ONE WHITE DAY IN JANUARY…

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by Arundhati Basu

…I decide to resurface. Why, you may ask, after all this time. Truth be told, I have been missing you lot, a lot. And so here I am, sat by the window, writing and staring out from time to time, taking in the vast swathe of a snow-clad landscape, speckled with the wintery rusts and browns of these withered woods that stand around us.

Adi and I set up house in Upstate NY. A house with room for a couple – and their friends and family when they visit. As it goes for me with most anything, it has been named. Gulls’ Nest. Because two wonky gulls live here. It has been a wholesome feeling, the process of dressing it up day by day. Naturally, it makes me wonder aloud — why had we not done this before now. Then again, as is my wont, I answer my own dilemmas. Every little thing in life comes into its own at its own given time. We humans just gotta to give in, once in a while, and go with the flow. Talking about which, I must confess that I decided to strike at the flow of my own life and make a change. I have taken up a full-time job in an industry that I have known nothing of before now. Every day is a new day and I am in the process of learning new things. The brains are engaged and energised. There are good days, there are bad days, as it would happen in any job. But I am growing into these new shoes.

It will be three months soon, of trying to fit in everything that I want to do, within the scope of my waking hours. Like getting in some artwork. I have been working on a large watercolour of ballet dancers for the last three months, and it frustrates me that I am not getting it where I want it to be. But that is the challenge of working on watercolours. They rarely behave. On the writing front, I want to start work on a new book. I have half-baked ideas. The challenge is to make myself write some every day. The one constant in my new life, that I have clung to like a limpet, is reading. I fear I would lose my sanity without having a book to fall back upon, when I am sat by myself in the break room for the designated half-an-hour of lunch.

Thus goes this new phase, which I am getting used to, by and by. The most rewarding part of my days are the early mornings when I wake to some of the most glorious sunrises I have ever witnessed. The skies start off on a rosy-cheeked note, till slowly a streak of red appears, and it keeps spreading till the whole horizon seems like it’s on fire. These for me are moments of quietude and wonder, of counting my blessings. And watching the wanderings of a family of white-tailed fawns that roam our patch of land, trying to forage through the cover of snow that coats the grass. They nibble on our rose bushes and I let them. Only once a while, I play. I walk out and ask them to sod off. At which they trot away, looking almost guilty, like little ones told off. And so life goes on for me, with the refrains of nature on repeat, sounding the gong of each day.

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Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

30 thoughts on “ONE WHITE DAY IN JANUARY…”

  1. Well, hello there, Arundhati –
    Being a ‘Yellow Team-member with my blog, it is not quite that easy to be forgotten! But yes, you have been missing out on me for quite some time! Approximately 4 or 5 months I believe? But I never lost faith in you, girl! You are a traveller, and you will need to feel the digital air under your wings from time to time!
    As for myself I was told that support for the ‘Old classic Editor’ would be taken down sometime late 2021, so – I chose to reduce my activities by something like 75%.
    Why work on a project that would be taken away from me? But – today I was informed that WP possibly have had a change of heart and decided to keep going with this editor for a while yet. To make sure, I have asked for a verification that my information is correct! This happened only today, so – no answer received as yet!
    But I do think you wil find a lot of pictures that you have not seen before, Something that may give you a bit of inspiration with your water color paintings?!
    I’m enclosing a couple of links I think you will appreciate:
    https://seenorway.wordpress.com/2020/08/25/the-voeringfoss-waterfall/
    https://seenorway.wordpress.com/2020/08/24/maurset-panorama/

    Why these? Because they are far larger than usual! You need a really large screen, or you will have to scroll to take it all in – even after you have clicked for extra size! And please don’t forget to utilize my ‘Index’ (An available hyper link at the end of any post you care to open!)

    Yes, I can imagine the change in sunsets/sun-up’s where you live these days. The further North you go, the more colors you will find! If you are painting sunsets or sunrises with your water colors, please try out my small dialogue box (right side on my front page) and insert the word ‘sunrise’ or ‘sunset’ before you hit on the
    ‘Enter-button’. Now you will be presented with thousands of pictures from such events!
    You could also try ‘Hardanger Plains’ for more nature scenes? There are nearly 8 500 pictures published here now! (All ‘full screen’)
    You are welcome to paint any scene you like!

    I’m not sure how long I will remain active here (turning 85 on Monday! :-), bur if my information gets confirmed, I will try to stay on a bit longer!
    Nice to hear from you again! But you need to drop in more often than this. I might forget who you are! 🙂
    Hugs!
    Svein

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    1. Svein, hello hello. I hope you do remain active because you seem to love blogging and sharing your photography with all of us. What’s more, it is deeply appreciated.

      The new editor is not a tough nut to crack. It is all about using the blocks with text and media content. The wp folks can help you out if you reach out to them via live chat.

      I might just take you up on your offer of using your photographs as inspiration for my watercolours. Your thoughts are much appreciated. Hope there is going to be a nice cake for your birthday, along with plenty of good food.

      I will make sure you don’t forget me by popping in now and then. Bye for now then. Be well. *hugs back

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      1. For me, a highlight of 2021 was my visit the French port city of Cherbourg, to see where my father departed as an emigrant in 1928, and where he returned on a business trip just three years later.

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      3. Yes, I learned lots of things about Cherbourg, such as why Vauban suggested making it into an artificial harbor, why the Titanic stopped there without my grandfather on board, why the foreign shipping lines all stopped there but the French ones didn’t, why so few people were turned away at Ellis Island, etc.

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  4. Wow! That last photo was amazing! It looked like an apocalyptic world about to explode while the deer ambles along without notice. Glad to hear that a new job and “Gull’s Nest” is keeping you busy! Take care – Neek

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  6. Hi again, Arundhati –
    There is however a small problem tht younger people easy seem to ignore: During life we are all taking in a number of different medicines! These are not ‘pure’ but entail a number of supporting chemical we now little about, but – nevertheless they are stored in our bodies. Some go away over time, but others do not! Over time they
    may interact with each other and even with new medicines and creat the so-called ‘cocktail-effects’ we know less about. Have you ever wondered a bit over Alzheimer?
    Parkinson? Dementhia? Where are they coming from? Why?
    It does something to us when we get older! You may tell me one thing today and tomorrow it may all be forgotten! In some cases I forget within hours!
    Then it becomes a tough job to learn about a ‘block editor’, or to make use of something one do not understand. What you have read in a book / mail has gone by
    a couple of hours! Unfortunately! Then facts of today! Fortunately things we learned in our youth still seem to stick with us! (And save us from trouble several times aday! 🙂 This is life! Cannot do anything much about it! And I think most of us at some point will arrive in the situation. Others die long before . . .

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  7. Good luck in your new location and job. I remember wondering when in upstate NY why so many gardens had bare lawns and no flowers. Perhaps the wildlife has something to do with it!

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    1. Hello there, thank you for your wishes. How are you doing and is blogging going strong for you still? I am hopping over to your blog after. At ours, despite the deer, the lawn is lush in summer. We have worked on it vigorously. Now we have to get our plants in order. The landscaper advised us to wait a year before we go sowing seeds. I don’t feel like blocking the wildlife out, for we are intruders in their territory. Wishing you a good Sunday before another week begins. Cheers!

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      1. Yes I know what you mean with the wildlife. Can’t say I have green fingers though and no deer excuse! I have some more blogs to write on Suffolk. Must start again soon. Restrictions are being relaxed here so hopefully we don’t get another variant to scupper things.

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      2. Hah. We are muddling through the process of gardening. It is fun. Just a bit wary of meeting garden snakes (and I have encountered a few while running outside). Write on… I enjoyed reading your last post on Suffolk. On the Covid front, I am hoping this is the variant that makes it as common as flu and something we can relegate to the back of our minds while going about our daily lives.

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      3. Snakes – I hadn’t thought of them 😬. I’d let nature take its course! Yes, let’s hope covid settles to a level that an annual vaccine sorts it. I think Southwold was my favourite place in Suffolk. Already done that blog. Must crack on with the rest!

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  8. Hello mam’ji! SO nice to see you here. (I go to IG once in a blue moon.)
    Congrats on the house and the job! Fantastic. I hope you will tell us some day what the job entails.
    Phir milenge…
    🙏🏻

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      1. Retail is good. I am glad you are working. In this day and age, except for old retired people like me, working is important. Do you like your new job and job environment?

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      3. It’s important to like one’s job. Life is to short. Which reminds me I still have your book on Kindle… Need to start. E-books will be the death of me. I shall read it. Promise. Scout’s honour. 😉

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      4. Nothing but an actual book will do it for me. But I know e-readers have a fan base because of the convenience factor. Thank you for purchasing the book. I appreciate the gesture.

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