Little treasures

Well here I am, back from holiday, warmed by the sun, washed by the sea and calmed by the rest.

I hope you have all had some time to enjoy being outside in the last two weeks and thank you to all those who wanted to come along with us and do the (rightly pointed out although not intended) 'Parlamay' quest.
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Before I explain my item for the finding shelf, I want to describe something I realised on this holiday.......
I spend much of my time explaining nature to children, identifying all sorts of creatures, looking for tracks and signs, explaining natures processes and mans effects on them. This means that when I take a walk in the country I see the world around me through those eyes, I see signs of climate change, notice pollution more and tend to keep a sharp eye out for anything of interest and usually have my camera to hand to take a photo for ID purposes or to record something. But I realised this holiday that I have lost something along way.
Its like knowing the songs of all the birds and listening to the dawn chorus.
You listen and hear the blackbird nearby, and then the thrush in the big tree. You hear a robin over there and a dunnock over here. You can hear and identify the birds around you.
You spend all the time concentrating on the instruments but when the chorus is finished you realise you missed the melody.

So my 'moment' this holiday is a moment free from camera's, ID books and learning. It was calm, quiet and simple.
Here it is...
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"I had been feeling very ill during the holiday with a cough I couldn't shift and running a slight temperature. It was a warm evening and my family wanted to go for a walk through the fields around the village we were staying at. I really didn't feel up to it, so I took some medicine and went to bed with a book while they headed out.
I was reading 'The day I died' a book about near death experiences.
The book was lent to me by my mum in response to the feelings we have all been having since my grandfather died. Watching him and being with him as he left this world have prompted us all to have thoughts of death and made us look at our lives closely. I think my mum thought that this book would bring some comfort, which it did.
After about half an hour I began to feel much better and decided to go out and try and find my family. I knew they had intended to do a circular walk around the village and I thought I could perhaps meet them if I went the opposite direction. Of course I got totally lost (I blame the medication!)
As the sun began to set I came to a slight rise in the road and the corn field in front of me glowed warmly in the last rays. The swallows were high above, their calls distant, there was no wind and the world smelt warm and green.
I stopped and stared,
at that moment I felt completely at peace with the world,
I was not scared of anything, worried about anything, angry, happy, sad.
I just was.
There
in that moment
there was no baggage.
Just me and the world.
at peace.
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It was a true gift and a treasure.
I stayed there a long time, until the sun finally sank and I began to get cold, then I retraced my steps and headed back"
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I have no item to share, no photo, just my feelings. I hope they are enough.
I brought back loads of things of course and took many photo's, you can see them on my flikr pages, but nothing compared to those moments on the farm track as the sun set.

If you still have a moment or treasure you want to share please do.

Holiday Findings

We are all away on holiday tomorrow, back in a couple of weeks.

I thought it might be interesting to get you all to leave your computers and enjoy some fresh air along with us.

So the kids and I came up with an idea, take part if you want to.

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We would like anyone reading this (and we will do it too) to look for some sort of special natural object over the next two weeks.

It could be anything at all, a stone, a shell, a flower, a jewelled bug, anything. But it should grab you, speak to you somehow, evoke some sort of reaction.

When we come back we thought it might be nice to share our objects, either here or on our own blogs. Explain why we like them, where we found them and what drew us to them, give everyone a feel for the moment in time when we spotted that special thing.

Take a picture if you want to, draw, write a poem, express yourself in whatever way you want, but bring some of that good summer feeling online and share it.

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Love and hugs to you all. Wren and family