22nd April

22nd April 2020

A Virtual Writing Morning

I was delighted , this morning to be able to link up with The Writer's Hour via Zoom.
Isn't Zoom a wonderful tool at this present time?

There were more than seventy of us in the meeting.
I tried to link up yesterday, but technical difficulties got the better of me,
so today I was determined not to be beaten.

With my husband's tablet - my laptop is too old,
apparently - I was signed up just in time for the 8.0 am start.

We introduced ourselves and sent messages in the chat to say
 what we hoped to do in the hour.
" I'll be journaling," I wrote, others said the same.
Some were working 
on chapters in their books and still more were writing posts on their blogs.
At 8.05 we were muted and set to work. I found it so interesting,
like being in a huge workshop together.
I could see some of our group on the screen, about twenty.
They all had heads down , beavering away, which gave me the impetus to start
 and to continue to the end.
But I found that an hour is too long to be journaling. I lost interest after
half an hour, which is the usual time I would give to my "morning pages".

So, tomorrow, I plan to be better prepared, maybe start with my journal ,
 but have either my blog or, if I feel brave enough, my memoir at hand as well to
keep me busy for the whole time.
It will be good practice to work for an hour at a stretch. It's not normally how I
do things, unless, of course I get so into the writing that I forget the time . Don't
you just love those times.

A little bit straight form my journal this morning:

But I will  take one step 

at a time,

one after another, just one

no rush.

Sometimes that step will be

a baby step, imperceptible,  

but it'll be there.

One step after another

and in the end

I'll have gone a mile

And that mile will turn 

into two.

The pilgrimage will end,

but not till I take

my last breath.

Only God will count 

the  steps.

Only God will know

 how many miles.

I will just take each step

one at a time.

And I will enjoy each step

As if it's going to be

the only one

I will ever take.

 Till next time...

Lively

                                                                                            11th Oct 2016

Again, thank you to everyone who is reading and commenting on my poems for the challenge. It's now day 11 and I don't feel my muse anywhere near. So I am just writing ...
I am a little disappointed as I was unsuccessful getting a place in the London Marathon. I will, hopefully continue with the training and try again next year.
Also, I can concentrate on preparing for Our Camino Pilgrimage . More about that later...

Lively

Didn't go for  run today.

Energy levels low - hadn't slept - could have curled up on sofa 

And gone off, but instead, at request of other half

Went for walk,

A brisk walk along the cliff, with sea air refreshing brain cells.

They don't say it's healthy living by the coast for nothing.

After an hour time to go home,

But me, I'm lively now and could continue for another hour.

Maybe I'll run tomorrow.

It's a Day For Hats

 
                                                                                                                                    
 11th September


It's a Day For Hats

Two little dogs appeared first, busy in their work of  following scents, nearly tripping us up on the bend. Their owners weren't far behind, a jolly pair, laughing, calling the dogs. "Ah, it's a day for hats", he stopped in front of us, giving us no choice but to join him in conversation. His observation was spot on. 

The four of us were all wearing hats of different sorts . And , what's more, thinking about it, weren't most people we saw also wearing hats. 

Not a lover of hats for myself I had put one on this particular morning because it was another  hot, sunny day and my lips had burnt too many times in the previous weeks . So my hat was wide rimmed and pulled down to protect as much of my face as possible. My husbands hat, only used to cover the ever growing bald patch on his head, was smaller. The couple, who were now settling in for a full blown get together, wore matching baseball caps.

But wearing hats was as far as the similarity went with regard to us and these two. Out for a stroll while the dogs had a run they  wore crocs, loose clothing - her , a dress, him, light shorts and matching shirt. They looked as if they might go home and open a bottle of prosecco with friends whilst enjoying a barbecue.
We , on the other hand looked as if we were on a long walking trek - walking boots, with proper thick socks hanging folded over the top, my husband carrying a rucksack and wearing long shorts reminiscent of the 1940's. And we both had good sunglasses, important if you're going to be out all day.

We were half way through a seven mile walk when they delayed us with idle chatter about the weather and the fact that we didn't have a dog, but we did like to walk. They found that the most strange thing,as if there would be no need to go for a walk if you didn't have a four legged friend to take.
Laughing to ourselves we left them and pressed on.

The whole point of our walk was to see how long the seven miles that we'd mapped out would take us, so any distractions were avoided if possible. 
This short trek was the start of our preparations to do the Camino Way Pilgrimage, which will be about 500 miles walking over 42 days -that was easy to write, lets see how easy the actual doing of it will be. 
Today's 7 miles took two hours, a reasonable pace, I think, at 3.5 mph.
We learnt:
 that we can easily keep the pace up and plan to gradually lengthen the distance over the next few months.
that we need some better, thicker socks.
that it's vital that you look after your feet.
that it's important to have enough water with you.
that it's not easy to walk on the beach and keep up a good pace.
that if you don't look people in the eye they won't disturb you.
that it's great to be outside.

We'll probably learn more as time goes on.

There was one chap who we had to spend some time with though. He was on the beach , not walking a dog, but walking a ferret. A young, furry creature, we found him fascinating, while we had our lunch of salmon sandwiches and coffee. 

 More to come...


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