New Day New Week

ByPaul Sellers

There is something about a warm cup and this one, called ember, expensive though it is to buy, keeps my tea and coffee hot for an hour. It’s a heartwarming gift to me

I sip my tea while it’s hot. It’s first thing, around six, and I’m always first in through force of habit. I contemplate the things I need to do today, tomorrow and then for the week. This week I will take the dining table I have been working on since Christmas into the house. We had covid stop work a day or so before Christmas but only one person got it and we hadn’t been with them when they had it.

This is not neglect or untidiness but the result of an hour or two working with hand tools. It’s not shameful at all. I sweep and tidy several times a day.

I want to sweep but I can’t because of continuity issues. I want to put my tools back in place but that’s the same as sweeping. Preserving the sanity of thousands of watchers is more important than my own sanity but I can just about handle it. This year is likely to prove radically different to the last couple of years and the unpredictability of things seems to be a fixed part of everyone’s future. The one thing I can rely on is the nature surrounding me. When I have finished my tea I will walk over to the pond where even when below freezing I can sit for a while and soal in the possibility of future, I just made some coffee to take with me in a flask. A highlight for me is sitting in wait for nature to surprise me and surprise me it always does. yesterday I did the same and as I sat I noticed a buzzard watching down from the poplars on the other side of my pond.

My pond in a winter-cold breeze with naked trees stood tall beyond the dry reeds. It’s become a lonely place but I wait in silence and I listen in the peace for that gentle rustling only reeds can make and think of the now stilled life awaiting a warmth that only spring can bring to begin yet another cycle of life.

I seemed untroubled by my presence even though I was quite near. My first thought was to grab my camera but somehow there are times when you should just avoid this and this was one of them. Better the record of reality magnified in the brain forever rather than a split-second momentary glimpse filtering out life through a lens. As I sat transfixed on the dark brown silhouette in the now bare branches, I watched as he gripped and leaned forward away from the support, unfolded his massive wings to full spread, and threw himself into the breeze — the moment he’d actually been waiting for. It’s at moments like this when my world becomes flooded with sanity. I am less than a mile from the centre of town and yet I am surrounded by the wild that refuses to yield to the prevailing lunacy eating up our natural resources. Surrounding our small town where I currently live there are many mass housing developments stealing from our wilder places.

I see herons most days in different places on my walks and by the pond and as in this case, he came down as I sat in my silence waiting, waiting. Patience need only be a few minutes long and without a wait, we generally miss what is about to come to us and we just keep walking looking at a plastic screen we tap tap tap and miss life..

8 Comments

  1. “…Better the record of reality magnified in the brain forever rather than a split-second momentary glimpse filtering out life through a lens…” wonderful words Paul! Too often we miss the show the nature offer us because we are too busy to take hundreds of photos that we store in hard disk that we never watch again..

  2. Stay well, enjoy the pond and your life Paul, you are for sure preserving my sanity…. your blog and WW site are my theatre. A secret window to see thru when I have enough of my burden and need to pacify my nerves. A club where I meet with an occasional loyal friend which is very precious staying together with. One of the few bright spots in today’s times. Thank you my friend.

  4. The real moments, especially those involving nature are sustaining and cherishable and a balm for the soul.

  5. Nature is also one of my sources of sanity. One I have been missing the last couple of years. This year is going to be different. One way or another!!!
    Thanks!

  6. Good morning, Mr. Sellers.
    My treasured moments? being with my wife as she gave birth to our children, parking up my Velocette 500 on a bridge and watching the sun raise and cast a multi coloured glow onto the mist in the valley below, getting praise from a Rolls Royce manager for being honest about a ding in a brand new car just about to go on the transporter(it was an education to watch a true craftsman remove it without breaking the paint, making my first wooden razee style plane, it worked!
    Maybe I will make some more memories today, who knows.

  7. What a serene pond – thoroughly enjoyed this post.

    Ruben – Murrieta, California

  8. Paul

    As I have followed you over the last 3-1/2 years, I have learned technique and continue to built up my skills. I have also gradually followed your lead in purchasing tools over the Internet, particularly eBay. I am fortunate that on the weekends I can walk and bicycle in a semirural area, regaining the balance and perspective that is so important in life as you continue to emphasize in your teaching. I now see that I one step further in sync with you since my wife gave me an Ember mug 3 years ago for my birthday specifically to use in the garage when I am “making”. It all goes together in the rhythm of life, learning, and making that you so eloquently describe

    Jeff

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