Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Sehnsucht or Longing, C.S. Lewis and the Welsh word Hiraeth

 

 


I first encountered the German word Sehnsucht which means "longing" in the writing of C.S. Lewis. To me this word and the emotion it alludes to are ... powerful, beautiful, wondrous, a beauty beyond what I could imagine. Elizabeth Camden wrote that Lewis described Sehnsucht as an inconsolable longing in the human heart “for which we know not what.”  It is a haunting sense of longing which Lewis first experienced in childhood and encountered throughout his life.  Sometimes the characters in his Chronicles of Narnia experience it, which he wrote about very evocatively. To my understanding these stabs of joy and longing are pointing us toward what we call heaven.


 

That longing draws me deeper in being a Christian, just as it draws countless others around the world and throughout different centuries. I feel sehnsucht when I see something that moves me beyond myself. I have put my hand on the trunk of an ancient redwood tree and felt a powerful connection to its age and perhaps a wisdom it has. Most days I stand on the shore and watch ocean waves and I find it comforting that the waves are endless, one after another. I feel God's power and his calm when I watch waves. "He hath made everything beautiful in its time" -- Ecclesiastes 3:11

Also "The heavens declare the glory of God" -- Psalm 19:1. For me the waves and the redwood declare the glory of God. Sehnsucht, such a beautiful longing.  By the way I read that it is pronounced ze.nzuxt. Blog friend Dori, is that correct? 

In Surprised by Joy, Lewis wrote about joy or sehnsucht that "All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still 'about to be' ." I see a look of longing and perhaps sehnsucht in the eyes of this dear dog.


On June 25 I am adding this note, thanking Chris and Liz Hinds for leaving comments about the Welsh word "hiraeth", which means a longing to return home to Wales. How beautiful to have a word describing your heart felt desire to return to Wales, the home of your heart. Also, Chris reminded me of the great movie "Shadowlands" about C.S. Lewis, and now I want to watch it again. I recommend it, and she said Shadowlands mentions "sehnsucht."

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Our gardens, poems, and the gardens of others

 

I think gardens and poems fit naturally together. Above is a bouquet from my garden.

Here is a quote I agree with: "I'd rather have roses in my garden than diamonds on my neck." Emma Goldman 1869-1940

"Bless the gardener who believes great things grow from small beginnings
appreciates sunshine and rain and the rhythm of the seasons
plows through troubles willing to get hands and knees dirty
remains grounded but keeps an eye on the sky
plants extra for birds to eat their fill
and never leaves us hungry." Mary Kolada Scott

Remember that you don't have to have a garden to enjoy flowers. I enjoy seeing my neighbors' flowers and shrubs change with the seasons and the years and I get gardening ideas when I visit gardens via your blogs.
Sweet Banquets
"You don't have to own 
your neighbor's garden
to enjoy its flowers 
and even the eyes of strangers
may feast upon the sweet banquets
of someone else's work." Hilda Lachney Sanderson

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Neighborhood bits and bobs, ocean, hawk nesting platform

 

Look closely and you can see the nesting platform below the star on the roof of my neighbors' home. They must be great people, they put this platform on the roof of their house, and I have seen what looks like a hawk sitting on the star. It is two blocks from the ocean, perhaps it is a nest for ospreys or other ocean birds.


A closeup of the wisteria at my favorite coffee shop patio set in expansive church gardens across the street from the ocean.


The above rose in my garden is named Julia Child, a great name don't you think? I took this photo this week as it is in full bloom again. I likely share a photo of it here each year; it looks like a bouquet and is six feet tall and five feet wide. There is a lot of work I do to get it to bloom so profusely, mainly earlier this year I removed 1,000 or more spent flowers one by one which is called dead heading.

I took this photo recently, I must have accidentally selected black and white on my cell phone camera. It shows the cliffs and the ocean near my home. Are you enjoying this month of May and finding beauty around you?


Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Mysterious Moment in My Night Garden and the Full Moon

 


At Christmas my oldest son gave me some solar floodlights for my garden. Above is on a night with the full moon. The lights illuminate just a few small areas, and turn off at about midnight. As you can see, most of the garden remains pitch black. I think it gives my gardens a romantic mood. Can you see the two metal peacocks flanking the birdbath? Behind it is my pink rose bush, not in bloom yet.

Above you can see the peacock friends more clearly and below is one of my peacock sculptures in the day time.


When we had our winery on land in the country I was intrigued to get some live peacocks but I realized they do a lot of loud cries and shrieks which would be disconcerting to our neighbors. Once for an anniversary treat we went to a rural motel in our area and they had lots of free roaming peacocks that had acclimated quite well to California.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Pet spider, pet three legged mouse, a magician's rabbit and mystery chrysalis

 What is this small white hanging object? Any experts on insects reading my blog? To me it looks like some kind of chrysalis, about an inch long, hanging on my arbor. The central part is round and it has two pointed "wings", one on each side.  It is only one or one and a half inches tall.


And while I am talking about mother nature and wildlife, here is my pet spider that lives in my bathroom. He or she only comes out at night and is rather shy.

When my hubby and I first married, we had a pet daddy long legs spider that lived in our bathroom. We put up a sign telling guests not to bother the spider. In that same rented house a tiny grey mouse appeared and it only had three legs. We thought it was cute and left out food for the poor little mouse. So our first pets as a couple were a spider and a mouse. Is that too strange for you? Feel free to laugh.

What is the oddest pet you have had?

P.S. I also had a pet bunny when I was a child, which my grandfather pulled out of his top hat when visiting us. Grandpa was Elmer Pelkin, a professional magician. So I could say I had a rabbit of magical origins, another unusual pet.

Saturday, April 16, 2022

Easter Joy, He Is Risen

 


Yes, He is risen, a time of joy for Christians, as he gives us the promise of eternal life with him. Christ offers to each and every person in the world this promise, if you say yes and follow him.

Matthew 27:50-54 describes what happened at the moment of Christ's death: the earth quaked, the huge curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and tombs opened up. "When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said 'Truly this was the Son of God.'"

I hope each of you blog readers has a fulfilling Sunday and week and time with loved ones. The eggs below may be Ukrainian eggs, even more precious this year.




Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Thurber Book About His Dogs and another dog book

 

The caption of this sketch by James Thurber says "He's in love with a beagle who moved away" and the dog has a tear falling. This sketch is in the book below.

What a fun book to read; stories by James Thurber about his dogs, and his simple whimsical drawings. The book is "The Dog Department: James Thurber on Hounds, Scotties and Talking Poodles", edited by Michael J. Rosen. I treated myself and bought a copy at thriftbooks online. A favorite story is The Thin Red Leash about how Thurber's Scottie puppy was insulted by some large and menacing workmen, while on a walk with Thurber. He thought that might be the day to die in defense of his pup, when an even larger man stepped in and loudly praised the pup. Thurber calls the man "the train lifter" because he looked strong enough to lift a locomotive from one track to another. 

Another Thurber sketch from the book and this one needs no caption.


 

I found the above book when reading "Dogs We Love", also edited by Michael J. Rosen. Jane Smiley, Armistead Maupin, Edward Albee, Ann Beattie and more contributed stories about their dogs. This book was a Christmas gift to me from my younger son, and has excellent photos in it.

If you love dogs and humor and essays about people's dogs you may enjoy these books as I do.