There is a roundtrip walking path around a large governmental estate. The estate is surrounded by a high wire fence. There is even a barbed wire at the top of it. The sight of it used to bother me at first, but not anymore. My husband and I now fully enjoy walking through a forest. It is a most magical place. The forest extends both behind the wire fence, which is on the left of the walking path, and there are also woods on the right side of the hiking route. One thing we like to observe are tree leaves caught in the fence. To me it seemed thinkable that a leaf would fall from a tree and would get...

My husband and I have been listening to lectures by Anthony de Mello, a spiritual teacher and psychotherapist from the former century. One of his teachings is to commune with nature in order to be able to observe the wonders of creation. Watching nature shows us how insignificant we are in the vast universe. And if we are insignificant, so are our worries and other emotions. My husband and I have done nature walks for as long as we can remember, but newly we pause now and then to observe something interesting on the way. Once we spotted a little gray snail climbing up a branch of a low bush. Of course,...

This is the title of an exhibition in our capital Ljubljana, more precisely at the National Gallery of Slovenia. I went there with a dear friend. And it was spectacular. I am no sculptor or painter, let alone a historian of art. So, I must warn you that the following sentences are no critique or evaluation of the exhibits. They are merely my most intimate impressions, my humble thoughts and feelings, triggered by the masterpieces on display. First, I was thrown in a sea of baroque angels, presumably all very similar. I should have concentrated on their variety, but I have not, regrettably. It is...

Right above a river meander There crawls a fire salamander. Seen only on rainy damp days It shows you its unique ways.   You’d not expect from the creature To show you a yoga feature. Yet it does the cobra pose As beautiful as a rose.   Just like a rose has its thorns It’s poison that the animal adorns. Don’t touch the fire salamander, Just watch it from a far and wonder.   Take care, Helena Smole, author of: – a fantasy novel with romance Vivvy and Izzy the Dwarf: A series about relationships – Balancing the Beast, a book offering a bright view of schizoaffective...