It’s nice to be here again with you. I love writing you these letters. I mean, the internet is a funny old thing but I genuinely feel that I’m sitting down to write to a friend. And even though of course you know that I’m writing to more than one person, it doesn’t really feel that way to me.
This weekend, after two months in lockdown with my parents, I moved back into my flat in the town a half an hour drive away. Ben, who I haven’t seen since March (except for a couple of brief interactions) should be joining me this coming weekend.
It’s a sad and a happy time. At my parents’ house I woke daily to the dawn chorus from the garden and the breeze blowing in through the bedroom window to kiss my face. Now, there are only the pigeons to greet me. They are lovely in their own way, of course, but it is not quite the same 🙂
I’ve left behind the garden, where I’d been helping my dad plant the potatoes and radish, cleaning out the chicken house, and watering the asparagus, beetroot, broad beans and salad leaves. This time with my dad, learning some of his vast knowledge of gardening, has been one of the biggest gifts of the lockdown.
I leave behind too the land in the immediate surroundings of my parents’ house. The rocky coastline, the endlessly changing sea and the magical woodlands. If you’ve ever had the feeling that your soul is tied to a physical place, you’ll understand the sadness in my heart at leaving.
But this is also a new beginning for Ben and I and I’m looking forward to time spent living and growing together. We will work to turn the balcony into a vegetable growing haven and do what we can to make this place a home for the time that we are here.
Anyway, I don’t know if any of that is really interesting for you, I just felt like sharing a few life updates today.
And I have a poem for you, which I wrote whilst sitting in my parents’ garden. I hope you enjoy it.
Small and Mighty
The wren is a tiny bird
but oh boy can he sing.
I see him now across the garden,
perched atop that old rusty pole
by the compost heaps.
From the wren I learn
there is no correlation
between size and significance.
He is small and he is mighty.
How to be more like the little wren, I wonder?
A good start, I muse
would be to wake at first light
and joyously devote oneself
to singing one’s song.
To pouring God from one’s belly
and from one’s beak.
Love and courage,
Leah
dear leah!
oh, that is a tree to sit at its feet and write! that definitely would be a place i’d sat down with writing place-poetry….thank you for sharing this with me!
lots of courage for the transhumance
romie from switzerland
It is a beautiful tree, isn’t it?! Yes, a perfect little spot to sit and write place-poetry. Sending love to you in Switzerland romie! xx
Hello Leah! Your posts never cease to amaze me ! Each words resonate in me. Looking forward to read more and more from you! Much love ❤️
Hello dear Indira! I deeply appreciate your never-ending encouragement. Sending lots of love to you and your family. xx
I love the life updates.
It’s interesting to read what you share.
Sounds like you will be looking for another place to move to when you can.
I hope that you find the perfect place.
Goddess bless you with that.
Thank you so much Linda!
Yes, we have had the flat for sale since January as we both long to live much closer to the earth in our daily lives. Remaining grateful for all we have in the meantime. Much love to you. p.s. I will be able to send your painting soon! xx
Leah,
I do love to read your updates and how life is for you. I can picture you working with your father in the garden…a treasure. The mornings with birds and breezes. Your love of the water near their homestead. These are all beautiful descriptions of a wonderful life. Good luck with your balcony garden. It is fantastic to watch anything grow from the ground up. Love and hugs to you.
Bonnie
Thank you so much Bonnie – my fellow lover of all things gardening. It is indeed one of the best feelings in the world to watch something grow from seed. Much love to you, Leah xx