Sunshine

April 9, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Sunshine, you magician,adding sparkle to my view Painting the cloudless skya dazzling shade of blue Favoured by your golden rays,we all take on a glowing hue. (Submitted for Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week Challenge: sunshine.)

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #43: Rain

April 8, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Raindrops, not tears,blur my vision –the line of trees before mea glistening blur.The pounding in my templesis just the steady rhythmof watery drip, drip, drip,not the incessant roarof my blood pounding –discordant is this day. I wrote this piece while stranded in Mississippi, with eighteen hours of driving still ahead of us, and no idea […]

Farewell to Farewells

April 7, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Total exhaustion has taken hold. Brain is fried, emotions taut, body shot. Monday as we prepared to pull out, my right leg collapsed and as I reached out to stop the fall, I grasped with my left arm, wrenching an already torn shoulder. It did not bode well for the trip home. With a dead […]

Friday Follies: Punctuation is Everything

April 5, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

For Proscenium’s Friday Follies

If Not For The Stairs

April 5, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I could live by the ocean,if not for the stairs… or linger amongst ancient ruins,although climbing, I daren’t… and seaside dining is best, I agree,if not for those lofty flights The only up these legs can dois resting on the sofa most nights. (Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is stairs or steps. I added a fun […]

Hello April

April 4, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

April means farewell, for we winter Texans. Not fated to be a quick journey, as problems keep arising, grounding travel, and interfering with our plans. Nevertheless, April means Spring and everywhere we look the birds are twittering with extra fervency – is that romance in the air? And even though we’ve encountered setbacks – breakdowns […]

The Rookery

April 3, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

There is a small wooded area, really just a patch of Live Oaks, that grows between the main highway out of Rockport, Texas and the waterfront. We’d passed it many times, and hadn’t noticed, until friends pointed it out. It’s a rookery: the place herons and egrets come to build nests and nurse their young. […]

Ducks in a Row

April 2, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Lining up our blended ducks on our wedding day. Many years later, ducks old and new, line up with our ‘baatis’ – Somali pyjamas. Featured image is Whistling Ducks. Submitted for Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge: getting your ducks in a row.

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #42: farewell

April 1, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

As you read this, Ric and I will be saying farewell to Texas and our cozy home on the canal. We leave behind new friends, the countless birds who have so entertained us, and the beautiful Gulf Coast. I am both excited to be home, and sad to end our time here. But isn’t that […]

Birding Heaven

March 29, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Port Aransas has a birding centre that was damaged during hurricane Harvey. The new facility opened this week and it’s incredible! A flock of sandpipers fly in just as we arrive. I search across the marsh to see where they’ve landed, now camouflaged among the reeds, mud, and shallow waters. I follow the sidewalk to […]

Monday Mood: unmotivated

I’ve been pushing and pushing and I’ve hit an impasse. Luckily, I booked myself a reflexology treatment for this morning, so I can lean into the feeling and melt. The sky, mirroring my mood, is a big grey blob. Hopefully, the clouds and this lethargy will disperse later.

The River

There’s a river runs between us,you and I.Our thoughts, like tears, are liquidcarried effortlessly by the current. But you and I,we stand on the banks, oblivious;ignoring the connection,proudly touting our individualism. Still the river flows,and all you’ve suffered,and all I’ve suffered,or dreamed, or imagined, or hoped,flows with it. Step into the water with me,feel our […]