sunsets and things on my mind

When we moved here, it didn't cross my mind that living by the ocean would mean out of this world sunsets. And now it is darker every morning before we wake so I can witness them; sunrises too. A full spectrum of shades from deep purple, inky blues, to pale coral, dusky pink and intense fiery orange but no two are ever the same. All this is played out in the same little expanse of sky above our garden fence (in the morning) and across the street above the rooftops (at twilight). For the most part I've now stopped reaching for my phone and trying to capture them, partly because they never, ever look as good on a screen and also because as soon as you start snapping and considering composition and different angles, the perfect beauty of the moment is already lost. A sunset is for drinking in, for feeling glad to be alive.

If this all sounds incredibly gushing and twee then it's probably because for the past few months I've been re-reading the entire series of Anne of Green Gables books. It's an escape, my guilty pleasure at the end of the day which instantly transports me back to my girlhood days and long hours during the Summer holidays spent curled up in a quiet spot devouring pages upon pages of wholesome goodness. There's nothing like Anne's genuine delight in and observations of the beauty of nature and the world around her to make you really stop and take notice. It's a lesson in gladness if nothing else.

So I've been reading, and I suppose being busy with the business of enjoying my family and friends and everyday life. Sorry for the silence here but blogging about not blogging is just deathly dull and posting just for the sake of it even worse. My mind has also been busy thinking, mulling over dreams for the future and making plans. Especially savouring every second spent with my babies as it has hit me harder than ever that next year Lila will start primary school and before I know it they'll be 18 and waving goodbye to me as they embark off on their own life adventures. I feel like I've been saying this to everyone I know lately but I genuinely can't believe how quickly this year is flying by already. As does every year past the age of about 20 but this is just getting alarming.

Fighting the urge to panic as the days and weeks pass by at lightening speed, I'm borrowing some wise words from the irrepressible Anne, "I believe that the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or exciting or wonderful happens but just those that bring little pleasures following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string". It may only be children's literature but I think this beloved heroine just summed up the secret to happiness that so many spend a lifetime searching for.