Skip to main content

ENTERING MY BLACK AND WHITE PHASE (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 91)

ENTERING MY BLACK AND WHITE PHASE

Listening Link

This morning the air holds a hint of holly.

 

Alt text says this week’s photo is a person leaning against a brick wall. It is me and I am indeed leaning against a wall with the aim of getting used to having my photo taken. It is time for me to update some pics and my lovely wife has been offering to capture some images for me. There will be more to follow, but for now here I am leaning against a brick wall.

 

Do you ever hear an echo from the past when you are doing something in the present? This happens to me sometimes when I am having my photograph taken, and I remember being told I looked very serious once at an interview years ago and needed to smile more. Aaargh, that would be my serious, nervous face! It sometimes makes me think that this is what I am going to see when a photo is taken. It is good to face this head on (or indeed looking into the middle distance) and see how much I can move away from this. If you find me leaning on things and staring into the middle distance in the next week or so then please know I am working on building up my confidence in having my photo taken.

 

The past week had a bit of a National Trust theme. We had arranged to meet our lovely friends Sarah and Craig at a property that happened to be halfway between our two homes for a day trip. The night before, I checked I had my membership card only to find it was dated February. I then imagined a story in my head that we had been told there were no more membership cards as it was a waste of paper only to find out that we had indeed not renewed. We signed up again on the day and made use of the cards again at the end of the week to be able to spend time with my brother and his wife. There was even a poem about National Trust membership at the Crafty Crows poetry event I attended on Wednesday which made me laugh.

 

I love a walled garden to accompany a catching up with people and also enjoy asking the odd question as we go round the houses to find out a little more about the bits that intrigue or interest me. I am not really one for historical facts and dates, but I do like things! In one of the properties I saw a painting which seemed rather out of context with all the others because it was not a portrait. It featured a woman breastfeeding a man and by asking about the picture I was introduced to an ancient story that I had not previously encountered. Asking about a rather impressive lectern in a different property led to me setting a goal to find the raw materials to create something unique for poetry readings. I have set myself a year to find the right kind of stuff and can envisage a few trips to salvage yards or similar. I will enjoy sharing a photo or two when it is in existence.

 

Photos from our days out were colourful reminders of the time and space we shared and I was even able to invite my brother to tea at my house because he was staying nearby. I have been wanting to have a beer with my brother for quite some time and having expressed that wish to a friend recently it was wonderful to have that wish come true. It’s more about the time and space than the beer, but it was a delicious treat!


Here's to all the ways of finding time and space to share with others that bring pure joy.

 

Here’s a poem that was written for the joy of walking near a river and noticing how it changes according to the amount of water it carries. 

 

At Loggerheads

For The River Alyn as it flows through Loggerheads Country Park

 

Sometimes you lie dry.

Exposed furrows offer your mud

for footprints,

mosquitoes create whirlpools in the air. 

 

When you are full

your burble and flow

are in the folds of my brain

filtering my thoughts.

 

I lean over your bridge

for shadow photos.

 

You are dark. You are sparkling.

You are an almost mirror,

a depth, an ebb,

an onward.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MY YEAR IN REVIEW (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 114)

 MY YEAR IN REVIEW   Listening Link This morning it is raining and the almost unchilled air carries strong hints of green.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a collage of a group of people. It is indeed a collage and it is made from the photos that accompanied each blog post this year. I do like to take a look back before I look forward and I thought this would be one way of doing it for 2025.   When I was little I loved an annual. To me it was a book of delightful snippets collected together to be enjoyed in a period of time that involved a break from routine. I can picture myself reading in my pyjamas, the seemingly bottomless sweet tin, and the advent calendar that left its glitter on our fingers with all its doors open telling me that it was indeed Christmas Day. This week’s photo is like the cover of my 2025 annual.   This blog has been my way of building a good relationship with Mondays, and the fact there have been 114 episodes since Sept...
2 comments
Read more

LIFTED (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 108)

LIFTED Listening Link  This morning, the cool air brings the smell of hash browns as the traffic builds its familiar rush.   Alt text offers no suggestion for this week’s photo. I say it is my sister, me and my mum in the lift after coffee and before a little shopping spree. I love this moment in time from our lovely, shared day, and the fact I remembered to take a photo.   This week I learned that I am a competent pumpkin carver. Good company, a simple design idea, a whiteboard marker pen and a last-minute pumpkin purchase resulted in a Trick or Treat worthy exhibit which made me smile.   It has been like adopting a mini half-term this week... catching up with a good friend, time with family, carving that pumpkin, having a toffee apple, going to a big firework display, landing on the settee of lovely people and having a photograph taken... and perhaps there will always be echoes of school holidays even though I no longer have these as ...
Post a Comment
Read more

EVENING SUN (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 96)

EVENING SUN Listening Link    This morning, at ‘The Angel of the North’ the air smells of heather and lavender. Alt text isn’t offering a suggestion for this week’s photo, but I say it is Kath and me capturing a photo during a stroll by the river after the first day of the yarn show we attended at the weekend. After a full on day it was nice to walk in someone else’s city, and I love the way the evening sun makes the white on my hair glow and puts an extra shine on Kath’s blue. A moment of quiet in a busy world. I know that it relaxed me because I then became curious to look on a map to find out whereabouts in the country we were. When we drove up I was solely focused on being helpful with yarn type things and although I knew we were in Newcastle I didn’t have a clear idea geographically of what that meant. My phone map was super helpful and I realised how different it feels from turning the pages in a road atlas. Very helpful for putting it all in context especially for someo...
Post a Comment
Read more