2026
Dear Ciara,
Most days, whether I am at work or just wandering around my community, my vision is inundated with birds: peaceful doves, Torresian pigeons, sparrows, finches and munias, red-tailed black cockatoos, cuckooshrikes, lorikeets and scrubfowl. I feel blessed to live in a place with such rich and diverse birdlife. Reflecting on 2025, it was the year I first truly began to notice birds. Iād always been conscious of and interested in them, but I donāt think the depths of my interest really developed until late last year.
Iām not sure what drove this fascination: whether The Organistās mutual interest in birding sparked something in us; or whether owning our own birds taught me notice all the things birds have to offer us outside of ācan flyā and āare prettyā. Watching a bird, for example, can be such a meditative process. On my recent trip to the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, I picked up a copy of Paula Peeterās Make a Date With Nature: An Introduction to Nature Journaling. In it, Peeters describes the joy and relaxation that can emerge from watching nature (and recording it). I plan to use Peeterās ideas as a scaffold for my 2026. I want a year of absorbing myself in nature, of scribbling my observations down in a notebook and reading over them later. If you have any suggestions for quality notebooks, Ciara, please let me know.
What else do I hope for 2026? Well, all the usual things, I guess. Save money. Continue my progress at the gym. I have a small desire to learn to crochet, but I donāt think Iāll have the patience to do it. We shall see. I want to continue dabbling in learning another language. Read more. Sing more. Maybe Iāll try to write some fiction, though we both know I never finish anything I start. What have you got planned for your 2026?
The song for today is:
Love ā Lana Del Rey
Been revisiting Lanaās discography during January. I donāt love all her stuff, but pockets of it stir my soul.
Love,
The Gardener