Goosanders and chai tea

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This Saturday, for the first time in a weekend while, I had time to do nothing much and so spent as much time as possible outside, walking by the river. It was cold enough to make my face feel rather stiff but the rewards were some wonderful bird encounters. Firstly I saw a brown and shaggy headed female goosander gulp down a writhing, shining fish… as her jealous mate motored across the water in an unsuccessful attempt to seize the treat for himself. Go girl! When researching goosanders online later, I came across this wonderful image by local photographer Nick Leslie of a River Dart goosander female and chick…a little unseasonal I know but irresistible…

Soon afterwards Ian spotted a little egret fishing in a sheltered, stoney pool and we lingered in the freezing cold to watch this exotic and elegant bird, also known as the night heron or Indian darter. While looking for egret images, this time I discovered a beautiful antique book by Oliver Goldsmith. Published in 1870 with the rather inspiring title of “A History of the Earth and Animated Nature’, it features drawings by James Stewart, such as this print of various members of the crane family including the little egret with its delicate white plumage and striking combination of black ‘stockings’ with bright yellow feet!

As we turned and headed for home, the walk concluded with the ever magical flash of kingfisher blue as this small and speedy bird swept over the water towards Staverton bridge. What a blessing to live in this  place and alongside such inspiring fellow creatures.

It was quite a different day from last Saturday, which I spent labouring over a hot urn in the Steiner Fair Chai Cafe. Although a less spacious experience, it was still inspiring to be alongside a wonderful team of  fellow human creatures. One of the great things about the school is experiencing the range of creative talents people bring. We had a fantastic team cooking authentic Indian food from scratch (and from local, organic ingredients) and brewing spicy chai tea, while others had painted Bollywood posters and filled the cafe rooms with colour, flowers and live music.

In the afternoon, I went straight from the cafe to the Kindergarten ‘Angel Garden’ to spend two hours terrifying small children as the resident (and strongly curry scented) angel. I wasn’t sure if I had discovered my true vocation…or had been transported into a bizarre comedy show. There were moments of real delight in meeting the children and being in this extraordinary position of representing in some small way a force of goodness and blessing in their eyes. There were also some painfully comedic moments, such as when one of my wings fell off…or when my attempts to gracefully pluck a golden star from the muslin covered heavens and draw it down to the carpeted earth, resulted in my singeing the other wing in a nearby tea light, adding a powerful smell of burning to the heady aroma of curry! So it’s back to angel school for me….