Refreshing the Wells 6

Last night I watched the documentary ‘Into the Abyss’, by Werner Herzog, exploring the lives of two murderers on death row. You can watch it here, for a little while at least.

There was much about it that was disturbing, but one thing struck me more than anything else. A relative of one of the victims attended the execution of one of the men. She says, “He looks at us, and he says, ‘I forgive you.’ “

She touches her chest. Her voice drops to a whisper. “He forgave US.”

I thought, “You are filled with horror.” I’ve used those words before, but this woman sat there, truly filled with horror.

Here’s Dawn Meredith:

“I find walking our two border collies replenishes me, as does coffees with my pals and gardening. It has everything really – invigorating digging (if you want) or the excitement of planting out something new and watching it grow. The gentleness of the daily nurture seeps into my head, soothing the savage beast within. The rhythms of walking seems to help unlock things in my head and relaxes my body too. I often meet people or see things which spark off ideas or just reinforce my part in this lovely community. I believe getting back to nature, being in the natural environment in some way, is vital for us as humans and something we can easily overlook while we’re tearing around getting things done. I started a blog for daily thoughts a couple of weeks ago. would be interested in what you think of it. I wanted to express things which didn’t seem to fit my writing blog, which has lots of kid traffic too. http://notetoselfdailythoughts.blogspot.com.au/

On my most recent walk I particularly noticed sounds – the dog collars jingling, the old girl’s back claws scraping on the concrete path as she got tired, a chainsaw, kids getting ready for school, shouting to each other to get in the car etc., even the sound of my own breathing as the path became steep on ‘heartbreak corner’, the train brakes whistling gently as they’re released and the train moves out of the station, dogs barking messages to each other as i walked up their street. I guess it’s easy to focus upon the sights and feelings when you’re writing a scene, but sometimes a single sound can convey so much more.”