Lighten our darkness ...

If that's a familiar phrase to you, you'll already have the rest of the prayer playing in your head, in the way of the best prayers everywhere. It's appropriate just as a title today, I think, because despite our having left getting out at all until far too late in the afternoon, it has made for a great lightening of mood. It's so tempting, especially in weather such as today's (sudden torrential showers, rainbows, moments of sun growing slightly more convincing as the day wore on, flooded flowerbeds, water washing down the windows, wind with the rain, less cold but not warm ...) to stay in the house, to potter from screen to smaller screen to food to book to phone ...Far too tempting, far too easy, and deepening the sense of futile malaise that threatens to overcome me with terrifying ease. Last night was pretty dire too - far too many complex and disturbing dreams, ending with one where two of my companions jumped off a pier into a blue, heaving sea and didn't reappear ... that's when I woke, feeling totally unrefreshed. Not good.

Wildwood  remarked the other day that it was funny the way we in the UK had this need to go out and walk; this set me wondering what one would do instead to replicate the endorphins created by even the dampest, darkest of walks. Today, for example we were surrounded by trees exotic and trees native, by wet moss and rushing burns, by damp leaves and freshly-turned earth. What do such aspects of nature give off so that both of us, grumpy and bickering, began to feel better within ten minutes of starting off? If I could bottle it and sell it for use in time of plague ...

Anyway, this photo is of the light from the Gallery courtyard as we came down off the dark hill back to the level. The tiny moon was riding high above the hills (an extra photo); if you look closely on a bigger screen you can make out the rest of the moon hiding in the darkness, reminding me of the Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens:
‘A saw the new muin late yestreen
Wi the auld muin in her airm
And gif we gang tae sea, maister,
A fear we’ll cam tae hairm.’


The world is full of harm just now, but going out into the empty places under the big sky can make me forget the harm. Definitely to be recommended!