LIFE DOWN UNDER

Up on the Hill Behind Our New Home is My Spot

Surrounded by songbirds, rabbits in the pasture and sheeps grazing on the meadow

A raptor is roaring the sky above my head just as a rabbit sneaks out of a burrow down below. Songbirds are chirping sitting in the bushes on the slope and a gentle splashing sound appears from the water flowing in the man-made ditch behind me.

24/11/2023

I’m sitting up on the hill at the far end of our landlord’s property. While they are now too old to tend it themselves, they are leasing out the vineyard to winemakers of the area and are offering the mountain pastures to neighbors to graze their sheep.

I came up on the steep slope on the left as the herd of sheep was grazing on the far right side of the pasture. I didn’t want to disturb them as we are nearing the end of the lambing season.

The beautiful gentle hills of Central Otago are unfolding in front of my eyes. Vineyards, an orchard or two and a few beech tree alleys are mixing with the grassland. I can only see a handful of houses from where I am sitting. Excluding our home as it is hidden behind a line of trees.

A few well-fed cows are grazing on the neighbor’s land, some of them lazing off in the evening sun. And I can hear some chicks, either offspring of the raptors or the songbirds, crying for food as that is all they care about.

The late afternoon sun is warming back as I watch a bumble bee dance through the sky. I sit mostly undisturbed up here on the hill. A few insects are buzzing around and one only slightly annoying fly, yes there always has to be that one, and it has to sit down on my shirt as I appear as the biggest yellow ‘flower’ shining for miles.

25/11/2023

Back on my spot up on the hill, I see snowflakes dancing through the air. No, not that kind of snow. Fluffy seeds. With just a light breeze, the wind is gently moving them through the sky.

Sitting here with the sun burning on my back, I grabbed three blades of grass and began to braid them. I had to think back at my childhood days making headbands out of daisies.

The task occupied my mind and my hands. When I first started, I had nothing specific in mind to come out of the braiding. Everything just fell into each other.

Now, I have a decorated hat.

After finishing my piece of art, I lifted my eyes and saw a rabbit crawling out of a burrow. Coming out for grazing it soon disappeared in the tall grass only leaving its ears visible to me and that also only because I knew where they were.

Watching rabbit ears move through the grass. What an interesting activity. A bumblebee zooms past with a loud buzzing sound while tiny birds are chirping in the bushes behind me.

26/11/2023

My spot hasn’t changed yet. The sheep are still on the far right of the hill and my feeling is they won’t be coming back here anytime soon. The grass is covered in spiky thistle plants just growing to the size they’ll cut you walking past them. I’m sure the sheep don’t like them either.

Despite or because of the sounds of nature surrounding me, there is such a serenity up here. I can’t here any humans and yet so many different sounds. From the bleating of the sheep over all kinds of buzzing from so many different insects to the endless variety of chirping and singing of the birds.

Now and then a gust of wind blows through the pasture moving all blades of grass as a unit gently forward.

By the way, I still haven’t found my lens cap I still don’t know where I lost it. I think soon I need to accept that it’s gone.

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