Wilderness Whispers

19/06/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 19th June 2026

Rainbows!

Forget the science of it!

The moment when your heart opens wide. A brief snapshot when everything inside you melts into a magical moment. That instant when you are near a rainbow. Near enough to see where it lands and know that if you could just get there, you would find your ‘Pot of Gold’.

Not the riches of a material world, but riches from the sudden injection of joy from observing nature in its illuminated form.

And as the rainbow moves with our approach, our frustration does not grow. Instead, we are led to dream dreams bigger than we have had before. To have thoughts more profound than any we have ever had. We are encouraged to seek further and deeper, and that is the ‘Pot of Gold’ that every rainbow gifts to us.

Hidden in its shadow, where it briefly touches down, is a quest to be discovered. Nature begs for a covenant with us. A contract to protect the environment so that there will always be places for rainbows to touch down. Always be vistas graced with a bridge to our hearts. So that there will always be a time when nature can speak to our inner child and fill our souls with its colours.

Chase a rainbow and find the joy that is nature’s gift to you.

13/06/2026

https://www.calameo.com/read/003440111f62811669001

Fairytales with an environmental message.

12/06/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 12th June 2026

Ode to a leaf
My life is over, a time well spent
Floating down, twirling I went
I landed here, full of smiles
‘cause with the wind, I’d travelled miles
I lie softly now, ‘neath another tree
And so we chat, just him and me
We talk of nature, and things gone by
Happy tales, sad tales, make us laugh and cry
Such is life, in a garden like ours
Filled with colour to match all the flowers
And, slowly: Yes! Soil I became
But from this soil, another tree finds fame.
Another Spirit, another soul, bursts forth
Creation’s story, an unstoppable force.

12/06/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 12th June 2026

Ode to a leaf
My life is over, a time well spent
Floating down, twirling I went
I landed here, full of smiles
‘cause with the wind, I’d travelled miles
I lie softly now, ‘neath another tree
And so we chat, just him and me
We talk of nature, and things gone by
Happy tales, sad tales, make us laugh and cry
Such is life, in a garden like ours
Filled with colour to match all the flowers
And, slowly: Yes! Soil I became
But from this soil, another tree finds fame.
Another Spirit, another soul, bursts forth
Creation’s story, an unstoppable force.

05/06/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 5th June 2026

Before there was light, there was a wind that whispered over the waters. And when the light came, it was out of the darkness.

Africa, and possibly southern Africa is home to the ‘first’ nation. Long before it was written. Centuries before it was recorded, there were people whose culture and language described the wind as the ‘Breath of God.’ Their words for soul and breath were the same, and their souls rode on the wind that binds all life on earth together.

The moon has a special significance in that it is the ‘Returner’ - As I die and become new again, likewise you will die and become new again. (Khoisan culture)

How much more biblical can we get?

A moonbeam that shone on the earth was to be a witness to the birth of humanity. A glistening in the night whose silver outlines etch the magnificence of Africa. The quartz veins that shine in the night tell stories dragged from the centre of our earth, buried far beyond man's reach. Gossamer threads of the rivers carry hope. Yet even through the moonbeams, the stars of our heavens float like confetti caught in the updraughts of a heated earth.

And as the moon rises, the sharp, high-pitched howl of the Jackal greets the night. The leopard’s cough blends into the darkness, yet its eyes still catch the light of the moon as it hunts.

Whilst daylight gives us a vista of vision, one single moonbeam gives us the focus of the Spirit within us as it is formed and shaped to its full potential.

Meditate in the pool of light that the moonbeam brings. Seek the words that are written in the shadows. Count the stars and know that your blessings outnumber them, and when the dawn breaks – your soul will be ready for the world. Be the light that emerges from the darkness.

29/05/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 29th May 2026

You may have heard the sound of the wind whistling through the trees.

But there is another sound. It is the gentle breath of the softest breeze floating through the grasslands that make up the savannah, bushveld and karoo of Africa.

So soft is its sound that you see it before you hear it. The swaying dance of the tall African grass inflorescences begin their mystical movements to the timeless tune of an unheard wind. It is the job of the grasses, their sole mission, to make the wind whisper.

The moment that whisper breaks the silence, the grasslands come alive. It is the dawning of life. An epiphany of being. A soul nourishing better than that found anywhere else. The sound is like a letter from beyond, carrying with it a message of a life to be lived. It also carries a message of peace and tranquillity, without which the sounds of nature could not be heard.

And amongst the grasses are the ‘love’ grasses, soft and delicate, hearts of nature with a whisper that is the call of the wild.

The whispering wind carries with it the scents of Africa. Gathering aromas as it comes down from the mountains, over streams and rivers, sneaking over the rock-strewn Karoo, bushveld and savannah. Each unique fragrance is mixed into an irresistible perfume. Alluring and passionate, it is the Spirit of Africa.

The scent and the wind are our mentor and confessor. One to lead and the other to gently let our troubles disappear into the heat haze, where, on the horizon, earth and sky weld together with heart and soul joined in meditation.

22/05/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 21st May 2026

‘Beside still waters’

Linger beside a forest pool and listen as nature’s choir sings its hymns. The stream that feeds the pool bubbles words that take a keen ear to hear, even in the blanketed silence of my heart.

Let the hypnotic beat and rhythm lift from the waters of the feeding stream until they fill you with a rising tide of peace. Watch as the trees bend a little closer and the Robin pauses in its scurry for food. Listen as the frogs croak a little softer lest the moment there, be lost.

Water’s creatures scurry to and fro, and in the peace that surrounds, I dread to hear a voice telling me to go!

So if you pass me as I sit there, and I hold my finger to my lips, move on, move on. I have the need to linger here awhile longer, until the choirs' song is done.

And then, dear friends, I’m sure,
I’ll ask the pool to sing one more
The moss is comfy where I sit,
as my heart is warmed by nature, as if its fire is lit
Join me if you’ll sit and meditate with me
Then together we can hear the songs that nature gives for free.

15/05/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 15th May 2026

A fairy does as fairies do
From a fairy garden just for you!

Nature even adds a touch of elegance to the process of decomposition as fungal forests create a fairytale landscape that conjures up surreal and mystical images in our musings.

When I published my collection of fairytales (The Adventures of the ‘Um’s), one of my first bulk sales was to the Sunday School of the local Cathedral. The Sunday School teacher reasoned that if children can identify with fairies, who they may not be able to see, then it would be one step closer to them believing in an unseen God.

To believe in Angels, the Holy Spirit, a Risen Lord, and God all requires a dose of imagination. But to believe is not only the ability to see, but to be able to feel.
And to feel is to look at the miracle that nature lays out before us and to let that realisation flow to the very core of our existence, that there is a power greater than anything we can imagine, and we are privileged to be able to experience it!

08/05/2026

Fridayfootprints - Friday 8th May 2026

The air is filled with vibrations! Even the stars have their own unique signature of sound waves.

Calm the ripples of your soul that distort the reflection of who you are supposed to be.

As a river finds its way, so too does the wind. May you find the vibrations that speak to your inner soul. To be in a place where your soul can hear the whispers of nature told in stories, as time spent in quiet meditation allows the connection with nature’s Spirit to take place.

Speak less, lest the vibrations of your voice interfere with the frequency of creation and the tales that are there to be heard. Tales that even the stones can recite through the resonance of the earth around them. Hear the drumbeat of nature. The Spirit calls!