That he was both censorious and pious I quickly discovered from the first page of the introduction, for after a reference to ‘this rude lumpe and confused heape’… ‘wherein Wickedness superabounds and as it were forceth God to withhold the rain, to send the Mildew, the Caterpillar, and other his inferiour officers to correct us.’
-Vita Sackville-West quotes from a mysterious seventeenth century leather-bound book she found belonging previously to Mr. Francis Wright of Nottingham.
The river mist has just debuted itself and the moon is still out. It’s struggling to keep its glow against a pale morning sky. I want to stay in my warm bed but the birds begin to call me. So forcing myself up, I venture out on my morning walk and I’m soon reminded why it’s truly a magical way to start the day.
Metaphorically speaking, when “wickedness superabounds” and God is forced to withhold the rain, and instead sends mildew and caterpillars in order to “correct” you, a morning walk will surely do the trick to guide you to the way of “correctness”.
There is an invisible magic that occurs during the wee small hours of the morning. During the day the sun helps the plants take in carbon dioxide by way of photosynthesis. But at night when the sun has set, the plants and trees let out one long invisible breath of fresh oxygen. So the sooner you get out there and breath in, breath out, the better you’ll probably feel. Incorporating a walk into your daily morning routine will do wonders also.
Walking for me is meditative. I find that because I’m a writer of fiction, the peace and quiet of dawn helps to bring focus to my stories and solidify my concepts. I listen to some music or listen to the birds or the rushing river. It helps bring me back to the place I need to be. Center, balance, purity, beauty, magic, love – it is all there just waiting to be plucked from the atmosphere, and hopefully soon God will see my correctness and send the rain once more.
BOOKS AND LOST STORIES 