Some time ago I was asked to answer ten terrifying questions for the Booktopia Blog. I only just realised that the post was published back in December. You can see what the questions were that were so terrifying – and how I answered them here.
Gnomes – and a poem
As part of a family outing yesterday we stopped in to look at Gnomesville, in the Ferguson Valley about half an hour from home. There are thousands and thousands of gnomes there, all left by visitors. There are gnomes under trees
and in trees:
in houses:
and taking transport:
There was every gnome-pun imaginable, but my favourite was this one:
And there was this guy, who of course is not a gnome, by gnome-body told him that:
I’m sure there’s a new story or poem brewing from all of this, though it hasn’t come yet. But it did make me think of one I wrote many years ago:
Lucky
A new day dawns, the sun is bright;
I’m basking in the morning light.
The birds they sing their lovely song
And I will listen all day long.
The flowers smell so very sweet;
The grass it grows beneath my feet.
I’m lucky that this is my home
Because, see, I’m a garden gnome.
(© Sally Murphy)
The Green Page
If you’ve ever heard me talk about Pearl Verses the World, my first verse novel, you may have also heard me talk about the piece of green paper on which the first poem of the book was written.
You see, one night when I was getting into bed, a few lines of poetry came into my head, and I had to get up, find a piece of paper, and write them down. Each time I tried to turn the light off and get some rest, a few more lines came to me, and I had to jump out of bed and write them down. Finally, my beloved started to get restless with all the late-night poetry making, and I had to give it a rest.
That poem, though, didn’t let me rest, and over the coming days I drafted more poems – until I realised that there was a story being told and that the voice, who was Pearl, was not going to leave me be until I wrote her tale. I’ll be forever grateful to Pearl for choosing me and being my muse that night.
So, I’ve talked about this piece of green paper many times, but I’ve never before produced the piece of paper. Today I was looking for something else and I found my Pearl Verses the World file. Lo and behold, in that file was the piece of paper I’d talked about so often.
If you’re interested, here it is:
What surprises me still, as it has done before, is how little that first draft changed from that late night session until publication. I added the missing ‘s’ to sometimes on the first line and later, after the story was accepted, the line ‘at least I have shade’ was removed.
Everything else I’ve ever written has needed writing and rewriting and editing and agonising and – well, you get the picture. Whatever struck me that night and in the weeks that followed as I wrote Pearl’s story was special. Sometimes I think it would be lovely it writing was always so easy but then I think that maybe that once in a lifetime bit of magic was just that – a one-off. It gave me faith in my writing abilities at a time when my self-belief was low. And it gave me this beautiful book:
Sharing Pearl’s world changed my own world, so this little piece of green paper is something I’ll forever treasure.
Happy New Year
The old adage ‘start as you mean to continue’ is particularly apt, I think, on New Year’s Day. There’s something special about a whole fresh year lying ahead with pages waiting to be filled.
I started the day early with a trip to the beach with my beloved and our youngest son, with a spot of fishing and a lovely walk along the sand. Three of my intentions for the year right there: make the most of every day, enjoy more quality family time, and get outdoors as much as possible.
Back at home, I stopped to admire my tomato plants I planted a month or so ago – and found this, ready for harvest: my first, perfect, cherry tomato:
And another intention right there: find joy in small things. Oh, and then another: eat healthily. It may have been small, but there was a lot of flavour in that little tomato.
And, of course, now I’m blogging, so there’s another intention: write every day.
I’ve started well – and plan to keep at it to make this year wonderful for me and those around me.Here’s wishing the same for you.
Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas: A Poem from Down Under
We sing of jingle bells and snow
Of warm red suits and ho ho ho
But none of this is quite the way
When it is Christmas here below.
Downunder in good old Aussieland
It’s time for sun and surf and sand.
It’s hot, not cold, it’s summertime
And summer treats are in demand.
Hard work for reindeer in this heat
Hot roofs would burn their tender feet
And racing through the summer skies
Would leave the poor things feeling beat.
And as for Santa in fur and such
He’d soon feel overdressed a touch.
Being snug and warm in blistering heat
Is not likely to impress him much.
Santa needs roos for the job
Of sleigh-pulling – an Aussie mob
To get him moving all around
From Sydney town to Iron Knob.
His suit, too, needs an overthrow
A new outfit, from head to toe.
Some boardies, a singlet and some thongs
Would seem to be the way to go.
So let’s not sing of snow and ice
Instead I’ll give you this advice
Roos, utes and summer are the go
For Christmas songs that sound real nice.
So ripper, bonza, beudy, strewth
Though you might think my song uncouth
It’s true blue and its ridgy didge
To sing a song that tells the truth.
(Copyright Sally Murphy, 2014)
Stormy Weather
I love storms, and I have to admit I’ve been a teensy bit jealous of late of some of the fabulous thunderstorms others around the country have witnessed – though I hasten to add that I understand sometimes storms do horrible things to property and to people.
Today is apparently our turn, though as yet I’ve only heard two rolls of thunder, so not sure we’re going to have anything significant. We shall see. In the meantime, though, I raced up to the beach for a quick walk, camera in hand. I wasn’t disappointed.
This was the view from the carpark.
I wish cameras could capture scents, because the smell of these wet dunes was almost as amazing as the looming clouds.
I couldn’t wait to get down all those stairs (can you spot the photobombing dragonfly in this photo?)
and the view on the beach was as awesome as I expected.
My feet were pretty happy to test the water – and I kind of wished I’d worn my bathers, because the water was perfect for a dip.
But instead I put the camera away for a while and just walked, and breathed and smiled. Sometimes you don’t need a camera to record the awesomeness of an experience.
But, walk over, I couldn’t resist one more shot – which turned into two more. Because I couldn’t help capturing the difference between two angles standing in the one spot. Looking along the beach:
And then, looking up to see a patch of blue.
As I write, the skies are growing darker. Wonder if there’s any patches of blue left?
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