It appears that against my will I am being carefully and inexorably towed out by the tide of an ebbing summer, back into the dark mornings. The brightness of summer is leaving me. Too soon. Too soon. The sunrise is only at the strength of a whisper as I carry my buckets of warm water out to the barn to start milking.
Look at all this rain we had by light yesterday morning. 
And it is warm, and humid. So the grass is growing. Wonderful rainfall. Now that the weather has settled again, today I shall place the maze under the final honey super and gather the last of the honey tomorrow.
Daisy and Queenie will be quartered in the yards for a few days until the ground is harder again. I don’t want them tramping the growing grass into mud. Suffice to say, Daisy is Not Amused.
Good morning. I hope you are all well and toddling along. It seems our late summer quiet has gone down a stop. Into a pregnant pause. Something is coming.
I dreamt of crossing the ocean from island to island on string bridges. The whole of the sky was strung with shiny wires, bridges attached, people rushing to and fro along their walkways carrying their baggage. Everyone dressed in the travelling style of the late forties. Seagulls perched on the wires watching. It was a beautiful day and we were grateful there was no wind.
We all had personal string bridges that we whipped across to a wire, like you flick a wet dishcloth at legs and it secured, with a hook on contact to the wires of our choice, this was a learned skill, I was good at it, after years of practise. As our bridge settled on we rushed. All hurry – hurry. My swing bridge was old and a few of the wooden slats were broken leaving gaps but it was serviceable for my little group if you were careful.
So waking to the dense quiet of the morning is such a relief. No hurry. Just get all the chores done before the school run. Plenty of time.
Have a lovely day. Watch your step.
celi
On this day a year ago. My grandmother made rabbit stew. If you have time for a short read, this is one of The Stories. I really like this one and once I work on the description of this glorious South Island summer I will like it even better.
The Kitchen's Garden 
70 responses to “The precious light of dawn”
What a beautiful dream. You are forever making crossings, into new territory and I know that sometimes it feels you are walking on air.
I can hear the rain tinkling down into your well, far under the earth. What happy grass to have wetness while there is still some warmth.
Here the light is increasing. You remind me that it had to come from somewhere. It’s always rather sad when it receded.
I just love that even though I don’t get by WP as often as I would wish on vacation now – I can catch you on Facebook! So fun 😉
Ah, but the light of that barn is so pretty.
I’m always so sad when you can sense that summer is in its final few moments. But I’m so glad you’ve had the rain. Love the image of your barn xx
Oh, Celi, I read your first para and look at that first photo and am waiting to learn you have won the Pulitzer or some hi’falutin photography prize of which I am ignorant!!!! I DO hope you are keeping all your ‘ramblings’ [oh, so interesting!] for a future book 🙂 !
They are hopefully going to come together in The Stories Book.. Something about Nine Lives. c
Well, actually, I had never thought of ‘c’ standing for ‘cat’ 😀 ! As long as c/c keep all!!
Yes, there is a touch of fall in the air now. Poor Daisy! I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side!
That’s a heart-warming story about your Pa and the rabbit hunting. It’s made me think of my grandparents just now. My grandmother was a very good cook but, when we escaped the Czech Republic to Canada, and she saw the bounty that was cream and butter and she amended her recipes to double those ingredients. Boy oh boy did her daughters complain, and thank goodness we were active kids! 🙂
what a wonderful story veronica, all that milk and cream just made sure you were active.. gave you tons of energy after such a difficult time i am sure.. !
Damn! Your writing just gets better and better! HF
poo, i barely write anymore, winter is coming, i will write in the winter! i start on dec 26.. c
Lovely, lovely dream. So many possible interpretations, but clearly you experienced it with delight. Perhaps it is a reflection of the ease of your day. By this I do not mean that you do not work hard; I mean that you navigate each day with grace. One note: I am glad there was more to the paragraph that begins with the words, “Daisy and Queenie will be quartered…” – My jaw dropped when these first words came in sight!
oh dear. sorry if i gave you a fright! .. c
I love interpreting dreams.. I think you dreamt of all of us blogging friends.. imagine if there were virtual wires connecting us across the web to your farmy, to each other! I wonder what my bridge would look like? You’ve got such a wonderful imagination, c, I think this dream should be the beginnings of your book:) Luv, Smidge