Sweltering temperatures
We only have an indoor thermometer, but this has registered 28 degrees the last few days. Forecasters are predicting a few more of these days before heavy rain for much of the North Island. Will we get any? I watered the garden this morning, feeling sorry for the plants. Stephen has been doing this job previously but not every day. It is all right for me, I can take myself off for a swim, but the plants can’t. When one does this job, it is a good opportunity to view every plant and its wellbeing. I was surprised that most of them looked ok. The ones in the pots suffer the most during the heat and we have been a bit lax with these, allowing them to dry out more than they should – that’s one reason why I am not that keen on pots as they take too much looking after.
We are fortunate in that we have two water tanks, one for the house supply and the other for the garden, with the latter as a back-up for the house if we ever run out. It is just a nuisance having to walk down to the bottom tank and unravel the hose for the watering. It would be far easier to use the house tank, but then we would run the risk of using that up.
I am very aware of plants being living things. Do they watch us and will us to water them? I wonder. Or chide us for being lazy when we don’t. I remember being fascinated by Lyall Watson’s book, Supernature, back in the 1970s. He photographed the aura of plants and showed how they responded to both positive and negative stimuli. That was such new thinking back then and one of the few books around on this topic. Another interesting book from that time was The Magic Of Findhorn by Paul Hawken. In fact, it was so inspiring, that I visited the gardens on my big OE in 1978. The book told the story of desolate land turned into beautiful lush gardens in North Eastern Scotland.
I have seen nature spirits myself, who I am sure help the plants survive. I haven’t seen any of these for a number of years now but when I was farming and working outdoors, I saw them much more frequently. When I say see, I mean in meditation with my eyes closed, though once at a spiritual development group I attended, I did see a nymph or sprite like being, when my eyes were open. He was angry that I had picked a flower which we had been asked to bring to the group. I love flowers and pick them often. I wonder how many of these beings I am angering each time I do this.
Those of you reading this may think I am wacko. I must say back in 1975 when I was reading Supernature, I was enthralled, and imagined that by now we would have a much better understanding of the spiritual aspects of plants and the nature spirits around them, but really, not a lot has changed and I wonder now if it ever will.
The more we close ourselves off from nature and destroy the world around us, the further we become from its secrets. Stephen and I have an area of trees at the road-end of our section and I am feeling the calling to spend some time there. Whilst I love the sea, I also love and miss the bush. At this time of year, these trees will provide some much-needed shade and cooler temperatures. And just being in nature is uplifting. I seem to have been so busy since the New Year, but now have some quiet time. I am looking forward to spending a bit of that in this little pocket of nature.