The Pendulum & Mood Swings

The weather pendulum swung from a summer/early-fall drought to an atmospheric river of rain. The roots of large leafy, and evergreen, trees in my area dried up over the past months so risk loosening in massive downpours. The tension between Mother Nature and humankind builds. To save ourselves we must let Earth flourish. The planet would bloom better without us but who better than humans to savour the sweetness in life and to record its story? Storytellers' prompt this week is "sweet", synonymous to me with the wonder I felt on walks and sought to express in pictures and prose.

Clouds boldly rolled over the churning sea beneath an eerily vacated pier.

Cozy umbrellas popped up suddenly the way the grandest of flowers do each year.

Faces carved into pumpkins slyly peeked around edges of porches and lamp posts.

Leaves turned glamorous and scrunched up like taffeta gowns.

Their colours, dazzling flames before the raindrops snuffed them out.

Washed holly berries were at their finest so birds might dine on them one day.

Some sloppy greenery lost their glitter far too soon.

Muddy puddles saw playful feet splash sopping leaves into disarray.

The howling breeze ruffled some leaves and shook summer's dust off the trees.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United and SKYWATCH. Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

Poetic Injustice & Scary Seasons

"Evil doesn't sleep, it waits. And in the moment of our complacency, it blinds us." Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Do you ever get as angry as the character above looks when thinking of gobal affairs? In keeping with the Halloween season and Storytellers' prompt "scary quotes", I recalled a line from "The Rings of Power" and how it resonates regarding Putin playing his neighbors for decades forming dependencies, showing his "friendlier" side, while all the while intending to invade Ukraine which must fight-on bravely for its independence.

There's also the climate crisis and a lack of rain we've been experiencing in my area. People have enjoyed the sun but vegetation needs the drops that started to fall just this morning. The heron sculptures were free of concern, even about potential rust. 

The ducks floated calmly in circles on the ocean.

A log rested on the shore like an abandoned whale's tail.

Seahorses swayed ever-so-slightly in the mild breeze, leftovers from a great vacation.

It's been a while since my husband and I sought to pretend being scary in our truly beautiful but dangerous world. Check out some spooky Halloween costumes HERE.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United and Saturday's Critters. Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

Seeing Red

The Storyteller prompt "red" this week brought to mind the anger so many felt when a girl lost her life over strands of exposed hair. More have since died as growing clusters of inflamed Iranians protest the cruel absurdity of violent dress-code control.   

In Canada, we recently celebrated Thanksgiving Day. It's not easy to be thankful when much of the world appears on the brink of destruction on multiple fronts. But I did find inspiration in their bravery as well as calm through poetry, art (gave Penelope her first red umbrella) and the crimson sunset at Kwomais Point Park. Deepened from the haze of distant fires fought in B.C., the hues stoked wonder in me at discovering an evening sky as bold and smoldering as the outraged women who in this so-called modern age must risk life and limb, march and yell to demand the most basic of human rights.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United and SKYWATCH. Also, check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

British Mysteries & Things I Can't Explain

It was four in the morning when I woke to a sound and peeked out the window. When rain isn't extreme but taps gently on roofs and windows like a friend begging you to skip down lamp lit puddles, it's tempting. There was something about the rain in London that felt terribly cozy like being in an Agatha Christie mystery novel.

I could easily imagine Sherlock Holmes skulking around the shadowy corners to solve crimes. British writers have a talent for creating unusual detectives that make fictional murder oddly friendly. Although we hate murder, we do love a good mystery.

Authors must be inspired by the eerie dark dampness of night settling into cracks where heritage buildings line streets and small shops with strange treasures snuggle amid sprawling castles, elaborate churches, ancient bridges and grand clocks.

Sometimes mysteries overlap.

How the Rosetta Stone, originating in Egypt, took a wayward turn to the British Museum is a story you can read about HERE. By chance, I discovered author Linda Stratmann merged the ancient stone with murder in her book, "Sherlock Holmes and the Rosetta Stone Mystery". Her tales about young Sherlock sound intriguing. 

From hieroglyphics to modern alphabets, we've long communicated through scribbles.

Words continue to be etched in stone. Above is the resting place of English singer and songwriter George Michael. Below is a man seemingly taking a nap by a monument.

If an experiment to test the kindness of strangers, we failed. Why no one said a word is as mystifying as the man lying there. Holly Village (below), a private residence with an air of mystery, would be an ideal place to ponder his story and our inaction. 

St. Margaret's Church (below) adorned in gorgeous architecture stood silent but must creak from centuries of worshipers and the simply curious who have stepped inside.

With some 942,560 street cameras in London, there was a vague sense everywhere ...

that when someone is looking in, someone else is almost certainly looking out.

I conclude this post with a song by the late George Michael. His voice lives on ... 

Explore more at SKYWATCH and Mosaic Monday. Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT