Driftwood

Driftwood, Embleton Bay, Northumberland 

 

"Sometimes when I think of life, I feel like a piece of driftwood washed up on shore."  

Haruki Murakami

 

This washed up tree trunk lies stranded and isolated on the beach at Embleton Bay. It's been there for a long time. The tide has not yet snatched it back again. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, where it has came from, or how many miles it has travelled. Perhaps it has drifted in from the Netherlands, or Germany, or maybe further afield from Scandinavia?* It has been tossed and turned by the ocean waves, worn smooth and white, and has become a well-placed resting place for passing ramblers admiring the view of nearby Dunstanburgh Castle.

 

(* Britain was one connected to these places, but 'Doggerland', as it was known, was flooded by the North Sea around 6,500 BCE).  

 

Click here to read how you can avoid being driftwood.

 

Writing prompts:

• Look at the image above for a few moments, then write for six minutes about whatever comes into your head.
• Are you a drifter, content just to float along and see where life takes you? If so, write about that for six minutes. 
• In your writing, describe a time when you have found yourself stranded somewhere unexpectedly. What happened?
• If you could roll with the tide and end up on any beach, anywhere in the world, where would that be? Write about that place and why you are attracted to it.