World Postcard Day

 A little bit of kindness,
Can brighten the day,
Send out a postcard,
It’s the Postcrossing way!

I am a dedicated sender of postcards. Since joining Postcrossing in 2020 I've sent 327 cards to places all over the world and have received 328. It's always a lovely surprise when one pops through my letterbox. The image on the is front always different, colourful and interesting and so far the postcards have connected me with people, young and old, in 54 different countries. 

Tomorrow is the 6th World Postcard Day and above is 2025's celebratory postcard, created by Uran Duo, the artistic name of two married freelance illustrators based in Fujian, China. The husband and wife both studied graphic design at the China Academy of Art, and after graduation decided to focus on illustration. 

The theme of the postcard is the most classical of postcard sentences, “Wish you were here”. With just four words, it captures everything a postcard is about: the moment you pause, look around, and think of someone far away with whom you would love to share the view and the adventure you’re having. With this postcard, we aim to celebrate that instant of connection that postcards bring about. 

Writing prompts:

• In our digital age, when social media seems to dominate, do you think sending postcards is still a good way of connecting people? Write about what may be the advantages and disadvantages of this form of communication.
• When was the last time you received a postcard? Write about how you think you would feel if one popped through your letterbox tomorrow.
• Write a postcard to someone you know - maybe someone you haven't been in touch with for a long time - and post it if you like.  

Great Oaks from Little Acorns

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Acorn And Oak
 
“Oh I’ll never be big,” the acorn said,
     As it gazed on high to the oak tree tall,
“I’m little and round as a miller’s thumb,
     I’ll never be big, I’ll always be small.”
 
The oak tree smiled a knowing smile,
      “My trunk is thick, and my roots are deep,
My branches and twigs spread high and wide,
     For birds to nest in, and bugs to sleep.
 
But I was an acorn too on a time,
     - ‘Oh I’ll never be big, I’ll never be strong,’ -
That’s what I thought many years ago . . .
     And, dear little acorn, you see I was wrong!”
 
By Paul King

"Great oaks from little acorns grow." 

"Each human being is bred with a unique set of potentials that yearn to be fulfilled as surely as the acorn yearns to become the oak within it." Aristotle

It looks like it's going to be a bumper year for acorns. The pavements and paths are strewn with them whenever I go for a walk. Did you know that an oak can drop several hundred acorns in a single square metre? Let's hope some of them will be carried away and buried by squirrels to produce more oaks. 

A bumper year such as this one is known as a 'mast' year. Click here to find out why.

It is believed that if you carry an acorn in your pocket, it will protect you from harm and bring good luck. There is much folklore connected with oak trees and acorns. Click here to learn more.  

If you want to know if acorns are edible click here. 

Writing prompts:

• When you were young did you think that you would not amount to much, or did you know you would grow into something magnificent? Ponder these questions in your writing.
• What 'unique set of potentials' were you born with?
• Have you fulfilled your potential, or is something holding you back? 
  

If you are reading this blog, please send me some feedback and maybe share you writing. Click on 'Add a comment' below.

Shine on Harvest Moon

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"Because I'm still in love with you on this Harvest Moon." (Neil Young)

Look up to the skies on Sunday, (September 7th) and you will see, clouds permitting, a beautiful full moon - a Harvest Moon, or Corn Moon. It will reach its peak at at 7.09pm here in the UK. (Click here to find out more on the fascinating Royal Museums Greenwich website.)

At this time, for several evenings, the Moon appears particularly big and bright and rises early, letting farmers continue harvesting their crops into the night. This moon is also sometimes named the Barley Moon, and is often the nearest full moon to the autumnal equinox.

In the past it's inspired poets and songwriters. Click here for a poem by Ted Hughes and here for one by Longfellow. Click here for Ruth Etting's 1931 'Shine on Harvest Moon' and here for Neil Young's 'Harvest Moon.'

There's a lot of folklore associated with full moons and the Harvest Moon is traditionally associated with new beginnings. 

There are also some interesting facts about Autumn generally. Click here to find them.

Writing prompts:

• What seeds have you sown this year that have come to fruition? Are you ready to harvest your crop? Explore this in your writing.
  
• Write about the 'new beginnings' you are currently planning.
• If you're still in love with someone on this Harvest Moon (see above) write about them, and why they are special and wonderful.

Walking with Dinosaurs

I'm Glad I'm Living Now, Not Then!
 
When earth was yet a little child
Dinosaurs lived free and wild.
Some as big as spacious homes,
Some as small as tiny gnomes.
A few had wings to fly the skies
With giant beaks and searching eyes.
Harbouring murder in their breasts
They stole the fledglings from their nests.
One giant breed lived deep within
Dark waters with its kindly kin.
Still others wandered mean and bold
And ate each other, I've been told.
I know what might or must have been-
I'm glad I'm living now, not then!

Lillian M. Fisher

It's not every day you meet a dinosaur on the streets of Brighouse, but we did last Sunday. It was called Freya and was rather mischievous, much to the delight of our grandchildren. Not all those youngsters watching were quite so happy, however. One little boy was so terrified he had to be carried away screaming by his mum. 

 I'm not sure what kind of dinosaur we met. Suggestions in the comments below please.

Writing prompts:

• Write about something, or someone you have come across unexpectedly while out and about in your locality.
• Are you glad that you're living now and not in some previous age? In your writing explore what's good or bad about living now and how it might have been to live in a different age. 
• Did anything terrify you as a child: Father Christmas, clowns, dogs? If so, set a timer for six minutes and write about it.
  

Here Be Dragons!

Belinda paled, and she cried, Help! Help!
But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp,
Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household,
And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.

But up jumped Custard, snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank and a jangling squirm
He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm.

The pirate gaped at Belinda’s dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets but they didn’t hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.

From 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon' by Ogden Nash
Copyright Linell Nash Smith and Isabel Nash Eberstadt 

When it came to the crunch it turned out that Custard was not such a coward after all. Click here to read the whole of 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon.'

One of my favourite 'dragon' stories to read to my grandchildren in 'There's No Such Thing As A Dragon', by Jack Kent. Click here to listen to the story.

Click here to read more about dragons.

Click here to read more about the phrase 'Here be dragons'.

Click here to listen to Peter, Paul and Mary's rather sad tale of 'Puff the Magic Dragon'. 

Read Ogden Nash's poem again and then use these writing prompts:

• We shouldn't always judge by appearances. The poem initially portrays Custard as a coward, constantly asking for a safe cage, while Belinda and her other pets (Ink, Blink, and Mustard) are depicted as brave. However, this perception is challenged when danger arises. Write about how you think others judge your appearance and what, perhaps, you are concealing.
• True bravery can be unexpected. When the pirate attacks, Custard, not the other "brave" pets, confronts and defeats the pirate, saving everyone. This reveals that true courage can be found in those who are not outwardly boastful or aggressive. Write about an occasion when you, or someone else, has been unexpectedly brave.
  
• The poem also highlights the theme of self-confidence, suggesting that true strength comes from believing in oneself and one's abilities, even if others underestimate you. Write about a time when others have underestimated you.
  
• Write down all the reasons you could believe in yourself and your abilities.

 

Moonbathing

 

 

Photo by Pedro Lastra on Unsplash

Full Moon

One night as Dick lay fast asleep,
     Into his drowsy eyes
A great still light began to creep
     From out the silent skies.
It was the lovely moon's, for when
     He raised his dreamy head,
Her surge of silver filled the pane
     And streamed across his bed.
So, for a while, each gazed at each-
     Dick and the solemn moon-
Till, climbing slowly on her way,
     She vanished, and was gone.

Walter de la Mare

 

Tomorrow, July 10, at 22.09, will be the best time to see the next full moon. The waxing Gibbous moon has been clearly visible in the night sky these past few days. Let's hope the sky is tomorrow so that you can you can gear yourself up for a bit of moonbathing. "Fans of the practice believe that harnessing the moon’s lunar energy brings the body's systems into harmony and promotes healing and wellness." You'll need to arm yourself with some Himalayan bath salts, frankincense and rose tea! Click here to learn how to take a simple moon bath. You may want to chill out to Santana's song 'Full Moon' while doing so. 

It's the light of the Buck Moon that will soothe you tomorrow. The fascinating Royal Museums Greenwich website tells us, "Male deer, which shed their antlers every year, begin to regrow them in July, hence the Native American name for July's full moon. Some refer to this moon as the thunder moon, due to the summer storms in this month. Other names include the hay moon, after the July hay harvest."

Writing prompts:

• What do you need to 'shed' right now. Write about all the things you don't need and want to let go of at this time of the full moon.
• The Buck Moon provides an opportunity to start again and grow something new. Write about what qualities, ideas, or schemes you want to grow in the coming weeks.
  

Bluebird

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L'oiseau bleu

 
The lake lay blue below the hill.
O'er it, as I looked, there flew
Across the waters, cold and still,
A bird whose wings were palest blue.

The sky above was blue at last,
The sky beneath me blue in blue.
A moment, ere the bird had passed,
It caught his image as he flew.

 

by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge

 

This year was the first time BBC Radio 3 presented a classical music set at Glastonbury. Click here if you would like to listen. Towards the end of the set presenter Georgia Mann plays two sublime 'bluebird tracks'. 

 

The first, Charles Villiers Stanford's 'The Blue Bird' (8 Partsongs Op.119), is a setting of the poem above. As Georgia says, it is 'dreamy, ethereal summer music'. Click here to listen. 

 

Pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench says his piece 'Bluebird': "is an expression of love and hope. I wanted to write something that expressed a certain innocence and purity. There's so much trauma around us right now, and I wanted to share a moment of calm, beauty and consolation; there isn't enough of that in the world." Click  here to listen.

Click here to find a moment of calm.

 

There are many songs written about bluebirds. Click here listen to Paul McCartney and Wings singing 'Bluebird' and here to listen to Emmylou Harris's 'If You Were a Bluebird'. 

 

With its theme of searching for the elusive bluebird of happiness, the play "The Blue Bird", by Maurice Maeterlinck was the inspiration for the naming of Donald Campbell's cars and hydroplanes. Child actress Shirley Temple starred in a rather bizarre, 1940 film version of the play. If you're interested, click here. (Apologies for having to skip through advertisements).

 

The bluebird is traditionally a symbol of happiness, hope and renewal; it is thought to be a messenger of joy and positive change. Remember Vera Lynn's WW11 song: "There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover tomorrow, just you wait and see." Or course we don't have bluebirds in the UK, but the symbolism is there. 

Writing prompts:

• Choose a clear, sunny day. Go outside, taking a pen and paper with you. Look up at the clear blue sky for a couple of minutes, then write whatever comes to mind.
• Listen to the pieces by Stanford and Ffrench (by clicking on the links above). As you listen, describe, in your writing, the pictures in your mind's eye.
• Click here to read about the psychology of the colour blue, then write about what the colour means to you. 
• Is there a bird, other than the bluebird, that for you symbolises joy and positivity? Describe that bird in your writing.