Wayside Gifts

Sometimes

when I wander along the paths around home

I receive unexpected gifts

Sometimes

it's a Tortoiseshell butterfly

Sometimes 

a patch of Poppies

enlivens a dull day beside a drab field of wheat

Sometimes

a distant Hare keeps an eye on me as I pass by

Sometimes

I notice that the Elder is now in full flower

Sometimes

it's just a rotting log that attracts my attention

Sometimes

I'm stopped in my tracks

by House Martins collecting mud for their nests

Sometimes

I'll see some Broomrape,

a strange plant which lacks chlorophyll of its own

and taps into the roots of other plants to gain nutrients

Sometimes

I struggle to identify

just which Blue butterfly I've photographed

Sometimes

there's a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee

on the flowers of the Cow Parsnip

Sometimes

(but not very often)

I find a Pyramidal Orchid lurking beside a field gate

and

they are all very welcome.

*******

And sometimes

I find myself singing a song 

that was part of the soundtrack to my life

almost half a century ago

Take care