The Art exhibition of Ruth Koenigsberger at the Teatro Aracena has just finished this December. We were really fortunate to be in the Sierra for this and we have many memories of times spent with Ruth visiting the Donana Wetlands for bird watching and photography. For those who follow this blog closely Ruth has featured many times with her art and photography. She has also drawn some of the characters and places in my novel and then turned her creative talents to painting birds during these past pandemic years. I intend to show more of her Bird Art and talents in the year to come.
For now I will give you a poem I wrote for Christmas inspired by the paintings below by Ruth Koenisgsberger and the European Crane, (Grus grus). This incredibly large and beautiful bird migrates from the North of Europe to the South during the winter months. We heard a story of a Spanish writer who as a child looked out of his window and saw the cranes calling and flying in the moonlight. Childhood experiences of the beauty of nature can stay with us and inspire us.
A Child’s Christmas in Southern Spain
Stories are told of the olive and dove
While high in the sky in the dawn’s new light
The children look out to the sky above
To spot long necks and great wings in flight.
The Cranes are coming for Christmas
The Cranes are coming for Christmas
Fe Li Ci Da Des
Fe Li Ci Da Des
Na Vi Dad
Great bodies descend to the earthly ground
With wings outstretched they graciously land
Their calls sing out the most heavenly sound
Long legs extend to the beat of a band
The Cranes are marching for Christmas
The Cranes are marching for Peace
Gathered together on the rich wet earth
Their journey long to a climate more mild
In pairs they now dance for a special birth
A gift they bring to each precious child;
The wonder of the wild.
The Cranes are dancing for Christmas
The Cranes are dancing for Love.
Fe Li Ci Da Des
Fe Li Ci Da Des, Na Vi Dad –
Congratulations,
Happiness, The Birth of Christ.
Wishing you all a very happy, peaceful and safe Christmas as we continue to live through these anxious times. I also feel inspired to continue in 2022 with more about Ruth’s exhibition, paintings and her flight into the light with such a variety of colours and different techniques inspired by birds and the beautiful nature in the South of Spain.
Here’s to 2022, Hope, Light and our dedication to nurturing nature in all its beauty and diversity.
NavasolaNature 
Love and blessings for a lovely Christmas Georgina, to you and yours, and best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.
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And to you all too. Enjoy.
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Absolutely magnificent! Both the art and the poem! And both instill peace.
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Thank you and hope 22 goes well for you.
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Boas Festas to you and Trevor, Georgina. May it be a peaceful time for you. I love the poem.
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Thanks Jolandi and hope 22 goes well for you too.
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Georgina, I’ve always loved birds. My first pet was a parakeet. I was six years old. Now, Tweety, my little hen, is perched on my feet, keeping them warm, on this dreary, rainy, winter solstice day.
But birds are flocking to the feeder outside my window.
I’ve had other reasons to think of you lately. I’ve been re-cycling accumulations of “stuff”, including print-outs of previous blogs, in which I posted excerpts of my novel, and reader comments on them.
Your comments stood out and were encouraging. You mentioned your novel, too, and I wonder how that is coming.
Much has happened in the interim. For me, equipment malfunction and time-pressure have prevented my moving forward on the novel. It seems I’m moving backward, fixing things, disposing of excess, learning to use this clucking cell phone and its loop-de-loops, and trying to make time to take care of the most basic bodily needs.
I enjoyed your blog, as always.
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Thanks Katherine, as you can see I fail badly with my blog now but try a post a month and over the Christmas holidays the time has just vanished but I have managed to be with my younger daughter too. Sorry to hear about your ‘malfunctions’ and I wondered how you were. Blogging friends can just disappear. My novel is on the list of an independent publisher at the moment but it is a waiting game. I have worked on it with an editor / mentor who really loves it. Hopefully we can keep in touch though real life gets in the way at times. I hope you can keep well and can cope enough to have some creative time. All the best.
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Lovely poem, simple and celebratory, reminds me of Lorca.
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Oh thanks, that’s interesting. There is a simple and elegant format to a lot of Spanish poetry.
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This is a lovely post. I’m keeping it to enjoy properly later, as Team Spain is here, and time is at a premium. Have a great Christmas.
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Thanks Margaret, only just catching up with blogs now. Team UK won out! Hope you have had a good time together. All the best for 2022.
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You too. Yes, family reunions beat blogging hands down!
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Looking forward to seeing the paintings in Aracena….and a better 2022 xx
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oh this is beautiful – wishing you a very happy Christmas and here’s to a brighter and better new year xx
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Sorry missed this. Thanks. I hope 2022 allows you more time in Portugal.
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so far so good 😀
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A festive, touching and beautiful poem and beautiful art work. It must be an amazing sight to see cranes arrive.
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Thanks Andrea, hope all going well. I would love to see the cranes arrive too!
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I love your blog’s enchanting aura. Despite the fact I had little interest in bio life, I am reading about it here with great interest and enjoying your perspective. Do you know about the Japanese tradition of Senbazuru – folding 1000 paper cranes for good health and prosperity? I also folded half a thousand paper cranes myself once but I have only realized the true beauty of this bird through the photographs, paintings and the lovely poem you have shared in this blog.
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Thank you, and I am glad the crane finally came alive for you. I hope there is still plenty of wildlife in Pakistan. I did update on the Karachi turtles and seems there are still reasonable numbers.
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