My midnight wander

Night time in my garden is filled with mystery and intrigue… Is yours?

I slowly breathe in the intoxicating scent of night jasmine

The song from Enya “Paint the sky with Stars” comes to mind and I softly hum it to myself.”

I have woken through the night once again, I wonder if I’m the only one who continually does this? I put on my dressing gown, grab my torch and head outside for a night time wander in the garden.

Right away I am struck by the intoxicating scent of night Jasmine, the tiny white buds that are covering the plant are just beginning to come to life. I could just sit by the plant and breathe in the fragrance all night long… a scent that only comes to life after dark!

All of this magic from one little seed - what a miracle…

I haven’t been in a good place lately. I have been swallowed up by the busyness of life and finding it difficult to access the slow and beautiful world that I love to be in, the place that feels like home to me. I wonder how, once again I have come to loose myself in this other world, did it happen slowly over a long period of time, or was it that trauma that I happened a few months ago, now just showing me that it needs to be dealt with.  I feel that I have now just reached a turning point and I am turning my compass back to where I feel most at home - back to my connection to all the natural world that surrounds me.

The weather has now turned once again, just as the Autumn equinox has passed - what a welcome relief. There has been so much rain, humidity and mould and I could count blue sky days and clear nights on one hand. Maybe I’m too connected into mother nature, feeling the greyness of the sky seep into my body and invade my sense of joy. Does that happen to you as well?

The constant greyness of the sky seeped into my body, dulling my enthusiasm and my mood.

I continue my wander around the garden and I notice that my Poinciana has shifted its leaves facing up for a night time slumber. Looking like it’s all curled up and cozy, not wanting to be disturbed.

I wonder at the cleverness of nature, how these plants make these nightly transitions. and how and why some plants do and some don’t.. it doesn’t seem like it’s just the sunshine that creates these changes, it’s the darkness of night, which makes them even more of a miracle to me.

Some spiders are hard at work tonight, spinning their webs to catch their morning feast. I accidentally walk into one and I am tangled in fine web, which takes some time to pull off me. I apologise to the tiny spider as now it has to work hard at creating its web once more before the morning light.

I have a bathtub (outside) full of tadpoles and I also wonder do the tadpoles sleep at night? do they stop moving and close their eyes, do they ever sleep? I point my torch into the tub to see if i can catch them with their eyes closed to answer my question. some are just on the bottom not moving, others swim to the surface and grab a little mouth full of air. I do think they have nano naps. the fish in there are totally still in the water - i think they sleep..  do you know the answer?

I turn off my torch and I’m momentarily blinded. Slowly, my night vision kicks in and the stars begin to come into focus. It’s a clear, crisp night and the stars are looming close in the sky, some brighter than others. The song from Enya “Paint the Sky with Stars” comes to mind and I softly hum it to myself.

There is a lone cricket just started chirping, I take in a deep breath and fill my lungs with the cool night air and I wish that I could bottle this feeling, this moment of peace and beauty with the calm quietness of the night. I wish that I could then open that bottle that I have captured when things get too busy and crazy and breathe in the feeling of peace and beauty that I feel right now. Imagine if we could bottle that as a gift that we could give to others or ourselves through the day. A bottle of night time peace, beauty and magic!

A plane just makes its way across the sky, looking so tiny and insignificant moving through past the stars. It’s hard to imagine that it’s full of people journeying from one place to another, each with their own separate lives and stories. The moon hasn’t risen yet, which makes the stars even brighter. I’m so grateful to see a clear night sky once again after so much darkness and grey. and I wonder where you can learn about the stars now and how to read them, who teaches that now?

Lights are twinkling brightly way off in the distance which must be from the small beach suburb about 30 minutes drive from here. It makes a pretty scope in the distance. The night is still and calm with no breeze or wind at all, just magic. The grass is cool and wet under my feet and makes all of my senses come to life. There are no other animal sounds tonight, just one lone cricket, which is quite unusual.

Sleep is starting to come over me again as the night air and peace of my surroundings envelope me. It’s time for me to make my way back inside and dream of the stars and scents and sounds that I have just allowed to peacefully enter my body… I hope that you too can take the time one night when unable to sleep to make your way outside and either sit and observe and journal or have a little wander around and find some small miracles that take place when you are usually tucked up in bed asleep… Night, night sweet dreams till sunbeams find you!