Tag Archives: Storm

Change Of Season

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The sun is shining through my window, there’s a storm outside and I can see the trees swing from side to side. Still holding on to their already turning leaves, but it won’t last much longer I’m afraid… The day will come where shades of red, yellow and brown will colour the ground. The season is changing, I’m lucky to catch this ray of sunshine on what would usually be a typical English grey day. It’s probably one of the last attempts so I’m a sponge absorbing the nurturing ingredients of sunlight making me dreamy while I prepare myself for a day of creativity.

Yesterday and the day before I decided to stay away from my computer for a while because I felt the urge to be quiet and think. I’m good at reorganising my thoughts while I’m cleaning up at the same time. Throwing out all the things that ‘you think you need‘ gives me the freedom of detaching so I can let go and therefore it creates the much needed space in my head to deal with things that might be bothering me. A declutter session is like spending an hour with a shrink, and after, you feel relieved and determined to deal with what needs to be dealt with.

So because of those sessions, today, I enjoy the sunshine warming up and lighten the now empty corners of my mind while I focus on things that need to be done. Stuff that I might have postponed for another day or worse; try not to deal with them at all. I have a perfectly clean slate, a nice crisp page in my Moleskine sketchbook, a leadholder impatiently waiting to jot down thoughts accompanied by sketches and the in-between-thoughts doodles that will cause laughter days later when I go through my sketchbook in search of another unspoilt page.

I will use the wonderful skills that I was given, the creative knowledge that I’ve studied for and gathered over many years of experience to create business cards for a garden designer and a website for my friend. She is a [wedding] photographer and asked me a few days ago if I was interested in this project. I designed her logo, stationery, business cards and compliment slip using her beautiful pictures. She needs an online portfolio to show her clients, I’ll use the same design as I used for her stationery: stylish, classy and most of all professional looking.

It’s a website that will be so much fun to design, I’ll do this in the ‘quiet moments’ as a treat to myself when I’m allowed a break from the gloves website which is just one of those things that needs to be done… Getting paid for sitting in the sun and being creative… ain’t it fun? *kidding*

[Note: an hour later it pisses down with rain *LOL* but I’m happy I could enjoy enough sunshine to brighten my morning. And two hours later the sun is there again smiling at me for the rest of the day!]

My notes, thoughts, doodles and/or sketches…

My notes, thoughts, doodles and/or sketches…

My notes, thoughts, doodles and/or sketches…

Night ‘n Gale

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I was kept awake half the night because of this singing that came in through the open window. It seemed to move from place to place and at some point it was very nearby… The first time I ever heard this song was in the south of France, sitting outside in the chilly dark night sipping my hot coffee. And I remember how surprised I was because it was pitch-black out there and normally in springtime everything would be quiet except for the odd sound of some lost sangliers, digging their noses in fresh soil looking for roots and insects. They would scream at times, a horrible sound that could easily scare you if you’re not familiar with it.

But that time it was different, les sangliers were not around, les cigales stopped vibrating their membranes and were probably hiding for the night and it had been quiet for some time until the song started. I was wondering why that would happen that late at night while most other similar species would be quiet and asleep around that time. It seemed strange to me and I didn’t understand. Nevertheless it was wonderful to listen to and absolutely intriguing. So when I went to bed, I kept listening on and off during the night while I tried to get some sleep as well. The next morning I found out that the song I had been listening to belonged to the Nightingale.

Of course I heard about the Nightingale but I had never actually hear him sing until that night in France and I only then realised why he was named like that. So last night the English version was sitting nearby in one of the gardens communicating with another one that I could hear respond in the distance after a few seconds. And that was the odd thing: these birds were still out there singing while there was a serious 60mph gale going on [force 10]… So serious that I woke up later that night and was forced to close the window. How could they ever sit in a tree in a storm like that and sing their songs all night as well? They didn’t seem bothered at all…

And I was thinking: ‘they probably don’t know any better, they just do what they’re supposed to do which is singing…’ ‘No matter what type of weather it is they won’t be distracted, they stay focused on the one thing that they’re supposed to be doing.’ So I pictured the one nearby, sitting on his branch, holding on to it firmly, while the storm is trying extremely hard to blow him away. And he’s just there, not scared at all but facing the storm while singing his brave song, totally ignoring what is going on around him. And while I pictured that, I said to myself: ‘I think that Nightingale is trying to teach you a valid lesson, perhaps… you should pay attention…’

© E. Dulac, The Nightingale