Poetry

The Longest Day

Posted on by Hanna

The day has to be long. How else can we experience the richness and diversity that solstice offers.
The song of the nightingale, the beautiful tones of the thrush and the song of the chaffinch over our heads. Just to name a few.

The first dew in the grass is short-lived. The sun makes the dew fly away in an almost invisible haze.

The fresh air. The scent of bog and the endless amounts of blueberry rice.
The berries, the fine sweetness that fills the mouth and paints the tongue blue and then the laughter over a sudden transformation.

The beloved cottongrass waves at us with its white tousled head and brings back memories of a wonderful Norway.

We look fascinated at the flying skill of the dragonfly. So close to the water without touching.
And then suddenly a meandering motion reveals a snake’s journey in the water.

The experiences are endless, and it is only when we run out of meals that we reluctantly go home.

Happy Midsummer ❤️

My Hobbit Universe

Posted on by Hanna

It would not surprise me to see hobbits in this landscape. It appears lush, between hills and streams.
The landscape has my undivided love and I am happy for every single moment I have wandered here. If I hear firecrackers I expect to see a pointy hat 😊

The Carefree Spring

Posted on by Hanna

The tree is stripped,
All color, fragrance gone,
Yet already on the bough,
Uncaring spring!
~ Ikkyu, Zen Poems of China and Japan

The world is not in your books and maps, it is out there.
~ Gandalf

Happy Walk Everyone 🥾❤️🙂

Happy Earth Day❤️

Posted on by Hanna

Cormorants, mallards, gulls and one white wagtail, that was what I saw!
I think an early morning is better for bird counting 🙂

Nature poets can’t walk across the backyard without tripping over an epiphany.
~ Christian Wiman

Leave only your footprints behind ❤️

Happy Walk!

Walk Lightly in Spring …

Posted on by Hanna

I had a nice walk by the lakes. Not the lakes that glorify Northern England, but 25 wonderful small lakes and ponds in Denmark.
Spring gets better year by year 🤗

“Walk lightly in the spring; Mother Earth is pregnant.”
~ Native American Indian Proverb (Kiowa)

Happy walk and remember your packed lunch! 🙂

Wonders of the Sea

Posted on by Hanna

If I want peace within, I’ll go to the sea.* It performs miracles.
I even found eider ducks in spring mood.

Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.
~ Hermann Broch

I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.
~ Alain Gerbault

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
~ Jacques Yves Cousteau

If there’s heaven for me, I’m sure it has a beach attached to it.
~ Jimmy Buffett

*In lack of mountains!

The Unimaginable Mountain Lakes

Posted on by Hanna

We are walking, climbing and running down the mountainside and suddenly the lake is there. Indescribably beautiful.
We are silent for a moment. The moment must be kept, never forgotten.
Mountain lakes are wondrous. A reflection of sky and mountain.
A raven watch every step we take. The only sound is the cry of the bird while it is moving uneasily on a branch. Life is here and now.

Outlet at Lake Tahoe by the German-American painter, Albert Bierstadt

The Head of a Scotch Lake by the British painter, Alfred de Breanski

Mountain Scene by the German-American painter, Albert Bierstadt

In the Mountains by the German-American painter, Albert Bierstadt

A Feeling of Snow

Posted on by Hanna

The weather is cold as we enter a dark and almost eerie forest. Hesitantly, the snow begins to fall. Floating, fluttering snowflakes fall on trees, and moss. As if the snow doesn’t know the meaning of it.
Hours later, when I look over my shoulder on our way out of the forest I know the purpose. The forest has turned into a bright living adventure.
A homage to nature.

Danish painter Anders Andersen-Lundby, En vinterskov 1882

Danish painter Anders Andersen-Lundby, Winter Evening 1886.

Hanna Greenwood, An Enchanted Winter Day 2021

“There is nothing in the world so quiet as snow,
when it softly falls through the air,
muffles your steps,
lulls, lulls gently
the voices which speak too loudly.”1

Danish painter Peder Mørk Mønsted, Wood in Snow

Note

1 The danish author Helge Rode wrote the poem in 1886, There is nothing in the world as quiet as snow

The Magic of Nature

Posted on by Hanna

I’m looking out my window and everything is gray.
The lake disappear in the mist, but the autumn’s bubbling foliage makes me smile ❤

“If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour.”
~ Victoria Erickson

“Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable…the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street…by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.”
~ Hal Borland

“Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day.”
~ Shira Tamir

“Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.”
~ William Wordsworth

Strange Visions of Mountains

Posted on by Hanna

I’m dreaming of wilderness and mountains. About shades of rugged and stunning landscapes.

I have seen a wonderful, scenic film about climbing Suilven, a remote mountain in the north west of Scotland.

It is a life-affirming film about a woman who has recently become a widow. The woman, Edie, decides to live out an old dream she shared with her father when she was young. A dream to climb the strange mountain, Suilven.

Actress Sheila Hancock was 83 years old during the filming. She says it was a great and challenging experience. Something she wants for everyone to try.
Sheila Hancock is the oldest person to have climbed Suilven back in 2018.

Hopefully, it’s safe to travel next year.