Skip to main content

LIFTED (Episode 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 an absolute in my working life. It certainly felt good to celebrate those echoes this week and mark the time of year with a mini pause.

 

Recently, I found myself dithering, or, as I now like to call it, playing a game of ‘Decision Tennis’. I felt the need to google that term to make sure I hadn’t inadvertently stolen it from someone, and I don’t think I have, but please someone correct me if I am wrong. I rather like it because for me it sums up that feeling of not dedicating time to getting my thoughts in order which then results in experiencing the to and fro tennis game of ‘I think I will’ / ‘No, actually, I won’t’. It’s the kind of thinking that tells you it needs attention because it’s still there when you wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes during this kind of thinking my brain seems to sort things out in the background and then serve me the answer in a sure and powerful ace, other times it plays on like a tiring rally. This time a coaching conversation arrived just at the right moment to help me explore my thinking out loud and end the ongoing rally.

 

Last night I saw a prowling fox underneath a waxing moon in a wide dark sky, and it got me thinking of full moons. I stood still for a moment and remembered the year I stood in silence under each full moon before writing it a poem. This week’s poem was written back then...

 

BEAVER MOON

 

We stood under the sky

knowing the moon 

would soon be full,

finding fireworks to match 

those moments that have us breathless.

 

I told you that beavers are rodents –

the second largest after capybaras.

You said you didn’t even know they were rodents.

 

I told you that my favourite firework 

is the jellyfish that comes 

after the Roman Candles 

which follow that rapid explosion 

of rocket after rocket.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SOMEBODY’S MISSING (Episode 82)

 SOMEBODY’S MISSING     PodBean Link for those who like to listen  This morning the air has been sung in fresh by the dawn chorus. It carries hints of green and fuchsia.   Alt text suggests that this week’s photo is a person sitting on a lawn with flowers. I say it is a photo of my lovely dad and the flowers we chose to celebrate his life at his funeral.   This is the first new month that has started without my dad being here. I’ve learnt that I want to tell everyone what I learned from him. I’ve learned that one of the best things I can think of to do right now is carry forward the very special parts of him to the best of my ability. I’ve also learned that writing some of this down in a poem felt right, but that reading said poem when we gathered together to say goodbye to him required a large hanky and plenty of time for deep breaths.   I am so glad he came into my life when I was young and built us a family to be proud of. There’s so muc...
Post a Comment
Read more

STEPPING OUT FOR SNOOKER BY THE SEA (Episode 74)

STEPPING OUT FOR SNOOKER BY THE SEA  PodBean Link for those who like to listen...    This morning the rain brings a gentle dampness, and the air holds the scent of sap and twigs.    Alt text says this week’s photo is two women taking a selfie. I say it is me and my sister taking a selfie having learned that it is best if we both sit down. When we stand side by side for photos she looks far taller than me and the photos seem a little out of balance. She says I have shrunk. She couldn’t see me at the railway station when she arrived for her visit, and I found myself standing on tip toes and waving a big double handed wave, so perhaps I might just have to measure myself to find out if I have indeed shrunk a little!   We first met up to watch the snooker a year ago, and before this I had never watched it live. We saw Gary Wilson’s 147 break, and laughed at my sister’s impression of me telling her I was suffering from shin splint...
Post a Comment
Read more

TWO SISTERS AND A COW (Episode 80)

TWO SISTERS AND A COW   PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning the air brings the distinct smell of cut grass. The birds have turned up their dawn chorus songs these last few days and are welcoming the mornings with a vigour that is admirable.   Alt text tells me this week’s photo is ‘two women taking a selfie in front of a cow’. I say it is my sister and I on a country walk encouraging a cow to be in our photo after we have told it how beautiful we think it is.   I have been reminded about a couple of things on recent walks:   Number one: Being dehydrated is not good for me. I often talk to the creatures I see on my walks, but when I was dehydrated recently I became judgemental and called a squirrel naughty and told a sheep it looked like a badger. My sister recounts school days where one orange squash drink and maybe a metallic sip from the water fountain were her drinks for the day. How much better we are at hydrating now. I kno...
Post a Comment
Read more