Here are two photographs (I concede that these are not very good photographs but that isn’t the point of this game). Okay, so you know those newspaper games where there are two pictures that, at first glance, look identical and you have to find the differences? Well, here are two photos that are different from each other in numerous ways but there is only one significant difference. Can you find it?
This is the photograph given to me by Mr Tootlepedal. I had to keep it to myself for a day or so because I was like a child with a new toy; I didn’t want to share it.
A little while ago I asked Mr Tootlepedal if he would give me a photograph and he said of course and asked me to choose, but then I asked him to choose and this is the one he sent me. He isn’t even putting it on his own blog, so it is kind of all mine, and even signed!
I am going to get it framed and put it in the kitchen where I will see it many times every day because I know that each time I look at this bird, my heart will experience a wingbeat.
If you want to know what kind of bird this is you will have to go to Mr Tootlepedal’s wonderful blog.
Yesterday morning he walked away very quickly without looking back.
He gave me no warning and I regretted not having treated him with more respect, even gratitude.
Once he’d gone, I was bereft. I called all of the authorities to find him for me again but nobody could help.
I knew in my heart he would come back eventually but I didn’t know when.
His moody unpredictability engraged me and I let the misery of his absence seep in.
I kept myself busy with things I usually did with him; I began categorizing my writing, my photos and my address book.
I even thought of baking a cake but of course he doesn’t like cake.
Imagine my joy when just an hour ago he returned.
He was a little dishevelled and confused.
I gave him a big hug and said he was my best friend.
I apologized to him for not having acknowledged this earlier in our relationship.
He seemed happier and much friendlier, and he seemed to have missed me too.
The internet.
As many of you know, Nia, who lives in Turkey, and who I only know via the blogosphere, handmade me four pillow covers and posted them to me a little while ago – a gift! I found some filling and took one in for Anthony at the nursing lodge. Today I finally remembered to take a couple of pictures of it.
I have bought Nia four little Australian things which, as soon as I have found where I put them, I will post off to her to say thank you. Here is her site but I realize many of you already know this wonderful woman.
Anthony loves the pillow, but said, a bit sadly, “It’s too good to be in here.”
“But you’re here,” I said.
“I know,” he said, stroking Nia’s pillow gently.
“Stop this nonsense,” I said, picking up the pillow and smacking him lightly on the head with it.
He actually smiled!
Thank you, Nia.
Last November I began this blog because I wanted to catapult myself into writing again. That was my simple, initial reason. Since then I haven’t missed a single day; in fact I have overdone it on some days with too many posts. But what the hell – blogging got me writing again. Not only that, I actually accumulated a few friends (that was totally unexpected!) and discovered a fascinating community. When I began the blog I wasn’t looking for friends or a community or anything really; I just wanted to write so that is what I think I am doing here – writing.
It took me awhile to realize that blogging is a reciprocal thing. I didn’t understand what ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ were to begin with. Then, when I began to explore other people’s blogs I was amazed, touched, and fascinated by all of this wonderful writing that I didn’t know was there. In the last few months I have learned more about photography, art, music, history, geography, poetry, illness, health, inspiration, pain and friendship than I ever learned at university!
But back to my point; I have noticed that some bloggers differentiate between their blogging and their writing. I tried to do this but failed – ie. I tried to plonk my love story into a separate blog because in my mind I thought that would be my writing blog and this would be my blogging blog. It didn’t take me long to realize that any blogging IS writing.
She was going to ring me, then I was going to ring her, then we both emailed each other about feeling nervous about the telephone, then we exchanged phone numbers, then we figured out the time difference between our two different countries, then she tried to ring me but she couldn’t get through, then I arranged to ring her and chickened out, then today, at noon, when it was her midnight but I could see she was still online, I did it!
I picked up the telephone to dial with my hands shaking a bit because she and I have not only become blogging buddies but have also exchanged some emails about our situations (she and I both have people we love who have Parkinson’s disease – her mother and my husband). Also I am a little phone phobic – not sure why.
Well, what a conversation! She sounded so comfortably cosy and made me laugh my head off. And her incredible accent – it was so, well, it was so different. Her voice was lower than I expected because, knowing she is tiny, I thought she’d have a higher voice. And she had such a wonderful smiling sort of voice despite what she is going through with her mother.
After the conversation I sat there stunned for a little while and then I actually had to go and have a little nap even though it’s the middle of the day! I think it was the shock of actually speaking to someone whose blog I read every day – almost like discovering that Santa Claus is real!
Yeeha!
Son haiku
You’re a total brat,
but you have your angel side.
I love you too much.
Unreliability haiku
I didn’t turn up.
“And why am I not surprised?”
my friend says to me.
Hearty haiku
Edges of my heart
are broken, frayed and scabby
I don’t pick the scabs.
Joyful haiku
I watch all the birds,
and the rain blurs my vision,
but they fly freely.
Flower haiku
The roses suffer.
The camellias grow huge.
I want sunflowers.
Friendship haiku
I am a good friend
to those who forgive me all.
Those people have wings.
Blogging haiku
The blog world is weird
and magically scented.
Unexpected bliss.
Husband haiku
You were once my world
and now this world has collapsed.
Parkinson’s disease.
Hi to any bloggers I subscribe to. I am not getting your blog posts via email for some reason, so, if I usually comment and haven’t done, that’s why. Perhaps the wordpress happiness engineers are doing something exciting? I will probably be excommunicated for saying that. Hopefully the glitch will be fixed soon so I can keep better contact. On the other hand it has been rather relaxing not reading all those blogs – ha! Julie
Ming’s musical tastes are varied. Here is his latest favourite. Bring it on, Xavier Rudd!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmxSxKxBbQE&feature=related
[Note: I am not receiving any notifications from any of the blogs I follow, so will try to catch up as soon as this glitch is fixed]
Sometimes I say things and the words come out in a way I hadn’t intented:
Anyway sometimes the same thing happens with blogging. For example when I first started this blog and I was pressing this button and that button and any button, trying to figure it all out, I accidentally reblogged someone and, when I realized, I immediately trashed it. I have no idea who this was, but now that I am a more seasoned blogger I realize how hurtful and mysterious it would be to be reblogged and trashed in the space of a few minutes!
Then yesterday, when I reblogged a post and then wrote another post to explain why I felt BB’s post and the children’s cause were important, I said a few things about reblogging which may have been misinterpreted because I didn’t express them very well, so I will just add here that (a) I love being reblogged – don’t mind it a bit and find it flattering; (b) I don’t mind reading reblogs at all but often don’t have time; (c) I don’t particularly like to reblog others’ words because I like to write my own.
So I do hope I haven’t made a blogging faux pas as bad as the reblogging+trashing incident. And if you happen to be the person I unwittingly did this to, I apologize and promise to be your brother for life!
jmgoyder 