Weaving Tapestries, Painting Pictures, Dreaming Dreams

November 2019

Beautiful night at the Romantik Hotel Mlyn in Karlstejn, Czechia, just the moonlight shining and the sound of gushing water, Not much around, I can see just a couple of lights from the road. It’s a place to come and see stars on a clear night. Tonight though belongs to the  light of the moon as it forms a glow around and turns the clouds and the water below silver.

Another beautiful full moon night spent watching the silvery river flow past my window. It’s a magical night, painted by the moon’s own palette. I could stand here for hours in the open window watching this landscape. The distant hills are covered in mists  and are discernible by their greyish tones. The sky is half dark, half lit where a cloud hangs low, the trees look like they have absorbed all the darkness of the night and stand black and stark leaving the whites and greys for the hills and the river. I count six scattered lights on the opposite bank behind the trees, probably from the street. The hardworking  denizens of  this land have long embraced their well deserved slumber, leaving the night’s beauty to an enchanted visitor. What serenity there is here, in this place. I count my blessings at being here, a place close to a town yet far off enough to give a feeling of isolation, yet not a feeling of loneliness at being cut off from civilisation, but a solitude which enhances the feelings of being one with nature, for sure as I stand writing in the cold, in this open window, I too am bathed in the moonbeams like the nghtscape before me and have become a part of it. I wonder at other places on Earth the moon is shining on now, shining on fields and forests, deserted streets and roofs of houses under which people repose in peace.  I say a prayer for peace for them, for this peace to spread in all directions, to envelop and enfold the Earth, spread to each nook and cranny, in all its four corners, and enter deep within the hearts of men displacing and dislodging all else and reign their forever.
As I write the mist has moved in from the distance,  so quickly the shades have changed,, the trees on the opposite bank are veiled, it’s hanging over the river, moving closer, adding a hushed secrecy to the landscape. It will soon  pull the covers on the landscape, I close my window before it can reach this side and creep in. It’s time to lie down, pull my own covers and surrender myself to the sleep I have been resisting, in my desire to hold on to this moment a little longer. I wish to hold on to this moment forever,. Once more I look out, through the glass, I think sleep will have to wait a while.

Tonight is our last night here. Once more though sleep beckons, I find myself by the window, mesmerized by the moonlight and the river. The window has shut out both the cold and the sounds of the river and in the silence I feel like I am the only person in a world unaware and asleep, who is keeping a nocturnal vigil, or I am the only one invited to witness this beauty. Was it serendipity that coincided our visit with these moonlit nights? I do not believe in serendipity though I like its pretty sound, nor do I believe in luck. I believe that the path is laid out for us and sights, sounds, encounters are all planned much before one is even aware of where one is going to trod. Is it a wonder I feel blessed and fortunate. Somethings one must carry in one’s hearts forever, these past days and nights have been happy and beautiful and their memories will always be treasured.