In Which Direction did My Rain Go?

Before I came to America I never thought about directions in relation to the compass. In New Zealand I never said going North for instance, I would say I am going up to Auckland. Intellectually I knew the sun rose in the East but I did not put that together with an East Facing window. That was just where the sun rose. I never made the choice to think about it being East.

Did that sentence even make sense?

To get to Christchurch meant travelling in a Southern direction. But I would say I am off to catch the ferry then driving down to Christchurch. South was down, North was Up. East and West were across; if you go too far across you end up in the sea.

Here is the rural US they say Drive North for 10 miles then turn East into 1800. (Or something). It is all very sensible.

( I remember when I lived in London being told everywhere else was down because London was at the top – as in: I am going Up to London. Never; I am going up to Kent. I don’t know if that was true or just someone pulling the foreigners leg. But that does make me wonder if people in the UK use points of the compass as much as they do here in the US.

Which brings me to my present thought. My desk faces North. I look straight out the big French doors past the house deck and out to the North.

And watch all these rain clouds pass us by.

Then I go outside and shoot East or South. Should I be telling you which direction I am shooting? My direction for the above shot is out to the South.

Does this help you feel a sense of Place?

This one is to the East.

South again.

We are surrounded in open ground to the North, South, East and West. The asparagus fields are to my East.

I think that childhood changed into adulthood with such speed that I was not even conscious of thinking about stuff. I must have though right? Which is why this blog is so important t me – it is where I store those thoughts that I never really thought about before.

The very nature of writing well forces one to stare at the page for a while and work out a sentence before writing it down.

Who does this when they are talking – we just talk right? Or do you think before you speak?

Do you think that animals have an inner compass. We know birds do. And dogs. They all know where bed is and where their feeding spot is. Ton has lost his compass completely – when we walk he keeps walking straight until I send Boo out to turn him. He just walks right past the drive – every time. Boo and I have turned into the driveway but Ton just keeps going straight. At a fast clip.

WaiWai

WaiWai’s compass takes him straight to the back step in the morning. And the feed hut in the afternoon. The rest of the time, like Ton, he is resting in his bed.

Wai comes into the feed shed when I am working in there and just quietly watches. Navigating the step up into the little hut takes some thought and he has no intention of doing it twice so comes in and he just waits quietly. He is determined not to be sent back outside. He will stand waiting like that for minutes at a time using mental telepathy to send me hungry thoughts – Feed Me. He is quite still. Quite focussed on getting his message across. He knows perfectly well that that kind of well mannered behaviour is always rewarded with a little bit of everyone else’s dinner.

Then when I shut the door he will race after me, calling out – slow down, slow down, as I walk to his own barn door to fill his own bowl with his proper feed.

This pig does not suffer from hunger at all.

Plus he has to stay light or his broken body will not carry his big head which houses his big brain anymore.

Weather

Another cold spell is ahead of us now.

Do you have days where you are struggling with a concept and so you can’t think of anything else until that question has been answered, the words have been found – allowing you to move on.

I am having a day like that.

I know I can think of more than one thing at once. But this one thing is like a cloud in my head that refuses to rain. It is just hovering in there – and must be allowed the time to sort itself out into logical pieces.

Oo it just got darker, we went down a stop, maybe we will get a little rain – that would make it so much easier to prepare the asparagus beds – the ground is so hard.

Now I can hear the rain coming across the wheat. This land is so open. I can hear weather coming. I hope it reaches us.

Have a lovely day

Celi

PS – Yes! I was right – just as I went to push Publish the rain arrived!