles. They are keeping us busy refilling the feeders. Oh yes, I love autumn.

Meri said...

That sounds like a perfect Saturday morning to me. I'm hanging out in the shade to keep from more sunburn, waiting for my friends to come back from kayaking.
I can't believe how quickly the time has passed in Mexico.

Friko said...

Mary Webb's world is my world, the world of the Shropshire Hills and your excerpt describe exactly the day we had today. I have even been burning a small bonfire.

The painting is wonderful, I have never heard of hans anderson brendekilde.

Thank you, Steven, for showing me the beauty that I am often likely to ignore.

Reya Mellicker said...

So your first week of school is complete. Onwards and upwards to the rest of the semester.

Wish we could see a video of you teaching. I bet you are so good!

steven said...

hi lizzy - a while back somebody posted about the spiders building big webs everywhere and i said at that time i hadn't seen them. well this week they popped up everywhere, covered in dew in the morning and shimmering in the afternoon sun. funny thing though, the evenings are very cool and the days are very warm - three weeks in a row ! have a peaceful evening out there. steven

steven said...

hi meri!!! waiting for friends to get back from yaking, trying not to get sunburned, time passing quickly in mexico!! that's a sweet piece of life you've carved for yourself!! have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

hey friko - i love mary webb and the odd thing is i don't think i've actually been in shropshire although i have been in wales - many times as a boy - and it was magic for me. literally magic!! her world is one i escape into when this one needs amplifying, or to be escaped from. thanks for your lovely comment. steven

steven said...

hey reya - nice to see you - it was a good week. the class is good feeling, there's a very close community vibe going to happen with this group. early pieces of it are already there and that is different to my usual experience which sees community evolve around october november or even as late as march! there's video footage out there somewhere being used by new to teaching teachers and teacher candidates. i've never seen it but there is lots of footage of my classes over the years!! i am still calm and balanced inside but i do miss the wide open spaces of summer!!! have a peaceful day. steven

Dan Gurney said...

I'm glad to hear from your comment to Reya that your year is going so well. It's so great when the community you wish to build is already partly there. Similarly, my class was unusually ready to learn and is already humming along and operating inside a good vibration. Have a great year.

steven said...

hi dan, yes they're ready to play hard and work hard. it's so early but after enough years you can feel the intentions of a class. this class wants to help itself and that's what i work towards because everything else unfolds from that stance. i'm so glad you're experiencing a similarly positive beginning. it's huge and dan we both know that there will be miserable days but hey - we're in the right place!!! have a peaceful sunday. steven

Dave King said...

That is an image to die for! I am drooling with envy!

Pauline said...

steven, I had to laugh at your vigorously heterosexual north american -based male reaction to my comment - it is a phrase several of my British friends use to express delight. I'd not known there were other connotations... so let me rephrase my comment to the all-American "Cool!" ;)

steven said...

hi pauline - thanks for dropping back!!! i had a laugh about it all as well!! have a lovely day. steven