Fire and Ice

 

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Fire and Ice
By Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Copyright Credit: Robert Frost, "Fire and Ice" from New Hampshire. Copyright © 1923 by Robert Frost. 

 

 

While we have been encountering freezing temperatures (click here), California in the US has been enduring devastating fires (click here). Meanwhile, two climate protestors were arrested today for spray painting Charles Darwin's grave in Westminster Abbey.

I thought Robert Frost's 'Fire and Ice' poem seemed appropriate for the circumstances.

Writing prompts:

• Write in response to my photo of ice taken this week in a friend's garden.
• Write in response to the picture of fire.
• Do you think climate change will cause the end of the world? Set a timer for six minutes and try to answer this question in your writing.
• The world can sometimes seem full of gloom and doom. Make a list of things that you consider beautiful, wonderful and that you are grateful for. 
• If you were to make a public protest about something what would it be and how would you do it? Explain in your writing.
  

When is a Toadstool not a Toadstool?

The Toadstool House

I wish I lived in a toadstool house,
Beneath an old Oak tree,
With a tiny door and a chimney pot,
And windows – one, two, three.

I’d play with each wee squirrel,
Who chanced to come my way,
I’d get to know the woodland birds,
And feed them every day.

And if you’d ever wandered by,
I’d ask you in to tea,
Inside my little toadstool house,
Beneath the old Oak Tree.

 

I came across this 'toadstool' in a friend's frosty garden. I discovered later, after a bit of research, that it is actually a staddle stone, or steddle stone, originally used as a supporting base for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. Click here and here for pictures and to read more about them.

There's something magical about toadstools. My daughter was given a pottery toadstool nightlight as a child, with tiny woodland animals living inside. It provided a reassuring fairy glow in the darkness. I'm sad that it's long since been lost.

As a child in the 1960s I enjoyed being a Brownie, in the 57th Bradford East Pack. I was first in the Gnome six, then a sixer in the Elves. The focal point of our meetings was a plaster toadstool, rather like the one here.

(Picture courtesy of St Barnabas Brownies, Gloucester) 

We danced around it at every meeting and, when it was time for me to move up into the Girl Guides, Brown Owl and Tawny Owl took an arm each and 'flew' me over the toadstool. A symbol of growing up, leaving the nest and moving on.

Q: Why do toadstools grow so close together?

A: Because they don't need mush-room!

Writing prompts:

• The stone toadstool is really a staddle stone. Do you think people look at you and think you are someone different from who you actually are? Write for a few minutes about other people's perceptions of you.
• Do you wish you lived in a toadstool house? Just for a few moments, imagine that you do. Write about it.
• Recall a childhood memory that fills you with warmth and relive it in your writing.
  
• When did you 'leave the nest'? Write about what happened and how you felt.
  

Stopping By Woods

 

pic courtesy of Abbe Gordziejko 

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,  

And miles to go before I sleep."  

This is the entrance to Billy Wood in Norwood Green, and, even though it's not quite dark yet, on a snowy day like today it evokes Robert Frost's famous and beloved poem 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.' Click here to read the full poem.

There are various interpretations of the poem (click here for one). I just love it at the simplest level, for its evocative images and its wonderful rhyming scheme.

The narrator of the poem is attracted by the woods, but they can be a places of mystery and maybe even danger. Think of 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'Hansel and Gretel'. Let your imagination run riot for a while.

Writing prompts:

• Imagine you are standing at the entrance to these woods at dusk. Write about what you are thinking and what you do next.

• Have you got 'promises to keep'? If so, what are they and will you keep them? Explore the answers to these questions in your writing. 

• Like the narrator, you have 'miles to go' before you sleep. Write about your journey and your destination.
  

Resolve to Improve?

 

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"I am resolved—that vows like these,
      Though lightly made, are hard to keep;
Wherefore I'll take them by degrees,
      Lest my backslidings make me weep.
One vow a year will see me through;
And I'll begin with Number  Two."

 

 (from 'New Year Resolutions' by Rudyard Kipling)

Have you made any new year resolutions? If so, how are they going on the first day of the new year? Are you going to stick to that new diet, keep going with the daily exercise regime, manage to cut down on sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol?! The chances are that you'll falter. Click here to read about the psychology of why resolutions often fail. 

Instead of making resolutions, based on everything you think you failed at in 2024, why not use what you did last year as base to make your life better in the months ahead?

So, if you want to have a better year in 2025 than you did in 2024 try these writing prompts:

• What would you do more?
• What would you do less? 
• What would you do differently? 

Share any thoughts by clicking on 'no comments' below.  

Listen to the Ocean

 

"Listen to the ocean
echoes of a million seashells
Forever it's in motion
Moving to a rhythmic and
unwritten music
That's played eternally."

(Nina and Frederick)

The Sound Of The Sea

The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep,
    And round the pebbly beaches far and wide
    I heard the first wave of the rising tide
    Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep;
A voice out of the silence of the deep,
    A sound mysteriously multiplied
    As of a cataract from the mountain's side,
    Or roar of winds upon a wooded steep.
So comes to us at times, from the unknown
    And inaccessible solitudes of being,
    The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul;
And inspirations, that we deem our own,
    Are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing
    Of things beyond our reason or control.

 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    (© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes)

Christmastime in Northumberland has meant daily, late-afternoon walks down a country lane to Embleton Bay (above). As dusk fell, I have stood on the sand, listened to the waves and allowed myself a few mindful moments. Click here to listen to the sound of the sea. 

 

Writing Prompts:

• Have you managed to have a few mindful moments yourself this festive season? Write about what you did and how it made you feel.
• Do you enjoy listening to the sound of the sea? Listen to this recording. Play it again with your eyes closed and then write for six minutes, without stopping, about what the sounds evoke. 
• Do you recognise "the inaccessible solitudes of being" and "the rushing of the sea-tides of the soul"? Write in response to Longfellow's poem (above).
  

Ho, Ho Ho ?

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The festive season can be a time of joy and for being with loved ones, but it can also be a stressful and lonely period. How are you feeling in this run-up to Christmas?

If you've recently been bereaved, you may be dreading spending your first Christmas Day without your loved one. Click here for help with coping with grief at Christmas.

Perhaps you have become estranged from family members and feel especially sad at this time of year, unable to find a route to reconciliation. Click here for help. 

Maybe someone has gone missing from your family and will not be home for Christmas. (Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK.) Click here to learn about 'Missing People', a charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people and their loved ones.

Some may have to spend Christmas day in hospital, too ill to come home. Others may be being cared for at home, but are too unwell to join in and enjoy the festivities. 

For many who are struggling with mental health problems the whole festive period may be difficult and stressful to handle. They may be finding it hard to admit to friends and family that they don't feel great and are struggling. Click here to learn how Christmas might affect your mental health and here for tips on how to look after yourself at this time.

Elderly people may be feeling lonely and isolated. Click here to learn more and to find out how you can help.

Spare a thought too for those having to work on Christmas Day, for example in the emergency services, or hospitals. If you're contemplating volunteering on the day here's a page to give you some ideas.

Samaritans offer help and advice whatever you're going through. To talk free to someone on the phone ring 116 123.

Writing prompt:

• Take a few moments now to reflect upon, and write about, why for some Christmas isn't the season to be jolly. 
• If you are one of those people, set a timer for six minutes and write down a plan of what you can do to help yourself.
  

Advent

 

 

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The season of Advent is here. My Advent candle is gradually burning down, and we've opened three doors on our Advent calendar. My search for one that had anything to do with Christmas ended at Dewsbury Minster where I found a calendar devoid of chocolates, that simply told the Christmas story.

'Advent' seems to come earlier each year. It's somewhat depressing to see the Hallowen'en paraphernalia in shops immediately replaced by Christmas stock. It makes one wonder what it's all about. 

Perhaps I'm feeling nostalgic, or looking at things through rose coloured glasses, but Christmas, and the lead up to it, used to be so simple and therefore, I think, more special. 

There would be a party at junior school, with jelly and ice-cream, musical chairs and a visit from Santa (one of the teachers dressed up in a not-very-convincing disguise) handing out selection boxes wrapped in coloured crepe paper. 

A trip to Santa's grotto at Busby's department store in Bradford was always a treat. 

Letters would be written, requesting a new doll, or clockwork train set, then burnt on the open fire to travel up the chimney and on to the North Pole. 

For weeks we would rehearse the Sunday School Christmas panto, maybe playing a rat or a mouse in Cinderella, or as we got older being promoted to 'the chorus'. 

We'd go door to door singing Christmas carols, and there always seemed to be thick snow.

Christmas morning was magical, waking up in the cold (no central heating) and peering through the dark to find a pillow case, bulging with gifts, at the end of the bed.

Click here to read John Betjeman's poem 'Advent'. 

Click here to read one of my favourite stories, 'The gift of the Magi'. 

However to spend your Advent, I hope it is one filled with simple pleasures and love. Please share your Advent thoughts in the comments box.

Writing prompts:

• What are your childhood memories of the time leading up to Christmas? 
• Write a letter to Santa. You can request anything you like in your list!
• Does all the Christmas hullabaloo start to early in your opinion, or are you happy to see inflatable snowmen and Father Christmases in your neighbours' gardens in October?