The stories of my life on a little island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea ... and my occasional adventures beyond these shores.

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Shifting Tides

The seasons are shifting. The days are getting shorter. Sometimes, when I wake up, the rosy fingers of dawn are just starting to caress the morning sky. The air is cool and sweet. It smells of dew and reminds me of mysterious things. I linger by a window sometimes, enjoying the silent serenity. Then the neighbour’s dog barks. The spell is broken.
Cornwall 284
In those few moments that I spend with the dawn, gazing at the valley and fields, the retreating darkness fools me into thinking that nothing much has changed over the years, that the view outside my window is the same now as it was fifty years ago, five hundred years ago. But as I turn to face the day, reality comes flooding back. We live in a horrible world. Ebola, ISIS, tension in Ukraine, famine, murder, child abuse … my mind reels from the sickening brutality of it all. I want to return to my window. To that moment of peace, before the harsh light of day thrusts the unpalatable truth into the spotlight.
Cornwall 699
The tides are shifting and we are being carried along with them. The outcome may be bleak. Or we might rise above the chaos and witness humanity’s finest hour. That is what I want to believe. Maybe it’s what we all need to believe.
Cornwall 718
It’s a scary world out there and I try not to dwell on it too much. After all, our collective destiny is very rarely in our hands. When people woke up, on that fateful June day one hundred years ago, they were blissfully unaware that a murder in Sarajevo would plunge the world into war not once, but twice. In the grand scheme of things, we are but pawns in history’s game of chess.
Cornwall 717
Yes, the tides are shifting, but tomorrow the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west. The dew will lie heavy on the  leaves and will luminesce like pearls, before the warmth of the sun will make it rise like a wraith to the blue skies above. The last cricket will sing and the waves will hug the shore as they have done for thousands of years. Life will go on.
Cornwall 708
Tide-out, St Ives, Cornwall ~ July 2012

12 comments:

  1. Beautifully said, Loree. I am often reminded of Joseph Campbell's famous line: Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.

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  2. Boats are something I hardly ever see, beautiful pictures!

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  3. Wonderful write, Loree! And yes, the world is scary to even think about it..Lets just live and dwell on beautiful things we see and feel at the moment it happens.

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  4. Yes. We just keep going and add our little bit of good to the mess...hopefully. Beautifully put as always, Loree.

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  5. Dear Loree - this is so well written and your photos are beautiful. Yes my friend life holds many scary things. Like to go with your thought that in the end we will rise out of the chaos - that is why I look up! Hugs.

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  6. "We are pawns in a history game of chess"That is BRILLIANT!It is scary and I try not to listen or read about it.................I would like to see the NEWS become a fun thing to watch. Happy stories of goodness.......not what we have going on now for sure.You keep looking at that WINDOW!XXX

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  7. Well said Loree. You write beautifully. And post beautiful photos.

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  8. You are right ! The trouble is that now with all the modern communication means, we know too much ! To my Grandma's time they didn't even know what happened in the next village !

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  9. Fantastic. And I especially love photos number 1 and 3. They make me happy!

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  10. I have taken about a month hiatus from listening to the news on my way to work and only watching news every few days. It can be overwhelming. And it's true, it seems like things are getting worse but I do think the amount of information that we try to digest can make us a little ... well, depressed or anxious ... overwhelmed. I like the mr. rodgers quote that when something terrible happens, look to the helpers. That is what inspires. That human beings will reach out in the worst of times.

    Big hugs and love to you!

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  11. i believe there is so much more good in the world than bad. the problem is that the bad sells more newspapers. :)
    your shots are wonderful.
    xoxo

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  12. I try to keep it all in balance Loree. It is not easy. I think that is one of the things I enjoy about blogging, it let's you escape, even if only for a little while. You have done so beautifully here. Best wishes for a lovely weekend... xx

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Thanks for stopping by. I read and appreciate every one of your comments. I will do my best to reply whenever I can.

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