After the Fall

Hello there friends. I am sitting face turned towards the sun in a walled in garden just beyond the lavender fields. Their bouquets have been shorn but the bees still buzz about searching for that last dose of sweetness. So far away from tout and time but yet still vulnerable to the fist of news coming towards me through my little iphone when the signal permits.

Somehow these photos of the chapel at Vernegues, felled in the earthquake of 1903, seem appropriate for some of the thoughts rolling through my head, my heart this week with the 9/11 anniversary and the frightening upheaval over a film that is not ours but now will be. What traces remain after the fall? Where do we go during the aftershocks that are sure to follow?

I certainly have no answers in my far away garden other than to turn away from hatred. Hope rustles in the trees and I am listening.

We are most likely going to stay a bit longer in this idyllic corner of the Luberon and so I will be back to my regular posting at some point next week. Soaking up the beauty around me like a sponge and wishing for you the same during the weekend ahead!

15 comments

  1. Hi Heather! Some how I missed this post! I've been missing your unique poetry of words and pictures that transports me to another place – perhaps another time and world…where the air is a little different, the clock doesn't move as quickly and I breath deeply because the air smells so sweet. These photos are the perfect example of the mood you create, which I just love. Hope you are enjoying your time away and looking forward to hearing more about it! XO

  3. As usual Heather, your words and images offer a sort of haven. It makes turning away from the hatred in the world a little easier, or perhaps more precisely – facing it, and trying to provide a counterbalance of kindness and reason, when the sheer fatigue of the world's insanity feels oppressive.

    Thank you for this gentle respite.

  4. There are no answers to such questions, dear Heather. We will forever seek them but I think they will elude us. It is the way of the world. Continue to enjoy the peace of Luberon. That derelict little chapel has quite entranced me.

  5. You know, as I do, that this hatred is born from complete ignorance. Ignorance which is cherished by the leaders of the young & unschooled. Only in an enlightened society can you find tolerance, patience and understanding. Women in this area are the key, if only they can see how dreadful life is for their children and the unborn. We will pray about this, Heather…I will believe I am with you in the Luberon where life seems so simple.
    Sending love, sweetie…

  6. Heather, enjoy the time spend at the Luberon. What a lovely place to be at this time of year. Keep watching the bees and what remains of the lavender field. This world is abound with beauty. Let's hope for the best in the Middle East, and our prayers for those who've lost love ones in Libya. Will there ever be an antidote for hate? Religion doesn't seem to work for some.

    Happy vacation Heather!

  7. Heather, I read this while in Washington DC; actually Arlington, Virginia not far from where the Pentagon was hit on That 9/11 and where huge flags were draped along the exterior walls of nearly every building in remembrance of That 9/11. The day after, ALL flags were lowered in recognition of this week's losses. In my hotel room, CNN reported that anti-American protests were sweeping through a portion of the world. . .I felt refreshed and calmed when looking at your photos. . .it is good to be reminded of the world's peace and beauty.

  8. Heather, So good to see your post this week. What an amazing place. I would love to know more about that last photo, "Aout 1939 TEL" … That time was another era when events around the world were moving toward upheaval. Let's hope that calmer heads will soon prevail in the mideast and beyond.

  11. These pictures really are evocative of your mood and the tone of your piece. I love them and am about to share your quote in an email: "Hope rustles in the trees and I am listening". Beautiful, just like you!

  12. HOLLY COW HEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!Are you ready to move in?!!!How STUNNING Is that!Thanks for sharing!

  13. That film has me worried since so many people seem to be caught up in their violence rather then listening to the fact it isn't ours. Now there have been threats made against the US, where does the violence end. Several people have died needlessly. Your pictures are stunning and I love the first drawing, I could look at your pictures all day. They bring a sense of peace.

    Enjoy your weekend!
    XXX
    Debra~

  15. Hello Heather:
    Only the fragments remaining of a place of worship and yet still an aura of the Almighty and the feeling that Life is both infinite and yet, simultaneously, fragile.

    In these difficult times, we are conscious that tensions are rising between so many factions of society across Eastern Europe. Scapegoats are being sought and it is desperately sad.

    Drink in the peace, dearest Heather!

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