Lunar New Year.

After a wonderful sunset last night, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to reveal a delicate, almost ghostly, crescent moon; new since Monday 23rd January 2012, on its back, and low in the western sky. It wasn't visible for long, but it was very beautiful and seems to have nudged the clouds away, cleared the air, and helped to lift my spirits.

Lunar New Year, New Moon, new beginnings.......

The picture shows the sunset over Hythe, Hampshire, last evening. Click on the link below to see what happened later.

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/16527426047/sunset-hythe-hampshire-16-16-16-31

Rainer Maria Rilke 1875-1926.

Overtaken by events and confused by turbulent emotions, words escape me and I've turned to the poems of Rilke in an attempt to get to the heart of how I'm feeling. 'Remembrance' certainly echoes a part of it, but I'm reading an English translation from the original German and I'm sure it falls short of Rilke's intentions; I don't speak German, but if I did I'm sure I would find more beauty, more poetry in his writing.

Remembrance - Rainer Maria Rilke

And you wait, expecting that one thing

that your life endlessly shall multiply;

that one powerful, immense thing,

the awakening of stones,

depths, coming back to you.

Volumes of gold and brown emerge

as dawn out of the bookshelves;

and you reflect upon lands travelled through,

on images, on the garments

of women lost once again.

And then suddenly you realise; that was it.

You rise up and before you stands

the fear and shape and prayer

of a year gone by.

Erinnerung - Rainer Maria Rilke

Und du wartest, erwartest das Eine,

das dein Leben unendlich vermehrt;

das Mächtige, Ungemeine,

das Erwachen der Steine,

Tiefen, dir zugekehrt.

Es dämmern im Bücherständer

die Bände in Gold und Braun;

und du denkst an durchfahrene Länder,

an Bilder, an die Gewänder

wiederverlorener Fraun.

Und da weißt du auf einmal: das war es.

Du erhebst dich, und vor dir steht

eines vergangenen Jahres

Angst und Gestalt und Gebet.

The picture shows the view over Hythe, Hampshire, looking west from my window this morning; a perfect contrast to the turmoil in my head and a salve for my troubled heart.

Click on the link below to find out more about Rilke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke

Fireworks v Sunset.

Out on my balcony earlier this evening to see more fireworks over Southampton Water (the P&O cruise ship Adonia leaving on her world cruise) (see my blog dated Wednesday 11th January 2012). A great display, lots of bangs and whistles, but too far away for a good photo, so I turned to the left, took a few shots of the sunset and watched until it faded into darkness; it was mesmerising and by the time I turned back, the fireworks had finished and the ship had sailed...... Ah well.

The picture shows the setting sun through the tops of the giant oaks in the Grove Gardens, Hythe. To see a wider shot, click on the link below.

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/15787956862/sunset-hythe-hampshire-17-10

MS Queen Elizabeth World Cruise.

There were fireworks over Southampton Water one evening last week, it happened again yesterday, and the day before, and it will probably be the same tonight and tomorrow night. The cruise ships are beginning their round the world trips and the fireworks are part of their traditional send-off. Last night the two Queens (Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2) set off on their world cruises, their whistles boomed across the water, the fireworks were magnificent and I was out there on my balcony in the cold night air, watching and waving and loving every minute.

If you were on board one of the Queens last night, you will now be looking forward to three months at sea, back home in April, ticking off a long list of strange sounding places on the way. The Queen Elizabeth itinerary reads something like this:- Southampton, New York, Fort Lauderdale, Cayman Islands, Cartagena, Panama Canal, Puntarenas, Cabo San Lucas, San Francisco, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Port Denarau, Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Port Douglas, Kota Kinabalu, Hong Kong, Chan May, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Ko Samui, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Phuket, Colombo, Cochin, Mumbai, Dubai, Muscat, Luxor, Aqaba, Sharm El Sheikh, Suez, Port Said, Alexandria, Piraeus, Civitavecchia, Monte Carlo, Lisbon, Southampton. 109 days! Sounds nice, but for the time being I'm very happy to watch and wave....

The photo is a long shot across Southampton Water and shows the fireworks, MS Queen Elizabeth and some rather lovely rippling reflections.

To read more about the Cunard Queens, click on the link below.

http://www.cunardqueens.com/qe2010home.html

An Ill Wind.

It's been a challenging week, I've been here and there, doing this and that, but I've been unable to settle and feel agitated and floundering. Maybe the high winds earlier in the week rattled me; we certainly had a long day of gale-force north westerlies, thundering down Southampton Water, ripping up the waves, buffeting the house and shaking the giant oaks in the Grove Gardens. The week has ended with sunshine, blue skies and an approaching full moon, the severe weather seems to have passed, so maybe my mood will improve and my equilibrium will soon be restored....

The picture shows the moon last night, almost full and looking wonderfully enigmatic.

Happy New Year Revisited.

Well, yesterday the rain stopped for the exact amount of time it took for my morning run (30 minutes, give or take); a sombre, mild and very wet day, the south westerly driving the rain against my windows. Today, by contrast, is sunny, bright and cold; the wind is still in the south west, but blows very gently. Yesterday was a very good day, I enjoyed my morning run and then felt happy to be inside, safe and secure, looking out at the weather. Today is also a good day and I feel happy looking out at the clear blue sky, but expect that the prospect of feeling that crisp, cold air against my face will soon see me venturing outside again.

The picture shows Happy New Year from the Hythe Marina clock.

To see the final instalment in the Happy New Year pictures, click on the link below.

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/15178047807/happy-new-year-mute-swans-hythe-foreshore

Happy New Year.

A moody New Year's Day here in Hythe, my morning run postponed until the rain stops; the view across Southampton Water cloaked in a misty haze, an incoming tide, gulls, oystercatchers and curlews on the shoreline, a flock of lapwings overhead. But, look, it's stopped raining - here I go.....

The picture shows Happy New Year from the Hythe Marina anchor.

For more Hythe Happy New Year pictures, click on the link below.

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/15121725353/happy-new-year-hythe-marina-village-hythe