The days are shorter, closing in, I DEFY them to dampen my mood, (shouting loudly to the sun, setting earlier each night). After all, the weather is still fine, outdoor pursuits remain inviting, I just need to better manage my time, (or start wearing a head torch). I fill my house with candles, repeating an […]
I’ve been running a lot lately (summer weather does make it easier – plus there’s more daylight hours to play with around family commitments). It feels great to be out, in my own headspace, running in the sunlight. I love pushing myself to stride out faster and further (so much so that I’m signed up […]
Autumn in Santa Barbara is not like any autumn I’ve ever experienced. It feels like summer, minus the long, light evenings. But there is still a change in the air, however slight it may seem to this British born lass, used to living in windy Wellington, New Zealand, for well over a decade! There are […]
This week my ‘Prose for Thought’ contribution is derived from trying to settle two of my children into a new school, in a new country. Progress is slow and painful. My husband and I feel like we’re going through the early weeks with our first child all over again – such is the extent of […]
It’s been just over a week since we landed in L.A. We are settling in, doing all the usual necessities of any new expat; setting up bank accounts, getting ourselves some wheels, getting to know the money, the shops, the food and become accustomed to the climate (which, as we already anticipated, is very favourable). […]
It’s pretty crazy in beautiful New Zealand right now. We’ve had some big wobbles in the shaky isles, which have been rather unnerving – but that goes with the territory here! This map, from GeoNet, shows all the quakes from Friday 21 July up until earlier today (Tuesday)… Pretty crazy amount of activity. We live […]
I enjoyed a beautiful run as the sun set over the Cook Strait, between New Zealand’s north and south island. It was a perfect winter’s evening, with just enough of a breeze to support me in finding my breath and driving my step. It was the kind of evening that cannot be passed by without […]
Before I ever laid a foot in Aotearoa (New Zealand) I received the gift of a pounamu (greenstone) necklace, beautifully carved in the eternity symbol, from my boyfriend who had left England to take up a job in Aotearoa. The year was 1996 and I had planned to join him in February 1997, on a […]
Ten years ago I was labouring long and hard to bring my first born daughter into the world. This is a poem I wrote a couple of years ago, remembering her arrival into the world. ________________________________________________
The past few days in Wellington have witnessed the destructive force of nature at a magnitude not seen in decades. Debris litters the south coast, with sand dunes and sea walls obliterated, trees torn from their roots, slabs of concrete cracked and moved like putty in a giant’s hands. Many thousands of people have been […]
A poem for anyone who knows someone far away, who you wish you could help in some small way xx ________________________________________________
Lovers are never compromised by the seasons. Lovers will be lovers, what ever the weather. They will find a way to love, a way to embrace, that no elements can steal from. Today at dusk I watched two lovers, walking on the sand. The wind was cold and brisk, the waves racing onto the shore, […]
A poem about the bond that many people feel across a lifetime for special people they meet. They may not realise the depth of their bond till much later – but to recognise it, is still powerful in itself. They may not get to journey together in life, side by side, but their connection lives […]
This poem talks of the importance of remembering the way a couple, in the early stages of a relationship connect – and how, as the years roll by, on the roller-coaster of life, it is becomes ever more important to hold on tight and not forget that connectedness. ____________________________________ Linking up with…