Wednesday this week was day 12 of my “House Arrest” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While delighting  in my back garden I was inspired to write the following for our Wednesday evening “Zoom” meeting:

Making the most of House Arrest.

There are so many joys to be experienced watching wildlife and one of the greatest is when we feel we have blended into the landscape, perfectly still and unnoticed. Our pursuit of the little details of nature – the type of birdsong or the species of butterfly or bumblebee – is intensely pleasurable and brings us alive to the many possibilities in the garden.

Tranquillity is found while observing the creatures in the wildlife pond – the multi-coloured fish glide gracefully through the crystal-clear water accompanied by amorous, playful newts. Wasps and bees alight to drink, pond skaters zip across the water’s surface and spiders sporadically imitate.

They give us an excuse to loiter amid the flowers and the honey bees, to sit still and simply be. They are a pathway to a fuller experience. Wildlife watching is the best form of meditation I know. It is a kind of peaceful exhilaration. A most tranquil joy!

Being in nature, allowing the wild world around to seep into us, is wonderfully liberating. We see ourselves as we truly are – small, transient living things that are part of grander and more ancient forces all around us.

It leads us into nothing less than awe of the Creator.

The breeze issues its last sigh

Before silence erupts

Then blackbirds have the audacity to sing

While Carpenter bees patrol their turf.

As I sit here in the quiet,

Safe – bathed in sunlight

The peace of earth surrounds

An angelic creature cloaked in vibrant red

Darts over the still, clear water’s surface.

And my heart leaps for joy.