Wednesday ponderings . . .

No bird can fly
without opening its wings,
and no one can love
without exposing their heart.

We've been enjoying a program on the BBC, called "Highlands, Scotland's Wild Heart."  In the Summer edition we learned about Guillemots, often called Penguins of the North.  Pairs of these birds mate for life (quite like the penguin), lay a singular egg each year on the ledges of high cliffs  along the seacoast, and then protect these eggs by tucking them beneath them, quite like the penguins do.   They stand about on these cliff edges in huge clusters, making very penguin like noises and raising the chicks once hatched.  The parents then take it in turn to fly out to see to catch small fish to feed them.   It was quite fascinating to watch.

What was really amazing though was that these baby birds, unlike most baby birds leave the nest before they can fly and have to take a massive leap of faith as they plummet over the edge of the daunting precipice.  They call them "jumplings."

 

The male bird lies in the water offshore and calls to the chick to encourage it down from its ledge. They make a very loud 'whirring' noise and the chick, recognising the call, plucks up the courage to jump into the unknown, some 400 feet or more into the ocean. The chick has to leap out far enough that they don't hit the rock face on the way down, or land on the rocky edges of the water, but into the water itself. What a trememdous amount of courage and faith this must take . . .and trust.

In order to fly . . .   a baby bird must be willing to open their wings and leap . . . and in order to love, we must be willing to open our inner most self to another . . .

This, too . . .  requires courage, faith and . . .  trust.  To enter a relationship without first opening your heart is like jumping off a cliff without opening your wings.

It is true that a baby bird might hesitate for a moment the first time out of the nest, but once it tastes of the air, it is in their very instincts to open and rise and close and land . . . a natural law that works beautifully.  This is their life and should be ours also.

  

In not trusting . . .  in not revealing our inner selves . . .  in not taking that leap of faith in another, we risk never having the power to lift and to land, for it is only in exposing what we hide close to ourselves in our hearts that we allow these tender things to become our wings and help us soar beyond that which we felt ourselves capable of.  I contend that . . .  it is always worth the risk.

A life or a love only half lived is . . .  only half a life/love.

Just my thoughts this morning.

 

What a gorgeous day it was here yesterday.  Todd spent half the day raking up the trimmings from the hedges.  What a lot there was.  It would have taken about 20 trips to the tip to get rid of them, so he started burning them.   We have about half of it gone now.  Much much faster.   I love the smell of burning leaves and wood.   Such a comforting smell.  I spent the day doing a deep clean on the bathroom.  I went through all the cupboards and drawers, getting rid of anything that was out of date or not being used.   Todd had ever so many shower gels for men, etc. that had a thick layer of dust on them.  He doesn't really use the stuff, preferring instead to just use soap.  I got rid of those and a few other bits and bobs.  The exhaust fan in the bath hasn't worked for months, and so the bath has a tendancy to grow black molde, which is most annoying.

The floor is a special pebble textured material and the mold also grows in between all of the pebbles.   I usually spray it once a week anyways with a special black mold remover, but yesterday I got down and scrubbed.   There is a disabled chair in the bath which folds down from the wall.  You cannot imagine how many nooks and crannies there are in one of those!  The stuff you see when you are down on the floor looking up is amazing!   Sometimes we need a  completely new perspective in order to really do a good job!   I felt really good about it when I was done, and then I managed to go through my book cases and get rid of another 20 or so books.  I'm getting there!

 

The most beautiful card and gift of lovely recipe note pages arrived all the way from Tatiana in Greece.

 

Just look at that beautiful calligraphy/handwriting inside.  I wish  . . . my handwriting has gotten too sloppy.  I need more practice.

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

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"In a dating and courtship relationship, 
I would not have you spend five minutes 
with someone who belittles you, 
who is constantly critical of you, 
who is cruel at your expense 
and may even call it humor. 
Life is tough enough..." 
~Jeffrey R Holland
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Spiritual Enlightenment





In The English Kitchen today, perfectly delicious Oven Baked Spicy Chicken Tacos!  Scrummo!!


Have a perfectly lovely Wednesday.  Don't forget!

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And I do too!