Saturday 30 April 2011

Z is for Zephyr – that is what Z is for ...


Zephyrus, the Greek God of the
west wind and the goddess Chloris,
from an 1875 engraving by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau 

The Zephyr wind prevailed yesterday keeping Boreas, the Greek god of the cold or wet north wind, at bay for the very British Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine.

Zephyrus is the Greek god of the west wind, which is the gentlest of winds and for the last month it has woven its way through the ABC stories in Positive Letters and here tells the final tale.

The Zephyr rustled the seeds of the Ash tree, floated in and around the Barn, tickled the Canal waters creating a gentle ripple; the Downs came next ... the beautiful chalk meadow flowers, including the Eyebright swayed as the gentlest of winds passed through.

Then the grip of the Forest, where the Graphite needed blowing clean, out into the fields to see the boxing Hares, ruffling the Insects wherever the Zephyr passes; another trip to the seaside to encourage the seas to keep the Jellyfish off shore.

A long Zephyr glide with the Kites as the lift takes them to the Lakes – a magnificent view ... the gentle breeze spots a moated Manor ... and dreams of history past, remembering the Naturalists it helped by tickling the flora and fauna .. so those meticulous recorders left something for the scientists of today to ponder over ...

... perhaps then as now many will sit under the teeming Oak, thinking about the world within its branches or mingled in its roots ... those Pigs of yore certainly were grateful to the generous oak ... did the ancients use their Quern stones to grind acorns for flour ... we may wonder.

The Palace of the Four Winds –
a baroque palace in Warsaw,
built about 1680.
The Zephyr finds those hidden spaces where Rare wild flowers may grow .. brushing them to ensure their seed pods spill; an Underground cavern is next - explored letting some freshness in ...

But Ratty, the Vole, is delighted to find his whiskers tickled by the Zephyr ... another lovely day for messing about in boats ... perhaps with a picnic ... after Toad, Badger and Mole have joined him in his bijou residence to watch the World and the Windsors celebrate that very British 21st century Wedding in Westminster Abbey.

The Zephyr is now sad that the Xerces Blue was not with us to enjoy the wonderful day, but the Yoke of burden must lift as the story of the Zephyr is remembered here at Happy Hilary’s positive home.  Success is attained in bringing the ABCs to their timely conclusion with the Zephyr – that messenger of things to come.

Ze end!

This is Zephyr  –  that is what Z is for ...

Part of the ABC - April 2011 - A - Z Challenge - Aspects of the British Countryside

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

29 comments:

Sue said...

Oh, Hilary, that is good! What a delightful finale. Zephyr is a word I use only rarely, but it fits so elegantly here. I'm applauding most respectfully. It's been a delight meeting you. I'm taking a break after Monday for a while, but will drop back later on. Take care. Sue

EBENEZER ADOKWEI said...

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Manzanita said...

Your final post is wonderfully clever. It's my pleasure to meet you and I wish I had found you sooner as you are a wealth of information.
Love and peace
Manzanita@Wannabuyaduck

Southpaw said...

Hilary very clever! It's a great summary of the challenge.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Wonderful ending to a wonderful challenge, Thanks for your support.
Very much appreciated.
Yvonne.

Anonymous said...

Nicely done, incorporating all of your A to Z blogs into one last post. I could feel that gentle warm west wind as I read them. We had a car called the Zephyr when I was a little kid.

Bossy Betty said...

Nice job!!! Congrats upon completing the challenge!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Sue .. thanks so much .. I was so pleased when I thought of the idea!!

Delighted you appreciated the zephyr approach .. and will be delighted to see you on your return ...

@ Ebendy .. good to see you again .. thanks for coming by ..

@ Manzanita - really appreciate this comment .. Delighted you want to stick around and 'learn' more via my eclectic postings .. it's been a pleasure linking up with you .. and definitely see you around ..

@ Karen .. thanks - delighted it meets with your approval!! Yes - it'll be good to keep in touch ..

@ Holly .. thank you - I enjoyed this post!!

@ Yvonne .. thank you - am glad I didn't think of your Zoo .. but I loved the song!! I'd have used Zoo if my head had been in gear ....

@ Stephen .. thank you .. I enjoyed this summary too .. delighted to read that the west wind gently warmed you as it breezed by ..

You're right of course .. the Zephyr - 'exotic' friends or relatives had Zephyrs .. they were American (Ford) .. and not British .. we had Morris Oxfords, Minis etc ... very British cars then!!

Thanks everyone - wonderful to see you - I'll miss seeing you everyday or so .. have to get my running shoes on to blog around as regularly as I can ..

Cheers and happy summer days ahead .. Hilary

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

I love the way you tied it all together. Masterfully done. And didn't it go by fast? Goodness, just yesterday you were talking about pigs. I love pigs.

Great A-Z challenge, Hilary. I learned a lot. Have a wonderful weekend.

LTM said...

zephyr! Good one! And you did it!!! congrats.

btw, love that shot of the palace. yay, royal weddings... :o) <3

Anonymous said...

Love your Z word and description.

My dad owned a Zephyr. A big old car in pale green, but not as lovely as your description of Zephyr! :O)

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Hilary, we did it! Congratulations! I have an award for you!!

Karen Lange said...

I love this, Hilary! You are so creative. :) The A-Z Challenge was a rousing success here at your blog. Congrats, and as always, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
Happy weekend,
Karen

Anonymous said...

There's an Award for you on my blog :O)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Joylene .. thank you! Yes - it sure went by very fast .. way too fast!! Pigs be there too .. but halfway through - seems extraordinary!

I loved the Challenge - got a bit of adjusting to next week .. and I too learnt an awful lot!! This is educating me too ...

Hope the Spring is really blossoming now for you on Cluculz ..

@ LTM - yea I did do it .. all the way to Z .. thanks - I thought I'd put the Palace of the Four Winds in .. as it seemed so appropriate for the W and Z posts .. yay for royal weddings - absolutely ..

@ Madeleine .. thanks so much. Your Dad must have been an 'exotic' .. my uncle was he had one too .. we were firmly stuck with British cars!!

My mind has opened as far as the Zephyr wind is concerned .. it's rather pretty now as it travels the British countryside ...

@ Elizabeth .. that's so kind .. we did do it - didn't we .. really appreciate the award .. I'll be over to collect ..

Cheers everyone - relax, just the catching up to do .. like rather too many blogs to look at .. but it will be fun as another blog-hop ..

See you soon and appreciate your support on here .. Hilary

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Congratulations and Cheers !!
Not only did you finish the A to Z series of blogs, but you went an extra mile and summed up the whole alphbets all over again in one entry Wow !!
I have to go back and read your older entries now, that I started reading your blogs. I will take a break from writing for a couple of days now.

Anonymous said...

Zephyrus is a very interesting "Z" word.

I love the way you ended your post... Ze end! :-)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

You did a great job working your A-Z challenge words into the final post. :)

Susan Scheid (Raining Acorns) said...

Such a lovely, clever ending to your ABCs. Bravo! A wonderful series from beginning to end.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Congratulations on completing the A-Z Challenge! It was something wasn't it?

Way to go on your final "Z" post!

Ella said...

Great Z post; congrats we finished!!!
I will have to go back and read some of your amazing posts, I missed!
I always learn something when I visit you ;-D

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Munir .. many thanks .. we all did wonders - especially the visiting around! Delighted you want to go back and work your way through ..

Munir - I don't blame you for taking a little break .. enjoy the recuperation!

@ Ron .. how lovely seeing you here .. Zephyrus .. and Ze end .. they made sense to me - I'm sure there were lots of others too - I have some rounds to make!

@ Susan .. thanks - I enjoyed this post .. it rounded the Challenge off .. and I learnt some more!

@ Raining Acorns .. many thanks - I so enjoyed writing the series .. glad to read you enjoyed it too ..

@ Sharon .. many thanks - it was a challenge - now I know!! But we can only do what we can do ..

As you so rightly say the Zephyr wind moved the Challenge on to new things for May ...

@ Ella .. we did finish didn't we .. like you I have many bloggers still to visit and read through .. but delighted you want to have another scan through .. and that you found out something new ..

Thanks so much everyone - wonderful to get your comments - enjoy May!! May Day too ... cheers .. Hilary

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Karen .. sorry slipped through somewhere .. now I've found you!

Many thanks - I really appreciate your thoughts - comments like these make life worth blogging - as do all comments.

I've had a ball ... and am delighted friends are happy to share with us all ..

@ Madeleine .. so many thanks for the award .. Fearless Followers - good one and lots of XXXXX - and hugs back ..

Cheers Karen and Madeleine .. thanks so much - Hilary

Amy @ Soul Dipper said...

Well done, Hilary! And all colour coded as well - each chosen with significance.

Love how you slipped Zephyr in so smoothly with the Royal Wedding, you clever girl!

Hope you can have your feet up a bit these days.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Amy - just had to check what I'd done for the zephyr and the RW .. now I see .. I loved the Vole bit and tickling his whiskers ..

colour coded - theoretically to match the subject .. not that easy! - but it looks pretty! My mother will enjoy seeing it - when I get to show her!

Uh! no .. feet are firmly down and getting on with a lot of other things that need addressing fast! and I must get blogging feet back too ..

I enjoyed it though .. and delighted to see you here with this wonderful compliment .. thanks so much .. cheers Hilary

Short Poems said...

Hilary very wisely done! It's a great summary of the challenge. Love it :)

Hugs
Marinela

Sara said...

Hilary -- This was a perfect ending and a perfect choice for "Z". I loved how you went back through your A-Z posts using the Zephyr wind. I hope it keeps blowing in your direction.

Well done:~)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Marinela .. many thanks .. I loved doing this post - and wanted to do it from around 'D'!!

So pleased everyone appreciates it .. good to see you -

Hugs to you and thank you - Hilary

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Sara .. thank you so much .. I was really chuffed with this post .. and actually the Vole one for Ratty and The Wind of the Willows .. but there's a little story attached to that to be told later!!

Thanks - really appreciate that you enjoyed the posts ..and that will be wonderful if the Zephyr wind continues to blow warmth and love in my direction .. and all bloggers and life around the world ..

Many thanks for the well done!! I loved doing it .. big hugs Hilary