Blue Mountains Journal

Seen near Megalong Valley tea room One of my childhood books had black birds with scary claws like that. Words to walk with : Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye, Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was opened the birds began to sing, Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king? The king was in his counting house counting out his money, The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes, When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

Tree, Megalong Valley Words to walk with : William Blake, 1799, The Letters "The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself."

Letterbox, Megalong Valley Words to walk with : From A Letter To My Aunt Discussing The Correct Approach To Modern Poetry by Dylan Thomas Do not forget that 'limpet' rhymes With 'strumpet' in these troubled times, And commas are the worst of crimes; Few understand the works of Cummings, And few James Joyce's mental slummings, And few young Auden's coded chatter; But then it is the few that matter. Never be lucid, never state, If you would be regarded great, The simplest thought or sentiment, (For thought, we know, is decadent); Never omit such vital words As belly, genitals and ——-, For these are things that play a part (And what a part) in all good art. Remember this: each rose is wormy, And every lovely woman's germy; Remember this: that love depends On how the Gallic letter bends; Remember, too, that life is hell And even heaven has a smell Of putrefying angels who Make deadly whoopee in the blue. These things remembered, what can stop A poet going to the...

Roadside Farm, Megalong Valley Words to walk with: From Roads by Amy Lowell O Winding roads that I know so well, Every twist and turn, every hollow and hill! They are set in my heart to a pulsing tune Gay as a honey-bee humming in June. ‘T is the rhythmic beat of a horse’s feet And the pattering paws of a sheep-dog bitch; ‘T is the creaking trees, and the singing breeze, And the rustle of leaves in the road-side ditch ... By the softly ringing hoofs of a horse And the panting breath of the dogs I love. The pageant of Autumn follows its course And the blue sky of Autumn laughs above.

Farm shed, Megalong Valley The farms of Megalong nestle below the high cliffs of the Blue Mountains. See also that the eucalypts are in flower at the moment. Words to walk with: The Shining Slopes and Planes by Les Murray Having tacked loose tin panels of the car shed together Peter the carpenter walks straight up the ladder, no hands, and buttons down lapels of the roof. Now his light weight is on the house overhead, and then he's back down bearing long straps of a wiry green Alpine grass, root-woven, fine as fur that has grown in our metal rain gutters. Bird-seeded, or fetched by the wind it has had twenty years up there being nourished on cloud-dust, on washings of radiant iron, on nesting debris in which pinch-sized trees had also sprouted. Now it tangles on the ground. And the laundry drips jowls of coloured weight below one walking stucco stucco up and down overlaps, to fix the biplane houses of Australia.

Farm, Megalong Valley Words to walk with : A Farm-Picture by Walt Whitman THROUGH the ample open door of the peaceful country barn, A sun-lit pasture field, with cattle and horses feeding; And haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away.

Rainforest, Megalong Valley Words to walk with: From Treeroots and Earth by Les Murray Where the great winds crashed Strange suns appear Gleaming with mud and shocks of thistle fur, And walkers see them at the forest edge And children, when the winter rains are past Go hurrying there And climb and scramble out on rays of wood Among the antler tines and fluted sterns Of galleons they rig with string and sail High over the steep fall forest and the farms As far as the islands of the summer air.

City daily photo bloggers are selecting their best photo of the year today. This is my choice from the photos posted in this blog. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Megalong Valley Public School School is out for the summer, ready for the winter. Words to walk with: Afternoon in School - The Last Lesson by DH Lawrence When will the bell ring, and end this weariness? How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart My pack of unruly hounds: I cannot start Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt, I can haul them and urge them no more. No more can I endure to bear the brunt Of the books that lie out on the desks: a full three score Of several insults of blotted pages and scrawl Of slovenly work that they have offered me. I am sick, and tired more than any thrall Upon the woodstacks working weariedly. And shall I take The last dear fuel and heap it on my soul Till I rouse my will like a fire to consume Their dross of indifference, and burn the scroll Of their insults in punishment? - I will not! I will not waste myself to embers for them, Not all for them shall the fires of my life be hot, For myself a heap of ashes of weariness, ...

Old Ford Reserve, Megalong Valley Words to walk with: Climb every mountain, search high and low Follow every by way, every path you know Climb every mountain, ford every stream Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream -- Sound of Music

Everlasting daisy, Megalong Valley I've shown images of everlasting daisies before. Words to walk with: Everlasting Flowers by D H Lawrence WHO do you think stands watching The snow-tops shining rosy In heaven, now that the darkness Takes all but the tallest posy? Who then sees the two-winged Boat down there, all alone And asleep on the snow's last shadow, Like a moth on a stone? The olive-leaves, light as gad-flies, Have all gone dark, gone black. And now in the dark my soul to you Turns back. To you, my little darling, To you, out of Italy. For what is loveliness, my love, Save you have it with me! So, there's an oxen wagon Comes darkly into sight: A man with a lantern, swinging A little light. What does he see, my darling Here by the darkened lake? Here, in the sloping shadow The mountains make? He says not a word, but passes, Staring at what he sees. What ghost of us both do you think he saw Under the olive trees? All the things that are lovely-- The things you never kn...

Rainforest, Megalong Valley The odd way the decaying logs are laying (probably for bush regeneration) made me think of a checkerboard. Words to walk with: Life is a kind of Chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events” (Benjamin Franklin)

Rainforest, Megalong Valley I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. - Henry David Thoreau

Megalong Road Happy New Year! Thank you for following this journal throughout the past year and providing your always welcome comments. I've changed my mind back and forth many times on how to manage my blogs in this fresh New Year. Last year I split my time between Blue Mountains Journal and Sweet Wayfaring but feel that as a result both you and I have been missing out on the lovely natural environment in which I live so it's time for a few changes. I will aim to post here every 3 days as well as my daily Sweet Wayfaring posts. If you like walking in the wilderness stay here, if you prefer to travel through rural Australia there is an great new trip starting over at Sweet Wayfaring today. Changes is the monthly theme day of the City Daily Community Click here to view thumbnails for all participants Words to walk with: From Inversnaid by Gerard Manly Hopkins "What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wilderness ...