The pace of life has not slowed. One of the casualties has been the time and energy simply to sit and think, and to create … anything. I bake cakes once a month for church; otherwise my cooking is very basic, designed to fit into whatever time we have at the end of the day, before the evening rush. No new recipes, or slow leisurely cooking other than the occasional roast – and once that’s in the oven I can go do something else while it’s cooking! I still crochet in the evenings, but nothing challenging that demands concentration.
A few days ago, I realised that despite being relentlessly busy I have been learning to listen.
We’ve not had many opportunities to get outdoors, into the countryside … and when we do, my sight is not good enough in the brief glimpse of a ‘little brown job’ to get an identification. But for the past few years I’ve been trying to learn to identify birds by their song or their call. A while ago I bought a new book, ‘Guide to Birdsong’, from the RSPB. There is an accompanying CD, and an optional free download available (see the bottom of this page) which I listen to in the car. So now when we walk, I focus on listening …
We recently took a midweek day off that was owing, and to get far, far away we headed for Slapton Ley. The weather started out grey and overcast, but began to clear after lunch, so we decided to walk around the Ley with our binoculars. To cut a long story short we managed to get lost and ended up walking far further than we’d planned, which meant we were out far longer than we intended, which was probably just what we needed! But it was wonderful to hear the birds, few of which we could actually see 🙂
In particular, the Skylark … such an evocative call, which I’ve rarely heard except on Dartmoor. And the familiar Reed Warbler (which I’ve now learned to distinguish from the Sedge Warbler – I’m making progress!) … which we used to hear regularly on the River Axe – we would spend hours tracking them through the reed beds but never even caught a glimpse – they are almost invisible even when they are within arms reach. But I was so excited to unexpectedly hear a Cetti’s Warbler – listen here. Cetti song is explosive, so loud it can make you jump – you can’t mistake it.
We did see several Great-crested Grebe on the lake … but couldn’t pick out any humbugs (their chicks are striped black and white and ride on their parents’ backs). But there were some unaccompanied ducklings … their demeanour suggested there was no adult bird within range, since they stayed tightly tucked together for protection … there are various raptors that would easily take a duckling 😦
It struck me that listening to birdsong is akin to listening to God in prayer … the more you listen, the more you hear. And the more you expect to hear something, the harder you listen in the first place.
Recently we held had a Ladies’ Quiet Day. The theme was Hearing God’s Voice, and our speaker took us through a number of prayer exercises designed to help us hear God speak to us – not only to us as individuals, but also to each other. I don’t know what everyone expected, but each of us heard God clearly during the day … just as exciting (and almost as loud) as hearing a Cetti’s Warbler!
Since then, it’s as if God is compensating for how busy we are by using images rather than words when I pray – a new experience for me.
I don’t want make this post too long, so to finish, a couple of other photos – DH is out for the day, so I’ve kept this time aside to catch up around the house, including planting a low hedge alongside the patio. I set aside a couple of hours to get it done, but we’ve had so much rain recently that the ground was quite soft, and it took longer to clear and replace the birdfeeders and patio furniture than it did to plant seven Euonymus … hence I have time to write on my blog for the first time in some months … 😀
And with the birdfeeder and pots replaced …
Thinking Aloud 
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