Malik dreams of striding across the veldt with a huge herd of African elephants. To trumpet wildly with the sheer joy of freedom. Ears flapping, charging, fending off the cackling hyenas, protecting the elephant calves from lions and other scourges. Reaching out to caress the young, to comfort the aged, to celebrate victories with the strong. To feel a part of the herd, to be valued, to belong. To remember, to remember true, forever — the elephant’s privilege.

Malik longs for the dawn when the cold night air concedes to the first fingers of golden light – the sun rising and the haze beginning to stir. Lizards scuttling among the grass tufts. The ants labouring in lines, the bee-eaters flashing colours and chattering in deep conversation in the thorn bushes. Later in the day the clouds will clot and lightning slashes at the air heaving with pounding rain. Mother Africa.

Malik wants to be more, bigger, better. Malik works in every way to become a superior elephant, not necessarily the herd leader (although that would be welcomed), but a senior and respected member of the extended elephant family. It is not to be. For reasons unknown to Malik, the dream will not, cannot, come true. No-one can bring themselves to tell Malik – some truths are too big to share.

Malik holds the dream. Anything to get through the day.

Manifesto
12. Every day love yourself.
25. Every day your light shines for others to see.
28. Every day you will be tested.

People go more than a little crazy in the rains here. It’s not as though the rain is unusual, or things are different in some deep way. Some people just respond differently, and, when you add reduced light to the typical Wellington tight driving conditions, I find driving quite stressful at times.

Me? I’m taking my cough and my cold and I’m going back in the warm. Shot of the day done.

Manifesto
25. Every day your light shines for others to see.
36. Every day be still. Connect to your inner being. Listen and be guided by it.
37. Every day fight for what’s worth fighting for. Pick your battles.

lying down
      with quilts over the head
such a cold night — Basho

As if to celebrate the long weekend (more, more) the roof was hammered all night long by the rain. There’s something soothing about being in bed with the sound of rain on the roof, however I could feel a cold growing away in me.

Sure enough, in the weak dawn, I’m up for a hot lemon tea and back to bed to try to fend it off. Go, you immune system warriors, go! I pull the covers up and flag work for the day.

Manifesto
13. Every day be better than you were the day before.
19. Every day make time for yourself.
28. Every day you will be tested.

At about 2:00 this morning I’m loping around the garden lining up shots of the blue moon. What a great way to start off the new decade! Another very New Zealand scene – the moon shining beautifully though the blade-like leaves of the Cabbage Tree.

The new decade has dawned for us with a sense of bad on the horizon. It’s not a feeling we’ve welcomed. We both have things in our lives that we have to deal with that we’re not exactly looking forward to. We’ll deal with them as they arise, and we’ll support each other and get through the adventures together; but that still doesn’t mean we have some trepidation about the gathering clouds.

This morning – not a cloud in the sky – perhaps this is the best way to move forwards. An open mind, an open heart. As my Mum says, “If we work together we can do it.” I can work with that.

Manifesto
37. Every day fight for what’s worth fighting for. Pick your battles.
38. Every day be brave and give things a go. Use fear to trigger you into action.
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.

If we were the size of butterflies, we would be able to rise up in the cool stillness of the early morning. We would be able to take our first breaths of the morning air and we would be able to breathe as if it were the first day ever. We would feel the clean air rushing into our bodies and with each escaping breath we would release the staleness from our souls freely. Gratefully. Calmly.

We would feel the warming day and the cooling night parting company. We would smell the dawn rain and the damp earth and we would feel vibrantly energised and alive.

If we were the size of butterflies we would be able to sip the cool water and be cleansed and we would drink and drink again until our thirst was quenched. We would feel the refreshing purity of the water reaching the very essence of our being.

We would hear the hum of bees and the rustle of insects and the birds calling the way that they have forever and our world would be filled with the joyous noises of life. We would hear the stems of plants squeaking, rubbing, stretching as they grow past each other.

If we were the size of butterflies we would care a great deal more about the vibrations of green – the tone-on-tone harmonics – and our world would seem like a very, very large, mysterious, and beautiful place indeed.

If we were the size of butterflies.

Manifesto
01. Every day is a fresh new day.
05. Every day is now. The present moment.
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.