When I choose a word for Weekword, my choice is often based on what I’d like to see other people interpret; I rarely choose something because I’ve already had an idea for a post. This means I often find myself scrabbling around at the last moment trying to think of a post for my own word. But this choice was a bit different, because it came out of a thought I had on Monday.
We’ve been having pretty grotty weather here lately. It’s been chilly without that lovely autumn crispness. Drizzly rain that goes on and on, rather than downpours which fade into pale sunshine. Wet mist that doesn’t lift, just hangs around like a bad mood all day. When the weather’s like this, it’s easy to think that the outdoors is ‘nothingy’. It seems to be lacking – the temptation is to stay inside and ignore it. But sometimes that’s not possible (when one has a dog who needs walking and small people to get to school) and the outdoors must be faced.
I walked the Little Girl to the school bus on Monday, and turned to walk back to the house. My first instinct was to put my head down and get back through the grey drizzle as fast as I could, but something stopped me. Even on the greyest, most unprepossessing day, our little valley has something going for it.
The river wasn’t a low, clear trickle, singing its way over the stones as it is in summer, nor a thundering torrent as it is in winter. It flowed gently along, quietly, a thin brown like petrol station hot chocolate. The ground beneath my feet had gone to mud – in some places balletic leaps were required as I hadn’t worn wellies. There were no pleasant breezes or high winds, just a gentle buffeting which made leaves flump wetly from the trees. And the autumn leaves, without the sunshine to illuminate them, didn’t glow with that bright, joyous flame immortalised on all those photos of fall foliage. They glowed gently through the murk, like a fire banked down until the family return.
The elements – water, earth, air and fire – not in their pure, flamboyant state, but there nonetheless. Subdued and muted, perhaps, but not gone. Not nothingy.
I enjoyed the rest of my walk back to the house.
Why not go and see what the other Weekworders have come up with this week?
What a lovely post, and a good reminder that beauty is always there, sometimes we just have to adjust our view.
Wonderful post Sally, we sometimes pass and taken for granted the beauty that is already shouting in front of our face… even the the leaves that are falling have their beauty… all we just gotta do is take time to pause and observe… happy weekend
Hi Sally, I enjoyed your writing, it made me feel as though I was there too and could see what you saw. The photo portrays well the texture and the muted colours of the season. Its a reminder to me too that there is beauty everywhere if we look, instead of taking for granted what is around us and not appreciating it. Thanks!
This is beautifully written Sally, thank you.
I’m desperately trying to appreciate the beauty of the elements today…not very successfully I might add!
Who’s our leader for this week’s word?
Thanks all for the comments, and for the kind words about the writing. I’ve had such a long time off blogging that I feel a little creaky so the encouragement is welcome.
Katy, good point! I’m going to tag Emma for this week
Great post Sally, as much about appreciation as elements.