Wobbles

 Life, and all it’s complexities, throws a wobble now and then.

Saturday was one such wobble.

A day when nothing made sense and lifting my head off the pillow was

more than I felt I could manage.

Thankfully days like this are few and far between.

Wobbles ARE necessary though,
if only to allow us to see how blessed we already are.

A long and thought provoking ramble on Sunday was necessary.

I love VERY early morning rambles.

Especially when I have no time constraints.

It’s even more special when the tide’s out in the bay.

That’s when the mudflats beckon!

The contrast in textures appeals to the senses.

The craggy shell-encrusted rocks against the mirror-like opacity of the ocean.

Clouds reflecting in the waters below as the sun beams down.

My kind of magical.

The reflections are amazing.

They’re everywhere.

The water reflects back a zillion and one images.

Reflections on life.

On the world around us.

On people like me.

There's a fleeting moment when the tide turns and EVERYthing stands still.
Even the waves.

You’d miss it if you weren’t listening.

There’s a silence that envelopes the moment.

Just as you think time really HAS stood still,

the waves start rolling again.

It’s quite bizarre, but beautiful.

I love these moments.

I love the serenity they bring.

The perfection they allow.

 
The awe they leave me standing in.

“Like wildflowers, 

you must allow yourself to grow 

in all the places people thought you never  would.”

~ unknown

Maintaining equilibrium

 “Seek the path that demands your whole being. 

Leave that which is not, but appears to be.”

~ Rumi

There is NO understanding of life at times.

Some days ROCK and some days don’t.

How to maintain equilibrium on the days that don’t is a quandary.

And one I don’t have an answer for.

Keeping busy helps.

Note to self:

Focus on the little things.

Any step forward is progress, no matter how small.

Staying static ISN’T an option.

Early morning sun rays that add warmth to my world help.

Reflections in puddles that reflect life right back at me help too.

Hugely heartfelt hugs help even more. They give as much comfort to the giver as to the recipient. 

Even on the days when clouds fill my mind and dark thoughts inhabit my conscious

SOMETHING will happen to bring sunshine to the day

and laughter to my heart.

I thrive on laughter.

It restores normality to a world washed in chaos.

As do my rambles.

A rather madcap look as she waits for me to throw the ball ....

Heading out when the world’s still sleeping ISN’T the norm.

It is peaceful though.

In a naturally noisy fashion.

That's an oxymoron of note.  

A peaceful noise.

Whilst watching the tide recede and the sun rise is tranquil,

there’s nothing tranquil about the cawing of the gulls as they greet that rising sun.

What IS absent though is manmade noise

and that’s what makes those morning rambles magic.

Any sense of awe is lost on the hound.

She leaps through the sand with abandon.  

plunging with glee into the puddles left by the retreating tide.

I have to snap quickly if I want any chance of catching those reflections before she muddies them.

Laughter bubbles out as quickly as the ripples radiate out in the puddle.

What was I thinking.

It's mornings like this that maintain that equilibrium.

Mornings like this that ensure my world ROCKS.

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same, 

yet our lessons come from the journey .... not the destination.”

~ Don Williams (American Novelist and Poet 1968)

65VDUB - a 1965 VW Kombi fitted out as a wedding car.
Spotted whilst we were at the Mt. Eden Village market on Saturday.

Yep ... that chair FLEW forward!

Life ... and laughter ... and LONG rambles.

Isn’t it funny how some people can ‘SEE’ something happening before it happens.  Emma had one of those moments this morning and, if she’d been a little ahead of herself, COULD have captured it on camera!

I wish I’d captured it on camera!

Let’s start at the beginning though.

My ramble this morning happened to be in a DIFFERENT part of paradise.  The hound and I and my abysmal navigational skills headed out to Maraetai where Emma lives.  Thank goodness for Google maps and the audible directions.  Even I WASN’T able to get lost.

Emma’s been wanting to show us her part of the world for an age but with markets most weekends, we’ve both struggled to find a mutually convenient time.  This weekend was different though.  NEITHER of us had any markets.

The hound and I were up at the crack of dawn ... yes, on a Sunday ... and were able to watch the sun rising as we negotiated the highways and byways to Maraetai.

Maraetai Beach is quite BEAUTIFUL and even more so in the early hours of the morning.  I didn’t manage to get there before the sun rose but it didn’t matter.  The light on the water was magnificent.  The reflections were magnificent.  The myriad of logs the hound found on the beach were ... in her eyes, at least .... magnificent.

We were heading back to one of the beach cafes for a much needed caffeine boost and breakfast when we happened upon a couple of fishermen fishing off the beach. As I picked up the hound’s log to throw, Emma was trying to tell me NOT to .... but couldn’t get the words out quick enough.

The fisherman closest to us had a little Jack Russell with him ... on a lead ....  tethered to his fishing chair.  As I threw the log for the hound, the Jack Russell went after it too.

I’m sure you can picture what happened next!  

The chair FLEW forward.  It wedged itself firmly between the gentleman’s legs as the lead attaching the Jack Russell to the chair stretched taut.  The Jack Russell at this stage was reared up on it’s hind legs doing everything in it’s power to break free of the lead.  It was the funniest scene.  You couldn’t have orchestrated it better.  

We both roared with laughter as did the fisherman. Thank goodness it wasn’t a BIG dog ... that chair AND the fisherman would have been IN the waves WITH the hound.