Beauty
So earlier this evening, at a few minutes to seven, we (my parents and I) were standing in the common corridor outside our flat with our wonderful neighbours. There was a lovely breeze blowing, and the evening sun had turned the forest on the hill golden (though it's not very clear in this picture), and every now and then birds would fly past. A couple of times, little groups of tiny golden birds flew past, flowing in and out of place and yet not breaking fomation, and we could hear the wind rustling the trees, mixed with birdsong and the occasional sound of a car. And it was so utterly beautiful.
Moments like these often remind me of The Lord of The Rings. Specifically, of Tolkien's description of Lothlorien, the Golden Wood; the trees really do look golden at such times, and it seems as though if I wander deep into them I will find trees with talans or platforms in them, and Elven archers guarding he entrance to Lorien.
And beautiful moments like these also make me feel so lucky to be alive.
Earlier, the tea party conversation had turned to things like the dangers of Third World countries, and syndicates who kidnapped children and harvested stem cells and organs for illegal trade, and a real life example of a couple the neighbours knew, who had lost both their children at the Hong Kong Disneyland; their five-year-old son had gotten lost and while panicked and looking for him, they had entrusted their eight-month-old baby girl to a 'plain clothes policeman' standing just outside the police station, who'd assured them he'd take care of the baby while they looked for their son before making a report. After a fruitless search they'd returned to find the man gone with their baby, and the policemen inside the station told them no such policeman existed. They'd been cheated out of both children and had gone nearly mad with grief. And we also discussed cases of baby girls being killed in India and China, and Indian brides being killed because of things like dowry. And I wondered at what humanity was capable of.
But the wind and sun and birds and trees were so peaceful, and beautiful, that it calmed me too. It doesn't really change things, of course, but... yes, horrible things happen in the world. But there's still beauty left in the world too. And that still makes it worth it to be human, to live.
Both pictures make up about half the view from the east-facing windows in our house, and the view from the common corridor connecting our flat and the neighbours' flat.