Seasons and You

 

Smiles here & Smiles there

You got the warmth and care in you of Summer for people you love from your heart.

You got the blossoming nature in you of Spring for people who are confused and who can use your help.

You got the nature of the Rainy in you because you know you cry and don’t feel bad and ashamed about it. This is you and you have embraced it. But also when someone sheds tears for you, you feel them. You understand them.

You got the nature of Autumn in you because you know things falls apart, bonds fall apart but eventually with proper wait, right things grow and right people come to admire us. You’re growing and you’re always admired.

You got the nature of Winter in you because you like cozy and cute things like books, stationary stuff, etc. Something which gives you a sense of soothing. Hold these on…

View original post 104 more words

Umbrella heavens

 

Whimsygizmo's Blog

the year has taken
much, and left
us hollow.

we count sorrows
on both hands and watch
the cold doors close. i suppose

of all these wayward things, 
i miss my 
-self the most. 

i search the sky for rain 
and other groovy ghosts.

It’s Quadrille Monday over at dVerse and I’m hosting. Come play!

https://dversepoets.com/2021/09/06/quadrille-135-shake-that-poem-groove-thang/

View original post

Are the European floods linked to the climate crisis?

Almost certainly. Scientists have long predicted climate disruption will lead to more extreme weather, such as heatwaves, droughts and floods. Human emissions from engine exhaust fumes, forest burning and other activities are heating the planet. As the atmosphere gets warmer it holds more moisture which brings more rain. All the places that recently experienced flooding – Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, London, Edinburgh, Tokyo and elsewhere – might have had heavy summer rain even without the climate crisis, but the deluges were unlikely to have been as intense.

…

There has not yet been an attribution study for the latest floods in Europe because the analysis takes several days.

Please continue reading: What is causing the floods in Europe?

+

Investigating how climate affects intense rainstorms across Europe, climate experts have shown there will be a significant future increase in the occurrence of slow-moving intense rainstorms.

The scientists estimate that these slow-moving storms may be 14 times more frequent across land by the end of the century. It is these slow-moving storms that have the potential for very high precipitation accumulations, with devastating impacts, as we saw in Germany and Belgium.

…

Professor Lizzie Kendon, Science Fellow at the Met Office and Professor at Bristol University, said:

“This study shows that in addition to the intensification of rainfall with global warming, we can also expect a big increase in slow-moving storms which have the potential for high rainfall accumulations. This is very relevant to the recent flooding seen in Germany and Belgium, which highlights the devastating impacts of slow-moving storms.

“Our finding that slow-moving intense rainstorms could be 14 times more frequent by the end of the century under the high emissions RCP8.5 scenario, shows the serious impacts that we may expect across Europe if we do not curb our emissions of greenhouse gases.”

The study findings are relevant to climate mitigation and adaptation policy in Europe, with specific implications for future flooding impacts, the design of infrastructure systems, and the management of water resources.

Currently, almost stationary intense rainstorms are uncommon in Europe and happen rarely over parts of the Mediterranean Sea. Accurate predictions of future changes in intense rainfall events are key to putting effective adaptation and mitigation plans in place to limit the adverse impacts of climate change.

> Extreme Storms Will Be More Likely In Europe Research Shows

Heaving had too much rain

“A Drop Of Rain” shall not harm, but the last few weeks here in Belgium we had enough water and could witness some very major cloudbursts that caused huge water and mudflows. In 262 villages the damage was horrible. In Wallonia the clean-up shall take several weeks but now mountains of rubbish start already towering above the horizon.

Photo: Marc Gysen – Nieuwsblad

This year in several countries there is no reason at all to sing and dance in the rain.

Everyone will understand that the assistance and crisis management for one of the largest floods ever experienced in our country was and is a feat. Days (weeks) people did not get to see much help from the government, but luckily lots of citizens of this country showed to the government that this is not such a split country as many politicians want many to believe. While there appears to be a total lack of coordination, ordinary citizens have plucked up the courage to go miles away to offer help to the residents in the affected areas.

Many flood victims literally have nothing left. Only what they have on. Soon civic initiatives were launched. In several villages all over the country, there were collected warm blankets, sheets, non-perishable food, etc..

Dirt left behind by water in the July 2021 flood

In the face of this huge water disaster that has swept over Wallonia and West Germany, we have noticed a wave of great solidarity. The terrible thing also shows something very beautiful, namely the solidarity of ordinary people with their fellow man, while politicians sit around bickering and talking about setting up committees instead of rolling up their sleeves.

When there is a setback– a death, an accident, loss of job, or something of that sort – there is nothing funny. It doesn’t sound good to laugh at any of this. What looks appropriate in this condition is crying, cursing, expressing grief or all these expressions. {Finding Humour In Tragedy}

Belgium and West Germany are hit by an enormous disaster. Lots of families have lost close relatives and have seen their house and/or business seen destroyed by the strong mass of water which seemed to have had an unknown power.

It is difficult for anyone to move on without these expressions. The time taken for moving on depends on person to person and the degree of loss. Like everyone knows the bigger the loss, the more time it will take to heal. {Finding Humour In Tragedy}

But in the small details and by the many people who have come to help, several victims of this natural disaster were able to find some light in the dusk and occasionally got a smile on their face of satisfaction, that ordinary people had not abandoned them after all, as father state seemed to have done, or rather seems to be incapable of intervening with any real help.

Receiving some smile at several moments in the day of hard work getting rid of all the filthy gunk, makes saving the day. More often, crying is more near than laughing. But in these circumstances, we can see that laughing at a problem gives power and a sense of control over it. Otherwise, depression sets in and worsens the situation.

After the July flooding in Pépinster solidarity to clean-up, August 2021

Who would not be displeased and depressed to see a life’s work wiped off the map in a few minutes?

Much too often we hear voices expressing their thankfulness for those citizens from all over the country who came to help, though they also feel abandoned by the governement.

“Everything, everything, we had to do here ourselves. Where was the army? The police? Once we saw them. Then they came to save people. But they had already been rescued by family, by friends, by random people who came from everywhere. It’s fantastic, but it shouldn’t have been like this. There are also people whose job it is to help us,”

is a much-heard expression.

Wherever you go to ask in the villages where the Ourthe and the Vesdre suddenly seemed like the Amazon last week, so big, people speak highly of the volunteers. They were there as soon as they could be. They understood what was needed. They cooked, mopped, dragged, comforted. Some were young, others old. Sometimes they hardly spoke French, but Arabic, Dutch or Flemish. Everyone speaks of strangers who suddenly turned up with buckets and sponges, who cleaned whole houses from top to bottom and moved on without waiting for a ‘thank you’.

This is something “magical” and worth remembering how such a disaster brought so many people close to each other. The difficulty to cope with this situation was soothed by the helping hands. For years those traumatised people shall have to try to rebuild their life.

Not dealing with emotions or any kind of disaster will not get anyone out of that trauma. Instead, depression, anxiety and many more problems will arise in no time. {Finding Humour In Tragedy}

The coming days and months it shall be up to insurance companies and to the governments of the affected states or Länder, to do the restoration and healing work.

Wallonia is licking its wounds. Now that the water has receded everywhere, the devastation becomes clear and the living conditions for thousands of people have become very precarious.
After the drama of the floods, a second small disaster may now occur. It appears that many people are not insured, and will therefore not be able to claim financial support from the Walloon Disaster Fund. This appears to be the case in Verviers.

12 August: Cleanup Floods à Olne / Fraipont / Trooz ” grand nettoyage après les inondations ” Moirivay, 4877 Olne, Belgique

+

A Pepinster des milliers d’habitants ont encore besoin d’aide
Les premiers bénévoles venus sur place nous ont dit avoir besoin de relève.
De très nombreuses personnes manquent encore de vivres pour se nourrir décemment chaque jour.

Vous pouvez faire un don, leur préparer un repas , des crêpes.
Un travail de nettoyage est encore nécessaire.

+

Duizenden inwoners hebben nog steeds hulp nodig in Pepinster De eerste vrijwilligers die ter plaatse kwamen, vertelden ons dat ze hulp nodig hadden. Heel veel mensen hebben nog steeds niet het voedsel om elke dag fatsoenlijk te eten. Je kunt doneren, een maaltijd voor ze koken, pannenkoeken Een schoonmaakklus is nog steeds noodzakelijk.

+

Preceding

A dangerous turning point – Earth facing the collapse of everything

Europe’s catastrophic flooding was forecast well in advance – what went so wrong?

Europe Floods: Death Toll Over 110 as Rescues Continue

Kolkende watermassa’s doorheen de straten

Faalt de overheid in aanpak van de overstromingen?

Open Discussie Zomer 2021

Overstromingen in Limburg, Duitsland en België door extreem zware buien

Toename van de kosten van extreem weer mogelijk onderschat

Solidariteit en hulpgoederen

Fraipont na de zondvloed, tussen miserie en veerkracht

De medische nood blijft hoog

++

Related

1. Wateroverlast in het midden van de zomer
2. Waterramp voor Wallonië, Vlaams-Brabant en Limburg
3. Maas niet bevaarbaar door drijfhout en de te sterke stroming
4. New Flooding Leaves Trail of Destruction in Dinant, Belgium
5. Floods in Germany, Belgium Destroy Homes, Leaving Dozens Dead
6. The flooding swept away homes and part of a castle in western Germany.
7. Dark Stuff
8. Cleanup efforts underway following deadly, disastrous flooding in Europe
9. Rescuers race to prevent more deaths from European floods
10. Climate disruption is not just the heat, it’s also the flooding
11. Europe flood death toll tops 160, costly rebuilding ahead
12. 07/17/21 BBC: Europe floods: Rescuers race to find survivors as hundreds remain missing
13. Cleanup begins after deadly floods in Europe
14. German Of The Day: Kriegsgebiet
15. Watch compilations Europe flooding (July 2021)
16. Floods in Luxembourg
17. Death toll from European flooding passes 180 as rescuers search debris
18. What is causing the floods in Europe?
19. German Wine Regions Devastated by Flooding
20. Heatwave continues, flooding in europe and other parts of the world, “freedom day” has arrived.
21. Parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany experienced devastating floods in… – MMF Social Media Hub
22. Extreme Storms Will Be More Likely In Europe Research Shows
23. Belgium Hit With Renewed Flooding
24. Floodwaters inundate England
25. Flash Floods Are Proof That Climate Disaster Is Already Here
26. Germany flood loss near EUR 5bn, likely a single event for reinsurance: AIR
27. How well is flooding managed where you live?
28. After the deluge …
29. Flooding & Factions

A Drop Of Rain

Who does not want to sing and dance in the rain, and look forward to the rainbow and the sun letting the dampness disappear?

Anita's Perspectives on Life.

“Thunder only happens when it’s raining

Players only love you when they’re playing

Women, they will come and they will go

When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know”

These lines from “Mick Fleetwood “of “Fleetwood Mac “ from his song “Dreams”touched my heart deeply. It was still raining and I kept looking at the sky. Since I was a child I liked the rainy season. It always brings out the child in me. Running around and dancing in the rain comforts me like nothing. When raindrops touch my face they actually touch my heart. The cold winds get my heartbeat faster.

Many beautiful songs, books, movies quotes and poems have had the theme of rain behind them. On one hand, we see rain being used as an image behind the expression of sadness, loss and a broken heart. On the other hand, we can see rain…

View original post 512 more words

Unexpected Blessing

 

Joe Stout Writing

I was hesitant
to explore in the rain,
but having the mountains
all to myself
has been an unexpected blessing.

My thoughts are closer here,
and when my only distraction
is the sound of raindrops
on the car’s roof
my mind is free to wander
and find the thoughts
usually hidden by chaos.

In the process
I get to see
the mountains I love
being restored by rain,
and find peace in solitude.

---

Thank you for reading!

View original post

Gardening

+

Preceding

Garden Notes (1)

Poet's Corner

The garden's gone ballistic
over just the last few days
with branches full of colour
grown in lots of different ways
It's looking like a jungle
so we'll have to see to that
giving it a summer trim
with branches for the hack

View original post 49 more words

April a month of sunshine and drought (April weather report as seen in local newspapers)

March and April have been so bad this year, it looked like those months themselves were caught by Covid. Raindrops kept falling on our heads but the other heavy rainfalls and hailstorms did not bring enough water into the ground so that we still have to face the already three years shortage of groundwater level.

Often people want to see the neighbours green grass, thinking it is much greener. Though we know better, it sometimes gives comfort to look at some other weather reports, showing us that we are not alone sitting in a deep pit.

+

To remember

• April 2021 = driest in Leicestershire since 1938.
• Normally 50mm of rain during month of April > 2.5mm
• Mountsorrel > 2.2mm = 4% of average
• Hinckley > 3.6mm = 7% of average
• 26 days of the month totally dry for them whilst here we had several days we saw some raindrops, but not really raining. Just to get wet
•  a few isolated snow showers on 3 days + showers on the 28th making up the small totals. I
• exceptionally sunny month > 209 hours recorded at Cosby = 39% above normal. =>2° sunniest April ever recorded in the county

Phil's Weather Blog

April 2021 was the driest in Leicestershire since 1938. Normally we would expect 50mm of rain during the month but this April Dave in Cosby recorded just 2.5mm the driest for 83 years way back to 1938 in his long standing weather records going back to 1836, most of which were recorded at the Towers hospital site in Leicester before he started his own records in Cosby in 1959. At Mountsorrel I recorded just 2.2mm just 4% of average and Dean Whitaker at Hinckley recorded just 3.6mm just 7% of average. 26 days of the month were totally dry with just a few isolated snow showers on 3 days and showers on the 28th making up the small totals. It was also an exceptionally sunny month with 209 hours recorded at Cosby which was 39% above normal. The sunniest day was the 22nd when Dave recorded 14 hours the maximum possible…

View original post 347 more words

When you hear the rain

The wave of rain has passed

Once more the wave of rain has passed,
and yonder the hills appear; these are but uplands.
The nearest and highest has a green rampart,
visible for a moment against the dark sky,
and then again wrapped in a toga of misty cloud.
… Wee-ah-wee!
Some chance movement has been noticed by the nearest bird [lapwing],
and away they go at once as if with the same wings,
sweeping overhead, then to the right, then to the left, and then back again,
till at last lost in the coming shower. …
~ seasonal¹ haiku inspired by the essays of Richard Jefferies 
From: Sweeping the Sky

Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – What do you want from us, Lord

*

++

Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – Wat wilt u van ons, Heer: “Czego chcesz od nas Panie”
Agata Galik – harfa/harp
Henryk Wojnarowski – dyrygent/conductor
Chór Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
koncert zarejestrowano 1 kwietnia 2016 w sali koncertowej Filharmonii Narodowej
recorded at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, April 01, 2016
Realizacja Telewizja Polska S.A.

*

What do you want from us, Lord, for your generous gifts?
What are the benefits that you have not measured?
The Church will not embrace you, everywhere you are full,
And in the abyss and in the sea, on earth, in the sky.

I also don’t want gold, because it’s all yours,
Whatever is changing in this world.
Lord with grateful heart, we confess
Because we don’t have a more handsome victim.

You are the Lord of all the world, You have built the sky
And he embroidered beautifully with golden stars;
You founded the unearthed ground
And you covered her nakedness with various herbs.

At your command the sea stands in the shores
And the intended borders jump over afraid;
Rivers of uncounted waters have great generosity.
White day and dark night know their times.

You will see many flowers Spring gives birth,
You are in a wreath of flowers Summer is here.
Autumn wine and various apples,
Then lazy Winter gets up.

By your grace, the night dew on bland herbs will fall,
And the die-hard grain rain comes alive;
At your hands every animal looks at its food,
And you feed everyone on your generosity.

Be praised forever, immortal Lord!
Your grace, Your goodness will never cease.
Hide us while you deign in this low land;
Let me be one under Your wings!

[Jan Kochanowski, XXV Song from the Second Books, published in 1562. A masterpiece of Polish poetry.]

Jan Kochanowski, (born 1530, Sycyna, Poland—died August 22, 1584, Lublin), humanist poet who dominated the culture of Renaissance Poland.

Born into the country nobility, Kochanowski studied at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and later, between 1552 and 1559, at the University of Padua in Italy. On his return to Poland in 1559, he served as a secretary at the royal court in Kraków. He married about 1575 and retired to his family estate at Czarnolas, in central Poland.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Józef Świder, Jan Kochanowski – Wat wilt u van ons, Heer

May…..

Purplerays

“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

(traditional gaelic blessing)

Text & image source: Harmony
https://www.facebook.com/Harmony-578149188866564/

View original post

La saison des jonquilles

Au cœur d’une forêt de pins > « Small Town » ^> Nichée au Sud des Etats-Unis, Small Town = ville universitaire à caractère historique

l’hiver a plié bagage plus tôt que prévu >  le printemps s’est vite installé.

jonquilles = daffodils > breveté de leur floraison

Allah = le plus beau des créateurs a dit :

Allah said:

[ Sourate 57, Ayah 20 ]

Al-Ḥadīd – 57 : 20 Know that the life of this world is only a frolic and mummery, an ornamentation, boasting and bragging among yourselves, and lust for multiplying wealth and children. It is like rain so pleasing to the cultivator for his vegetation which sprouts and swells, and then begins to wither, and you see it turn to yellow and reduced to chaff. There is severe punishment in the Hereafter, but also forgiveness from God, and acceptance. As for the life of this world, it is no more than merchandise of vanity.

[Sourate 18, Ayat 45 – 46]

Al-Kahf – 18 : 45 Present to them the example of the life of this world so like the water We send down from the skies that mingles with the earth to nourish its vegetation, which then on the morrow turns to stubble and is blown away by the wind. God has power over everything.

Al-Kahf – 18 : 46 Wealth and children are only the gloss of this world, but good deeds that abide are better with your Lord for recompense, and better for expectation.

[Sourate 57 Ayah 21]

Al-Ḥadīd – 57 : 21 Hasten for the forgiveness of your Lord and Paradise whose expanse is as wide as that of the heavens and the earth, which has been prepared for those who believe in God and His apostles. This is the bounty of God which He bestows on whosoever He please; and the bounty of God is infinite.

Related articles

• “For me the end has come” – Watch Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau’s New Video
• Boko Haram’s Shekau reappears ‘looking dejected’ in new video
• Boko Haram to get new leader? Video shows ‘dejected’ Abubakar Shekau
• Boko Haram: Leader Abubakar Shekau may quit but defence ministry warns fight still goes on
• Boko Haram chief reappears, looks dejected in new video
• Boko Haram leader, Shekau reappears in new video
• Shekau’s New Video A Ploy To Keep Us Offguard – Nigeria Army
• Be Mindful Of Allaah And He Will Protect You : An-Nawawi 40 Hadith – Shaykh Uthaymeen | Dr. Saleh as-Saleh [Audio|En]
• Boko Haram’s IED Campaign 2015
• Selective Outcry: The World Came Together After the Paris and Brussels Terrorist Attacks, But Who Will #PrayForNigeria?

Rose Du Sahel

Au cœur d’une forêt de pins se trouve « Small Town »¹, la vie où je vis. Nichée au Sud des Etats-Unis, Small Town est une ville universitaire à caractère historique. Nous sommes très loin des gratte-ciels de New York, Houston, ou Chicago. Pourtant, cette ville ne cesse de m’émerveiller au fil du temps. Cette année, l’hiver a plié bagage plus tôt que prévu, et le printemps s’est vite installé.

Dans mon voisinage, un magnifique spectacle s’offre tous les matins. Il m’arrive de faire des petites balades après l’aurore. La verdure rayonne dans un bain de soleil, tandis que les oiseaux chantent et s’élancent à toute vitesse dans le ciel. On en trouve de toutes les couleurs : marron, rouges et bleus. Non loin de là se trouve aussi un cours d’eau où s’abreuvent des biches et des coyottes dans la nuit.

Ce qui attire le plus mon attention en…

View original post 678 more words

During Wind and Rain

They sing their dearest songs—
He, she, all of them—yea,
Treble and tenor and bass,
And one to play;
With the candles mooning each face …
Ah, no; the years O!
How the sick leaves reel down in throngs!

They clear the creeping moss—
Elders and juniors—aye,
Making the pathways neat
And the garden gay;
And they build a shady seat…
Ah, no; the years, the years;
See the white storm-birds wing across!

They are blithely breakfasting all—
Men and maidens—yea,
Under the summer tree,
With a glimpse of the bay,
While pet fowl come to the knee…
Ah, no; the years O!
And the rotten rose is ript from the wall.

They change to a high new house,
He, she, all of them—aye,
Clocks and carpets and chairs
On the lawn all day,
And brightest things that are theirs…
Ah, no; the years, the years;
Down their carved names the rain-drop ploughs.

(Thomas Hardy)

 

Written five years after his wife Emma Hardy’s death in 1912.

“Thomas Hardy,” oil on panel, by the Scottish painter and engraver William Strang. 17 in. x 15 in. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thomas Hardy (c. 1840–1900) English novelist, poet, and dramatist who unites the Victorian and modern eras.

Wrote a.o. the novels: Under the Greenwood Tree (1872),  Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), and Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891)

Poems:Wessex Poems (1898), Poems of the Past and Present (1902), Satires of Circumstance (1914), Selected Poems (1916), Moments of Vision (1917), Late Lyrics and Earlier (1922), Human Shows (1925) and published after his death: Winter Words (1928).

Watercolour painting inspired by the Thomas Hardy novel “Under the Greenwood Tree” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

++

Find additional notes:

1. Thomas Hardy: During Wind and Rain
2. Poetry Analysis during Wind and Rain by Thomas Hardy
3. Some Thoughts on Wind and Rain
4. An analysis of During Wind and Rain by Thomas Hardy
5. During Wind and Rain
6. During Wind and Rain – Thomas Hardy [1840-1928]

+++

Related articles

• Thomas Hardy Quiz
• The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. 1886
• What’s On 10 – 16 October
• Matt Stillwell at U Street Music Hall on 10/27/2014 06:00 PM EDT
• Led by a Deep, Still Voice
• Dominique-René de Lerma: James B. Furman (1937-89), Composer, organist, choral director and college professor
• Middlesex 4 a gothic extravaganza the knights of the round table Big Ben a day trip to London
• We supply the weapons. We have not been seen as even-handed.
• Peter King Is Just Semi-Guessing This Year
• Becky Hammon: a Model for Women in Business