Store Your Happy Memories Here:

[Croix]

Dear All~

What this place is for:
This thread is a tool, a resource, and also I guess a dash of entertainment.

I’ve found that when life is grim that sometimes thoughts of past happiness can create a chink of light in the grey overwhelming press of down. They can help occupy the mind with lighter reflections.

With that in view I invite people to set down a brief passage describing some happy event they look back to with fondness and peace.

They - and others too - can then return to it when they feel the need to glean a little warmth.

It is not a place for gloomy or dire tales, those can go elsewhere.

What to do:
Just set out, as simply as you like, your recollection of some past experience that means something good to you, something you enjoyed, something from safe times.

It can be, like my story below, anything – from an account of visiting grandparents to simply cooking and eating a melted-cheese sandwich in a favorite kitchen – you get to choose.

How to do it:
Write. Write enough so someone else can feel the mood, know what happened, find the goodness. (stop at 2,500 characters please!)

Grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation are not compulsory, just write as you can – the only important thing is the content - not literary merit. Short or long - it does not matter.


I hope you enjoy, contribute and find a little distraction here when you need it.

Croix

[Doolhof]

Hi All,

I'm enjoying these stories about a variety of creatures.

We had a small doggy door out the back of the house for the dog and the cat. In the mornings, the drake used to come inside the house, come into the kitchen and make quite a racket until someone went out to feed him.

One time we were in a nature park with the windows down in the car, an emu came along and grabbed my sandwich out of my hand.

The naughtiest bird I saw was a kookaburra at an outside restaurant. It was perched on a low branch and then swooped in and took a chicken breast off a diners plate! 

Creatures certainly do add to our lives in such wonderful ways!

[Croix]

Dear All~

This seems to be the place for recollections about animals at the moment. I have mentioned this elsewhere  but I guess  it is unusual enough to repeat.

A long time ago I smoked and used to go outside in an enclosure with a mug of coffee (black) and an ashtray, sit down and enjoy the antics of rescued young wallabies.

Eventually they would hop on the table, stick their snoots in the ashtray, getting covering in ash, and then drink from my mug. They were very partial to this combination, I was not so enthusiastic.

Amazingly this was not learned behavior passed from one to the next, but done by new arrivals in an otherwise empty space with none to learn from.

Apart from that they were pretty fierce little creatures - quite the opposite of their charming faces, and often fought with fur flying both in the enclosure and in the wild. I ruined more than one shirt trying to take them to the vet, their hind claws were sharp and powerful.

Croix

[Paw Prints]

Hello Croix,

I just read your memory without engaging my brain... I know this because my first thought was "where in Wales would you find wallabies to care for?" & it actually took me a minute or two before I remembered that you live here in Oz & not in Wales. 

Hugs

Paws

[Eagle Ray]

Hello All,

Dools the drake coming into the house sounds hilarious. I can relate to your kookaburra story. I was eating lunch with a friend at a tavern in an outdoor seating area. I had only about one bite of my burger when I was about to take the next one. A kookaburra swooped down and grabbed the beef patty right out of it. This created much laughter among onlookers. I was a bit peeved about losing most of my lunch.

Croix, the wallabies sound like characters - into their coffee and tobacco! Yes, cute things in nature can be fierce. I've seen some full on videos of male bandicoots fighting who at other times seem so cute and benign.

[Patches63]

I have vague memories of childhood neighbours children having a pet cockatoo.

best rain predictor ever.  All neighbours would hear him start to screech and after awhile it would rain.

years later eldest of same neignours children had a pet goat given to her by her boyfriend at the time.  One winter my mum was asked if we could house the goat in our garage, few months earlier one back leg had been damage through dog attack.

pended up being with us for few years during which he chewed, ate and destroyed a large bush in the backyard …. Served as great shelter until he ate more than 3/4 of it.  Provided you didn’t turn your back on him it was like having a dog in the yard. He would follow us around the back yard, help himself to any ripe fruit that he could reach, come to the back door every morning for breakfast.  Never destroyed anything hanging on clothesline but gave more than one person rude shock when would butt you from behind and, most times, snuffle around the persons neck whilst they were laying face down after being rammed

average suburban backyard at the time, heaps bigger than most backyards nowadays, during which over the decades saw dogs, cats, chooks, a goose, rabbits, rosellas, a goat and a horse all call home

Patches

[Croix]

Dear All~

I wanted to put this here although it is not exactly a memory, its a place of retreat. I may have mentioned it before (I probably have) however it does me in good stead when I"m locked in a mental place I do not want to be in.

I’m standing on a large flat plateau half way up a mountain. My feet are firm on close cropped turf which is all around me. There are occasional protrusions of grey granite above the surface.

I can see I’m at the top of a cliff with grey seas to the horizon in three directions under low grey skies. It is very blustery and the waves have whitecaps flying.

A squall is approaching, a dark patch from sky to sea.  The wind is strong and I have to lean into it, a seagull hurtles by, carried on the wind with wings half furled.  The squall arrives and stings as it hits my face, the rest of me is snug, dry and warm in thick clothes, oilskin waterproofs and boots. The raindrops stream down my face like tears and are blown away.

There are long tailed Welsh sheep standing in a rocky alcove with their backs to the elements, enduring patiently.  As I look around at the sea, the low grey sky and feel the rain I am reminded how much there must be to the world I'm not aware of.

The nice thing is you can vary it:

You notice the clouds are disappearing, the sea turns blue-green, the  wind drops, the rain ceases and you feel a nudge at your hip.

One of the sheep has come over and is pointing out you are standing on a particularly toothsome patch of turf. The other sheep are giving you superior looks down their long Welsh noses. 

In the distance you can see a ship neath the horizon, a whole world  between bow and stern with the full gamut of human experiences  contained within.

You may well have a different place to serve the same purpose

Croix

[Patches63]

Croix,

reading your words my mind was transported to an area ….. for decades have looked for painting or picture which captures the storm aspect and my search continues

Im on a beach, nothing and no one around me or that I can see in any direction.  
I start walking along the beach with waves gently lapping around my toes and ankles, breeze blowing my hair out behind me.

I see the storm coming and moving quickly towards me, I look around, there is no shelter.  The waves on one side and the flat open fields on the other.

I feel the wind increasing as the rain starts falling all around and my clothes start to become quite wet with rain.  I feel like something has touched my arm but no there is only me there.  I feel a similar feeling again.  Turning toward where the feeling is coming from I look straight into the eyes of 2 horses.  The dark jet black horse rears and snorts as he looks toward the storm and runs off toward the storm. The smaller light grey, almost white, horse nudges my elbow once again with her nose.  Reaching my hand I touch her neck, it’s completely dry.  Walking down beside her I feel her gently nip at one heel.  I continue to pat her, She doesn’t move, she quietly stands watching me whilst I stroke her flank.  I hear a quiet whinny and I climb onto her back.

I look around. All around me the storm rages and the black horse runs around on the beach in the storm.  I lean forward and lay my head on the grey horses neck.  I feel her start to slowly walk.

After awhile there is no movement, I open my eyes the storm has gone, I am perfectly dry and am sitting in a field surrounded by grass and little white flowers.

was I dreaming???
Are the horses me on a bad day and my mind is struggling against the inner turmoil?  Struggling and slowly finding my way out of the turmoil and into my safe place?

Patches

[Eagle Ray]

Dear Croix and Patches,

What beautiful descriptions you have both given. I love them. They are beautiful in all their details. Croix I loved the bit about the sheep nudging you because you were standing on a toothsome patch of grass. That’s like your sense of fun and humour coming out. And Patches, the horses on the beach made me think of the scenes on the beach early in the film The Black Stallion where a boy and horse bond and form trust. I saw it when very young. I remember it making me cry. I was a very emotional child and so moved by things. The images and horses seem like an important part of your healing, as do your images Croix.

Both of your descriptions of an approaching storm reminded me of a time I climbed a mountain about 10 years ago. As is my usual tendency, I climbed it alone. Heavy rains in preceding days had led to a waterfall running a fifth of the way up. I rested here for about 45 minutes where the ephemeral water tumbled over rocks. I then continued, at times with a sheer cliff to my left and a sheer drop off to my right. Gully winds could be seen and heard rustling trees below. Clouds swirled rapidly over the peak above. It took me about 5 hours to reach the peak, longer than most because of fatigue issues I have, but I was determined. By the time I was there all other climbers had descended. There were unique wildflowers and mountain berries growing at the summit. I took photos across the other peaks and undulations of the range. A cumulonimbus cloud was building in the distance, heralding a thunderstorm. I began my descent as the storm approached. It was utterly exhilarating as the thunder rumbles got closer. I knew I was exposed on the mountain but felt more alive than I’ve ever felt. By the time I got to the waterfall I refilled my water bottles with the freshest mountain water. My legs were like jelly. As I finally got to my car the storm broke on top of me. Wow, I just made it. I was staying in a little caravan nearby, drove there and collapsed, unmovable until the following morning. It was awesome!!!

 I feel like healing lies within wildness and we somehow get to the source of healing in that wildness - the wind, rain, sun, clouds, birds, animals, insects, plants, rocks and trees. I love what you say Croix about your place being a place of retreat. I felt great respect for the mountain. It felt like there are spirits there to respect as the mountain has such a strong energy. Hard to put into words. It’s like the mountain sees you and knows you and all the elements around you are connected. The healing is in that flow of interconnection.

[Croix]

Dear Patches, plus ER of course~

People can have different ideas or interpretations, and I think my impression of the beach and those two horses are more positive. I do not think the horses are you on a bad day but the opposite.

You conjured the whole scenario, storm, beach , horses and reaching a safe place. OK maybe your storm is like mine, a reminder things happen, but in a wider world, not just self.

The two horses, well one ran one and one stayed to help (and was pretty firm about your need to accept). Life can offer people, strategies, good fortune and a helping hand. Maybe that was the grey horse.

It would be easy to think the dark horse was ignoring you, but would the be the case? If it know you going to have help from the grey horse why stop, why not show you  freedom and the ability to face the brunt of the storm and succeed?

The storm passed, the need for assistance and example receded.

Could you look at it this way?

Croix

[Croix]

Dear Patches~

I hope you didn't mind me thinking about your dream in a different way. While there is nothing to say my interpretation is right one thing I do know is that there is more in the world than I remember, and I need reminding of it.

Dear All~

Back to the riverbank and my walk yesterday - sadly I did not complete it but had an amusing episode neverthless.  I saw three people alight from a shiny fourwheel drive clutching cameras with lenses nearly as long as their arms. Dressed immaculately but wearing those padded sleeveless waistcoats.

I talked to them and they said they were wildlife photographers.. They had actually picked the most un-wild manicured scene possible, and of course a duck came up expecting a handout, craned up in tip toe and stuck its head out. They earnestly took photographs from all sides. I suspect the ducks’ nostrils were close enough fog their lenses.

Then they left (to the duck’s disappointment) satisfied at having taken a typical snapshot of local wildlife. (We gave the duck some birdseed as a consolation)

Croix