To comeback to the blessing I quoted a few blogs ago:

“Let what distracts you cease. Let what divides you cease... Let there be an opening into the quiet that lies beneath the chaos, where you find the peace you did not think possible and see what shimmers within the storm.” – Blessing in the Chaos, Jan Richardson

Whilst more rain and storms hit the UK, out here in the Azores we’ve finally had an ‘opening into the quiet’, enjoying some weather ‘highs’ … patches of calm, sunny and increasingly hot days are contrasting with cooler and cold evenings/nights. We are slowly edging ever closer to spring here on the islet and getting longer and longer glimpses of the possible summer weather to come! But for now the day-night contrasts bring back many memories of other times and places – wrapping up warm for evening sundowners, but shorts and t-shirt in the day.

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It is a delight to finally have some decent weather! For the house it means our solar panels have been keeping us well stocked with charged powerpacks, phones and laptops (for both work and film use!). It has also given a chance for the boat to cross (several times!)! Bringing news, friendly faces and lots of drinking water, fresh veggies and above all chocolate supplies! After carrying 40 bottles of 6l drinking water up to the house it was time for a swim! (For Jodie and I the first… and maybe last… of the year! (semi joking…)). It was cold but the water so clear and lovely to feel clean after a sweaty workout carrying everything to the house. In the field it has meant we’ve been getting more external and internal cameras out, catching some of our remaining chicks fledging… we are down to 7 chicks now and more due to take to the air soon enough! The little shearwater egg count has become higher than our chick count as more little shearwater pairs return to lay for their breeding season and more of our stormie chicks fledge!

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Another of the chicks we’ve grown especially fond of fledged recently – this chick’s parents were the last pair we GPS tracked earlier in the season and so we have been keeping an especially close eye on it as it neared fledging and enjoyed watching it’s indecisive manor at the idea of it leaving the safely of its nest… We decided to compile another film including some of the internal and external footage/antics :).

To come back to the title of this weeks blog…

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‘Yet another lovely day’ is a family quote spoken by my Granny when she visited my parents and I in South Africa, 6 months into an 18 month drought… compared to the UK, the drought heat, I’m sure, was a beautiful change, but not for the locals or wildlife. This phrase has struck me again in the last few weeks where, no matter how beautiful and calm the outside world might be, it was not a reflection on my internal mental health state (no matter how cheering the sun and heat is – because it sure is!). Mental health is something that is being increasingly talked about and I’ve found over the last few weeks the active acknowledgement and sharing of where I truly am at breaks the hold of the confusing and incapacitating lack of energy, ability to process stuff and confidence. It is a privilege to be journeying this rollercoaster of PhD life and life in general surrounded by my amazing team, supervisors, fellow PhD’ers and friends and family further afield – thank you to you all!

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For me as a Christian… I can but come back to God, who is an ever present rock… “You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you, because they trust you. So, trust the Lord always, because he is our Rock forever.” (Isaiah 26:3-4). So as the chaos within calms and the winds and waves outside start to pick up again, I can but sing… “Through the calm and through the storm [God is] sovereign over all” (Cornerstone, Beth Croft, Soul Survivor).

Until next time,

Hannah 🙂

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