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 |   The simplicity of my day to day. |
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This is where I write my thoughts, feelings and my daily trials, tribulations and happy things
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Words 402 I’m feeling a little tired today. Soon it will be time to take a rest during the long winter months. Already I’m letting go a little. My leaves are beginning to loosen their grip, their green colour turning gold, red and brown.. The place where I first put down my roots from a tiny acorn, has changed since I was a mere stripling. A family built a big house next to me allowing me to reach my full potential. Some of my friends, especially Hackberry, were removed and I held my breath waiting for the jagged, sharp edges of the chainsaw to slice into my trunk, but I was safe. At least for a while. The lady of the house actually saved my life on more than one occasion. When her husband, Mike, wanted to build a big shed I heard him say, “That tree needs to go!” But Sally loved to sit under the shade of my canopy and read her book and she told him, “You’ll have to find another place to build your shed.” That was before the children arrived. A swing was attached to my branches and their laughter rang out over the neighbourhood. As they swung high on my strong limbs, I braced myself to keep them safe. I was more than a simple swing, I was a hiding place for when the children were avoiding the parental gaze. There was no need of metal swings and climbing frames whilst the children had me. I’m sure in a few weeks when all my leaves have dropped, Mike will complain about the mess as he does each year. He hates anything spoiling his pristine green grass and will be out here with the rake, gathering my leaves into a pile and setting fire to them. The kids love my dead leaves though, they play fight, kicking and throwing them at each other. The little girl, Sophie, sees my dead leaves as beautiful. She looks for the ones with the reddest colours and makes collages for her teacher. I don’t suppose the family know I understand everything they say, they think I’m just an old white oak tree, but I will still be here long after they have left this earth. I heard I could live for up to 300 years. There’ll be many more children swinging on my strong branches in this garden. That is if they let me survive that long. |
I like to imagine my dog enjoys being with us as much as we enjoy having her live with us. I’d hate to feel I was keeping anything as a pet which given the chance would run away. Dogs hardly ever run away, no matter how ill treated they remain loyal to their human. I can’t really say that any other animal does that. We’ve had a cat and she was so aloof, preferring to sit on the kitchen window outside and observe us from behind glass. Maybe she thought we were her pets as we were the ones trapped inside. When I was a child we had a cat that refused to move with the family when we sold the house. Twice she returned to our previous home, twice we fetched her back but after the third time we guessed it was the house and garden she felt an affinity with, not us who had looked after her for six years. Anything other than cats and dogs have to kept in a cage. I hate to see birds trapped in cages, they should be free to fly, live in trees and search for their own food. My granddaughter had a snake called Sahara. She had to be kept in a special cage with heating. She would eat a frozen (thawed) rat occasionally, other than that interaction she did nothing but sleep mostly. This same granddaughter also had a rat for a pet. Now that’s one animal no one should have as a pet in my opinion. We’ve tried most things that children like, for a while anyway until they lose interest. Crazy crabs. One really hot day my eight year old boy was lying naked on his bed letting the crab crawl around, he soon found out that crazy crabs nip, very hard too, as it clung to the poor kids scrotum! Guinea pigs are sort of cute but their cage needs to be cleaned daily to stop the smell and let’s face it no child will take on that job for very long. Rabbits need to be kept apart from each other or before you know it you will have dozens of them. Then of course there’s the old goldfish. Swimming around in its bowl. Not the best or most interesting pet. The ownership of exotic animals, such as tigers, lions, bears, or monkeys should be banned in my opinion. |
P2. Social Media - Good or Bad (opinion)? Should it be or can it be controlled?
Anything can be both good and bad at the same time. It can bring communities together or drive them apart. It just takes one s..t stirrer to start an argument and the topic/ conversation is ruined. I’ve always been astounded how a simple question or request on our local community chat group can get someone making a criticism or a smart or condescending remark. I have stopped making any comments or asking simple questions any more. I do wonder if it’s always the same few people who ruin it for everyone else. Do they scroll through several conversations looking to make what they imagine is a clever remark guaranteed to start the rot. I find sarcasm to be the most prevalent. Sarcasm can be so hurtful and when I read it, I squirm for the poor innocent who simply asked “does anyone know what that loud noise was,” or “are the shops open for late night shopping” simple questions like those. The worst things on social media are when someone begins a rumour or tells a downright lie. These people are called Keyboard Warriors for a reason. They hide behind anonymity, say things they wouldn’t dare to say to someone’s face. Were we better off without it? I’d have to say a big “yes.” Facebook can be fine if you choose who is going to be in your friend circle. I love keeping in touch with my family. Without it I wouldn’t know what my grandchildren and great grandchildren are up to. I see photographs of them as they grow and celebrate their successes. My brothers both live in England and I’m in Australia. We keep in touch, not often but without Facebook it would probably be not at all. So it’s a shame that the few spoil it for the many, but it’s here to stay and it’s up to the individual to use it for the good.  |
P5. Weather Disasters and what can be done to protect people and property from Mother Nature before they happen?
This is one thing that human beings have no control over. Mother Nature will win, every time. As a breed, human beings feel superior to every other living creature. We even think we can beat things we can’t even see, such as viruses. Maybe we can, maybe science will keep one step ahead of all the microbes which would like to wipe us off the face of the planet. But we still can do nothing about the weather. We can’t stop the earth reaching temperatures not conducive for human habitat. We think we will beat global warming, but can we, actually? We’ll try, you’ve got admire the resilience of mankind. But will we win, that is the question? In Eastern Australia we had floods on such a scale never before seen. People drowned. They were stuck in their attics where they’d climbed to try to flee the rising waters. They died there as they tried to escape onto steel roofs, but were unable to access the outside. Drowned like rats in a bucket. The UK had the hottest summer days on record. Imagine temperatures of 40 plus cent in England! So to answer the question of how to protect people before these phenomena happen. We can’t. It’s as simple as that. Even if we could warn people about expected extreme heat, or cold, or floods, cyclonic winds, hurricanes and biblical amounts of rain, it would make no difference. We should have listened to the scientists of fifty or sixty years ago when they were forecasting climate change. But we’ve left it too late. |
I have a definite ‘thing’ about waistcoats. I love to see a man wearing one, even without a suit jacket. Our weatherman on the Australian ABC always wears one with a white shirt and no jacket. He has an extraordinary array of different colours. My husband is a jeans and t shirt man, rarely does he dress up, although I tell him he looks amazingly handsome in a suit, especially with a waistcoat. It’s such a pity dress style has gone the way of many things from the past. Women in particular wearing leisure wear as an all day item. Leggings and Lycra to go to the supermarket, without having any intention of going within miles of a gym. Don’t start me on male cyclists in Lycra who congregate at the cafes not wearing underwear. It’s enough to put people off their Sunday morning coffee and croissants. There is absolutely nothing left to the imagination as they proudly display their genitalia covered by the tightly fitting thin material. There is even an acronym for these people, Mamil (middle aged men in Lycra) Anyway, it’s seems I’ve got off the subject of waistcoats. In the USA they are called vests. To me, heralding from Australia, a vest is a garment worn under a shirt. Little babies wear vests to keep their chests warm. Diarist and civil servant Samuel Pepys wrote: “The king hath yesterday in council declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes which he will never alter. It will be a vest, I know not well how.” He was referencing King Charles the second. I’m advocating for a return of the sartorial male, the ditching of baggy shorts, stained T-shirts and thongs. (flip flops) |
I’ve been inundated lately with reviews of really old stories, forcing me to revisit and reread. Honestly I’d forgotten I’d written many of them and as I read I’m forced to edit as I can’t bear to leave in such glaringly, badly written sentences. I suppose in a way it’s a comfort to see actual improvement in writing style however embarrassing that may be. This is my fourth year at WdC and before I joined the community here I belonged to a local writing group. I stayed until I just knew I’d outgrown that group. I moved to another more prodigious group in the area called the Katherine Suzanna Pritchard writing Centre. This is a retreat too, where people from all over Australia come to stay. Here I joined an all women’s group. I felt out of my depth for the first year as many of the writers had been published. Not self published but with the Fremantle Press publishing group which publishes world wide. However they gave me confidence to keep on writing my short stories. We publish an annual anthology and at last year’s book launch I was invited to read one of my stories to the assembled audience. It was well received and was one more step towards self acceptance. I’m no longer ashamed to say “I’m a writer,” when asked. The group have tried to get me to collate a book of short stories and self publish but it’s not the reason I write. I’m probably quite lazy too as I know the energy it takes to self publish and self promote. I simply can’t be bothered as I get my pleasure from the writing itself. After joining WdC I have had great feedback as well as criticism. That’s is actually fine by me. It’s the only way to improve and to keep improving. |
Words 418
What an amazing material. It’s natural, warm, can be worn on every part of the body from feet to head. To what am I referring? Why it’s good old wool. In the beginning, wool was plucked from the sheep by hand or by bronze combs. The first shear appeared in the Iron Age. So wool has been a product used by man since then, and for Australia it meant prosperity. For a century, the wool industry gave Australia one of the highest living standards in the world. The economy rode high on wealth from primary exports. By the 1950s, wool was synonymous with the Australian way of life. It's no secret, we love wool! It's an incredible natural fiber that not only prevents blisters and hot-spots, but is also fire-resistant and helps regulate your body temperature. Check out these fun facts and see why wool is so amazing! 1. Humans have been wearing wool since the Stone Age. Surely that must say something about the quality of the fabric! 2. Wool provides natural UV protection - for both humans and sheep alike! 3. You've probably heard that wool "doesn't stink." That's because it is naturally anti-microbial, which helps reduce stinky bacteria growth in garments. 4. Wool garments are typically longer lasting than those made of cotton or silk. A wool fiber can be bent 20,000 times before breaking, whereas cotton breaks after 3,000 bends. 5. Did you know a single fiber of wool is thinner than a single human hair? 6. During the Medieval times, hosiery was actually made from wool! 7.Sure, we all know sheep and alpacas make wool, but did you know camels, llamas, and yaks can produce wool as well? 8. Alpaca wool can come in twenty-two different colors! 9. One sheep can produce up to 30-lbs of wool per year! This talk of wool reminds me of when I was trying to impress my motorcycle loving boyfriend when I was about sixteen. I knitted him a wooly jumper with a motorbike pattern on the back. I was so proud of the finished article. It took me many hours to complete. He said he loved it too and of course me too. ❤️ Anyway I hadn’t seen him wearing it for a while and asked him about it. He said, very casually, his mother had chucked it in the washing machine on a hot wash and it was now the size of a five year olds garment! Needless to say I was not impressed. |
P22. Are guns the problem? What really is the problem? What is practical that might alleviate the problem? I suppose this topic sort or runs into another prompt. I may be putting my big feet where angels fear to tread. (P11. Are you willing to write in your WDC blog about a very controversial issue and state your views (why or why not)?) My opinion is yes, guns are the problem. As someone who lives a very long way from America, I suppose I see the problem of gun violence as abhorrent and unnecessary. In Australia some years ago we had a massacre. Over thirty innocent people were shot. Some simply on vacation having a meal at Port Arthur, Tasmania, in a cafe. Some locals, including children just walking home with their mother and the gunman’s own mother was also killed. The outcry was so strong, the prime minister of the time had a massive gun buy back of illegal guns and an amnesty. Thousands of weapons were taken offf the street, out of homes and out of the country. Of course, some people protested, there was an outcry from the civil liberty people, but it still went ahead. There hasn’t been a shooting like that since in Australia. The man responsible for the shooting is in prison and unlikely to see freedom again. It is the fact, loaded guns lying around in homes for children to get their hands on and accidentally shoot another child happens. Not the child’s fault. Domestic arguments turn into murder because of the access to a firearm when tempers are heated. It wouldn’t, couldn’t, happen if there was no gun to hand. People who love each other are killing each other in the heat of the moment. Everyone loses. Get rid of guns and children can go to school knowing they will go home at the end of the day. |
It’s so strange this prompt should have come up as today as I really did find something in the cupboard I’d completely forgotten about. It was a letter, typed, but signed by George Bernard Shaw the Irish poet and playwright. He was a man of strong views on many things. He was an atheist and as such was a regular correspondent of my grandfather. They were very much alike and agreed on many subjects, such as religion and politics. They were both members of the anti-smoking society. George Bernard Shaw wrote the letter I have in my possession in 1940, there are several more but my brother in England has them. GBS was an outspoken man, to the point of rudeness. Here are three of his quotes: Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” “I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” Anyway, I was watching a programme called, ‘Antique Roadshow,’ recently and was intrigued to discover how much money people are willing to pay for the signature of famous people. On the episode I saw the signature of Tolkien fetched six thousand dollars! So after finding my George Bernard Shaw letter I wondered if there was any monetary value. Apparently it’s worth quite a bit of money to a collector. I was chatting to my 26 year old grandson, who is a bit of a philosopher, about GBS’s opinion on religion. He was really interested and we had a good discussion on what might happen to us after we die. He really perked up when I told him the letter had a bit of $value besides the interesting content. So I told him he could have it because he’s the only family member who is a deep thinker. It made his day, I think. |
Prompt from
Prompt: Beret. Berets always remind me of my childhood in England. Now that’s a very long time ago and at school we had to wear a beret as part of the uniform. Navy blue it was. When I was seven years old I joined the Brownies. That was a group for girls who were too young to join the Girl Guides. Along with my brown dress, brown leather belt, the beret was also brown as you may have guessed. You would suspect I would never wear such a thing ever again by choice but I am the owner of two berets. One black and one Maroon. I wear them each day in winter and always get comments about how Parisienne I look. Chez Chic. Now my thoughts have turned to France, I must make mention of my recent visit to see the theatre production of the musical Moulin Rouge at the Crown Theatre in Perth. It was a fabulous evening, we had amazing seats three rows back from the stage. It was as if I was in the sleazy part of Paris, Montmartre, at the time of Toulouse Le Trec and the night life, the street artists, painters and dancing girls. I was inspired to write my latest short story ‘Burning Issue’ if you want to check it out in my Portfolio. It’s set in Montmartre at the time of the World Fair in 1890. |
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