Life in Poetry reading, writing, reflecting

Life in Poetry reading, writing, reflecting
April showers bring May flowers

Tuesday 9 April 2019

⌗AtoZ challenge, April 9th, letter H

Here is my contribution to the A to Z Challenge of April 2019.
This is the first time I am participating in this challenge, so we'll see if I have the stamina to complete the whole month !
I am also, very ambitiously, writing for the April NaNoWrite ! So the challenge is twofold !!



Hang on to your horse and enjoy the ride. And good luck to all my fellow participants.




If you would like to know more go here


H is for HEAVEN


                       Heaven was in Corsica, August 1985 on the GR 20. (chemin de grande randonnée)
Hiking all day, 20kg on my back, all my earthly possessions; bathing in waterfall pools; sampling freshly-made cheese from a stone hut while teasing the goats; sleeping under the stars in a warm sleeping bag and survival foil; waking up to first light, or in the dark, to the snuffling of a wild pig searching for food that they couldn't find because we had stored it all up in a tree.



Paglia Orba
                       



                      Heaven is feeling the wind on my face, listening to the rush of water on the hull, the tingling of the halyard against the mast, the flutter of the spinnaker as it rose towards the sky; navigating with the sweep of the lighthouses, gazing up at the Big Dipper and a zillion constellations; steadying the wheel, taut in my grip. Mistress of the seas.
(the Mediterranean between Menton and Cavalaire-sur-Mer, July 1982)


                       Heaven is building sandcastles, digging holes on Alum Chine beach; sitting on the sand, legs outstretched, expectant, as the ripple of the dying waves lap at our toes or suddenly smack us in the face: stinging throat and eyes, spitting spume; playing in Robert Louis Stevenson's playground while reading his poems; devouring watercress and egg on wholewheat. cream jam donuts or the occasional hot-dog with sauerkraut; strolling on the Purbeck cliffs in the sunny breeze, up and down, up and down; pausing to behold Old Harry Rocks or Durdle Door and taking a nip in the icy water while the gulls bob on the swell.
(Bournemouth, Poole and the Purbecks with my children: 1997, '99, 2002, 06, 2010, 16. Just as I enjoyed them from 1965 to 1986, every summer.)









Dorset thatched cottage, 1997


Alice & me, 1999


Paul, 2002


Compton Acres, 2010


                      Heaven is lounging on the sofa with my son watching the delicious but sometimes hard lives of the cats of Istanbul, on Sunday evening: 'Kedi'. Sipping Wei ßbier with lemon and taking delight in an almond and raspberry tart.

textandphotos©susanbauryrouchard

Kedi go here

I'm in Heaven, Fred Astaire

And just for fun

Thank you for reading. If you would like to share your thoughts, please comment below
and I will be sure to reply. Have a nice 'H' day. Sunny again today, here in Toulouse, some buoyante clouds, rain last night, but warmer than yesterday .