If “Peace” were a place, where would it be?

March 17, 2015July 20, 2021 / Denise / Leave a comment

You know the feeling – it’s the moment when your body physically relaxes, sometimes without warning. Your mind stills, sometimes floats away. You become one with your surroundings and nothing, but nothing, can put you in a bad mood. The moment is surreal, your body warms, your heart smiles, there is a beauty around you that you’ve never noticed before, and you don’t ever want to leave.

Interestingly, for most people, that peaceful place lives in a dream – it’s far away and you’ve never been there before. We tend to look beyond, instead of around. We keep this place in our dreams, instead of bringing it to life.

Personally, I love places that seem untouched by man. Places that lure you in to the depth of their being – a mysterious place filled with wonder. It’s an empty beach with a lone palm tree beckoning you to lay there, relax, watching the waves gently caress the shore. It’s the rugged coast line with danger looming with every explosive sound of the water pounding against the rocks. It’s the flower gently swaying in the breeze, awakened by the early morning sun. It’s the sun dropping from the sky ever so slowly at first, then quickly sinking to rise again on the other side of the world, leaving behind a sky painted with the most amazing hues of orange, pink and blue.

Some people find peace within themselves, and luckily, can take the moment with them wherever they go. We all long for peace. We actively seek it. Not all of us attain it.

If “Peace” were a place, where would it be, and will you be there to enjoy it.

Morning Morning…

September 25, 2014July 20, 2021 / Denise / 2 Comments

For the past how many years, I’ve been jogging the savannah and environs, with my head down checking my step so that I don’t trip and fall (which by the way, has happened on occasion). My mind is always focussed on something else, somewhere else, solving some issue in my life, or that of others, to the extent that I miss almost everything around me.

Recently I’ve had to change my daily schedule because of work commitments and began jogging early in the morning before sunrise. Jogging in the morning presents a totally different perspective. It’s dark when I start which makes me super aware of my surroundings and the people around me. You begin to raise your head in the first instance for safety, and then when you realise the charm, the beauty and the excitement around you, you keep your head up not wanting to miss out on anything.

The first thing that struck me was the simple fact that you wanted to greet everyone you passed. At first “Good Morning” received severally different responses. Sometimes a grunt, sometimes a suspicious stare, but most times, especially from the more senior gentlemen, a sincere “Morning, Morning” and even a “Morning my Lady”. After just a few days, the return greetings increased considerably and I had made some “morning” friends. One guy almost always seeming to extend his arms with the hope of receiving a “morning” hug as well.

Needless to say, with my head up, I began to smile more, participate more and generally enjoy my run from a more holisitc point of view.

You “meet” so many people. The older gentleman holding his hand’s wife on one side and the leash of his dog on the other (not sure what that symbolises). The animated faces of the three ladies catching up on the gossip while working off those unwanted pounds. The young boy panting and gasping as if he’s about to have his last breath (makes me laugh actually). The father and son making their way up Lady Chancellor hill – son on bike, father in tow.

You also begin to appreciate the beauty around you. The gentle breeze that cools you as you wake up your muscles from their slumber and the views that greet you, every time, without fail, at every turn, each one deserving of a mental picture.

I’ve promised myself to raise my head just a little bit more. It’s amazing how much better the day turns out.

In my own backyard

September 4, 2014July 20, 2021 / Denise / 2 Comments

One of the many travellers we met while in Aussie remarked very casually that he’d travelled through Europe visiting what was deemed some of the most beautiful places in the world. Only now to realize that, while touring his own Northern Territory, some of the most beautiful places in the world exist “in my own backyard”, he boasted. That remark made me smile and think of my own backyard.

We have Blanchisseuse, a small coastal village just one hour’s drive from the capital. Blanchisseuse boasts of a rugged coast with simple serene beaches, a rainforest whose varied flora and fauna comforts and shades you as you amble along its winding and hilly path luring you further and further along the north coast. A fishing village whose boat launching and docking system will bamboozle the most learned, and a people who will warm your heart with their down-to-earth and simple approach to life.

The cool breeze is always there to caress you and the sunsets never disappoint.

Enjoy the pics