Appreciating the Quiet Rhythm of Life

This week I am thinking about appreciating the quiet rhythm of life here on island. In these troubled and turbulent times with so much hate and anger in the world it is important to be able to reflect on what is quiet and good in our lives.

So if you are looking for what is happening on the island at the moment – this is not the blog for you !

The trigger for this contemplation is a wonderful book that I have read recently and which Bob is now reading. It is called Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton – it is a work of non-fiction and it is a quiet masterpiece in my view. It came out last year and has been very popular – it made both the Sunday Times and the New York Times bestseller list.

Chloe Dalton is a writer, political adviser and a foreign policy specialist and has written this book with a gentle lyrical hand. Bob said to me that reading it makes him feel calmer and quieter which I heartily agree with. I don’t want to tell you too much about it but I do want to say that if you are looking for a little peace then this can be an oasis for finding it. I will be re-reading it when Bob has finished it as I want to savor the writing …..

The rhythm of life here has plenty of moments of wonder and calm and after reading the book I consciously began looking for them ….. Where we are living now at Wykee we don’t actually see the sun rise – but when I go out early to walk Rudge – around 6.30am I do see the beautiful skies . The fact that they are so fleeting is part of the wonder and the reminder that we cannot hold on to anything for long …..

It is the same with sunsets as well – we were in the Harbour one evening this week and there was a beautiful sunset – so I stopped the car and got out and took a photo – it is gone in a moment but it is a daily wonder to enjoy.

You all know as well how much I enjoy being in the company of good friends particularly if we are enjoying food together and we had a couple of times in the last week when we did just that.

We had a great lunch at The Potlatch Club to celebrate the birthday of a great friend of Dan and Larry – Elise. The food was great – the company was a joy – and a birthday is always a cause for celebration in my book. I love the circular table there but it is quite big so it is difficult to hear what everyone is saying. However it was a lovely occasion and a good pause for us in a working week to savor the company of friends.

We also had a great lunch on Sunday at Tippy’s with friends Pam and Fred. I love the veggie burger that they serve there. It is a Beyond Burger – and it is really tasty. So 3 of us sampled that and again , as so often here on the island, the food is not always the main part of the lunch. It is enjoying the company of friends who are not here permanently. Making the most of their presence while we can …….

The rhythm of life with regards to The Jewel is moving along nicely. We had a couple of trucks of cement delivered to make the base for undercover parking – tandem parking but with a drive in drive out facility. And inside things are quietly moving on – the mini slut’s kitchen is pretty much complete now and the main kitchen is looking good. The cabinets should all be finished this week , then we just have to wait for Danny our worktop guru to get them here and fitted…..

There is a great sense of unhurriedness – I think I may have just made that word up – about The Jewel which I truly appreciate having hurried to get The Other Place ready. We walk around it every evening imagining how life will be there and looking at how it is all progressing.

One of the other wonderful rhythms of life here is Monique’s yoga class on a Saturday morning. This past week because of a function held at the Levy Preserve we had to relocate the class to the yoga deck under the fabulous banyan tree at Pineapple Fields. We lay on our backs looking up at the magnificent canopy high above us and after the class was finished I went and got my phone to take a picture from that position. It was calming and almost hypnotic…..

And so dear friends may you each find a few instances that you recognize as your own quiet rhythms of life ……

Take care of yourselves and those you love ……