WILD THINGS

A wild thing.

Let the wild rumpus begin!

So come along all you big-cats, sleeping in the sun.
and you, tawny owls, with the dark beady eyes,
you can bring your wild baby things too.
For the wild rumpus shall commence!
We will have food, to be sure.

And to all those short-haired spaniels, please make an appearance,
we need you to round up the sheep, the deer and the elk. 
But never-mind the yaks, they will arrive at 8.

And we will sit in the sun, and drink yak-milk-tea and talk of the wild.
Then, at around 9, we will spring up from our seats,
out into that wild,
hopping from hill to hill,
to find a high place.

There we can spy on the straight-horned mountain goat,
who was not invited to the wild rumpus, as his wild is just too crazy.
And he eats the carpet.

A whole new day ahead,
so wake up small piglets, open your eyes, the world is bright!
There is much hullabaloo-ing to be had.
Because every day brings on
a whole new party; a great big, rollocking, wild rumpus.

 

White owl and red berries.
Cute smiling mama owl with her fluffy babies.
Wildpark Assling in the Tyrol Valley, Austria.
Goat by a river.
A tiny watermill at wildpark assling in the mountains of Austria
A curious black and white owl.
Big wild cat with fluffy ears, wildpark assling.
Feeding a baby racoon at wildpark assling, Austria.
Baby wild pigs and their mother, sleeping in a hollowed out tree trunk.
Austrian mountain coaster!

To those who are curious:
the photos shown were taken at the gorgeous Assling Wildpark,
hidden between the mountainous folds of Tyrol, in Austria.

ONE

An old watermill near a waterfall in the Tyrol Valley.

Sitting by the waterfall, surrounded by flowers, grasses, insects, birds, and Oliver, I felt like I was slowly made whole again. Whenever I am lost, I need only look around and I can find myself. For I am one with it all. 

There is no me without the air. The air is a part of me, in my lungs and in my blood cells. There is no me without the water. My body is made of at least 50 percent water - I am water and water is me. There is no water without rain, or clouds, or sunshine or transpiration and evaporation. I rely on the sun and the rain to live, they are a part of me. There is no me without plant life - I need plant life to sustain myself, and so do the other animals on which I depend. There would be no me without the people I love - my family and friends. They have given me life, culture, wisdom and experience. I depend on all these things for my life. My life is a miracle of inter-being.

Colourful wild flowers in the Tyrol Valley.
Glacier blue waters in the high mountains of Austria.
Pathway through the trees up to a waterfall in Austria, in black and white.
Lying in the grass with a halo of white flowers.
Small mountain waterfall in the Tyrol Valley in Austria
Oliver's eye close up.
Bird of prey in the grey skies.
“It’s like a cloud in the sky. When the cloud is no longer in the sky, it does not mean the cloud has died. The cloud is continued in other forms like rain or snow or ice. So you can recognise your cloud in her new forms.

When I am drinking tea, it is very pleasant to be aware I am drinking cloud.

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in each sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. ”
— THICH NHAT HANH

EDEN ON EARTH

Tyrol Valley Austria - mountains, lakes and beautiful wooden houses
Small church in the midst of green hills

 

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?

ssshhhhh...

Come a little closer, so I may whisper in your ear...

Can you keep a secret?

 

Now, how to begin. 

In a land, far far away... No, no, that's not right. Hmmm hum. 

There is a land, known to some by the name of Austria. This land holds within it a secret realm, unknown to the travellers of this world. Beyond the many obstacles, and inside this hidden valley is the region some call 'Eden on Earth.' It is a place of many waterfalls; a landscape bathed in a green so verdant it hurts your eyes to stare too long. It is a place of freely flowing schnapps, pancakes, and little villages - only a few wooden houses wide, each one overflowing with window boxes of geraniums. It is the valley of dreams - where cows roam freely with bells on. Such beauty is indescribable, one simply has to see it.

And I can tell you how to get there.

 

Mountains of Tyrol in Italy, clouded and ominous.

Firstly, do not heed any signs, nor advice. The way is hidden.

You must follow a great river, till you come to the land where the white flowers bloom. In the distance you will see the Blue Mountains. Pass them by. You will come to the ancient kingdom of Italy. Your journey will be rough, and there will be many dangers. Beware the sports car in red.

A turquoise lake in the Tyrol Valley, Austria.

Follow the road back into Austria, and you will come to the Tall Trees. Four leagues or so from these trees, there is a lake, so jewel-hued that the starry dawn seems to linger in the depths.

Stop a while in this place, you are on the door-step of Eden, and you may leave all your worldly cares behind you.

Oliver swimming in a snowmelt lake, with turquoise green waters, in Austria.
The road into the Tyrol Valley in Austria - a one lane road in the green mountains.
Cows in the Tyrol Valley, Austria.

Next, you must find the Narrow Path, leading through the Forest of Moss. This way can be perilous, as it is only wide enough to fit one vehicle. Stay wary.

The Narrow Path will eventually lead you over the mountains and into the Valley of Eden. Once there, you will know you have arrived, as the colours seem so much brighter, and there are many wilder-beasts scattered about the open hillsides.

In the Valley of Eden the wildflowers bloom in abundance, and the earth is shaped into folds and star-topped peaks. Stay a while, and rest your soul.

Wooden chalets in the Tyrol Valley, Austria. A scene with flowers, window boxes, mountains and waterfalls.