Six Degrees of Separation: from Normal People to …

For the last couple of months I have created a chain for Kate’s Six Degrees of Separation but not managed to post it.  There is a risk of another month passing in the same manner.  So without further ado, here is my chain for June.  The background to Six Degrees can be found here.

I was careful to avoid reading anyone else’s chain before mine was complete and as usual, I marvelled at the variety and the creativity of the contributors.  Mine had no intentional themes, though it does circle around quite neatly which is always satisfying. Continue reading “Six Degrees of Separation: from Normal People to …”

The View from Here: walking in the writer’s footsteps (part 2)

Continuing from Part one

Photographs with a different colour palette this time (bar one).  Taken within half a mile of home.

Time passed.  April stepped aside gracefully; May burst onto the scene.  And I have adapted.  Same walks, different perceptions.  I lose my fear of emptiness.  I see the flowers erupting along the lanes.  Bluebells and stitchwort, dandelions and celandines.  Dainty violets and bold purple orchids.  Tardy primroses, still tucked shyly in nooks and crannies and the delicate white spheres of wild garlic which proliferate along stretches of shady pathways. Continue reading “The View from Here: walking in the writer’s footsteps (part 2)”

The View from Here: walking in the writer’s footsteps (part 1)

this has been a spring like no other but not because the sun has been shining

What follows is a compilation of fragments written or thought about as we wend our way through early spring.  Too short and disjointed as individual posts, the final compilation proved too unwieldy.  In the spirit of compromise – one post in three parts. 

The photos are from an evening walk mid-May when everywhere glowed pink as the light faded.  Pink – the colour of compassion and understanding.  

pink

It came as no surprise to learn that in the UK, May 2020 has been the sunniest and driest for over a century.  May is one of my most favourite months.  I began, mid-month, waxing lyrical to myself on the glories of the wildflowers and the Cornish spring – for surely this has been the earliest spring and the most marvellous year for the flowers?  Then I noticed drafts of posts from past years, some published, some not, but all centred around the wonderful month of May and how this year or that year has brought forth one of the finest Mays I’ve seen.   It gave me pause for thought.  Is there really a need for yet another paean to this most beautiful moment in our calendar? Continue reading “The View from Here: walking in the writer’s footsteps (part 1)”

The View from Here: Remembrance and Hope

… as the afternoon passes and the sun breaks through the clouds at last, I shall raise a glass to this imperfect but beautiful world.

VE Day.  Victory in Europe.  75 years since Churchill informed the country of Germany’s unconditional surrender.  Outside it’s calm and overcast.  One of those shrouded, melancholic mornings which often find me pensive and questioning.  Perhaps that’s what lies at the bottom of these musings.

Of course we owe a huge debt to the men and women who collectively brought about this event and they should rightly be remembered.  But this day means different things in different parts of Europe, and did not mark the end of the war, which continued across the Pacific.  Celebrations in some parts of the world, reminiscences of a different kind in many others.  And as things are, the majority of commemorative events planned this year cannot happen anyway.  Continue reading “The View from Here: Remembrance and Hope”

The View from Here: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

May there be rainbows in your skies too

May 1st.  May Day.  Beltane.  International Workers’ Day.  At a more local level, May 1st is replete with traditions.  Padstow ‘Obby ‘Oss and Helston’s Furry Dance are well known but there are plenty of others, particularly in this south-eastern corner of Cornwall.  But not this year. Continue reading “The View from Here: Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

The Go-Between by L P Hartley

FictionFan, Rose and I agreed to each post our thoughts on this novel today and compare our responses.  Despite a three-month window in which to prepare, I am of course writing at the last minute with little time to reflect.  And perhaps this is a good thing because I know that I could reflect on this book for weeks and a post about it would be the subject of endless edits and revisions to the point where quite possibly it never got posted at all. Continue reading “The Go-Between by L P Hartley”

The View from Here: Christmas in a Box

… much as I love Christmas and despite the melancholy which often accompanies the passing of the season, all good things should draw to a proper close before they outstay their welcome

Epiphany.  A favourite word. Today is the Christian Feast of the Epiphany – the reveal of Christ by the Magi – and an occasion marked by tradition and celebration in many countries as well as by religious services.  Today is also known as Little Christmas among Irish and other Christians when men traditionally took on the household duties for the day and women spent the day together.  Mostly I think of it as the day after Twelfth Night: the end of the twelve days of Christmas and the day by which decorations must be taken down and put away. Continue reading “The View from Here: Christmas in a Box”

WWW Wednesday 16/10/19

IMG_1384-0WWW Wednesday is currently hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.  Each week there are three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I was so late with this last week that I thought maybe I would skip today’s post.  But here I am, all good to go, so why not… Continue reading “WWW Wednesday 16/10/19”