Tuesday 7 September 2010

A Morning Like Any Other






This morning, at breakfast in the conservatory, eating my bowl of muesli and drinking my cup of fennel tea, sunshine falling on the table,  the clouds above, visible through the glass roof, pursuing their indifferent path, some higher up almost stationary, while those lower down in the atmosphere hurried along busily, imperturbably, gently ruffling the leaves at the top of the tall beech tree; the dahlias showing me their deep red faces, swaying in harmony with barely perceptible currents of air; late martins swooping and dipping and circling above, harvesting their last meal before setting off for the South, a flock of rooks cawing noisily, raucously, before taking off in formation across the blue of the sky, only to land again in the old horse chestnut tree across the field; the weather vane on the church tower glinting in the sunshine and the ducks on the river by the bridge complaining loudly at something only they knew  -  it all was exactly like any other morning in late summer, early autumn, when the sun caresses the valley with its rays and makes you happy to be alive.

Except it wasn't the same as any other morning, because this morning was the very first morning when one life was missing, one life had left the valley, never to return.

33 comments:

  1. The cruelty of Indifferent Life going on is one of the things with which my human brain has great difficulty.
    How can the world look the same when it has changed so?

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  2. My dear friend JW, about whom I wrote in an earlier post. died yesterday.
    Thanks to modern medicine, the last few weeks were peaceful and painfree.

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  3. So sorry to hear this Friko. Perhaps she would have been happy to know the world continues in all its beauty for the loved ones she has left behind.

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  4. Friko, may I send you my condolences.

    You have written beautifully before about your dear friend, and again today have created a very warm and deeply felt tribute to her.

    Thank you for allowing others, like me, who never actually had the joy of meeting JW, to feel as if we did know a little of her.

    Best wishes. xo

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  5. How very sad for you to have lost your friend.

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  6. My condolences on your loss, Friko. I am glad to hear that your friend's last days were peaceful and pain free.
    On a day like today, as life goes on, each sight and sound is that much more acute because of the one missing.

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  7. I'm sorry you have lost your friend. Life is a stage with the players constantly changing. One life goes out as another comes in.

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  8. Yes. Life does go on when a lovely soul departs. The day continues. I am sorry for your loss, but I hope that nature's gifts this morning help.

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  9. Sad news Friko.
    How beautifully you described today.

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  10. A beautiful description for a sad morning. My condolences for this loss.

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  11. How sad . I'm so sorry she's gone and you must feel lost today .It's always so hard to remember at this point but the warm memories won't go or even fade and will provide an odd comfort later. Meanwhile , by enjoying this morning's beauty , you did her honour .

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  12. My condolences to you, Friko, on the loss of your friend. The minute details of life become more poignant in the face of death, don't they?

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  13. Liebe Friko,
    ich schreibe auch hier dieses Gedicht hin:

    Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
    Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
    For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
    Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.
    From rest and sleep, which but thy picture be,
    Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;
    And soonest our best men with thee do go,
    Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery!

    Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
    And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
    And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well
    And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?
    One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
    And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!


    John Donne, 1573-1631

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  14. ein schöner letzter Gruss an Deine Freundin. Jetzt wirst Du sie in Deinem Herzen mit Dir tragen...
    Renée

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  15. Oh Friko - I'm so sorry. Such a beautiful lady, such a beautiful friend. My thoughts are with you and with her family too.

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  16. Yes, from half way around the globe
    condolences come, on pigeon wings,
    in cloudbursts, at 3 am when only the
    disturbed are watching the telly, on
    the whiskers of the red Tom tabby
    who sits out in your garden on
    Tuesdays, from the toddlers who
    wiggle with hope for their own
    future as the perambulators roll
    on parade across the square.
    A beautiful friend, a dear woman
    has shed this lifetime, yes , that
    mortal coil old Willy wails about,
    and it is good that you are touched
    and smeared with sadness, yet
    your poet's eyes still see more
    than the landscape out your window,
    and beyond the veil. JW must have
    been quite a gal. By now she has
    some answers to those questions
    we think up midst the sauerkraut
    and mustard dreams of a fitful
    night. She is free of pain, and able
    to perform remarkable feats now.
    She sends you white light and love.

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  17. I enjoyed reading about your morning you so beautifully described only to hear the extremely sad news of the loss of your friend. I do know that nothing I can say can make it any better, I only know second hand how you are feeling. It is a cruel sad time.
    I too have wondered at times - such as when my friends lost their son to a brain tumour and during our daughter's year long cancer treatment which included amputation of her leg - how can the day carry on as before. How can others chat, do their shopping, worry if it will rain on their washing when for others the world has become such a hard place. My thoughts are with you.

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  18. So sorry for your loss, Friko. Nature carries on, as if nothing had happened, but your heart is broken. A sad day my friend.

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  19. May love negate time and distance. Please have a good Wednesday. Thank you as well for your comment very much.

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  20. A felt and true statement about loss. This line particularly: "the clouds above, visible through the glass roof, pursuing their indifferent path." You have left a lovely tribute here, and may it soothe you, too.

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  21. A beautiful word picture. How fragile and temporary we all are against Nature's great backdrop

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  22. With each new day, each new blossom, as the sun rises and sets as always, may you be filled with peace and the warmth of your dear friend's love. Just as she will be greatly missed, she will also be remembered for the gentle kindness, giving person that she was.

    My condolences to you, her other friends and her family.

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  23. Please accept my condolence & warm Aloha, Friend

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  24. I listened to a friend today
    Describe to me her loss of another friend.
    And the huge gaping hole in her heart.
    And I talked of my losses
    And how life is never the same
    With these dear ones
    Vanished forever.

    And it is fine and noble to grieve.
    For they mattered.
    And left us richer
    By their being here.

    But it hurts.
    So bad.

    And then I come here.
    And share your pain.

    Deeply.

    XO
    WWW

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  25. I am so sorry Friko. Sometimes I think the world and nature ought to notice when we lose a loved one. The breeze should halt, the sun should dim, and the birds go quiet, but it all continues on unaffected. It is up to us alone to feel the pain.
    Again, I am so sorry.

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  26. Friko, my condolences to you on the loss of a good friend. A really good friend does not come easily for some of us and I am sure you will miss her. You will continue to remember her in your enjoyment of the wonders of nature that surround you.

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  27. Friko, have you read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking? About the loss of a husband, not the loss of a friend but a keen intelligence, reminds me a bit of Diana Athill. A long winded way of saying I am sorry.

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  28. I'm so sorry for your loss dear Friko. Isn't it strange how life just seems to go on like nothing ever happened, when something has such a big impact on your own life.

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  29. Friko What a lovely tribute to a beautiful day. Your friend would have loved sitting there with you as you both enjoyed the grace of an early fall morn.

    Perhaps she WAS there in spirit and that's why the poet in you wrote so gently.

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  30. Thank you all for your kind words. The response to a post such as this from the blogging community is balm to a wounded soul.

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  31. Hi Friko

    I am sorry that you have lost a good friend. I am thinking of you.

    Happy days

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    you can link up to 3 poems, the more you share, the happier we are.
    Thanks for the participation!
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  33. oh, Friko..

    This just pierced my soul..

    I am so terribly sorry.

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