The Feathers of the Willow
by Richard Watson Dixon
The above photo is of a Willow moth, taken, of course, by Captain Butterfly.
Suddenly it is late November, rainy on Monday, sunny on Tuesday morning, with a moody sky holding off, and a line of clouds low on the horizon. On mornings like that I like to imagine that we are living on the banks of a mighty river and I am looking across to a range of snow covered mountains on the far side.
What would the river be called - and the mountains? I wonder what the Latin word for "torrent" is - assuming that torrent isn't the Latin word for torrent - only that might work. And would "the High Downland Range" make sense?
Anyway, given that no such river and mountains exist, I should not be wasting my precious energy reserves wondering what they would be called.
But it seems well worth thinking about "the new earth". What will the earth be like after Armageddon? Will it have involved some powerful disturbances of the earth, new seas, new mountain ranges?
I ask because when Noah and his family - from whom we are all descended - set foot on dry land after the Deluge, wouldn't it have been a completely new earth, a changed earth? The familiar landmarks would have gone. If we will only listen to our Creator, Jehovah, now, then we will be able to ask Noah and his family ourselves one day, as they will be resurrected, woken from the dreamless sleep of death, during the Thousand Years.
On Monday us siblings Zoomed together from our various locations in Oz and Yorkshire and the English Channel. All seems well with everyone. And long may that last in these "difficult times, hard to deal with". John posted a lovely video of a little wallaby in the reserve behind their house. In our travelling days, we always used to go for a twilight walk in that reserve, me being careful to walk behind my brother as he is tall - spiders, large huntsmen spiders, webs across path - shudder.
In the afternoon I made an apple crumble for Himself, and began my studying for the Thursday night meeting. The crumble turned out well, though I say it myself. But once again, it is a reliable recipe, provided - and here is a tip surely worthy of a place in Masterchef - provided that you don't use salt instead of sugar in the crumble.
Believe me. Or rather, believe Captain Butterfly who took a confident dessert spoon of the salt version, before the disaster came to light. Anyway, on the doubleplusgood side, it does give me an excuse to try out each new crumble before I serve it. I give it a comprehensive test.
The feathers of the willow
Are half of them grown yellow
Above the swelling stream; And ragged are the bushes,
And rusty now the rushes,
And wild the clouded gleam.
The thistle now is older,
His stalk begins to moulder,
His head is white as snow; The branches all are barer,
The linnet's song is rarer,
The robin pipeth now.
Are half of them grown yellow
Above the swelling stream; And ragged are the bushes,
And rusty now the rushes,
And wild the clouded gleam.
The thistle now is older,
His stalk begins to moulder,
His head is white as snow; The branches all are barer,
The linnet's song is rarer,
The robin pipeth now.
Suddenly it is late November, rainy on Monday, sunny on Tuesday morning, with a moody sky holding off, and a line of clouds low on the horizon. On mornings like that I like to imagine that we are living on the banks of a mighty river and I am looking across to a range of snow covered mountains on the far side.
What would the river be called - and the mountains? I wonder what the Latin word for "torrent" is - assuming that torrent isn't the Latin word for torrent - only that might work. And would "the High Downland Range" make sense?
Anyway, given that no such river and mountains exist, I should not be wasting my precious energy reserves wondering what they would be called.
But it seems well worth thinking about "the new earth". What will the earth be like after Armageddon? Will it have involved some powerful disturbances of the earth, new seas, new mountain ranges?
I ask because when Noah and his family - from whom we are all descended - set foot on dry land after the Deluge, wouldn't it have been a completely new earth, a changed earth? The familiar landmarks would have gone. If we will only listen to our Creator, Jehovah, now, then we will be able to ask Noah and his family ourselves one day, as they will be resurrected, woken from the dreamless sleep of death, during the Thousand Years.
On Monday us siblings Zoomed together from our various locations in Oz and Yorkshire and the English Channel. All seems well with everyone. And long may that last in these "difficult times, hard to deal with". John posted a lovely video of a little wallaby in the reserve behind their house. In our travelling days, we always used to go for a twilight walk in that reserve, me being careful to walk behind my brother as he is tall - spiders, large huntsmen spiders, webs across path - shudder.
In the afternoon I made an apple crumble for Himself, and began my studying for the Thursday night meeting. The crumble turned out well, though I say it myself. But once again, it is a reliable recipe, provided - and here is a tip surely worthy of a place in Masterchef - provided that you don't use salt instead of sugar in the crumble.
Believe me. Or rather, believe Captain Butterfly who took a confident dessert spoon of the salt version, before the disaster came to light. Anyway, on the doubleplusgood side, it does give me an excuse to try out each new crumble before I serve it. I give it a comprehensive test.
The banging upstairs restarted on Tuesday morning... it was heard again intermittently during Wednesday and Thursday, and as yet I do not know what will happen today. It is very early as I finish this blog - the Captain and Jim left ages ago for the Detecting Fields - and it is a grey and rainy morning.
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