Honest! I was recently overwhelmed by the sight of a garden wind-chime blowing freely in a garden!

I have noticed that whenever I walk anywhere, particularly along roads that I am very familiar with in my local vicinity from the perspective of a car, I am always amazed at the bits of detail which I pick up when I am on foot.

Last Saturday night, I went to meet my brother on foot, at a local pub. It was a surprise call from him out of the blue which gave me little time to react except to accept his invitation and set off to meet him.

I was pleased that he had called me and that he was responding to my request for him to be part of my family network, yet underneath my pleasure at his contact was a certain level of apprehension because on previous meetings with him my mood has provoked bitterness between us – and here he is coming back for more! Bless Him!

On the walk down to the pub:-

I was moved by the sight of a young family and a father who prevented his little boy running into the road.

I saw domesticity through lit windows and open curtains as people drew around their hearths for the evening.

I was mesmerized by a host of daffodils on a grass verge blowing in the wind.

Has that house over their always had a bay window upstairs? – I’ve never noticed that before!

A voice says “Hi” – Oh “Hi” I say (surprised) – as I walk past a bloke walking in the other direction!

After a few pints, I walk home and although I have had a good night and my brother congratulates me on the improvement that he sees in me, I am suddenly overcome with emotion which is a response to his generosity in helping me in all my difficulties.

As I walk along, I keep noticing the unfamiliar in the familiar and I am astounded by it.

I look over a wall into a garden that I have never seen before and there at the side of a rockery, next to a neatly clipped lawn is a wind-chime, blowing and sparkling and tingling in the night air, lit by the moon above, and I am overwhelmed with emotion at its beauty. 

What I want to say is that not far from your front door, is a world which is waiting to be discovered, like that little wind-chime was waiting to be discovered by me.

Get out there, discover the unfamiliar in the familiar – but leave the car and go on foot!

My next blog will be:    Overcoming Isolation

William Defoe