Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
Like River I usually run with a theme. I have been wrestling with sadness this week. A friend and fellow volunteer with Lifeline was hit by a car three weeks ago. Her left shoulder is shattered and has been rebuilt. Her left ankle is broken. Her pelvis is broken in several places and pushed out of alignment. She will need a new hip. When she was taken to hospital she was also bleeding into her brain. Her right side was completely unresponsive. The bleeding has been stopped and the medicos hope that she will regain feeling and movement on her right side. They aren't promising anything though. She will be in hospital for many weeks and recuperating for many more. She is also the carer for her elderly mama (whose only language I don't speak). Her mama has cancer. My heart aches for her. And for the fact that I can't do anything, except stop in and say hello for the ten minutes which is all she can cope with.
I almost always turn to nature for solace and comfort when I am down, so we headed down to the lake on a crisp and clear morning last week. And it did help. Still sad, still feeling helpless, but smiling too. I obviously wanted a lot of comfort - and many photos follow.
I am sure that swan was mooning me...
It really is a lovely spot, and is less than half an hours drive from home.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
Like River I usually run with a theme. I have been wrestling with sadness this week. A friend and fellow volunteer with Lifeline was hit by a car three weeks ago. Her left shoulder is shattered and has been rebuilt. Her left ankle is broken. Her pelvis is broken in several places and pushed out of alignment. She will need a new hip. When she was taken to hospital she was also bleeding into her brain. Her right side was completely unresponsive. The bleeding has been stopped and the medicos hope that she will regain feeling and movement on her right side. They aren't promising anything though. She will be in hospital for many weeks and recuperating for many more. She is also the carer for her elderly mama (whose only language I don't speak). Her mama has cancer. My heart aches for her. And for the fact that I can't do anything, except stop in and say hello for the ten minutes which is all she can cope with.
I almost always turn to nature for solace and comfort when I am down, so we headed down to the lake on a crisp and clear morning last week. And it did help. Still sad, still feeling helpless, but smiling too. I obviously wanted a lot of comfort - and many photos follow.
I am sure that swan was mooning me...
It really is a lovely spot, and is less than half an hours drive from home.
What an awful thing to happen to your friend - and for her mom. I hope she can fully recover. Feeling helpless is perhaps the saddest emotion one can feel, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite sure you were mooned by that swan, the cheeky cad. Don't you feel special now? The pelicans certainly aren't in danger of starvation, are they. Bowling balls with wings. :)
Hugs to you.
River Fairchild: My control freak self doesn't do helpless well. At all. I am glad you agree the swan was mooning me - a better butt than the last time I was mooned though.
DeleteYou mean I was the first commenter? Wow!
ReplyDeleteRiver Fairchild: Yes. And second.
DeleteSome people in life really do seem to get a very raw deal. Sorry. The photos are very nice and how about the pelican close up! Kangaroos have their troubles too, I suppose, but life for them lazing in the winter sun is not so bad.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: One of our friends life was so chaotic, and so awful that all we could do was laugh at his weekly disaster. He laughed as well. There just aren't enough tears for the things that were happening to him.
DeleteWheee!!!!!!!!!!!I'm way up near the front! It's a late-discovered gift...Damn! What was I going to say...oh yes, pelicans! Thank you for posting pelicans;I hoped you's see them.
ReplyDeleteGod, I'm still so stoked at being nearly first....
dinahmow: Pelicans make me go Wheee too. I was very, very happy to see them, and even happier when a pair steamed across the lake to see whether we had brought them anything. Which we hadn't.
DeleteSending good wishes for your friend & her mother...
ReplyDeletefishducky: Thank you. Fingers and toes firmly crossed.
DeleteI am so sorry for your friend. She sounds like she has a very long recovery. Hopefully there is other family around to step in with her mamma and with herself when she is released. The pelicans, swans and kangaroos are so interesting. Thanks for posting them.
ReplyDeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: No family close by. Her son has come out from California, but I don't know how long he will be able to stay. Probably not long enough.
DeleteIm so sorry about your friend. You visits probably help her more than you know. Lovely photos and I'm glad that nature soothed your soul. It does mine when I am hurting or down.
ReplyDeleteTerri @ Coloring Outside the Lines: I hope so. I will keep going in each week. And nature is a great healer isn't it?
DeleteI am so sorry for your friend; what a rocky road she must travel back. Stop in and smile as often as you can; hospital days are very long.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: Hospital days are very, very long. I will keep going in each week, and we are setting up a roster of people from LL too. Lots of visitors, looking in, and moving on so we don't exhaust her and she knows we care.
DeleteOne has to look for solace and some hint, even the smallest of hint, of understanding when surrounded by such sorrow...tragic, heart-rendering episodes in life for which there are no explanations.
ReplyDeleteWhen bad things happen to good people it's even more difficult to fathom when you read about deadbeat clowns roaming around creating havoc, doing damage to people's lives and properties. For example - the despicable father (and I use the word "father" very loosely) who abandoned his nine-month old baby at a Melbourne tram stop late on a freezing night last week. That dear innocent baby neither asked to be conceived or born; nor did it ask to be treated so callously. I hope a loving home is found for him and the father is never allowed near him again.
I hope your friend gets through this most difficult time, EC...her recovery process will no doubt be lengthy but lets be positive that all will be well in the end.
May this week bring you peace mingled with happiness and good news only. Take care. Hugs to your two furry rascals...may they both give you much comfort.
Lee: I hadn't heard about that oxygen-thieving father. I agree completely that I hope he is never allowed near that child (or any child) ever again.
DeleteThank you for your thoughts about my friend - and a good week to you and your furry tyrants.
That father was on the news here. He wheeled the baby in a pram, then walked away and left him. At least the baby had a little shelter from the pram and the whole thing was caught on surveillance video, so the father was quickly identified and caught.
Deletekeeping your friend in thoughts and prayers. I do love the pelicans ... and that did look like a full swan moon!
ReplyDeleteThings Are Looking U.P: Thank you. The swans have become accustomed to people bringing them food. Perhaps this one was expressing its displeasure.
DeleteSo sorry for the sadness. The world is full of it in varying degrees but that doesn't help us deal with each new event that comes along. This week a freind cut her hands when she clutched falling shears, a friends dad died, a cousin developed ALS, and more. You are wise to seek solace in nature for even there you can see sadness but it all is a plan...hard to remember that though on many a given day! So repair yourself as you can and continue to give solace to those you are able to help in little ways.
ReplyDeleteBookie: Oh dear. You too have more than your share of sadness entering your world. Hugs.
DeleteDear god. My heart goes out to your friend - and her mother. What a shocking accident.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you can find solace in nature. Nature for me, more often than not, is shrouded in worry and sadness, knowing the cruel capabilities of mankind.
Hoping you and your family are doing okay?
Wendy: A pedestrian never fares well when collected by a car. I have also heard (and hope it isn't true) that it was a hit and run.
DeleteLike you I worry about nature - but I also marvel at it. And am grateful. So very grateful.
My friend's misfortune has reminded me that although things are not perfect we are doing ok. Better than ok.
I hope you are too.
Together we heal and go on, pal <3.
ReplyDeleteLovely images, more meaningful to me than you can know.
Hoping the best for your friend, counting my blessings. Thanks, S!
ALOHA from Honolulu,
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
Cloudia: We heal and we go on, and sometimes we just go on. Hugs.
DeleteThat's so sad, some of us do get a very raw deal but where there is life there is hope.
ReplyDeleteBlack swans and kangaroos they would bring you peace just watching them.
Merle........
Merlesworld: I am sure that kangaroos and cats are related each time I see the kangas relaxing in the sun. And can feel the tightness in my neck and shoulders ease as I watch them.
DeleteThis park is my stress pill.
Those roos look like they also decided to take the day off and go relax at the lake. The birds look non too industrious either. Very beautiful. I'm sorry your friend was so badly hurt. Darn it.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: The roos relax very, very well. Soaking up the winter sunshine and having an occasional scratch. And yes, the birds didn't look too stressed either. Which is part of the reason I love going there.
DeleteDarn it is considerably milder than what I have been feeling and saying about my friend. Love your understatement.
I am sorry to hear of your friend's accident and her Mother's dilemma too. I am not sure what the health services are like in the ACT ~ can they put you in touch with an interpreter? Blue Care? My Gosh, as I try to think this through, the average Joe would have no idea which agency to contact for what support. I wish you well EC, in trying to help your friend and her Mother.
ReplyDeletecarolincairns: Thank you. I think, I hope, my friends mama is ok for the moment but the upheaval and worry for a ninety-four year old must be horrendous. She can't for example come and see her daughter because her immune system is too compromised to risk the hospital. It will be so very hard for both of them.
DeleteI'm sorry that you are down. And your dear friend will be on my prayer list.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your beautiful pictures.
Sonya Ann: I will be fine. And hopefully so will my friend. Thank you.
DeleteOh dear, what a horrible mess! I am so sorry they have to go through it and sorry that you have suffered from being alongside
ReplyDeletekylie: My suffering is minor by comparison. Very minor. Thank you.
DeleteIs it bad that, after seeing the swan pic, 'Bad Moon Rising' is playing in my head?
ReplyDeleteWhen my heart is hurting, I go to the water and lose myself in the ever-changing constancy. Yours is a tender heart, I'm glad you've found a balm for it in watching the kangas and the cheeky swans.
Sending healing thoughts for your friend and her mother; thank you, from me, for caring about both of them.
Jacquelineand...: There is something about water isn't there? Moving or still.
DeleteI am now going to hear Bad Moon Rising as Black Moon Rising forever more. And it is my ear worm of the moment.
My fambly condemned me for having a heart like soft butter. It is what it is, and I would rather care than the opposite.
I'm so sorry to read of your friend. :(
ReplyDeleteGlad you found some comfort - the photos are beautiful. I love Canberra and we sometimes get to visit there as we are just a couple of hours away on the South Coast, near Jervis Bay. ;)
Snoskred: Thank you. The Jervis Bay area is beautiful. And I love hearing of someone who doesn't loathe Canberra. It is a beautiful city, and much maligned.
DeleteI think it is a bit like Adelaide in that respect - everyone loves to say they don't love it, but deep down inside they do. :)
DeleteCanberra is a gorgeous place to spend some time, even if it is just a day trip over. Plus the zoo there has some amazing encounter experiences, I had a bear lick some weetbix and honey from my hand and fed a chicken drumstick to a tiger. :)
Snoskred: One of my brother volunteers at that zoo. And each year does work experience and works there full time for a month. At nearly seventy he is their oldest work experience person - and wouldn't give it up for anyone. We patted cheetahs there - an amazing thing.
DeleteI am fond of Adelaide too.
Glorious photos, EC, and especially that cheeky swan! I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's accident. It shows how fragile we are as pedestrians. Her injuries are just awful - I hope she heals well and that her mother is well cared for. Oh, I feel so sad for them both... Brave heart, EC - go well.
ReplyDeleteCarol: Thank you. I did laugh at the swan, and revelled in the roos and the pelicans. Such a beautiful place. Such a calming place. Her injuries are awful, and she is no longer young, but determined. I so hope all goes well for her from now on.
DeleteWhat a beautifully peaceful place and I can imagine it would lessen your sadness just a little.
ReplyDeleteI feel so for your friend. Similar accident mum suffered it would seem. The fluid had drained from around her brain and there was a split in the brain itself but as you know from her memoirs. she fully recovered her mental faculties. I hope the same for your friend and trust someone is able to care for her poor mother. What a tragedy to happen.
Thinking of you and your friend. Hugs.
Mimsie: It is a beautiful spot. In all seasons and at any time of the day. I do hope my friend recovers as well as your mama did.
DeleteHa Ha! Mooned by a swan!
ReplyDeleteI love photo 11 with the pelican looking right at you and 21 with the laughing pelican. And photos 12, 13, 14 made me laugh, pelicans look so odd when they pull their necks in like that.
Love the resting kangaroos too.
I'm so very sorry to hear about your friend and hope she recovers completely. I hope too, that someone is able to help her mother while she is in the hospital.
River: Mooned I was. And it made me laugh. I admired its butt too. I do hope my friend makes a complete recovery. Her son is looking after her mother at the moment, but I have no idea how long he will be able to stay in Australia.
DeleteBeautiful winter shots - what a lovely peaceful spot. I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. I'll think good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteCraig: Thank you. It is a lovely spot. And has been for years. Fortunately 'development' is kept to a minimum.
DeleteNature really does sometimes provide us the solace we need. I'm sorry to hear about your friend.
ReplyDeletemail4rosey: Thank you. She often gives me solace. Often and often.
DeleteThat second photo top to bottom might be really my wife and I on a Sunday evening! :-) Honestly, those two beautiful animals look so relaxed and yet regal at the same time. Gorgeous. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
A Cuban in London: I love the thought of you and your wife, relaxed and regal at home. Wonderful image you have planted in my brain.
DeleteSo sorry about your friend! I hope she finds healing and you find your smile again.
ReplyDeleteDawn@Lighten Up!: Thank you.
DeleteGosh, by the time I got here (because of the time difference) you had a HUGE number of comments. I finally gave up reading them. I am so sorry to hear of your friend's condition. She will never be the same, but there is hope that she will recover enough to gain some mobility. We really don't think about our cars as killing machines, but they are. We just had a man who started to fall asleep and overcorrected onto the sidewalk, hitting four teenagers, two of whom died on the spot. The other two have crushed legs, and everybody in the community is in mourning. So very sad.
ReplyDeleteBut your pictures cheered me up a little, too. Thank you, dear EC.
DJan: I do think of cars as killing machines. They scare me. I hate being proved right though.
DeleteI am so glad that my solace also helped you.
so very sad for your friend and knowing there is no one to care for her mother will add it's burden to her recovery; my healing thoughts to her from over here;
ReplyDeleteyou got some great photos, I especially love the one with the pelican with his mouth open so wide.
Linda Starr: Thank you for those healing thoughts. She is bathed in them, which cannot hurt at all.
DeleteI find pelicans fascinating. Comical and fascinating.
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteHow truly saddening that is about your friend and the plight of her poor mother. Thankfully, they have someone like you who cares. Please try not to get too stressed out of it, dear Sue.
Photos can indeed be just the positive distraction. I appreciate you sharing your photos of creatures I don't see that often.
Hugs and hope,
Gary
klahanie: Dear Gary. Thank you. As always.
DeleteOh wow. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. During times like that, visits from friends mean everything. You're a great friend!
ReplyDeleteStephanie Faris: How I wish (again) I had a magic wand...
DeleteSorry to hear about your friend's mishap. Life slaps us when we least suspect it, and it seems drivers do not watch for pedestrians any more. . .the photos are gorgeous, especially the birds - I love those best. Hope you friend recovers as best she can.
ReplyDeleteD.G. Hudson: Life does indeed slap some of us down hard. It is sneaky that way.
DeleteI am glad that your enjoyed my birds - and thank you.
Hey there friend, I love seeing the images of birds and roos:)
ReplyDeleteMakes my heart happy:) Thanks for sharing all the riches
of your life where you are. And, hey, I drew your name from the
basket and will be sending you one of my Ripplesongs zines.
Do I have your snail mail address? Can you send it to me?
(ripplespeak@yahoo.com).
big thanks,
Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: I love the way you make words dance, and am really, really looking forward to getting your zine. Email to follow.
DeleteI'm so sorry about your friend. What a hellish nightmare! Awful. And it's so distressing to watch someone you care about suffer and to feel so helpless. It's good of you to visit, though. I'm sure it means a lot to her, even if it doesn't seem like much.
ReplyDeleteI always love your photos of the kangaroos and black swans and their neighbors. Thanks for sharing them with us. That was definitely the right place to go in the situation.
Paper Chipmunk (aka Ellen): Thank you. It was an essential place for me to visit again. I might argue for another trip after I visit my friend again later this week. I gird my loins for each visit and come away aching for her.
DeleteLove and healing flowing from MN to your friend and YOU, too, darling.
ReplyDeleteThe kangaroos are fabulous. IS that a black swan? OMGGGGGOSh. Spectacular!! xxx
PS. all friends should be like you, Sue.
My Inner Chick: That is indeed a black swan mooning me. I love them. And the roos. And the pelicans.
DeleteAnd thank you. Sometimes I am not a good friend. Which upsets me.
Lovely black swans. We don't have them where I live. I am so sorry about your friend.
ReplyDeletemshatch: Thank you. It is white swans which seem exotic to me, though I love our black beauties. Despite their serrated beaks and pushy temperament.
DeleteLove all your critters. Miss seeing them.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your friend Grace, I hope she will have a quick and successful recovery.
Karen: I envy you your critters. Thank you for your well wishes (though neither of us is Grace).
DeleteStrange, thought I read her name (Grace) in your post. Must be the heat...it's been a hot and humid few days ;)
DeleteKaren: Not a problem. Heat (and humidity) eat my brain cells too.
DeleteThat is so very sad re your friend. Not nice at all...
ReplyDeleteLike your selection of photos.
whiteangel: No, not nice. The lake is a beautiful (and healing) place though.
Deletephun place to hang :)
ReplyDeleteAuthor R. Mac Wheeler: Yup.
DeleteSo sorry about your friend and her mom. It's terribly sad.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've access to much beauty to re-fuel you, but that mooning stunt was rather obnoxious. Funny too.
Take gentle care.
Rawknrobyn: If I had a butt as nice as that one perhaps I would moon strangers too.
DeleteAnd yes, terribly sad covers it.
What a beautiful place to visit. I'm so sorry about your friend. It must be so hard not being able to help, but I'm certain she appreciates that you care.
ReplyDeleteMyrna R.: That spot down by the lake is one of my go-to places for when I am down. It has never, ever failed to help.
DeleteI know my friend appreciates my caring, but so wish I could do more. A magic wand would be nice.
So sorry about your friend and her mother. My goodness - sometimes it all seems to land on one family like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are good to yourself and find solace in nature - you picked a beautiful place!
Lynn: You are so right about everything landing on some families/individuals. Which I don't understand, but reluctantly accept.
DeleteOh no what an awful thing to happen to your friend, and what a terrible situation to be in with her sick mother too. But your photos are very uplifting. What amazing creatures and some great shots too! Well done.
ReplyDeleteLL Cool Joe: It is awful, but the lake helped me at any rate. I will visit her again in a day or so, and probably tell her about the things we saw - including the mooning swan.
DeletePeace comes in the morning, so my grandmother always said. Your pics provide that definitely.
ReplyDeleteYour friend certainly has a weight of helplessness upon her.
Susan Kane: Sometimes the morning seem a very, very long way away.
DeleteHey EC...
ReplyDeleteOMG, I was so very sad to hear about your friend... normally you are a bright spot of sun in a cloudy day, but I can't imagine how your friend must be feeling....
All I can offer is sincere prayers to her (and you) and that I hope, hope, hope she will be out of the hospital and back in her own home soon - for quicker rehab...
((EC))
Mark Koopmans: Thank you. I am going back in to see her tomorrow, and I really, really hope she is getting some feeling and movement back on her right side.
DeleteEven if you don't speak the language of the mother, certain things are always needed--make food, clean commode, sweep/mop/vacuum, generally things we all need. She may need help financially--little bits help. Start a gofundme campaign. Sorry about your friend!
ReplyDeleteLinda: Thank you. Fortunately I don't think that money is an issue. I am not physically able to do the cooking and cleaning for her mother, and worry that she really needs somewhere to express her worries and fears. I hope that she has friends from her own community she can talk to. For the moment my friend's son can help with the physical things - and we will look at the other things when/if he has to go home again (to California).
DeleteI hope you are feeling better - and sending good thoughts to you and your friend.
ReplyDeleteStill in awe that you can just pop over to a place with kangaroos.
Riot Kitty: The kangaroos are considered a pest by some, and our local government regularly 'culls them'. Which makes me ballistic with rage. I love to see them, and the ones at this spot have always been safe.
DeleteI am still sad, but ok and I hope my friend is also improving. Back in to see her tomorrow.
Sometimes we need the solace of wild things, outdoor places, and prayers that don't quite make it into words.
ReplyDeleteI hope your friend heals completely!
Tyrean Martinson: Welcome and thank you. How right you are about that solace. And it necessity.
DeleteI never really considered myself much of a nature person, but i love to sit outside and feel the sun on my skin. There is no time in the world when I feel more peacefull.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to your friend.
totallycaroline: My love of nature snuck up on me. I sneered at the hours my mother spent in the garden as a child. And now do it myself. And bird watching and marvelling at animals somehow crept on up me too. And the love of trees. And rainbows. And the sky. And...
DeleteAnd thank you for the wishes for my friend.
The lake is very good for solace. And look at all the animal shots you got! Oh my gosh...You were mooned by a swan!!! LOL - that absolutely HAD to put a smile on your face. It put one on mine. =0)
ReplyDelete2justByou: Of course the mooning swan made me smile. So much that I nearly failed to capture its photo...
DeleteIt's so wonderful to watch them enjoying life!
ReplyDeleteKaren S.: It is. And so totally relaxed about it too.
DeleteThis week I looked at your images before reading your post, I don't usually do that. You have captured some stunning shots and I was wishing I lived half an hour from such a place when I read your post and realised why you'd visited there this week. Much, much love to your friend and I hope she recovers fully and quickly. Take care EC
ReplyDeleteKim: Thank you. I see you know exactly why I needed to go there. There has been some tiny improvements this week. She can now move (with a lot of effort) her fingers and toes on her right side - by about a milimetre. A long way to go, but positive signs.
DeleteOhhh, my heart goes out to you and your friend. So much pain. Some people really get a rough deal. May she find solace in your visits and friendship. This probably does more than you realise.
ReplyDeleteLove your photos. It looks like a beautiful place to visit, to think, to sit and contemplate. You got way better photos of the pelicans than I. Thinking they are way more accustomed to humans than ours out here.
CountryMum: She has a very long road ahead of her. Very long. I hope it goes smoothly.
DeleteAnd yes, our pelicans are more than accustomed to people. And greedy with it. They steamed in to see if we had anything for them, and were unimpressed to discover we didn't.
What a beautiful spot to visit to help lift your spirits.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your friend. i am sending healing thoughts her way and hoping that she is back to her old self in no time with lots of smooth healing. Scary how everything can change in an instant.
Hugs to you!
Jess
DMS ~Jess: Thank you. I am going up to visit my friend shortly. She has a long hard road ahead of her but there are at least some tiny signs of improvement.
Delete