BS: Sunshine Thoughts

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Megan L
Date: 05 Jul 16 - 02:36 AM

I guess we all have times when the road through life seems rockier than others. The 30th June saw the 5th anniversary of Dauvits death to be honest most years it lips past without rattling to hard on the door. This year however has been different I guess it was triggered by the death of my sister in law a few months ago.

However even in the darkness the sunshine can reach into our lives. You see the other day I had ben indoors all day but later in the afternoon I took the notion to head a couple of mils along the road to Gerri's ice cream parlour to drown my sorrows.

Alas as I approached the shop I could see way to many cars for me to stop, so I decided to go on to the next village Finstown to stop by Bakes sores and get a pokeyhat (a cone).

I was just driving past Maes Howe when I saw two young lads (weel young tae me) sticking their thumbs out at the side of the road. I was a fair few yards past when I realised it was Sunday and the busses were few and far between so I jammed on the brakes and waited for them to catch up. when they opened the door I asked where they were going and in that moment my day changed.

Ethan and Erin were two photo journalists from America, they had come over to do an article on this years Ness of Brodgar dig and had decided to spend a few days gathering other bits and pieces about the island that may be of use to them.

I drove them into town and we chatted about places of interest those little snippet that sometimes don't make it to the tourist guidebooks. As I shared my island with them the love I felt for this strange straggle of islands returned in full measure.

I am sure they were glad when I dropped them of to escape this strange babbling woman They may never know the sunshine they brought into another's life but I wish them well in all they do.

I never did get that ice cream ah well perhaps the real sun will stop playing tig with the dark clouds for a bit today and give me an excuse to head of to Gerri's again.
Sunshine is out there sometimes we just have to go find it.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Jul 16 - 10:59 AM

Coincidentally:
the holiday weekend here was all sunshiny, but last night after all the fireworks, the rainstorms moved in. The rain has now stopped but the clouds are still dominant, and the forecast says we will have sun even if it doesn't at first appear so. My corner of Massachusetts is particularly green, located as it is on the upper Charles River. There was a painter named George Inness who specialized in landscapes, who for a few years raised his young family in this region; although he moved further south, the landscape here stayed in his memory and turned up in his paintings even after he had left. I ought to see if there are online files of Inness' work: it makes Thomas Kinkade look cheap, the best of his work takes your breath away.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: ranger1
Date: 05 Jul 16 - 12:35 PM

Lovely, Meg.

Toward the middle of May, I had a group of kindergartners for a nature walk. What was supposed to be a half-hour walk about the five senses and nature turned into a full hour, as the children had so many questions and we saw so many things that they wanted to know more about. Before we started the walk, when I was talking about why we watch animals from a safe distance and we don't feed them, one child asked me if we would see any wild animals. I told them maybe, but if we wanted to watch them, we would have to be very quiet and very still. As we were walking, one little boy wanted to walk with the girls at the head of the line, but they didn't want him to. I told him he could walk with me, and we strolled along, hand in hand. As we crossed one of the bridges on the trail, my little friend and I saw a chipmunk, very engrossed in doing chipmunk things. We stopped, pointed, and all seventeen children went suddenly very still and very silent. They stayed that way until one of the adults sneezed and scared the chipmunk into its burrow. Must have been a good five minutes, though, which is a tremendous amount of time for a five or six year old.

During the course of the walk, as they were asking me about woodpecker holes and learning why woodpeckers don't get headaches, one little boy who had hung back throughout most of the walk and didn't like to be touched or crowded, sidled up next to me. I put out my hand, and he took it and he and I and my other little friend all walked together for the rest of the way. Later, the teacher, who has been bringing children to the park for nature walks for over twenty years, came up to me and told me I had the touch, that the second little boy rarely lets anyone touch him. I think maybe it was because I recognized that it wasn't that he didn't want to take part, but that he needed some space, and I made sure he got it, rather than leaving him on the fringe of the activities. Whatever it was, I'm glad all the kids had such a good time.

As a matter of fact, at least one of them had such a good time, that he pestered his mom into bringing the whole family back. I bumped into them on the trail on Saturday and he recognized me. I stopped and talked with them all for a bit, and them I asked Rowan what he liked best from his earlier trip to the park. He didn't have to think about it, he immediately blurted out "Watching the big birds!" meaning the osprey pair that nest on the island 100 yards offshore. And this is why I do what I do.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Megan L
Date: 05 Jul 16 - 01:01 PM

I would look forward to seeing some of his work Keberoxu.

Lass while you made it a good day for all the children you gave the two little boys something so special it will stay with them a long time perhaps the rest of their lives you gave them individual attention while respecting their space most people do not understand some folks need for breathing distance from others. well done

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Andrez
Date: 05 Jul 16 - 08:48 PM

Megan ended her post above saying: "Sunshine is out there sometimes we just have to go find it." I'm finding a little hard to find it at present especially in the gloom of southern hemisphere winter, no job and recent passing of my mother.

That said when I feel like that like now, I'm reminded of the lines in the chorus from Leonard Cohen's wonderful song Anthem.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

The complete lyrics are found on this site and I'm sure it will be up on YouTube if looking for an audio version: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leonardcohen/anthem.html

Megan and Leonard are both right on the money. Hope this helps spread some sunshine too.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Megan L
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 02:32 AM

Thank you Andrez mothers are a special gift and sorely missed. I had never heard that chorus from Cohen it is so true.

When I had to give up work because of ill health It played heavily on my mind for a time till I realised It gave me a chance to re evaluate my life looking back now it was just a station where I paused for a moment to change trains, hope your new train takes you to happy wonderful places.

Awra best
frae
Meg

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Megan L
Date: 30 Jun 19 - 05:43 AM

Didn't think I would be back kind of lost heart after Dauvit passed but it is a rough time and I took a wander through the thread it made me think of the sunshine I have started to rebuild.

A while back i stumbled on a photography group by accident (Pudgy fingers and wee keys :) )Some of the photgraphs are amazing "I couldn't do that" but at the top of the page was the weekend theme which was the colour blue. My world had been shrinking till other than shopping i rarely went out the house but I suddenly found myself grabbing the camera I had bought Dauvit for our silver wedding which had lain unused and headed to town.


There was a tiny cafe up the Strynd that had an old welsh dresser painted a lovely pale blue on which they displayed their cakes. I had coffee then asked the staff if they would mind me taking a picture of the dresser. They probably thought I was mad but happily agreed so I took my picture and scuttled of home.


Taking what courage i had in my fingertips i pressed the post button and there among the amazing pictures was my wee picture. If someone had slammed it I would probably have curled up and gone back to my isolation. That however was not what happened Mark the founder of the group said it was nice and others added positive comments encouraging me to go take more photographs.


Gradually starting with isolated places i did not think i would see people I went out with the camera. What i came to realise was having a camera round your neck was rather like a baby in a pram or a puppy it attracts people, they smile and talk about taking pictures and where to go.


Several weeks later someone critisised someone elses picture and I found myself tellting them of since a group rule was no creative critisism unless asked for. Mark spotted it and a bit later I was asked to join the admin team. That summer there was hardly a day that i was not out somewhere taking pictures and talking to more and more people.


Fast forward to last November my brother broke the neck of his hip. I drove down to be with him and with one set back and another i didnt see home till the begining of April. I realised at 83 he is becoming very frail but fiercely independant. To help him regain his confidence and learn to walk with a walking stick I took him out almost every day and took lots of pictures of the places we went most photo bombed by Roy who is to deaf to hear my shout :) .


sadly I was only home a few weeks when he ended up back in hospital and i had to rush down again. Once more we started the going out until he was confident enough to spend a bit of time on his own as i strolled back to the car for a seat.


One thing I realised was we were so comfortable that we were not making new memories so we started looking for places we had never been and had some wonderful visits and pictures. And i have lots of lovely new and happy memories to keep me warm when it is his time to go.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Megan L
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 03:36 AM

been gathering my tales from all over the place this one would have once been common, at least here in Scotland in all rural areas.

The girnal

The memories of another Davidina Sinclair some one hundred years ago.

I was born in a small village about twenty miles from Glasgow although it may as well have been one hundred and twenty for all the chance I would have had of seeing it. The cottage had drystone walls near three feet thick with small windows.

The area was full of farms and mines both coal and ironstone. It was a hard life I dinny mind oan my father he got killed in the war but his painting aye hung at the bottom of mither bed, sometimes when there were bills to pay I would hear her talking to him asking what she was to do wie six bairns to clothe and feed.

There was a big kist at the fit of the girls bed wie the clean linen and some spare blankets. My mum had lost her dad in the mine fire damp they called it.

There wasn't a doctor in the village the nearest would have been close to an hours walk away so it wasn't uncommon for us to be in bed and mither to order us up and strip the bed. We would get new cold sheets from the kist while our warm ones were wrapped up to keep them warm and run to another house where someone had been injured or a wife was having a bairn.

We didn't have the NHS and a doctor was something most of the folk in the village couldn't afford . It therefore fell to women like mither to bring bairns into the world aye and sometimes see the mothers out of it.

Mither was tea total and kent herbs and things to give folk a fighting chance of making it without having to send to the town for a doctors so she was often the first to be called.

When it was hairst time the last o the oats would beaten oot o the girnal(a ither word for a big kist) and pit in a bucket or barrel till needed.

The girnal would be scrubbed wie boiling water and salt and left to dry. The day the new oats came from the mill us bairns would have our feet scrubbed then some of the oats wid be pit in the girnal and us lifted in on top of it to stamp up and down packing it hard before more oats were added.

This wasn't just to get as much in as possible but the tighter it was packed in the less air and that meant less things could get in yer oats.

Dinner on girnal day was always a bit special, mither always got a hen the day before it was boiled for a while then roasted on the range. Before she went to bed the meat would be sliced of the bird, placed on a plate, covered with another plate and put it on the stone shelf in the press to keep fresh.

The carcass was picked over and the scraps added to the plate to be put back into the soup. The bones were put back in the pot that it had been boiled in, topped up with water and vegetable peelings added to swee awa overnight to make a good stock.

The next day while water was boiled for the foot washing the stock was run through a muslin and left to cool a while to let the fat settle on top she would use it later to roast some potatoes and the old oats would be fried up with suet and onion from the yard to provide plenty of skirlie.

My big brother and one of the big sisters were sent of to hunt for berries, blaeberries and brambles gathered in a basket and some pennies in their pocket to call past Jock Cowsells farm for a chappin can o cream.

We thought oursels rich on that day for surely neither the Laird or the new king could have dined as well as we did on girnal day.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 09:05 AM

thanks for reviving this thread, Megan.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 10:58 AM

This is beautiful.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: Megan L
Date: 09 Apr 23 - 03:38 AM

When I started this thread it was just a few random moments pinned to the screen so that I had something positive and wholesome to read on dark days.

Way back then, was it really so long ago? I promised Katlaughing that I would make my sunshine thoughts into a book. Sadly time like a river keeps flowing on. Then about five years ago I became an administrator on Scottish recipes club and as well as traditional recipes that are not always passed on in today's busy world I put up a wee story about the family picnics we enjoyed in my childhood.

Folk liked them and as Kat had one of the ladies kept nudging me for more and to gather them into a book. Then in December 2021 we almost lost my brother to hypothermia. Thanks to the wonderful care he got from NHS Royal Infirmary in Glasgow he survived but they discovered the reason he got hypothermia in a house with several heaters and a big panel clock that told him the temperature was dementia and is now in a lovely care home where the lads and lassies all know me and keep me well informed of what he's up to and any medical issues.

So now the big news is the various stories have been gathered and are being edited and sorted for publishing right now I am trying to find someone local to do some sketches and contacting the archives to find out about permissions to use some of the old photographs.

Another step closer and this one will be taken quicker so the book can be shared with big brother.

Subject: RE: BS: Sunshine Thoughts
From: maeve
Date: 12 Apr 23 - 06:22 PM

Looking forward to your book, Megan.