Querying the Mundane Mosaic

Daylight arrives a little earlier now, and sometimes there is already a blush of dawn showing on the horizon when I shake myself loose from the old quilt and trot (or lurch) out to the kitchen to make coffee, wrapping myself in an old shawl first to hold the early morning chill at bay.

Today, I was in no danger of awakening too late to welcome the sun - it was snowing, but there was an ecstatic flock of crows in the old corner maple, flapping their wings, dancing about and making a splendid racket to welcome the high still light of morning. Then a single cardinal in the hedgerow added its liquid song to the orchestration, and it seemed as though a whole blissed out choir was singing a doxology in the garden.

As winter wanes and images of springtime arrive in my dreams like so many flocks of praising birds, I am asking my restless yearning self the same question I ask myself every year around this time.

It's a quiet life this - way beyond quiet in fact. I arise early and make coffee, standing near the kitchen window a few minutes later with a Wade Irish mug (the one with the granny in her rocking chair, the fireplace, the cauldron, the cat and the spinning wheel) full of lovely dark fragrant caffeine. I watch the sun come up over the trees, then turn my thoughts to other things: early morning walks past, present and (hopefully) future, photographing the small elements (or leitmotifs) of the world around me, the morning blog entry, the chores of the day, the stacks of books awaiting me on the old library table, my woefully inadequate efforts in art and calligraphy, work on a new quilt design.

I feed the birds and the deer in winter, potter about peering into trees and hedgerows, tend the garden in season, do the things which should be done and watch patiently as life ebbs and flows around me. There is little or no art or drama in this small northern life — there are few great events and no profound thoughts whatsoever on this quiet journey of mine.

Am I boring you? I hope not, but I thought I should ask...