Finding Joy
with Nick Cave and Bob Dylan
I subscribe to Nick Cave’s the Red Hand Files. They are random emails that turn up at random times about random topics. People write to Nick and he responds sharing his thoughts and musing on a multitude of things. They are gentle and thought provoking. Issue #304 arrived last week some time and starts with a letter from John in New York, USA.
“Have you ever imagined that Bob Dylan would be attending your shows and writing nice tweets about them?”
Bob’s tweet in question read as follows:
“Saw Nick Cave in Paris recently …and I was really struck by that song Joy where he sings “We’ve all had too much sorrow, now is the time for joy.” I was thinking to myself, yeah that’s about right”
I agree, as did Nick with Bob. We need to celebrate and have some joy in our lives. So in the spirit of Bob and Nick here are a few things that have been giving me joy of late:
I have random pea pods appearing in the flower beds and there is no simpler joy than the taste of a fresh pea straight from the garden.
Speaking of joyful tastes, the raspberries are ready. We missed them last year for whatever reason so the first nibble this year was a delight and yes I did share them Atlas. We taught him to sit with raspberries and he has been a fan ever since.
Another thing that is bringing me joy is pup. Helios is growing into the dog that he will become. While this source of joy if often tinged with frustration as we all navigate his teenage phase, I am starting to see his grown up face and nature appear. I am sure he is going be a lovely adult dog.
We have two weeks off work over the Christmas break which the idea of gives me much joy. The book pile that I have quietly growing is also giving me joy. I am very much looking forward to days of starting a book in the morning and finishing it at bed time and that is all I do all day. ( I will post my list on insta when the final few are collected).
With the calendar flipping over to December we seem to be instantly in summer weather, which itself is a joy. I seem to have moved with this seasonal change. I’ve found myself spending time in the garden early in the morning and evenings as it is becoming too hot to be in the garden during the afternoon. I am really liking this joyful new timetable.
Speaking of garden, while I still have corners to tidy and weeding to do, I have managed to get the last of my plants in the garden. I will write more about the garden next week but for the moment it is giving me much joy to be able to just sit and watch the garden.
When Emma from Sage Journal invited me earlier this year to contribute photos to her excellent journal space I was more than excited. It is has been an amazing to watch this space develop and grow over the year. It gives me so much joy to see my photos along side words that encourage and inspire gardeners. Emma has so many plans for this space, one of which is to create a print shop. Here she is selling three of her favourite images of mine. Pop along if you would like some garden art on your wall.
Finally the thing that gives me a lot of joy is the beautiful, weird, crazy, loving, gentle and kind friends and family that make up my daily life. Having a garden gives me joy, being able to share it with others give me more.
Do leave a comment and share what has given you joy of late.