The young ones

Tiny Treasures From St Catherines

If you have never been to a Storyteller Symposium, maybe it should be best that I explain a little about what takes place. There are two groups that attend...the Veteran Storytellers as it were, and the budding storytellers...the latter are the ones that I have the most dealings with.
They are here primarily to find their voice!
That's where my Aviary Garden comes into play, as they have to choose a bird (and be chosen by a bird) that will accompany them on their storytelling adventures. Their isn't a single ritual that takes place...it's more like a "getting to know each other" act.
Day after day they visit the Garden and sit under the trees with their leather bound journals writing...they don't actively seek out their voice...they just let it happen...The veteran storyteller's advice to the young is to "let go"...just do what they love to do and not get frustrated.  And the typical response from the young is: "that is easier than it sounds..."
The Garden is not at it's warmest in November, so I have hot spicy rose tea on the go all the time, and many pots of various vegetable soups served for lunch.
The birds in an interesting contrast to the worried storytellers, have no stress whatsoever! They, like the rest of nature take everything in their stride, hovering over them, listening to the written words, waiting for the moment their song will fit like a piece of a puzzle with the storyteller's imagination.

On a side note, I have been missing Nicholas...he has been away now for a couple of weeks exploring the Isle of St Catherine. I did however receive a few treasures from him delivered in the post today and pretty as they were decided to catalog them...I hope it will be a nice surprise for him when he returns!

Preparations

Details from the preparation for the Storytellers symposium.

I know I have been away for a long time, but the preparations for the Symposium have really taken over life here on St Francis! It is exciting and exhausting at the same time! I promise to be back with more details of how the Symposium is going and some new floral studies soon!

Purpose

Realizing I have neglected my own journal for a while, while working with Nicholas, I return to it, imprinting a fleeting glimpse of my own feelings.
I chose a single word: purpose. Nicholas has given me a new purpose in life, and I'm grateful to him. Purpose can make you stronger, more determined, open your mind and supply you with ample amounts of adrenaline. Purpose, can steady any boat in rough waters and guide it to it's harbor. Purpose can make featherless creatures fly, and reach the destination they crave.

Evening by the Ocean

It was about 5:30 in the afternoon when Nicholas came by the Aviary. I was still busy collecting feathers for the Storyteller's Symposium, which doesn't take place till Autumn, but as my beautiful birds shed their feathers reluctantly I always like to have a good head start. Greeting me, he gave me a sympathetic smile - I must have looked a right state, with my bird nest hair and my dusty gray bloomers.
- I think you could do with a good wash! he said, offering me a handkerchief to wipe my sweaty, gritty face. I'd have answered him with a glare, if I wasn't so exhausted.
- I was heading to the beach, fancy a break?
I was happy to oblige, just to get away.
We made short work of the lengthy path to the coast and once there, despite my tiredness I surrendered to the wonders of the ocean... I carried home with me some constellation pebbles, and a small wave kissed quartz, while Nicholas gathered some samples from the oceanic rockbreaker . We also made two new acquaintances: a pelagic penguin with an appetite for scones and blueberry jam (I always take a dozen or so with us when we are exploring) and a nautilus diver who almost made me clap with childlike enthusiasm as he gracefully took off and dived over and over into the waves....

Harmony

The grouping of species on each page is done by Nicholas. The above group's theme was glaringly obvious...or so I thought! Nicholas smiled at my clumsy attempt to show excitement over it. "I know you are thinking that grouping them based on their colour, is unimaginative...and maybe a little boring?" I tried not to nod. And failed. He laughed (thankfully). "The colour link is only the tip of the iceberg. The meadow boar, can almost always be found in fields of Dusk Bells. Dusk Bells as the name suggests emit a quiet but distinct "tinker" at dusk. The Warbler, when hearing the sound the bells make, breaks into a whispered melancholic song, almost as an answer, and the single Soulsearcher Geese in turn, listening to the Warblers sad song dive (literally) into their loneliness...diving deep into the lake only to resurface when almost out of breath."
"I thought I knew everything about birds, evidently not! That is so sad!"
"Don't worry" he said reassuringly " Nature rewards the patient. The geese do eventually find their mate...but that only happens when the Unpredictable Ferns, flower."
I couldn't help but wonder if there is a fern with my name on it, somewhere out there. But that's a question I kept to myself.