Sweet phalaenopsis
blooming for a second flush
bringing me a smile
Month: January 2014
Wordless Wednesday
100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week#116
Remember the Gospel
‘I’ve always wanted to come back child’ he skimmed a pebble.
‘But where does the water go Pop?’
‘Oh now, remember that ol’ gospel song?’
Sissy remembered good, but she humoured her grandpa, ‘Don’ know if I do, can ya sing it?’
Wash away your sin
And walk with him
Down by the riverside
Won’t you wash away your sin
The crystal water of life
Will quench your thirst
Down by the riverside
If you wash away your sin
You know, I didn’t think I’d live long enough, I washed away my sin.’
‘Aww Pop, you won’t ever die, but where does the water go?’
Julia’s 100WCGU can be found here, http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week116/
Beginnings on Etna
Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and it’s been very active in the last year. When I visited in June 2013, it wasn’t possible to climb it because of the eruptions in April. I could still tour the area and the best views of Etna are possible from the 1800 metres Monti Sartorius,which I did climb.
Travelling around Etna you will see lava flow, both recent and ancient. Where there has been a flow, vegetation takes times to recover, but gradually signs of life appear through the ash.
Where there are full grown trees, they have grown through lava from way back. Christmas tree sized and the lava is not so old, and in places where there is only low growing plant life, soapworts for example, the lava is from very recent eruptions. So, the flora is beginning to re-establish itself.
Click on my photo for a closer view.
This post is for Cheri Lucas Rowlands WPC at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/photo-challenge-beginning/
Walking in the rain
When will I learn not to believe the weather forecast and to dress appropriately? Probably never, you see I have this blind faith and optimism that it won’t dare to rain on me. I hate rain, at least in daylight. The dogs were in the car and they knew they were going to the river when it began and for Dido it would be a tough decision, she wanted an adventure but she hates rain even more than I do! We decided to compromise by walking at the quay, instead of the fields.
We headed for the short cut back, on the bouncy bridge, this is why.
From there the way back is only about a mile, but the rain came sideways, the sort that gives you a headache because it’s so cold. There’s a really nice dog friendly cafe when you’re nearly back to the start, but all of us were wet, and we knew the dogs would shake off the excess as soon as they got inside, so we ploughed on. At the little blue foot bridge we had to divert because the path was flooded.
Looking back at the flooded path.
And below, there’s a path beneath the grass bank also flooded.
We headed back to our start, along the west side of the quay. Opposite, where we were before crossing the bridge, more warehouses have been made into little shops.
There are several of these Victorian lamp posts.
This one is on the canal basin, at Piazza Terracina, named after Exeter’s twin city in Italy.
And this lass does her best to lure you in for something warm.
So that was today’s walk, cut short by the rain but I hope you still enjoyed it. Dido didn’t, she looked thoroughly fed up by the time she climbed into the car!
No Small Stones
For the last two Januarys I have chosen to write a small stone for each day of the month. This year it came upon me suddenly – who knew that January was on its way? Late on New Years Day I thought about joining in and decided against it. I also looked at the idea of joining the WordPress ‘Zero to Hero’, month but again it didn’t quite fit with my goals.
Do I even have a goal for blogging? should I have one? Blogging is addictive, I absolutely love it, the never ending surprises when I open my reader, but most of all, the connections with you my dear followers.
So, rather than commit to posting every day for a month, I’ll commit to continuing, hopefully improving my posts to Lucid Gypsy this year. I love photography, but this blog didn’t set out to be about photos, I would like to write more instead. That may be my simple poetry, it will never be poetry that takes hours to write. It will never be fiction that is honed to perfection, but I hope there will sometimes be stories, perhaps flash fiction that will make you smile, or irritate you or just feel.
I will keep looking at the world around me with writer’s eyes because these eyes see some crazy sights, and I’ll try my best to show you what I see with or without my camera.
Thank you for sharing your time with me, every comment, like or whatever is a note in my gratitude jar.
Love and light, from Gypsy.
100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 115
Julia’s first prompt for 2014 is, the path ahead . . . Very timely don’t you think?
Here is my entry, a lazy poem of exactly one hundred words.
Ancestral Path
The path ahead carries the imprint of the ancestors,
wide, red and littered with rocks.
There are many diversions squeezing through tunnels
narrow tracks, and sinking sand.
The path ahead carries the footprints of my ancestors,
who crawled on their knees, jumped for joy,
and stood up for justice
on their journeys through time.
The path ahead is bleached
like the bones of the mothers,
stained with the blood of the warriors,
and flooded with the tears of the children.
The path ahead climbs through forgiveness to freedom
meandering green to air, fresh and sustaining,
to nurture my infinite descendents.
Join in with Julia’s 100WCGU at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-4/
Lazy Poets Thursday Haiku
Iris seeds
Bright pseudacorus
nourishing coastal birdlife
natures abundance
CBBH Photo Challenge: Street Art
It’s been ages since I took part in Marianne’s CBBH challenge, sorry Marianne! When I saw that street art is this months’ theme it reminded me of a day spent with friends in Bristol a couple of months ago. Cannon Street is known for its street art and I snapped my favourite work there.
Marianne says
‘Don’t forget that the CBBH Photo Challenge is a little different from some other challenges, in two ways. First, it’s only once a month – giving you lots of time to consider your entry before the end of the calendar month. Second, and most important, this is a BLOG HOP (after all, it is the CBBH – Conejo Blanco Blog Hop, meaning white rabbit in Spanish), so DON’T FORGET that in your post you need to add links to two blogs that you have visited and commented on during the past month. That way, when we visit each other, we can HOP OVER to your links, connect with others and share a little blog love around!’
And so here are two blogs that I hope you will enjoy.
The first is Paul’s Learning from Dogs, where the vision statement is,
Our children require a world that understands the importance of faith, integrity and honesty
Learning from Dogs will serve as a reminder of the values of life and the power of unconditional love – as so many, many dogs prove each and every day
Constantly trying to get to the truth …
The power of greater self-awareness and faith; faith that the only way forward for us is through the truth …’
Take a look http://learningfromdogs.com/2013/12/31/approaching-the-new-year/#comment-27800
Next is Donna from Michigan who writes as Huffy Girl. She always makes me laugh and she believes in cycling for fitness and fighting a one woman war against cheese! If you need help with health and fitness tips or just cheering up she’s your girl! Find Donna at, http://huffygirl.wordpress.com/
Join in with Marianne at http://eastofmalaga.net/2014/01/01/cbbh-photo-challenge-street-art/
Wordless Wednesday
Lucid Gypsy 