Month: August 2023

Clockface migration

As summer progresses, Mother Nature begins to secure continuity of her gifts to the earth.
Seeds are dropped, others collected, plants dead-headed and wildflowers make thir provision for continued life.
The other day it was quite windy and I notice a profusion of white Dandelion seeds, taking their journey across the sky.
So being a fan of the dear Dandelion, I have marked this journey.

Dandelion Clocks

It is the time of migration.

Small gossamer parachutes
tumbling  freely on eddies of air
each carrying a speck of seed.
They will be carried to the ground
where they will hide like spies
at an unknown address.
In deep shadow and stillness 
They wait patiently, demanding nothing.
A time will come, a call to invade will be heard.

Following some unknown decision,
a pinprick followed by myriad others,
stirring from their closeted, soil wrapped cell,
they conquer the earth
with their spring clock faces
of brilliant yellow.

Here’s a thing: When the fluffy ball is ready to cast its seeds, why not take it in your hand and blow gently on it but,
instead of making a wish, send each seed on its way with a prayer to God .
This would make the Dandelion a prayer – wheel which  takes our prayers , sorrows and praises to God.
Just a thought.

[Mr G]

Lammas Bread

Bread display at Thorley. Photo Mr G

August 1st is Lammas Day. On this day, particularly in rural areas, it is cutomary to give thanks to God for the gifts of food and the provision of all we need to sustain life. In more ancient times, the beginning of August coincided with the harvesting opf the crops for the milling of flour and thebaking of bread. The ‘first loaf’ was sometimes present to the local church and became the bread used at the Eucharist or the mass – Hence Lammas – Loaf Mass.

Two tales of Bread

Torn from plastic wrapping,
The slab of bread, processed flour,
tumbles unappetizingly, onto the plate.
It is a source of calcium, good for the bones,
with Iron and Niacin, B3 of course,
a small sprinkling  of Thiamin adds to the cocktail
of goodness and well-being.
Yeast, salt and water is tinged with Rapeseed Oil,
reminding of spring fields painted radiant yellow.
Lest we lose sight of all this goodness,
Calcium proportionate adds a chemistry lesson
for our delectation and preservation.
Not forgetting, of course, those amazing emulsifiers
E472E and E481
all doused with ascorbic acid.
Bread. Yummy!

Mr Deakin’s Bread

The oven door opens in Mr Deakin’s bakery.
Wafts of delicious, tantalizing
aromas fill the air, tempting the nostrils
with the unmistakable freshly baked bread.
Sacks of flour wait quietly for their turn.
Mr Deakin knows the Miller
who lives near the farmer,
who gathers the crop dancing
in the breeze of his own fields.
We take home the bread still warm.
Crusty yet yielding if pressed,
giving off a rich enticing smell,
whetting the appetite.
Held in trembling hands of expectation,
we break off a little, raise a morsel to our lips.
And another.
Real bread!

[Mr G]