Saturday, April 19, 2008

A day in April..

It has been a gloomy day. To me the bright sun and blue sky with patches of white clouds is a great day. But then it is not like that every day even in tropical Malaysia. We have been getting gloomy days for the last two weeks already. It rains in the afternoon and the day became damp. Personally I do not like such gloomy day. Even mood do became gloomy on such days. One of the best times of the day is when I opened the window early in the morning and smell the fresh air. By seven in the morning I began to see the sun climbing and soon the sunlight flooded my kitchen floor. It is real nice to see the ray of sun every morning if it did not rain. Even though it rain in the afternoon, the morning has always been great. I love such morning. Morning is the best time for it is during this period of the day that we get to see the early bird chirping and jumping from branch to branch enjoying its day.

My home is facing the west, so in the morning it is a bit cool and a great place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee while browsing the morning paper or just whilst away in cyberspace. It is also a place to day dreams and enjoys the peace and tranquility of the morning. That is one reason I have turn my little garden in front the patio into a mini jungle, where that elusive squirrel would come and go. Every morning after cleaning the little garden I would feed the fish in the pond. Once it sees me coming it would congregate waiting for the feeds. It always looks hungry and as usual I fed it and after a while it would dispersed and enjoy its day swimming freely in the pool. Watering the plants is another ritual that I am happy to do every morning. I believe you would notice that when plants are watered, they sort of became fresh and great to look. Amazing what water did to this species that gave all the oxygen to us. I love the greens and enjoyed been surrounded by it. It makes life so colorful. In a way my plants has became an extension of myself. I do not believe that I could live in peace without those plants. I think the reason that we somehow bring plants close to us is that our civilization starts from that kind of surrounding. For me I grew up in the Kampong where the green of all shades and sizes are part of the environment. So it is only natural that we always kept greens/plants close to us. So do have a nice day. [image above is a banana plant at the back of my home].

12 comments:

  1. Pak Idrus,
    I have been to your house and I know how beautiful is your mini garden. For your info the birds are nesting again and this time I am going to really chronicle the day to day happening and hopefully I will get to see the birth of a new chick that will ultimately fly away.
    Anyway our names are mentioned in HBO's place in his latest blog. Please pay him a visit.

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  2. zawi, thanks for the visit and the kind words on my home. The news on the birds makes me real happy. I hope that this time we get to see it fly.

    Thanks for alerting me re HBO posting. Have a nice day.

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  3. Salam Pak Idrus,
    I spent 10 years of my young life roaming the seven seas but could live without it now but not without my plants, garden, birds, and squirrels that became part of our family.

    The heliconias, palms, rambutan, mangoes, herbal trees and others in the garden have became the therapy for eyes and mind.

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  4. jaflam, thanks for the visit and sharing your thoughts on living especially so that relate with nature.

    People who live in the tropic never realized what they have got, the abundant of greens/plants that flowers all the years around. Indeed we live in a colorful surrounding all the year around. In the temperate climates you only see flowers in the spring and Summer and some in the fall. But for four months you would not have the opportunity to see the color of flowers in its natural form. All those flowers that you see in homes comes from somewhere else. Here in the tropic we get to enjoy this wonder of nature all the years around.

    As for squirrels I found those living the temperate countries are very friendly but the one here including the one that live near my home are very elusive. I hope over times it get friendly as well.

    Like you I have travel and live overseas and enjoyed my stay there but home is still as sweet. Have a nice day.

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  5. Anonymous3:08 pm

    Hi Pak Idrus,

    Is that a papaya tree poking its branches between some of the banana leaves?

    At the risk of seeming not to have a poetic soul, I must say that I don't share your enthusiasm for early morning:
    "Morning is the best time for it is during this period of the day that we get to see the early bird chirping and jumping from branch to branch enjoying its day."

    One of the joys of retirement for me is that now I can sleep in to compensate for the fact that I usually cannot fall asleep till sometime shortly before dawn. The few early mornings I am now awake to witness are usually those that are at the end of a sleepless night. Hard to be poetic in that situation:)

    As for the birdsong...don't get me wrong, I like birdsong, but I appreciate it later in the day. Spring has arrived, and with it the nesting season. There's a large family of birds nesting in trees just outside my house that bursts into a loud,long chorus just before 5:00am, not so welcome when it wakes one up just a couple of hours after falling asleep :). If only they would reschedule their concert time, I'd write a poem about their singing.

    If I appear to be a grumpy old senior, well, I assure you I am only that way very early in the morning:)

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  6. louis, how interesting!!. I think you have to work with the birds in your area to get it to adjust its schedule of the concert time. You have to try communicating with it, anything could happen in this complicated worlds of our.

    As for that papaya tree, sure there is one there. Both the Banana and the Papaya plants belong to my neighbor, a retired General from the Commando Unit. Our house is back to back. He cannot get rid of jungle living, so at time you can see him in the middle of the night at his small patch of garden.

    As for sleeping I am getting more then I should, the luxury that the non-retired people have just to wonder and hope for. I sleep well so I wake up early, thus the early morning ritual and enjoy that first gust of fresh air.

    I think you can go to sleep like me by switching your mind and stop thinking. As you know the world would be as it is even if we do not care of the happening. So go to sleep early and wake up to the sound of the birds chirping. But if the bird has reschedule its timing then you can go on to sleep at your own timing.

    BTW one of the beauty of been old is that you can be grumpy and no one care. But most never admit that they are grumpy. That's what made been old so wonderful.

    Life is like that, so have a nice day and enjoy your day or night!!.

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  7. Pk Idrus,

    You are so comical abt life in your reply to Louis.

    Em, I can't wait to get old to enjoy the licence and imunity to get away with murder. hehehe

    Yeah, you are a nature lover. you also rub on me with your garden.

    The other day i bought a plant for my friend's office which was too drab. Don't know the name of the plant but it has tiny red flowers. Its leaves are thicker than usual so it need minimum maintainence.

    She was so happy but I was happier than her to make her office look cheery.

    Pak Idrus, thanks for showing the beauty of life.

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  8. Anonymous4:46 am

    Hi Idrus,

    Took your advice, went out and talked to those birds. They told me to go talk to their lawyer (they are American birds after all..haha).

    Have searched for years but still can't find that OFF switch. I envy people like you who have one :)

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  9. Anonymous7:59 am

    PakIdrus,
    A couple of days ago I read Beth's entry (Cassandra Pages) about a special space even a tiny corner for meditation that bring tranquility to each of us. And now you wrote about your little garden that you enjoy being part of it. I think all of us have our own ways to experience a peaceful moment within us, but I think having ourselves close to nature is the most natural way, don't you think?

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  10. hi&lo, thanks for the visit and sharing your thoughts on this posting.

    Well, before your rush to get to where I am now, you must makes full use of your youth. It is one of the best part of living and full of challenges too. There are no short cuts to a good living and to enjoy your golden age you must enjoy every minutes of the happening on your journey of life. Then when you get to my age you would be able to share your experiences with all, like I am doing now.

    I am glad that you were touched with my kind of blogging. Nature is part of us and we must continue to share the planet with it. It is the sharing and understanding that made life so colorful.

    Flowers they say is the keeper of our joy. I am indeed glad that both, your friend and you enjoyed the flowers that you bought and then it became a gift. When I was working I always had a single rose in a vase placed on my table to enhanced the office environment as well add another living species in that little cube where i spend most of my time during office hours. That single rose gives so much and its do made my life so beautiful. Never a day my office is without a rose. Do just that and I am sure you would be happy all day long.

    Have a nice day.

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  11. Louis, thanks for the return visit on this posting and sharing an aspect of the American dream. Well, it look like that is the way in America. As for me I would not want it to be part of the Malaysian dream. Why can't we just negotiate without a third party.

    Anyways you must try to get that sleep and learn to switch off from time to time. Have a nice day.

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  12. ana, thanks for the visit and sharing your thoughts on the subject of this posting.

    Agreed that we do need our personal space and it could be anything. After all we are individual and have different needs. Of course nature is our best source of that part of a peaceful living. How can we ever live without it.

    Have a nice day.

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