New paintings and regular art updates.
It was raining this morning at three in the morning, but through the mild mirk of a December night the sound of a blackbird was heard singing.
The rain continued and the raindrops splattered my window, the drips from the gutter splashed down onto me as I opened the front door to get the milk bottles in. Water was running down the road and overflowing the drains.
I didn’t hear the bird but I could hear the cars whooshing through the rain… Being on a main road can be noisy.
My hanging baskets are getting well watered. I took a video but you can’t really see the rain well. I looked up the storms on blitzortung.org which is a free thunder and lightening monitoring service covering the whole world. There is a line of thunderstorms heading up from the south from the Welsh border to around Derby passing over Stoke-on-Trent and rumbling north.
The closest lightning was about 2 seconds between flash and boom. That’s about a mile away as there is a time delay due to the speed of light being so much faster than the speed of sound. The last combination was about 12 seconds… 2 seconds equals a mile distance, 12 is therefore 6 miles. It’s going North.
One thing I’ve noticed is the rolling boom of thunder seems to last a lot longer these days. Starting soft before reaching a crescendo then gradually fading. There must be so much energy up there! And it’s just stopped raining… And the birds have started singing again…
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
Three cats, birdsong, books.
My family is my cats, they keep me company, amuse and irritate, sometimes in equal measure. They are loving but also bonkers. Chasing each other around the house, up and down stairs, jumping up and sleeping on my chair when I’m out of the room.
Today I heard birdsong from the garden, the sun was shining and the wind had settled down, suddenly a blackbird started singing loudly. The song was thrilling, musical, lyrical. Complex and melodic. Blackbirds songs increase in complexity as they get older. It was beautiful.
Finally I’ve included books. I bought back some lovely art books from my studio. One is about Women Surrealist Artists, another about The Faery Garden by someone called Beatrice Phillpotts. There are more, images from Nasa about space exploration, micrographic images of plants, and other books.
These five things are everyday things that bring me great happiness.
The sun rise is later every day
The birds still wake and sing
At the same time
Their day stretches
From wing tip to wing tip
Music soaring before the sun
Even when night is darkest
Before the dawn
They know to sing…
The liquid notes of the robin
Pierce the night.
Despite it being the start of January I am listening to a beautiful dawn chorus. It is either a Robin or a Blackbird. That’s because I’m struggling to sleep again. But hearing the liquid notes and swirling tunes is fascinating and lovely. I’m just sitting quietly and I can hear strong birdsong despite having double glazing. Each tune or snippet of song only lasts for a little while, then there is a short gap and the music starts again. There is no other sound out there. It’s too early for traffic or footsteps. Just a high series of tweets and whistles cascading from a small bird.
The weather forecast is for lower temperatures and snow rain and ice to return over the next few days. I shall make sure the birds in our garden have food and water. They deserve it for creating such beautiful song. I could not get a photo so excuse my drawing of the garden. Its full of trees and bushes. Now other birds are joining in. Excuse me while I listen… X
There’s a robin singing in the garden at 1.00 am….. Its so quiet I can really hear its liquid song..
Melodic beauty
high and liquid
like tinkling water,
cheering and full of joy.
So quiet at one second,
then a glissando of notes.
Music in nature,
beauty and serenity.
Wonderous gift.
Peace.
This was the cloud
that rattled the windows,
drowned out birdsong
made my hubby swear in surprise.
This is the cloud
I tried to film
Flashes and rumbles
Forked lightening
Heavy rain it brings.
This was the cloud
That the blackbird sang to,
dueting the flashes
overwhelmed by thunder
liquid notes flying up to heaven,
rain falling in response.
I can’t take a photo of a bird in the dark so this will have to do.
The dawn chorus has started. I’m not sure what bird is singing , but I think it’s probably a robin based on its liquid and melodius song. All my windows and doors are double glazed, except one above our front door, that is a single glazed half circle with a stained glass window inside it. But it is enough to let the wonderful sound through.
I can’t tell if it’s one bird. There is a tiny hint of a response, but too far away to hear clearly. There are gaps in the song as if the singer is listening? Maybe we will have a Robins nest in the garden for Spring?
X
Good night
I wrote a long piece about this, then I fell asleep, my finger hit the screen and I’ve lost it! I will try and remember what I was saying.
I was bought up in the 60’s and 70’s, when shops closed on a Sunday, people bought enough food to last and put it in the pantry (a small room lined with shelves which was stacked with tins and dry goods).
It was quiet, no one had cars so we would play in the back garden or go to the local park which was a few hundred yards away over the main road. But the road was easy to cross because it wasn’t that busy.
Back to today. I sat in the garden and was surprised to hear birds singing. I think I could recognise about three different songs. They were up a tree at the other end of the garden, normally they would have been drowned out by the road.
Even the rush hour failed to happen. Normally the cars queue on the street waiting to turn into the traffic. Today, one car every few minutes.
The only thing I saw which was wrong was three young men, full of energy, walking together laughing, making fun, striding out. We have been told not to be in groups of more than two. I just worry…
Still, it’s quiet, like an old fashioned Sunday.
I came downstairs about an hour ago and the sweet, loud, melodious song of birds was filling the air. At this time of year in the spring it seems louder and more beautiful than ever. Fizzing through the air like ripe electricity. A great pleasure to listen to.
Then cutting through it the insistent alarm call, not of a blackbird, but a ruddy car alarm! The bird song quietened for about five minutes, a car engine started up in the street, and traffic noise commenced. But soaring high above it the melodies of a Blackbird and its mate have resumed. Liquid notes rising and falling in complicated trills… And that ruddy car alarm again!
Mallaband-Brown