Words of wonder
Inspired by haiku heights
Driving to Cornwall on Saturday, near the road to jamaica Inn, I was amazed to see so many wind turbines on the skyline. In the brilliant sunshine they gleamed as the wings swung round in the breeze.
White-winged angels stand
Generating power in
The face of the wind
Inspired by haiku-heights prompt “measure”.
It was too darn hot
But the girls ran the distance
In the Race for Life
Like any mum I am really proud of all my children, but at the weekend two of my daughters exceeded even my expectations. They both run regularly to keep fit and are naturally competitive. They are also very caring people who do a great deal for charities that are close to their hearts. So they both signed up to run the Race for Life with the aim of raising money for Cancer Research charities.
It was a scorching hot day on Sunday as they donned their pink tee shirts and set off for the Racecourse. The organisers made no allowance for the heat and kept the runners out in the sun for an hour while they literally “warmed up”.
There were literally hundreds of runners on the course, some walking, some jogging and some running. But my girls both managed to run the 10k distance in less than 1 hour. An amazing feat in view of the heat and the crowds they had to battle through to finish.
This post is inspired by the last two prompts from http://haiku-heights.blogspot.co.uk/
Mum’s woodcarving
Their hands held the tools
As they carved out the figure
That touches my heart
~
She whittled in wood,
Carved, chiselled and sanded.
A figure was formed
~
My parents now gone
Left a lasting impression
Character forming
~
She saw through the wood
A spirit living within
And set his soul free
~
Silent and stooping
The essence of pure sadness
Released from the wood
~
Working with the wood
His chiselled features forming
Smooth-sanded statue
The first prompt “fingerprint”, made me consider how special some things are to me simply because they belonged previously to, and were held by, someone I have loved. I was reminded especially of a figure that my mum carved out of wood many years ago. The wood was hard to work with so my dad helped with the chiselling and carving. I distinctly remember them both working away very happily at this piece of original craftwork, their fingerprints ingrained in the wood.
Gradually the character in the wood was revealed. It was a particularly striking piece I always thought, but my mum thought him a little gloomy for display in the house. So he lived on a plinth in the garden for years. As he stood battered by the weather he gradually looked more and more dejected.
The second prompt word is “sand” which fits nicely into the second stage in the life of this figure.
After my parents had both died the figure came to me. He was battered, discoloured and very rough but very precious to me, having been physically created by my parents. So my lovely husband took the figure off its rotten plinth, cleaned and sanded it down, then fixed the base. He still looks very careworn and dejected ~ the figure that is ~ not my husband, but I love it so much that it now sits on a shelf in my lounge.
I would not part with it at any price.
Earthborn stars glimmer
In lustful luminescence
Along twinkling tracks
In the UK we don’t see fireflies, or at least we only see the wingless female which we call the ‘glowworm’. She is in the same family as the firefly and she glows with a yellow lime green light.
Near where I live there is a disused railway track with a colony of glowworms which is protected by the council. When the old track was converted into a cycle track a few years ago, the council paid £150,000 to install special dim, red lighting which turns off at 11pm, so that the glowworm colony could thrive.
Glowworms have fascinated writers and poets such as Dryden, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Thomas hardy and even Shakespeare who eveoked their ‘ineffectual fire’ in Hamlet. They also get a mention in Roald Dahl’s ‘James and the Giant Peach’, when they end up serving as the light in the Statue of Liberty!
Did you know that during the Great War , Allied soldiers used the light from glowworms to read their maps at night?
Fascinating facts I would never have known if I hadn’t been inspired by haiku Heights this week!
Laughter and Lyrics Choir
I’m the white haired one 7th from left and Caroline is the gorgeous one on the right of the middle
An emotionally charged post for Haiku Heights prompt word ‘crescendo’. I joined a ladies’ choir this year run by Caroline Edwards at the Everyman Theatre. It is held on Friday mornings and several of my friends including those from WI joined too. Lots of choirs popped up in the UK after the charismatic Gareth Malone appeared on TV to prove that everyone could sing by setting up choirs in all kinds of establishments. Of course in order to make a beautiful sound you need a great teacher to whip you into shape. We have Caroline for that and she is wonderful. She has moulded our lively group of women into a choir!
We have a great deal of fun, drink lots of coffee, eat lots of cake, chat a lot, and have become firm friends who support each other. caroline runs several choirs who will all get together on 15th July for a grand show at the theatre. It is a sell out concert. My heart breaks that after all my practicing I won’t actually be there on the night. However I have enjoyed every minute with our choir ‘Laughter and Lyrics’. The last song we are singing at the show is Sing ~ I know that along with a backdrop of video images produced by the fabulous Mark Kempner, there won’t be a dry eye in the house. I will post a clip after the event when it goes public, but for now listen to Gary barlow and the Military Wives Choir as you read my haiku on ‘crescendo’
Deep emotions flow
To spine-tingling crescendo
Heartfelt harmony
~
Together we stand
Black with a splash of colour
Hearts break while we sing
~
‘Latte and Lyrics’
Choir gathers, faces aglow
Singing with gusto
~
Caroline’s choir grows
Along with coffee and cake
Gathering goosebumps
~
Perfect performance
As 5000 women sing
Hymn ‘Jerusalem’
I recently went to the Annual general meeting of the WI at Cardiff Arena again. As always it reaches a crescendo when the 4000 plus women sing Jerusalem. When you are part of it the sound is wonderful. This clip is from 2010 when I was one of the women singing.
Inspired by Haiku Heights prompt word “Lunch”
I have simple tastes when it comes to food, especially lunch. In winter there is nothing better than home-made soup and crusty bread with lots of butter.
With fresh home-made soup
Crusty bread from the oven
A nourishing meal
I think the best lunches I ever had were on holidays travelling in France. It was such a treat to buy wines, cheeses, French breads, and wonderful cakes from the patisserie. My favourite cakes were called “Religieuse” as they look like a nun in her habit. They are usually made of choux pastry filled with the most delicious cream and covered with ganache. A bit like an éclair, they are usually coffee or chocolate flavour they are simply the best cake ever. A picnic by a river in France is my idea of heaven, especially if it is near the Pyrenees!
Soft cheese on French bread
Religieux to follow
And café au lait
A picnic is best
Sitting by a river on
A warm sunny day
~
Today I got a photo of my son enjoying a pint. His term is over and holidays are just beginning. Tomorrow he sets off for Bali in Indonesia for a friend’s wedding. Happy days.
End of the school year
Liquid lunch to celebrate
Happy holidays
~
Inspired by haiku heights
At the dialysis unit where my husband is a patient there are some really interesting old characters. If you take the time to chat to them, all manner of fascinating facts emerge about their lives. One such dear man was called Peter. I knew he had been in the navy during the war, and so had my father and my father in law, so we had a lot to chat about. He loved to read and, knowing I enjoyed books, he brought one in for me one day. He told me that he was in this book! It was a naval adventure book based on true incidents. On reading the book I found that he was indeed in it!
During the war Peter had been 2nd Lieutenant on HMS Hero, a naval destroyer. Coincidentally, the ship had been built in Newcastle on Tyne in 1936 at the Vickers Armstrong shipyard where my father had started work as a 13 year old lad in 1936. Who knows, he may even have worked on The Hero!
Anyway, the reason this story fits in with today’s Haiku heights prompt word “Enigma”, is that the Hero was actually the ship that torpedoed the German submarine U-559 which was carrying the Enigma machine and the code books. These were of vital importance to the allies during the war as they enabled the codebreakers at Bletchley Park to give advance warning to the ships in the Arctic Convoys, which were suffering terrible casualties.
Briefly, what happened was that on 30th October 1942 an RAF patrol aircraft spotted the German submarine and alerted HMS Hero by radio. When the sub realised she had been spotted by hero, she dived but too late. Hero dropped depth charges which cracked the sub’s pressure hull. This caused explosions and flooding on board the sub and 4 crewmen died. The rest of the crew evacuated the sub as it was forced to surface. The U-559 sub was known to be carrying the Enigma machine and code books so the youngest, fittest and slimmest crewmen from HMS Petard, a nearby ship, were sent to board the stricken sub through the holed hull. These were Lieutenant Fasson, Able Seaman Grazier, and improbable but true, a 16 year old NAAFI canteen assistant, Tommy Brown. They managed to swim to the abandoned sub and get inside. They located the Enigma machine and the code books with all the current settings for the Enigma key and retrieved them. Sadly only one of these brave men survived to tell the tale. Grazier and Fasson drowned when the submarine sank as they tried to get out.
The Enigma machine and codes they retrieved was immensely valuable to the code-breakers at Bletchley Park, who had been unable to crack the codes. For details of how Enigma works and photos of the three brave men who gave so much, click this link http://www.nww2m.com/2012/10/sci-tech-tuesday-70th-anniversary-of-enigma-capture-from-u-559/
Peter, was 2nd Lieutenant on HMS Hero and there is a photo of him in the book. It shows a tall, fit young man with dark hair and a bushy beard looking very smart in his uniform on board ship. Peter died recently, elderly and frail, but thanks to the book his story will never die.
Orders were scrambled
Unbreakable codes concealed
In the ocean’s depths
~
Running the gauntlet
Torn apart by torpedoes
In Arctic Convoys
~
HMS Hero
Retrieved the Enigma, when
Able seamen dived
HMS Hero
Unbreakable codes
The ultimate enigma
Cracked at Bletchley Park
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/enigma_01.shtml
This post is inspired by Haiku Heights prompt word ‘Ripples’.
Little plastic ducklings
Ducklings bobbing as
Babies learn to swim, making
Ripples in the pool
Stanley learning to swim
~
Fishermen despair
As dipping ducks surface in
Ripples on the lake
~
With muscles rippling
She races to complete the
London Marathon
My daughter did the London Marathon in 2010. She said it was the most fantastic and memorable day ever. The 26.2 miles were long, gruelling and emotional but she completed it in a respectable 4 hours, 20 minutes and 33 seconds. She raised £2032 for Myeloma UK.
~
Recession’s ripples
Spread round the world. The poor are
The first to suffer
~
Wireless waves ripple
“War is over”. Not heard in
Jungles of Burma
~
Deep in the Burmese jungle in 1945, the “forgotten army”, including my uncle Robert, had no idea the war was over. News took a while to filter through; some had no radios and others had no time to listen to the BBC.
Mountbatten said, “You call yourselves the ‘forgotten army’, well you are wrong. At home they haven’t even heard of you”.
~
This week’s word prompt at haiku heights is the word “Chivalry”. My understanding of this word for the modern age is an honourable person with strength ~ of mind, body and soul, who is courageous and disciplined and uses their power to protect the weak and defenceless. This defines Nelson Mandela perfectly in my opinion.
Cherishing freedom
He fought with true dignity
And changed the whole world
~
With perseverance
For freedom and harmony
He gave his whole life
~
On Robben Island
Prepared to die for his cause
He rocked the whole world
My grandson, Ben, was reading a book about Nelson Mandela for his homework on Monday and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to discuss this living legend with him. Someone once said “If you can’t explain it to a 6 year old, you don’t understand it yourself”. I hope I gave Ben and Rosie a clear view of just how extraordinary and special this man is. In fact I said that in my opinion he is a living saint!
I can’t imagine a world without Nelson Mandela, I am sure it will be a poorer place. All my adult life he seems to have been in the news or making the news. I remember the protest marches, the Sharpeville Massacre which took place on 21 March 1960 and shocked the world. And how could anyone forget the fabulous song, “Free Nelson Mandela”, by the Specials. You can listen to it here and I bet you can’t keep your body still ~ you just have to dance! It reminds me of the cricket club I went to near Kisumu in Kenya with some friends in 1985. The Tanzanian band played all night until the early hours and the dancing was out of this world. I was lucky enough to go to one of the original tour concerts of Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1987 too. I will never forget that night, especially the township jive!
So, while the irreplaceable 94 year old, is still struggling for survival in a Johannesburg hospital, I thought I would pay tribute to him in my blog. Firstly I would like to honour him by using his own name! He was named Rolihlahla Dalibhunga by his parents but was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher on his first day at school. He is fondly known by his clan name – “Madiba” among his own people. It is from the Xhosa tribe to which he belonged.
He wrote his own story in a book called Long Walk to Freedom.
Mandela expressed his goal so eloquently from the dock in court in 1964 thus:
“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities,” he said.
“It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
I think that he achieved his life’s ambition and he has left a great legacy in the form of the Elders. They give me hope that the world will one day be a free, fair and just place for all people regardless of creed, colour or politics.
You can find all the facts and figures about Nelson Mandela’s life on the wonderful BBC site just click the link.
Inspired by Haiku heights word ‘Moral’.
Fairness and justice
Honesty and compassion
Gentleness is strength
~
Every night should be
Like Christmas Night for me, filled
With wonder and awe
~
As I sit and suffer this weekend, the moral of this haiku is to listen to my own advice and stay away from children with colds!
Snuffling and sneezing
Grandchildren spreading their germs
Thought I was immune
As I missed the deadline for the last 2 prompts, Eccentric and Stone, I am adding the links here in the hope that you will take the time to read them.
Eccentric ~ http://wp.me/p2gGsd-Ul
Stone ~ http://wp.me/p2gGsd-U4
This post is for Haiku heights prompt word ‘Eccentric’
Everything about Warwick Castle was eccentric when we visited at the weekend. The theme was ‘Horrible Histories’ so there were knights in armour and princesses, dragons and wizards in the towers as well as scarily lifelike waxwork models of kings, queens and nobility.
But the most eccentric things were the peacocks which seemed intent on stealing the show with their courtship and flying displays. I have never seen a peacock perch so high in a tree before!
He shows no restraint
With his flamboyant display
Attracting a mate
I missed the deadline for the Stone Haiku in which I posted lots of pictures of Warwick castle so please do click on the link and read it! http://wp.me/p2gGsd-U4
Meanwhile here are some more photos for you to enjoy
dry stone wall in the cotswolds
This post is inspired by the Haiku heights prompt word “Stone”
Golden meadows bound
With dry stone walling. Built by
Cotswold craftsmen
The Cotswolds, where I live, is a very beautiful area in the heart of England, which covers the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
Beyond the hedgerows
As far as the eye can see
Yellow rapeseed glows
Rapeseed field
There are gentle hills and wolds, meandering rivers rich with salmon, trout, roach, bream and eels, a coastline along the Severn Valley, ancient woodland in the Forest of Dean complete with wild boar and roaming deer, beautiful market towns and unspoilt villages, gorgeous thatched cottages, magnificent country houses, fertile farms, and even several castles!
One of the outstanding features of the Cotswolds is the beautiful stone which is used for building. During the time of the enclosures act in Britain it was cheaper for farmers to enclose their land with dry-stone walls than to plant hedges, and to this day one of the special features of the Cotswolds is the golden dry-stone walls about a metre in height which border country lanes and lush farmland
The limestone found in the Cotswolds is from the Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, a time when dinosaurs roamed over the earth and the area was once below the sea. It is still possible to find fossils in the rocky cliffs and quarries. In fact Huntsman’s Quarry has a superb collection of large fossils that were unearthed during quarrying.
Fossilised features
Of prehistoric creatures
In limestone preserved
You can download a fascinating fact sheet about the quarry here
Quarrying has been carried out in the Cotswolds for many years, for sand, gravel and clay as well as stone. Some of the old quarries have been turned into the Cotswold Water park which covers an area of 40 square miles and has 150 lakes. All sorts ofwater sports go on here and it is a beautiful area to walk around enjoying the nature and wildlife. You can read all about it here
At the weekend I took my grandchildren to Warwick castle to enjoy the Horrible Histories. It was a great day out in wonderful weather. The castle was sold by the Greville family in 1978 and is now owned by the business group that owns Madame Tussauds. This has enhanced the visitor’s experience as every room is filled with models of the famous people who lived in or visited the castle. It must cost millions to maintain the structure of this impressive building. The walls are so think and the building so huge, that the bedrock is groaning under the strain. But there is 1000 years of history oozing out of every stone.
Stone steeped in stories
Of secrets and scandals in
High society
Bedrock is cracking
Sinking under centuries
Of blood-soaked conflict
Enjoy my pictures from the weekend…
Some hurts time can’t heal
Memories hang around me
Like rain-soaked washing
These haiku are inspired by the word prompt at www.haiku-heights.blogspot.com
The word for this week is Health.
I am constantly amazed at the pace of Stanley’s development. It seems that every week he has acquired a new skill and grown a bit more aware of the people, places and things around him.
He is now rolling over, trying to crawl, giggling at his toes or anything else that waves around in front of him! He is also getting very sociable, going to ‘bounce and rhyme’ at the local library as well as ‘Little Fishes’ at the swimming pool.
He has started eating a variety of fruit, vegetables and cereals that his mum purees for him. All in all I am delighted to say he is a healthy and happy baby and a joy to be with.
Mini masterpiece
A picture of perfection
Healthy and happy
Healthy and Happy
Bootees abandoned
Tiny toes make tempting toys
Baby’s delighted
Tiny toes
Curiosity
Compels him to crawl, eager
To investigate
Compelled to crawl
This post is inspired by haiku heights word prompt. The word is ‘Betrayal’. It is a bit negative to be thinking about betrayal on such a lovely peaceful day, but there are always issues highlighted in the press which come under this theme. Today I saw a front page article in the Independent Newspaper about a 92 year old man who died waiting for a bed on a ward, having been left in a side room for 11 hours. This has got to be a betrayal by the NHS as an institution which is now seriously understaffed.
Unaccountable
Neglected, alone
Forgotten on a trolley
Died a lonely death
I read recently of workers in Bangladesh who died when the overcrowded and substandard factory building they worked in collapsed. They worked for little wages to produce garments for sale in our shops.
Unacceptable
In squalid sweatshops
They labour for a pittance
Dying for profit
Due to the Government’s austerity measures we are having to make lots of cuts in every area of society. But I was shocked to hear that soldiers returning from fighting (or peace keeping as it is referred to these days) in conflict zones around the world will lose their jobs when they return.
Unpatriotic
Returning from war
No thanks were they given, just
Redundancy notes
Of course the world’s problems have been largely caused by injustice and greed which in no little part has been fuelled by the big financial institutions. It seems strange to me that the ordinary people have to suffer the consequences while the rich continue as if nothing has happened.
Unabashed
Arrogant bankers
Brought their business to ruin
But took their bonus
The world’s political classes are of course most guilty of betrayal whether intentionally or not. They are the only people with the power to do something about the injustices in the world so what do they do?
Unbelievable
At summits they meet
To discuss the worlds’ starving
At black tie banquets
I could go on about betrayal of innocent, defenceless children who have been abused by their “carers”; +about animals that are kept captive or treated cruelly; about the sick and disabled who are being vilified in this country for needing benefits to live a basic existence; but I will finish with a heartfelt betrayal:-
Unforgivable
Brutal betrayal
To abandon the mother
Expecting your child
This post is nspired by Haiku Heights prompt word which is Egg.
Fast food for fledgelings
Nesting under bleeding heart
Five healthy chicks hatched
robin gathering mealworms to feed its young
Naturally at this time of year there are birds nesting and I am lucky enough to have a variety of birds in my garden. We have watched fascinated as a pair of robins burrowed a nest into a large plant pot where they successfully reared 5 chicks. We have also seen Blue Tits nesting in one of our bird boxes. I am very lucky to have a variety of bird boxes all hand made by my clever daughter. She adapts them to different species of birds and they seem very popular!
Vacant possession
A luxury detached home
Built for a blue tit
My Blue Tit’s Bird House
The first thing that popped into my head was not the birds nesting in my garden! It was the Russian Christmas at Chatsworth House that I went to a couple of years ago. Chatsworth is a gorgeous stately home set in beautiful Derbyshire countryside. It is beautiful to see at any time of year, but especially so at Christmas when every room is transformed according to a theme. The Russian Christmas appealed to me as I love Russian culture and crafts. The photo shows a room filled with hanging eggs decorated by local school children. It is a Russian tradition to decorate eggs, usually at Easter, as a celebration of life and a promise for the future. The eggs are called, ” Pisanki”
In coldest winter
Celebrating life and hope
Pretty pisanki
I Decorated eggs at Chatsworth
Over Severn‘s Gorge
An iconic iron bridge
First cast in furnace
Another view of the bridge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The years float away
On day trips to my birthplace
By ‘Blinking Eye’
English: Millennium Bridge, Newcastle to Gateshead This elegant tilting pedestrian and cyclist bridge is the lowest above-ground crossing of the River Tyne. It has become something of an icon of Newcastle and Gateshead. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A lifetime abridged
Sorrows surface in snatches
Sanitised soundbites
~
Brick by brick I build
A bridge to carry me home
Made of words and deeds
~
Related articles
Today’s post is inspired by Haiku Heights prompt ‘Bridge’. Bridges have always held a fascination for me. My father worked all his life in the steel industry and I loved listening to him explain the engineering behind the iconic structures that fascinated him. There was no shortage of inspiration in Newcastle on the River Tyne where I grew up as a child. Having 7 bridges in less than a mile close to my home on that great river, each one totally different yet perfectly suited to their task, there was always something to look at and learn about.
River Tyne god
It is recorded that Hadrian built the first bridge on the Tyne in AD 122 before he built his wall. He named the bridge Pons Aelius in honour of the his family name. The family crest was a Goat’s head which is where the name ‘Gateshead’ is thought to derive from. From then on records show there was a crossing at this point over the centuries until 1248 when it was destroyed by fire. But in 1250 a medieval bridge was built with turreted guard towers, a chapel, shops and houses on it. In 1771 that bridge was virtually destroyed by a great flood but in 1778 a Georgian bridge replaced it. This bridge made navigation difficult at times and dredging impossible upriver so an opening bridge was proposed in 1851
The seven bridges at the heart of the city are
Gateshead Millennium Bridge, known as the ‘Blinking Eye’ because of the way it opens, was opened in 2001
The Tyne bridge, was opened by King George V in October 1928. My mother was 3 years old then and remembered sitting on her uncle’s shoulders on the bridge actually watching the ceremony!
The Swing Bridge was opened in 1876 to enable ships to pass along the Tyne. At its peak the bridge swung open 30 times a day. In 1924, 6000 vessels were said to have passed through. The opening mechanism is still in full working order and the bridge still opens on special occasions.
The High Level Bridge was needed when the railways came to town! Originally trains had to stop in Gateshead and passengers were then ferried across the Tyne to Newcastle where they were faced with a very steep climb up steps to the city. This bridge was designed by Robert, son of George Stephenson. It is double decked with rail lines above and a road beneath. It was the first bridge of its kind (double deck rail/road) in the world and was made of 5000 tons of local wrought iron and cast iron. It was opened by Queen Victoria in September 1849.
The Metro Bridge is officially called Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge as our Queen opened it with Prince Philip in 1981. This was designed and built to cater for the new integrated transport system from Newcastle to the coast at South Shields. Believe it or not when I was a child in the 40s and 50s in gateshead/Newcastle we still travelled on trams or trolley buses! The Metro was after my time, but I have been on it in recent years and it is a superb system, being fast, clean and efficient.
The King Edward Bridge was opened in 1906 by the then King Edward VII. It was desperately needed as railway travel was now so popular that the High level Bridge could not cope with the traffic.
Lastly on this short and busy stretch of my favourite river is the Redheugh Bridge. To be honest this is the third Redheugh Bridge as the original two were unfit for purpose. But the final one was a triumph of pre-stressed concrete with 4 lanes for traffic and one path for pedestrians. This bridge was opened by the Diana, Princess of Wales in 1984.
Any Geordie will tell you that the view from the train as it crosses the Tyne is enough to set the heart racing. Just the word, ‘Bridge’ set my muse going so I am posting some of my haiku here for you.
Captured on canvas
The city of my childhood
A lifetime abridged
~
Train carries me back
Beyond landmarks unchanging
Loved city unfolds
~
From the bridge I see
My family’s history
Slip away from me
~
Poor men paid a toll
A penny from a pittance
To cross the ‘Coaly Tyne’
~
Painted bridge belies
Oily blackness deep below
Hidden history
~
Under the arches
The homeless shelter each night
In cardboard boxes
~
Standing on the edge
She saw no life before her
Flowers lie there still
~
bridges on the Tyne painted in watercolour by Ron Thornton.jpg
The 1781 stone bridge, with the High Level Bridge in the background, from an 1861 illustration (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: The Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge that carries the Tyne and Wear Metro over the river Tyne, viewed from Forth Banks in Newcastle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Gateshead Quays across the River Tyne at night – Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Sage Gateshead (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He said “you can’t make
a silk purse from a sow’s ear”
His meaning was clear
This post is inspired by the haiku heights prompt for today ~ “Story”
This was the comment made about me at the age of 10 by the Headmaster of the school I was expecting to go to when me moved across the country for my father’s job. I had missed a lot of school due to illness so was way behind others of my age. I also had a Geordie accent which he equated with being uneducated. These factors led him to believe I was stupid and not worth educating! My determined parents decided to move me somewhere else thank goodness!
His words have stayed with me always and inspired me to become a teacher. Eventually I became a Headteacher. My aim was to value every child, to educate them to the best of their ability, and to develop in them self confidence and high self esteem so that whatever their talents they could go out into the world prepared to lead full, rewarding and satisfying lives.
I guess it is a milestone in my story!
Inspired by this week’s prompt from haikuheights which is the word Daredevil I was reminded of my nephew who is in the Metropolitan Police. He faces possible danger on a daily basis but manages to stay calm and positive in the face of it all.
Lured into their trap
Alone he stands his ground as
Gang gathers round him
My son too is unflappable whether riding his motorbike across the world, diving deep under the oceans or climbing up devilish rockfaces.
Devil rock lures him
into death defying deeds
He claws at its face
Heavenhappens 