Whistle Bright Star

A grandmother's joy at the setting sun.

A hard day.

Flatland, a stage for light.

The Great Wen boils with smelting gold,

A febrile heart.

Whistle bright star, a beacon home.

Romancing the Wind

Very uplifting, no pun intended for once and if you are not as high as a kite after watching this video well, shame. Ray Bethell, an 85-year old resident of Vancouver, is romancing the wind with kites near the Burrard Street bridge. Here he flies three kites in a ballet set to "The Flower Duet" from Leo Delibes opera "Lakme" - with Joan Sutherland and Jane Berbie. Robert  Holbrook is credited with the video.

Many thanks to Jean for the link. 

Pleutering with Swans

I had been off pleutering about and taking an easy road out of the village paused to catch breath and the sights and sounds on a bridge over the mighty river of ours which feeds the Little Ouse. Needless to say it was quiet. A good excuse to absorb the last sunshine of September, feel bones warmed and spirits lifted. Cheers, but in a good way. I thought I was on my own but a loud beating came from under the bridge. The trickle beneath my feet must have produced a huge fish if some previously unseen angler was landing his catch and dispatching it. The beating continued, increased even, but I could not identify the cause. Moving to the other side of the bridge I saw a swan paddling about in a very shallow pool going about its business of grooming and looking truly magnificent, as white as an angel on a Christmas tree.

Further on I noticed a bird scarer. The farmers use these kites, in the shape and with the motion of real birds of prey.
I watched for some time in grudging appreciation of the mimicry. I suppose they work but they probably displace real birds of pray and sometimes mistakes of perspective and general stupidity make me think that the folk at Mildenhall or Honnington have invented silent helicopters. I was mulling these daft thoughts about in my head when the bird scarer dropped like a stone into the field. It was an accept no imitation Kestrel. The real thing!

I thought of

 If you've seen the hawk, be sure, the hawk has seen you. 

 (Findings, Kathleen Jamie. p 32. I thoroughly enjoyed this book like all of hers that I have read and must attribute the pleutering to her; p51 to be precise.)