Pillow Book of Prudence …

January 6, 2011

Things that relax you… are the most perfect things in one’s life. Eclectic things: waves shushing in and out, a light breeze blowing through the leaves of a tree, the sounds of snowy silence, a dog asleep under one’s hand. There are sinful things as well: chocolate, a good wine, even medication when one has a serious ache or pain. But then there is massage: preferably a Bowen massage, the pressure of kind fingers, ambient music playing just within earshot, warm towels being laid over one’s body.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

November 27, 2010

Sounds. My world is made of sounds. I sit with my eyes closed and I listen. I hear the waves chuckling along the shore in a breeze-driven chop. I hear the sea-breeze shivering the leaves of the silver birch, maples and willows; a silvery sound.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

November 7, 2010

Occasionally, Sei Shonagon would veer into a more detailed journal entry instead of her sharp little vignettes. They could be four or five pages long and invited the reader deep into her life – details of speech, mannerisms and settings all wrapped up in her sometimes gentle, often acerbic point of view. This latest Pillow Book of Prudence will depart from the norm and journey into a longer journal entry in deference to Sei Shonagon.

The Pillowbook of Prudence . . .

October 20, 2010

Things that bear closer observation:

Whilst having a midmorning cup of tea, we sat on the back verandah in the sun and watched the resident swallows. Have they flown all the way from Russia, we wondered? They have renovated their nest above the security light and twisted my horse’s tail hair all around. They take it in turns to nest, one in, one out. Whilst one is in, the other sits on the powerlines and they sing and chat with each other. Occasionally they fly off together, not far, but with aeronautic tricks and tumbles. They are old friends and we welcome them every Spring. We also noticed that the ewes and lambs had pushed a gate open and let themselves into the paddock that they had begun lambing in seven weeks ago.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

October 4, 2010

Things that are amusing:

Joining Twitter. Fun in 140 characters, that is assuming one is prepared to leave one’s real persona behind. @Lucas_North’s,

@Lucas_North

@MalcolmWJ’s, @Dimitri_MI5’s and @SirHJPierce’s behaviour on Twitter. Making macaroons without learning how to use a piping bag first. Looking at self in mirror after cane blind has fallen and hit the bridge of the nose. Having funny shared thoughts with MG. The younger dog showing off by having a giant swim at the beach. Watching the parking-meter man trying to book me when I had beaten him to the meter by a sucked in half-breath. The lambs . . . cheeky and very cocky because they have made it!

Lambing is finished . . .

Things that aren’t:

The loss of privacy at university. The sick humour of the internet and You-Tube. The loss of a life.

Looking at self in the mirror after the blind fell on my nose and seeing the blood. The loss of a ewe birthing triplets . . . mother and babies died. The northwest wind: who was it on Twitter who said ‘the wuthering wind is snapping at the corners of the house.’ Rudeness . . . of parking-meter men. Saint Kilda losing the Grand Final. SSAE in the mail. The chance that I will have to pull out of the Dogs’ Home until hand and ankle fully repair. I have only been back two weeks.

On this first week of October, we can be hopeful. Winter is over in this far-flung little outpost of the Southern hemisphere called Tasmania. The lambing has finished. My garden rewards me.

My garden rewards me . . .

The boatshed is being framed up. The manuscript has attention from a major editorial agency O/S . . . free of charge. I shopped for clothes today and bought capri jeans, shorts and two polo-shirts in less than 10 minutes. Such things rarely happen. It’s time to think about the myriad family birthdays. To enjoy a major book launch on Thursday night. To wish my son and his partner safe-travelling as they leave for three weeks holiday in Samoa.

It’s heartwarming that sixty dogs were adopted from the Dog’s Home in the month of September. It has been a week of enjoying the generosity of overseas friends and of realising that even though an SSAE arrived in the mail, better things await. And that the world has joined together to condemn those students at Rutgers University.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

September 26, 2010

Things that make a memorable end of week . . .

The football Grand Final. Sun and mild weather. The garden unfolding more. Hints of beauty giving way to full-blown glamour. Planting vegetables for summer. Walking the dogs on the beach each day. Wading in the chill water, allowing it to reach up to the calf. Hearing bees working in the garden. Watching my cousin play great football. Grooming the horse. The boatshed build beginning. Planning a menu for my son’s twenty sixth birthday.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

September 16, 2010

When I first read Sei Shonagon, one of the things I noticed and deplored, was her misplaced arrogance. The arrogance of the nobility of a thousand years ago. But one can never ignore her acuity, her powers of observation. It is this particular aspect of her work that I love and which I try to emulate in my own Pillow Book.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

September 9, 2010

Things to think about:

How quickly the body loses its fitness and how relevant is the old saying ‘Use it or lose it’. How my old dog asks for so little in life . . . food at regular intervals, a comfy bed, a walk once a day and the need to know exactly where I am at any given time. How incredible it is that newborn lambs can survive rain, a southerly change and then frost and temps of zero degrees. How valuable is friendship. How maybe the story isn’t too bad . . . that it could entice readers. That winter is over and we are launched into the heady scents of Spring. How all sensations of any sort, good or bad, are impermanent. Life is short and worth the effort.

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . .

August 25, 2010

Sometimes we must recognize sadness in our lives because it is real and must be dealt with. Sometimes even the half-full glass must seem half-empty.

Things that are sad:

Hearing that a cousin may have leukaemia. That another distant friend has once more succumbed to breast cancer. That ewes reject the weaker twin as they give birth. The cries of that weak twin. That my fritillaria bud has been broken by one of our not-so-friendly possums. That both the Border Collie and the elder Jack Russell are utterly deaf and losing their sight and must be walked on leads to give them a feeling of security. Pakistan. Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. That the ruptured ligaments are behaving in a totally unsuitable way and causing undue pain. There are many sad things in our lives which could drown us if we let them which is why one must balance things out with . . .

The Pillow Book of Prudence . . . Part 10

August 8, 2010

Brevity: Things that are brief can be appreciated or they can be a vast disappointment.

Eating a block of chocolate is too brief. Chatzy to America is too brief. The series of Return to Cranford and Doc Martin likewise. Sunny warmth on a winters day: all too brief. The scallop season. The dog’ s good behaviour. Exercises for a damaged ankle are not brief enough so perhaps they should go into the longevity category. The current flood of political mind-bending should be so brief as to be non-existent. In fact politics as a career should be non-existent.

123

Category: Pillow Book