Tag: Nature

Hum of Chitter-Chatter

I’d had a trying sort of morning – my attempts at speaking had come to nought. I was speaking English, folks around me were not. I asked for chips, they told me it was several hours for nightfall. I asked for honey, I was given a shrug and a look reserved for the village fool. I left the chips and honey – life is great without chips and honey, thank you.

So, I veered off civilization and went off to moon in the woods.

It isn’t often that we stop to revel in the orchestras of everyday life. That morning I did. When I did, I found myself transported. I had rarely seen this many hummingbirds together in one place and the noises they were making chittering together was music. What were they saying to one another? Were they discussing plans for the day? 

I smiled and reluctantly moved on – human beings had meetings of their own didn’t they? 

A few days later, I stopped listening to the chatter of the crickets starting up in the evening, even as the sun dipped into the horizon bathing the skies in robes of pink and orange. The deer grazing glowed, the blackbirds fluttered while singing, but the crickets were the loudest of them all. Enough to make you stop and wonder what they must all be saying to one another.

I exchanged glances with the son who’s come on a stroll with me, and we headed back musing.

Later we had a frenzy of celebrations planned – gatherings and people. I stopped to listen to the chatter around me. It was a feeling – not voices that I heard. It was a festive occasion, so all I heard was a pleasant hum – interest, friendship, camaraderie, laughter. 

What is it about communication that enthralls us so much? I remember reading a short story by Louisa May Alcott a while  ago in which a young girl acquired the ability to understand animals and birds for a short period of time. She is baffled to realize that they can actually communicate amongst themselves as well as amongst other species. A woodpecker could talk to a squirrel and understand each other perfectly. So, they could unite and we wouldn’t have a clue.

It was a beautiful touching story, for it helped me laugh once again at our own follies. It would serve us right if that was truly the case – too smart for our own good, but all the time being pitied by the wiser creatures of the Earth. Between all the languages we’ve managed to create as humans, it is truly humbling if that were the case. (No mishaps with honey and chips I assume.) 

It also made me stop and wonder what animals hear when they us jabbering. Many times on my walks, I come across people talking shop – serious talks on finance, technology trends (I live in the Bay Area – it is a way of life – you can’t throw a stone in any which direction without someone yelping ‘AI’ – whether as an expletive or not), movies, music, other people, offices, sports, etc.

What must they make of it? I wonder.

Nyctinasty Flowers’ Lessons

I could barely stay indoors. You see? The day had started off with a mild drizzle. After what felt like months of sunshine, a little bit of moisture felt amazing. I stood outside peering up at the clouds – in itself a rarity now given how parched things get during Californian summers in the Bay Area. Even with summer flowers blooming and vegetable gardens flourishing, I yearn for the simple pleasures of marvelous sunsets, clouds, a pattering of rain, some breeze.

That is perhaps one of the things I miss most about the Nilgiris – the western ghats in South India where the rain drops and eucalytpus provided the backdrop for magic and mysticism. The rains, the clouds, the winds – how in one day you can experience so many different climes and you have to be prepared for it all, and still go about your day.

Nature is Transformative

That evening I said, “Well – come on then! “  hustling everyone out to see the glorious sunset. The clouds had scattered during the course of the day, but there were enough of them still there –  enough to provide crepuscular glory with the rays of the setting sun. Some clouds looked like an artists reluctant brush stroke jostling right alongside the weightier ones. How every evening a different painting is rolled out to us continues to be a source of wonder.

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Art is transformative – so is nature.

It transforms ordinary days into extraordinary ones.

It assures you that normal is numinous.

Nyctinasty flowers

That evening, I took in the deer grazing near the river banks, the rising full-moon swollen, resplendent and beautiful against the setting sun orangish-red and bright. I don’t have to be a naturalist to know that the birds felt it, the deer felt it, the frisky fox felt it, the fish in the river felt it, the  flowers felt it. I stopped to admire everything – especially those that are classified as nyctinasty flowers :nyctinasty flowers like the evening primroses or gardenias  close up for the night. They show you the importance of closing and resting in order to bloom and spready one’s beauty for the next day.

If ever there is an appointment to keep, it is with nature in those moments in the golden hour when all the world is settling in for a quieter pace.

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Sunrises and Sunsets: An Opacarophile’s Notes of Magic

Every time we go on vacation, I proclaim proudly the first night, “I am going to go for a sunrise walk in the morning. Do not look for me!”

It is old hat by now. The children and the husband exchange amused looks and say, “Sure! Of course!” Followed by a chortle of such mirth that it should offend me. But vacations and all that – I let it slide. You see? I am rather a slow starter in the mornings. The caffeine tries, the shower tries, the folks around me try. But it takes a good hour or so before the spirit can rise and shine and birds chirping can become song to my ears and all that.

This time though, I surprised everyone including myself.

I set off on my sunrise, sunset and starry strolls every day I was there. It was marvelous – one morning, I sat trying to discern all the hues and colors in the sunrise, the shapes of the clouds, the fast disappearing mists that were clinging not a moment ago, making way for the humid day ahead of us.

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I could hear my heart rise in song without emitting a single chirp – trying to keep in tune with the little palm warblers, and the mynahs reminding me of a silly rhyme we would chant as school children, giggling ourselves silly every time.

One for success

Two for a toy

Three for a boy (giggle, giggle)

Four for a girl (giggle, giggle)

Five for a letter (we were in a boarding school)

Six for something (can’t remember)

Seven for a secret (Secret Seven By Enid Blyton must’ve inspired that one!)

And on and on, it would go.

I smiled thinking of that rhyme – something I hadn’t chanted in three decades, and yet, it came to me that morning looking at the little birds hopping about the island. The brain really is marvelous. Scents, images, words, phrases can all evoke associative memory – it truly is powerful.

Taking in the slow way in which the island is drenched in its beauty, I walked back to our cozy lodgings, feeling very smug, and proclaiming that all those who missed the sunrise .. well, missed the sunrise.

“The sun will rise again tomorrow, Mother.” the children chorused looking gobsmacked that I had taken a sunrise stroll. 

I somehow managed a sunrise stroll every day that we were there. On the last day, the husband joined me, and the island, to show us how special that was, even greeted us with a rainbow by the Buddha statue overlooking the ocean.

We were quiet for sometime wondering how a simple play of light and moisture can produce something as beautiful as that. Even the birds seemed to have fallen silent. Then the birds chirped, and the husband chattered again. 

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An opacarophile is a lover of sunrises and sunsets

A solist is one who loves events of the sun (sunrise, sunset, eclipse) etc

A heliophile is who loves the sun

A photophile is a lover of light

I feel the importance of this quote – for both sunset and sunrises

“Never waste any amount of time doing anything important when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under.” – C Joybell.C

Ooh! The 🐟🐠 O’opu Alamo’o 🐟🐠 & 🌴🎋 The Ohia Lehua 🌴🎋

Shoshin in Hawaii

Friends and regular readers of the blog know the immense peace and satisfaction I derive from the creatures around us. Creatures whose different characteristics serve them well. Some that evolution has equipped them with in order to live and thrive. Patience, perseverance, the ability to soar high while zoning on in the details when required, the ability to look out for one another as a group – as geese do on their long flights, or pelicans on their migrations. To work and play like dolphins and squirrels.

I could go on and on.

Going to a different ecosystem makes us sit up and take notice of all the things that are special to that place. Polynesian islands, or any islands, for that matter have this ethereal quality to their beauty. It is in the tropical colors, the unique flowers that greet us almost as soon as we land in the airports (plumeria in the case of Hawaii), the scents of the island – at once putting a great distance between the mainland and the islands. Floating by themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, these islands, have been written about, explored almost completely, and still holds enough wonder and astonishment for the traveler with shoshin in their eyes.

Shoshin: is a Japanese concept that roughly translates to a Beginner’s Mind, meaning a mindset in which one is eager to explore, learn and stay curious in the world around you.

🐟🐠 O’opu Fish : Stellar Climbers 🐟🐠

Who knew that the humble o’opu fish would take me into streams of new words like: diadromous, anadromous, euryhaline?

Take for instance the o’opu fish. As far as fish go, they are fish enough – they have fins, they swim, and they can fix you with a glassy stare. But then, just when you’re ready to classify them with thousands of other fish in the oceans, they surprise you. They are not just fish in the ocean.

They are also fish in the freshwater streams in Hawaii.

Belonging to a small group of fish with this capability, they are known as diadromous fish – meaning they are comfortable in both saltwater oceans and freshwater rivers and streams. The O’opu aren’t just diadromous fish, they are also anadromous  ( the more famous anadromous are the salmon) – meaning they swim upwards to the fresh waters to breed their young.

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The O’opu fish have the remarkable ability to adapt to different salinities in water conditions. They also, and this is where I stood transfixed, can scale waterfalls of 400 feet upwards – we saw the waterfall they go upstream of (Akaka Falls) from a distance, and it took my eyes a few seconds to take the height of the waters in.  These little goby fish, manage to scale these falls by sticking to the slippery rocks faces behind the waterfalls, in order to lay their eggs and ensure the next generation of  ‘O’opu ‘alamo’o are born.

Now, I am not sure how different this is from, say: a gobi desert dweller living and thriving in the tropical rainforests of the amazon, but it seems like a pretty good comparison to make.

🌴🎋 Ohia Lehua Trees : The Resilient Pioneers 🌴🎋

The next day, we found ourselves huffing and puffing up a small-ish hill to take in the crater of the Hawaiian volcanoes national park. (It is not a steep climb if you’re wondering). As a small group of tourists jostled around the forest ranger to listen to her talk about the volcanic national park, another unlikely specimen grabbed our attention. The short, stubby, but thoroughly resilient Ohia Lehua trees. These trees are apparently the first ones to seed life post a volcanic event. Given that volcanic ash can be quite the problem to a breather,  if you’re wondering how the little trees breathed, it is because they have the unique ability to close their  stomata for up to two weeks.

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Quote from the website:

https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-lava-loving-ohia-lehua-a-pioneer-plant-peril

The tree has a superior capacity for extending its roots vertically and can grow efficiently in cracks and fissures. ‘Ōhi‘a also have the capability to close their stomata, or breathing pores, so the trees can “hold their breath” when toxic volcanic gases are blown their way.

The Ohia Lehua trees and the O’opu Alamo’o fish are the stuff of Hawaiian legends.

Nature truly is a wonder marvel!

Reference links:

Beauty in the Eyes of the Beholder

This was an idea for a children’s book and also a pair of creature glasses that I wanted to make: You could choose the animal in your app settings, wear your glasses, and voila! You would see the world around you as the animal does:  an ocular device that transported you into the alternate reality of that creature. But as most good ideas of mine, they festered in a document of Potential Ideas.

So, I was intrigued when I saw this book in the library. 

Eye By Eye – Comparing How Animals See – By Sara Levine, illustrated by T S SpookyTooth

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Even as you open this whimsical book, you realize that seeing the world like we do can be a unique gift. That is not even considering perspective, personality and all the rest of it: just the ocular aspect of it. 

How would an animal with eight animals see the world? 

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A Spider’s Vision

The illustration of a woman bespectacled in all 8 eyes is endearing, but it does make you think of a spider.

A Spider’s Vision

I noticed a spider has really taken a liking to our car’s external rear-view mirror. Everyday, there is a fine web spun there – I wonder whether the little creature sees itself spinning its beautiful web, and admires itself for it. 

What if you had six eyes, one located at the end of each of your six arms?

Shapes & Colors

The book not only considers creatures with differing number of eyes, but differing eye shapes as well: like that of an owl.

Pupil shapes matter – goats have rectangular pupils. ( I confess I have looked into the eyes of plenty of goats and never noticed this.)  Cuttlefish’s pupils are W-shaped.

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Small hexagon shapes in an eyeball ( like in a bee hive?) Well, flies have that.

Then we come to colors, but we can have colorful differences in our outlooks as well. Butterflies and hummingbirds, we have known for some time, see the world very differently than we do. As do dogs, and cats.

So, whether or not I make those creature glasses or some company comes up with such ubiquitous VR that it seems like it was always there, it is a fascinating world out there. Go outside and imagine life as a hummingbird, or a jellyfish. Glasses or not, your thoughts will transform your mood.

Embracing the Tranquility of a Summer Evening

The day could have been better. My to-do list gave me reproachful looks all day long as I took care of many different things and accomplished nothing. It was time for this and time for that, not yet time for this-and-that, and oh-so-past-the-time for this-or-that. Finally, I wrapped up for the moment and headed out. It was a beautiful summer evening after all, and moping about not doing the work was not going to get it done. 

That’s how I found myself that beautiful summer evening, doing yoga in a friend’s garden that she had kindly invited us to. The sun’s rays danced through the maple leaves in the west, the mild breeze provided much required respite and made the italian cypress trees in the east look like they were dancing and swaying to the breeze too. 

The pink bougainvillea in the south leapt from fence to tree with such freedom of spirit, that I couldn’t help feeling a bit wistful at not being able to boldly leap and catch hold the way those plants did. How did creepers know whether they’d make it to the next branch? There must be a bold vision and a willingness to let go of safe harnesses that we never really stop to think about. I wonder how that feels – it certainly seems to be something we struggle with as adults more than as children. 

To complete the bucolic yogic scene, was the neighborhood black cat. Well-fed, preening its coat, gleaming in the evening sun and stretching every now and then to show us what a good stretch looks like, she lay there looking perfectly happy with the way her evening was going (or her days were going) by the looks of it. 

I told my friends about the state of to-do-ness that had ailed me that evening, and how the evening completely transformed it. My friends seem to have been in similar states of mind – and it all came spilling out the moment I said so. 

We smiled and drank in the scene: The cat did not care, the trees continued to sway, the leaves shone and the parched earth settled down to a cooler evening, the birds above made their way home. The purpose of life was right there, for those willing to take it.

The best part of the evening was the various angles from which we took in the garden – upside down, sideways. While breathing hard, while taking deep breaths. I tried taking the picture of the garden upside down, but of course all our tools seem to want to correct all our ‘mistakes’ and would not allow me to. So, I rotated the pic manually to retain the beauty of the world seen upside down.

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Dancing in the wind, with the sun on my face.

Playing hide-and-seek and eating a treat.

It reminded me of Dr Seuss’s quote on looking at life

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.

Dr. Seuss

Not Pristine, Prim, & Proper!

The week-end was marvelous. The 4th of July week-end usually is. Summer is in full swing which means long days, and flowers bursting forth everywhere. This time, it also meant waterfronts and beaches with the children in tow. 

One day, as we walked on the beach, playing with the little waves against our feet, stopping to pick a shell here, and a conch there, I reveled in the ordinary happiness that a simple day like that gives. 

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We saw teenage boys play spike ball for hours on end, little children squeal and run to and from the waves, sand castles being built, and surfers ride the waves again and again.

One child was picking up wet sand to return to the ocean, and squealed when the sand squirmed in his hands, and went running  back to his mother.

An inflatable giraffe that did not look happy out in the ocean. The ridiculousness of finding a giraffe bobbing in the waves was enough to get people to laugh.

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I usually am not in favor of crowded beaches, but that day, it felt good. People watching felt lovely. 

The son and husband were covered in sand building their little sand castle with a moat around it, tunnels through them etc. I had taken several walks letting the waves splash around me, and the sea looked amazing. The day was not too hot, and the waters were not too cold. The beach was noisy, but not too loud. The people themselves were in various states of imperfection – In other words, it was perfect.

It all felt all the more special because I had an excellent book to read at the beach. The daughter had her trusted ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ trilogy with her. It was a bit dog-eared, but she looked at it fondly and said, “That is exactly how a beach book is supposed to be. Not pristine, prim and proper.” 

I threw my head back and laughed so hard at that. “That should be the theme of our day here, huh? Not pristine, prim and proper.”

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As we made our way out of the beach, we looked like a good hosing down would do us all good. “But before that – some gelato!” said the husband, and we all hailed our hero as we made our way to the little gelato store with brilliant flavors and fantastic names for gelato explorers.

What are some of your favorite beach reads, and beach activities?

The Birds of Paradise

The World Around Us

I don’t remember when exactly we start noticing birds and animals around us as being separate from human-beings. If there is a conscious point in time when we say:

This is us, that is a bird.

Don’t eat those – they’re mosquitoes &

Keep away from man-eating tigers – they want to eat us. 

Keeping the neuroscience behind it all aside, the world around us is fascinating. Even if you see a bird everyday, the little chirp, and the flutter of its wings cannot help but take us out of ourselves for a bit can it? 

What is it about this diversity of life that is so appealing? 

I was sitting one afternoon engrossed in books. Books on beautiful beasts and fantastic features of the creatures we share our planet with.

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As I flipped through the colorful pictures and the accompanying text in the book, Astonishing Animals – Extraordinary Creatures and the Fantastic Worlds They Inhabit. – By Tim Flannery & Peter Schouten, I couldn’t help being drawn to the birds of paradise in the book.

Rarely do we stop and just admire the beauty and precision of a bird’s structure. The birds themselves are flighty. Our attention spans are even more so. Plus, these birds are all in exotic places. But it made me wonder – even the less exotic birds around us, how long and how often do we study them? Ornithologists do. Bird photographers do. But otherwise? Those of us who love nature stop to notice them. The rest of us are too busy to notice. 

Birds of Paradise

I was admiring the different birds of paradise illustrations in the book, and I felt myself drawn to the Himalayan Satyr as much as the blue bird of paradise.

The blue bird of paradise is illustrated beautifully in the book – long side up taking up two pages and you can see why:

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“he dances upside down, hanging from a branch. As he begins his display, he flexes, sending waves of blue and violet shimmering through his feathers. At the center of his chest is a dark oval patch lined on its lower margin with red. This is rhythmically expanded and contracted so that it resembles a huge, slowly expanding eye whose effect, even on humans, is hypnotic. All the while the performer’s own eyes are closed, revealing white eyelids, which lend him an unearthly air.”

Like a little opera singer, dancing on the stage. How marvelous!

The Satyr Tragopan, another beautiful Himalayan bird, drew me for another reason.

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“It is often the case among birds that a gorgeous cock is a poor provider. Beautifully adorned males may put on a wonderful courtship, but all too often contribute nothing to the raising of the chicks, leaving that duty to the dull hen-birds. The satyr tragopan is a stand-out exception here, for not only is he dashingly handsome but he seems to be monogamous and a dutiful father as well. … The father contributes equally to the upbringing and care of the young.”

The Himalayan Monal, and other birds of paradise are equally dashing.

Split into beautiful sections about creatures who live in the ocean, tree dwellers, mountains dwellers, the book journeys across continents, landscapes, ocean surfaces and deep surfaces. The artwork, though, is spell-binding. 

One cannot help feeling like the world is beautified and expanded just a little after an hour just looking at these beautiful creatures and reading about their curious lives.

Recommended Books:

Gazanias in the Garden

Time Paradox

There is a continuous time paradox that we run into in our lives.

My generous friends offered to help me plant my newly acquired gazanias in a small garden patch. You see, several times in the pasts, they’ve tried helping me with different plants with the cheery confidence that gardeners have:

“You cannot go wrong with these – they will definitely grow.”

“You don’t have to do anything, they will grow by themselves.”

“See those – they just spread without doing anything!”

To these optimistic statements, I say, “Challenge accepted!” and go ahead to botch the poor plants with the bumbling blistering competence of a dancing octopus with a shovel. (generated by Gemini AI)

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So, they took pity on me, and came by with their shovels, hats, and laughter. The patch itself was a tiny one, but as we tried to turn the earth over, it was apparent to them why nothing grows there, and how I was making such a killing with their plants and bulbs. The patch was full of pebbles. So, instead of doing a half-baked job, they all pitched in till we were all shoveling, digging and plodding the earth along. We removed pebbles by the dozen, and by the time the patch was turned over, and the new gazanias were in place, we felt like proper earth movers, ready for some tea and biscuits.

Things take the time they take

As I sipped the tea though, I realized how much work goes into gardens that beam at us everywhere in suburban areas. If this small patch of land took us around 2 hours to do, how do people manage large yards, and sprawling garden spaces?

These things made me think of time itself. We did not realize that it took us 2 hours to plant the gazanias.  That night when I went to bed, I had a wholesome ache in my arms, and dreams filled with fresh soil and flowers. 

All this pondering on gardens made me realize how impatient I am with myself for things to develop into fruition: that garden patch, that novel, that myth, those short stories, those children’s books. Things take the time they take. Sometimes more than one thinks is necessary, but if we keep at it, removing one pebble at a time, moving one ounce of earth at a time, that is all that should matter.

I used my best philosophical insight voice and said so to the husband who chuckled and said “Pesu!” (Talk!) .

Ursula K. LeGuin’s Influence: Embracing the Passage of Time

This impatience towards results: Could it have something to do with the pace of modern life? After all, we spend a monumental amount of time flipping through videos on fast-forward mode showing us how cakes are baked, iced and decorated in less than 15 seconds. In reality, the whole process could easily take 2-3 hours. Do we really feel a sense of participation in the cake-making process by scrolling and consuming it? I think not. 

It reminded me of the interview by Ursula Le Guin in which she talks about time. 

“I lived when simply waiting was a large part of ordinary life: when we waited, gathered around a crackling radio, to hear the infinitely far-away voice of the king of England… I live now when we fuss if our computer can’t bring us everything we want instantly. We deny time. 

We don’t want to do anything with it, we want to erase it, deny that it passes. What is time in cyberspace? And if you deny time you deny space. After all, it’s a continuum—which separates us. 

So we talk on a cell phone to people in Indiana while jogging on the beach without seeing the beach, and gather on social media into huge separation-denying disembodied groups while ignoring the people around us.

​I find this virtual existence weird, and as a way of life, absurd. This could be because I am eighty-four years old. It could also be because it is weird, an absurd way to live.”

~ Ursula K. LeGuin, Interview by Heather Davis

I remembered one remark made by a mother of an elementary school going child who had helped her child out with an art project, and put it up as a reel on her feed: “That reel took more than 4 hours!” she said wistfully. 

I grinned, swiped, and sent a quick ‘like’ before parting ways. That was that. 

I have often wanted to see a flower bloom, or a berry ripen – but the real magic happens so slowly, you barely realize it is magic at all. Maybe, that is the real magic – work with a good intention, do your best, let things take the time they take, and develop into what they need to. In the meantime, I head out everyday to gaze at my gazanias – so lovingly planted. Surely, they heard the chatter and the laughs as they took root. In time, I hope they laugh too.

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Summer Serenity: Embracing Being Over Doing

Being Vs Doing

Summer’s beautifully long days are here. The other day, I came upon a saying by Thich Nhat Hanh, and decided that embracing his wise words may be the making of our summer. 

“We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being. We think that when we are not doing anything, we are wasting our time. But that is not true. Our time is first of all for us to be. To be what? To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving. And that is what the world needs most.”

  • Thich Nhat Hanh 

School holidays have started, and in the spirit of being, the son and I lounged under a maple tree in the afternoon. The deep green of the leaves above with the sun shining piercing through the leaves above making us pleasantly drowsy. Hmm, “We should do this once in a while huh? Lie under a tree on the green grass and read a book!” I said, and he agreed.  

Komerabi

The Japanese have a beautiful word that captures this feeling, Komerabi. (木漏れ日 ) To see the blues, greens, yellows and browns merge together in that trick of light (Komerabi : the phenomenon of sunlight through filtering through the leaves above) is to experience luminescence.

木漏れ日: tree (木), shine through (漏れ), and sun (日): Komerabi

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We weren’t there long. But it was long enough to notice life around us. We saw the little wrens hiding place amidst the flowering bushes as it hopped in and out between breaks during the day, the lazy dragonfly whose shimmering blues in the hazy afternoon was strangely soporific, and the brisk yellow butterflies who were showing the other two how it’s done.

That evening we took out our bikes on a longish ride along the river. Watching the curlews, avocets, harriers enjoying the evening was surreal. The avocets spend hours pirouetting in the winds, and dipping into the waters, the curlews, cranes and herons wait patiently for their food. We didn’t hear them moan – not once. We listened to the blackbirds trilling symphonically, shrilly and still sounding soothing somehow.

Later at night, we sat companionably together – each doing our little things as darkness fell around us. We were acutely aware that the feeling of night is short lived, and therefore the cocoon of darkness created by the warm lights in the home seemed doubly welcome. 

The post would, I hope, remind us of the simple joys of being in the summer, and the pics would show up every now and then as memories. But that feeling of peace – how does one capture that? How does one find the words for saying, “The world’s worries are all still there, they shall still be there tomorrow, and the day after that. For now, let them be.”