April 27, 2020 The Gift of Days

Posted byRebecca BuddPosted inLadyBudd, Nature, Sunday Evening Reflection, WalkingTags:, , ,

“When the rain comes, I will remember today because I have taken photos to remind me of Spring.”

Those were my words on April 27, 2020, when I walked a nature path on a crisp, late afternoon. It was the time when day surrenders its light to the coming night, leaving a mellow hue as the sun slowly makes its way to the other side of the world.

Vancouver dwells within a rain forest climate that promises days of rain, especially from October – December. British Columbia has approximately 25% of the world’s temperate rainforest, most of it along the coast – the name itself gives a hint of our weather patterns.

I have come to love the rain, which is a good thing since we have had rain every day, on and off, for about 2 weeks. We call it liquid sunshine. These are the moments when I bring out my photos of spring and summer, which is my reminder that we I have been given the gift of days, of seasons, of years.

April 27, 2020 will be remembered in my photos, but it will not come again. December 13, 2020 is present, marked by the insistent rain that lingers on the window next to my computer desk. Soon, today will move on to the next. With this post, I am celebrating that today I experienced life, felt the companionship of family and friends (mostly via virtual means), enjoyed making Christmas cookies, listened to music and read a few lines of a book.

Come back with me to April 27, 2020 and celebrate the gift of days.

Published by Rebecca Budd

Blogger, Visual Storyteller, Podcaster, Traveler and Life-long Learner

55 thoughts on “April 27, 2020 The Gift of Days”

    1. I am delighted that you shared the celebration, Shehanne. 2020 brought us together and now we share the adventure of life. We may be on opposite sides of the world, but we are walking the same pathway. Sending hugs and more hugs!

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  2. Dear Rebecca,
    thank you for telling us about the temperate rainforest. The patterns of rain are quite similar here at our coast. The most rain falls in autumn, the rain we desperately need. We have hardly any forests here but lots of salt marshes. In contrast to your landscape, our landscape is quite empty with lots and lots of sky.
    We send you hugs and love, have a happy week
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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    1. Dear Klausbernd, I remember walking Blakeney National Nature Research with you and Hanne. The sky was immense and the horizon went on forever. Hanne’s words bring out the grandeur of this amazing place: “The sea is calm and still full of power. Here on Blakeney Point, land meets sky. They manage to connect gracefully while keeping their distance….”. Vancouver is surround by mountains that touch the sky as if reaching out to a friend. We live in a world that needs our care and attention. I am heartened by the good work that is being done by individuals and communities to safeguard our environment. Sending many hugs back along with my love and gratitude to my dear friends, The Fab Four of Cley!

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      1. Dear Rebecca,
        fortunately there are a lot of people seeing that we have to care for Mother Nature. And there are those big organisations like the Wildlife Trust (which was founded in Cley) and the National Trust that organise this caring for nature.
        We both live at the sea and experience the marriage of the sky with the waters. This is one of the highlights living at the sea.
        With lots of love and hugs
        The Fab Four of Cley
        🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

        Liked by 3 people

  3. Rebecca, thank you for the eloquent writing, the beautiful images, and the interesting information about British Columbia and its climate. A great pleasure to read and see. Posts like these would draw visitors to BC like a magnet when COVID ends. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I hope that the magnet with draw you and your family, Dave. One of the places that I would love to visit is the Queen Charlotte Islands. “Haida Gwaii, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago off British Columbia’s west coast, in Canada. Wildlife-rich Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site includes remote islands and temperate rainforest. Centuries-old totem poles stand in the remains of the Haida Nation village known as SGang Gwaay Llnagaay. Naikoon Provincial Park, on Graham Island, has trails and beaches.”http://queencharlottevisitorcentre.com/. I read that in 1912, Emily Carr made a six-week visit to Tanu and Skedans on the Queen Charlotte Islands. This is where she painted her lush West Coast wilderness landscapes. Travel will come back one day, but I think that we will see the world differently, more respectfully.

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    1. We have a lot of rain and even snow from time to time, which usually lasts less than a week. BUT I have found some interesting news about Canadian cities and rain when I was looking up Vancouver’s rainfall statistics. I was surprised to find that Newfoundland and British Columbia have much in common. “Abbotsford, British Columbia tops the list with an average 1538 millimetres, about five feet, of precipitation falling annually. But Abbotsford isn’t even among the top three cities for most days a year with precipitation. That honour falls to St. John’s, Newfoundland along with Saguenay and Sherbrooke in Quebec.” https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/Canada/wettest-cities.php. I should have known that St John’s had a great deal of rain. When we visited St John’s last year, we experienced 3 days of solid rain. By the way, I LOVED St. John’s!!! Sending hugs!

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  5. Your spring photos are gorgeous, Rebecca. I think we’re all enjoying looking at our photos to remind us that life will return to normal e’er long. Your warmer weather will be arriving before you know it. In the meantime, we all learn to enjoy life as it comes, because every new day is a gift. 🤗

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    1. I remember when we first started this journey back in March 2020, we all knew we were going into unknown territory. Since that time, it has been a day to day existence that is being experienced throughout the globe. It is so easy to think, it won’t happen in our part of the world, but here we are – sharing the challenges, learning together – and best of all encouraging each other. Your words “learn to enjoy life as it comes” have incredible power. Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! This is how to live boldly and with courage. As your mother said so well, “This too shall pass….”. Sending many hugs along with my gratitude for your company along the walk.

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  6. Oh so beautiful, Rebecca! Your quotations are perfectly matched to your stunning photography and video. The Camus quote has always been one of my favorites…invincible summer indeed. Thank you for always bringing the beauty 🙂 I’ll bookmark this one for the dregs of winter…Hugs always.

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    1. I share your love of the Camus quote – it has been a great companion to me when faced with challenges. Another quote that has a similar message comes from Psalms – “Weeping my endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Isn’t it interesting that one or two sentences bring out profound universal messages that bridge time and location. It is a testament to the concept of “less is more.” So glad that you joined me for a spring walk and celebrating the days that have been given. Hugs and more hugs!

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    1. Lovely, pristine snow against the backdrop of bare branches and evergreens. The image brings me back to my childhood in Northern Manitoba, where snow was a constant companion from September to May. Vancouver has many “green” Christmases, but once in a while, snow comes just in time for Christmas Eve. And then, every photographer is out taking photos of snow before it melts which is usually in a couple of days. Thank you for joining me in April – always enjoy your company.

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  8. From April 2020, I love the photo of the white branches, the Vancouver’s rain forest, your photos, the rain on the window next to your computer desk. Thank you for posting these happy moments!

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    1. I am pleased that you shared this April day with me, Frances! It is easy to lose precious moments in my need to be productive. When I rush to complete tasks on a list, I forget to breathe, to celebrate ordinary events. Looking back these “ordinary” events were extraordinary. Sending hugs and love across the bridge!

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    1. Vancouver is waiting for your arrival, Lavinia. Would love to meet up with you! A must see is Stanley Park which is a 405-hectare public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver and surrounded by the inlets. The park has a long history and many stories, my favourite being about the poet, E Pauline Johnson. https://vimeo.com/370413995

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  10. Lovely reminder of better days to come. Vancouver seems all too similar to Wales. We too call it iquid sunshine- it is often the only winter sunshine we see. We also are in a temperate rainforest or at least we have trees swathed in mosses and ferns growing from their branches. This year a forget me not seed blew in and grew in our gravel path. It is now gathering its strength for spring in one of the beds- those shy little flowers really live up to their name. The dutch iris bulbs are already shooting up, ready for spring and all the pots have had a good thick mulch of manure to give them a good Christmas feed. Most exciting at all our seven year old King Protea (grown from seed) has flowered – not bad for old South Wales. The quotes in video were inspiring. Here’s another-
    Time may turn the leaves but it’s
    Inevitable that we
    Will eventually see
    Another spring again
    On that you can depend
    It’s inevitable- the Scissor Sisters

    Liked by 4 people

    1. There is a mystical energy that comes through when we walk through a rainforest where trees are, as you said so eloquently, “swathed in mosses and ferns.” I wonder whether the structure of our mythologies is based on climate? Oh – I feel another wonderful mini-research project happening with that question! Forget-me-nots, never let us forget that we live in a beautiful world. They come to us in the most unusual ways. Give my best regards to King Protea for making his appearance just at the time to join the December festivities. That is a brilliant quote!!!

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  11. Ah yes, Rebecca, The gift of days, you have brought back to a poem I first wrote 32 years ago, in 1988, That I believe is apropos to your new post, which you are free to use if you find it has sufficient merit.
    it is called;

    “ The Gift Of A Day ”
    – to live as tho a lifetime –

    Yesterday
    Was yet another guide,
    For what I am to live…

    Today
    I am alive since now,
    To live as tho a lifetime
    This and every day…

    Tomorrow
    Will only be,
    Of consequence
    When I am there,
    As I’ve no time
    For what may never be…

    The gift of a day
    Be another morrow,
    I am alive again
    Since now,
    For yet another
    And find to choose
    I am to live this day
    And those that follow
    As though they be a lifetime!

    written in Montréal
    © Jean-Jacques Fournier
    September 17, 1988, the day of my birthday,
    alas not my birthyear!

    Liked by 6 people

    1. Oh, Jean-Jacques – you really know how to give joy and beauty to my day. And what serendipity- “The Gift Of A Day!! Goosebumps. I will be reciting this poem – a great way to start a new year! Many many hugs to you and Marianne! All the very best of this festive season.

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  12. I leave the road and take the alleys!
    Thank you for this, Rebecca! Sunny Beauty finds its way through the Grey Winter.
    It is very grey here, as well. Grey is a constant theme here by Lake Ontario. As I lived in Vancouver for 8 years, I understand that grey. It’s homecoming, in that sense, here in Toronto. Save now & here, the rain is snow and sleet.
    I adore your video!
    So ep. 3 drawings are done. You have a mention, but make a real (lol) appearance in ep 4..
    I’ve been working on your face, front on. If there is a particular pic of you that you like, please send it to me. The drawing of your character in the palazzo pants outfit will be in ep. 4.
    I await a sunny day in order to shoot the drawings, and construct the post.
    {{{hugs}}}

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    1. Dearest Resa – thank you for heading back into time with me. Isn’t it interesting that with storytelling anything is possible. Time and location have no meaning. We can be in prehistoric times riding a mastodon as well as on the deck of a spaceship wearing those sleek uniforms that make anyone who wears them a size 2. Grey is an interesting colour. I have read that grey represents neutrality and balance, which is calming. I like your thought on “homecoming.” What a beautiful thought which I will take with you today as I head out into the grey sky. I am beyond thrilled that I have been invited to your riveting stories. We need to podcast about how you come to your stories, Resa. I’ll be in touch. Sending many hugs and lots of love your way.

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      1. WE’RE GETTING SUN FOR 1 DAY!
        That will be Friday!
        Lol!
        Did you know, as per Holly (PBH), she doesn’t want her enemies to be killed in the big fights? Mersin was spared his life, and he vowed to return one day and help PBH out of a jam. The Snake was turned into a framed portrait, and let’s just hope he doesn’t escape one day!
        Etamilc Egnahc, well you will find her fate in the next episode!

        Rebecca Budd will be producing a new fashion show, once the AGM’s are saved, and back in Chicago. I’ve got a lot of Art Gowns Models drawings in the kitty, but I’m thinking of doing all new drawings. The Art Gowns Models do Picasso!
        I’ll do it in fake cubist, and the AGM’s can have effected eye make up/hair/masks. Just thinking about it all now.
        Hugs!

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    1. Poets are the best friends I could have, Liz. I am grateful beyond measure that poets have given from their heart. Jean-Jacques and you have gently reintroduced me to poetry. Yesterday, I was exploring the poems of Fenton Johnson, who was before the Harlem Renaissance. I think you and I are subscribed to the same poetry foundation.

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      1. Yes, we are subscribed to the same poetry foundation. They’ve featured several of Johnson’s poems. What I particuarly like about the poem-a-day is how wide a range of poets they feature. I enjoy having the close-up view when reading the poem and then stepping back to see where the poem fits on the continuum of poetry.

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    1. Thank you, Meg! One of the greatest benefits about blogging is that it serves to remember our “days.” When I look back into my archives I remember my feelings, emotions, and thoughts that went into writing about a certain topic or event. I am grateful to past diarists and letter writers who gave us a deeper understanding about their time. I agree – it won’t be long and there be more days like these… Sending hugs!

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    1. I laughed out loud when I read that Crystal is hogging your electric throw blanket. Every winter, I bring out my warm socks and slippers. I measure the coming of autumn and winter by the temperature of my feet. October = one sock. December = two socks. January = two socks and slippers. Sending many hugs and love back on the wing.

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  16. Rebecca, only you could start a post with “ liquid sunshine” and lead to the core of our existence in the very moment we are living! 😀 Your (Our Lucia) day sounds wonderful, cosy, creative and caring … may each day be lived thus. Hugs xx ❤️

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    1. My mother’s grandfather came from Sweden sometimes in the late 1800’s. They brought wonderful food, celebrations and traditions with them. Happy St. Lucia Lucia’s Day – a brilliant festival of lights celebration. You have said it so well, Annika – may each day be cosy, creative and caring. Sending many hugs!!

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      1. How wonderful that your Gamlamorfar came from Sweden! Do you still keep up the traditions etc? That would be so amazing … so many emigrated from extreme poverty. Have you ever read ‘The Emigrants’ by Vilhelm Moeberg? An incredible series of books that features a family as they decide to leave sweden and settle as farmers in America.

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      2. I loved Kroppkakor, which is new take on meat and potatoes. Delicious! And I love pickled herring – still a favourite of mine. What you eat when you are young leaves lasting impressions nuanced by family stories. Thank you so much for the introduction to Vilhelm Moeberg. I have just downloaded his first book and was very interested in the commentary. I know that my mother will thrilled to read these books!

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