Life Enrichment

 

 

 

When I visit cities, whether here in the Canary Islands or elsewhere in the world, I love visiting public parks.

On a recent trip to Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, I visited Parque Garcia Sanabria. A public park in the middle of the city, away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets, is an urban sanctuary for all, young and old.

It was hard to choose which path to take, but with each turn I took, there was always something to capture in a picture, whether it was trees, plants, sculptures, or water features. 

While I was snapping away, an elderly local gentleman approached and asked me if I would like him to take a photograph of me and my partner. I explained I didn’t want pictures of us but of the beauty that surrounded us.

 

He said that the reason he asked was that when he and his wife went on holiday for many years, they had taken many photographs of themselves individually, but none of them together.

 Then he produced an old Nokia from his pocket, and he told me his phone was unable to take photographs. However, his son insisted he carried it with him when he took his walk in the park twice a day. 

Now, ninety-three years old, he thought it was probably a good idea in case he got into difficulty. Of course, he said the other reason he believed it was a good idea was that his wife would contact him when it was time to return home for lunch or dinner!
 

He then asked where we originated from, and I explained that we were Scottish but now living in his country. He told me that he had great admiration for the Scots because of the love they have in their hearts. I thanked him for this compliment, and he bowed and left us to continue with his daily enrichment of life.

 

My visit to the park resulted in an ideal day to take pictures, but also a perfect day to restore my faith in humanity.

 

https://www.webtenerife.com/que-visitar/jardines-y-parques/parque-garcia-sanabria/ 

Tribute to Tartan Week

    

 

    I can’t let ‘Tartan Week’ go by without celebrating my heritage and culture. Today I’ve included a fun poem written by a lesser-known Scottish poet, Walter Wingate.

    Unfortunately, while alive, very little of his poetry was published, and there were no publishing platforms in those days gone by to self-publish. 

 

    However, after his death, his talent was recognised, and a collection of his poetry was
published, and his words can live on.

 

 

     ‘The Sair Finger’ is about a child with a splinter in their finger. The Scots dialect I know is not easy to understand, but today, I make no apologies for using it in this post because this week is a week to honour all things Scottish.

 

 

 

The Sair Finger

 

You’ve hurt your finger? Puir wee man!

Your pinkie? Deary me!

Noo, juist you haud it that wey till

I get my specs and see!

 

My so it is, and there’s the skelf !

Noo, dinna greet nae mair! 

See there, my needles gotten’t out!

I’m sure that wasna sair?

 

And noo, to make it hale the morn

Put on a wee bit saw

And tie a bonnie hankie roun’t

Noo, there nar in awa’!

 

Your finger sair ana’? Ye rogue

You’re only lettin on

Weel, weel, then see noo, there ye are

Row’d up the same as John!

 

 Walter Wingate 15 April 1865 —1918

 

 

 

Dawn Chorus

 

 

 

 

 

A study recently found that not everyone loves to hear the dawn chorus in the morning. Something that I actually found surprising.

 

When I lived in Scotland, birdsong could be deafening at certain times of the year. My garden was visited by many species of birds, and I do miss their song and beauty in the early throw of Spring.

 

But since moving to South Tenerife, due to the lack of green areas, it’s not something I experience often. Occasionally, blackbird song, the chatter of the noisy parakeets feeding in the palm trees and the strange call of the Hoopoe can be heard when passing through the island on their migration journey.

 

The island’s north is very different, and the luscious vegetation encourages our feathered friends to stay and not just pass through. Therefore, when I visit there, it’s a tick off my list of things that put a smile on my face.

Outtakes of Life

 

 

This time of year, I watch lots of movies. I binge first on the Christmas ones, then gradually wean myself off (reluctantly).

The other day, I watched a Richard Curtis film called About Time. The movie is not new; I believe it was released in 2013. I wasn’t aware of the film before and just came across it accidentally. I chose it because I knew it wouldn’t disappoint, as all of the other titles this writer, producer and director is known for are memorable.

Like many of his other productions, the screenplay of this rom-com was a mix of funny and sad. Without giving too much away and spoiling your viewing if you haven’t watched it yet, time travel and the ability to change things in his life feature. What I loved about it was that although the protagonist could change certain things in his life, it wasn’t possible to change everything. For me, this actually made the story more believable.

As a writer, it enforced the advice given to me a long time ago; that we must make our characters believable in our writing. The protagonist has to have struggles and goals as real people do. 

The only difference is that film producers can do outtakes to do just that, and we can edit, edit, and edit to reach our desired outcome, unlike life.