Good Days

 

Tiger Hill, Darjeeling. 

On good days I notice the smaller things -

how the light strikes the litter, crumpled foil

bravely tries to give back. Butterfly wings.

On bad days - there are headlines on the boil.

On good days - the birdsongs. And their echoes.

How long they take to reverberate, to fade.

How the bracken on the mountain slope grows.

On bad days - the leaders and their tirades.

The waterfalls, the orchids, the lone skink.

The squirrel come to scope the balcony

as everywhere their normal habitats shrink.

The clouds offering handkerchiefs to me.

Most are good. Sometimes it's hard to discern

the exact point they end and where they turn.

The main purpose of going to Darj this time was to  get a clear view of the Kanchenjunga, which as you can tell from the image, was fully achieved.  We had several absolutely clear days, not a speck of rain anywhere, magical sunrises and sunsets, clicked everything I possibly could, so all in all - fabulous.  Much changes, and yet much remains the same. The mountains feel timeless though we know they too erode.  We went back to the old haunts - Glenary's, Penang, St Paul's School, hubby being an Old Paulite. He showed us the spots where the best views (and food!) could be had. It helps to have an insider in the team. 

I had planned to get a little introspective for this post, rounding up the year etc, but there are still three weeks left.  So still some way to go. In case you're taking time off from blogland  over the rest of the month -  season's greetings  to you and yours. Wish you the very best for the holidays and the New Year 2025.