An evening sky boils

Falling asleep early evening after two glasses of Chardonnay, she raised her head to look west, grabbed a camera, rushed to the higher plain to overview the sky above the river, then cut down to the chateau by the back lanes but was too late to catch the magic.  There by the Chapel, several groups of people, obviously met in friendship, sharing relaxation and pleasure by the light and fire of a glorious setting sun.  Bird song trilled, smoke-laden smells of verdure filled the air between the stone walled maisons.  Spring arrives. She feels released from her prison. She wants it to last!  She has missed so much in her hibernation and recent illness, akin to being in a nunnery cell.  She has missed friendship and nature.

Solidarity

Although I was unable to go to Paris, London or elsewhere, nevertheless, I have not been without sentiment or thoughts for those who suffered, died and who live.  I hold no weapons but shall promote and support the written word for expression and imagery.  Everyone should be able to express opinion even though this may sit uncomfortably with others.  It is the nature of human beings.  The news has made me more aware of different viewpoints.  I don't always understand cartoons or jokes but realize they are powerful tools to deliver a message without many words.
The dream is that all peoples should be kind to each other, respect opinion, belief, faith, diversity, difference and sameness. We are all from the same mould, sharing fundamental basic instincts. Deep, deep within, we need to give and receive love, to be cherished and cared for, to return the same.  It is why people seek others with whom to live. Those who hurt, maim, or kill, I do not understand them.  Perhaps emotional experiences have been very poor. I know not! I cannot judge.
My dream is that people may live alongside each other as well as live PEACEFULLY together in whichever country they visit or live, whatever their nationality or faith.
I really believe that whenever anyone has wronged us,  hurt us, damaged us, even in our own perception, then we need to learn to forgive others before fighting escalates. It takes patience, tolerance, energy and time to understand ourselves and others.
I believe that JUSTICE will PREVAIL!  What goes around will come around!
The press today, Monday 12 January 2015, made additional comment on the history of a country in which I have chosen to live. They have also provided further information about the tragedy. Some have also highlighted how other tragedies in the world have been unreported or little reported in the media. 

Freedom for Peace

In the name of Peace
I pray that all peoples live without aggression causing harm, injury and death.

Liberty, Peace, Freedom

I used to own a white poppy which I would wear now in place of the black pencil.

I am writing for the truth of me as it exists at this moment... 

I do publish thoughts after much consideration yet, I exercise the right to formulate and change my writings about my beliefs if at any point I am persuaded differently.  
I exercise the right to amend, alter, edit, erase or withdraw this posting at any time in the future.
My thoughts are of yesterday and today.  My thoughts are with those who suffer. 

It is unknown for me to express my beliefs to anyone, least of all myself, and especially not publicly.  I have normally been too scared to have beliefs. It would label me!  However,I have learned in the last few years to begin to believe in SELF and that the values I ahve are worthy. I LOVE FRANCE.  I LOVE France because every where one goes or asks quelque-choses the French person has the time and the honour....

I also wish to state that this isn't my first or only blog/website but it is where I try to live in My Reality.   I am not afraid to come forward but I do like my privacy.

I strongly believe that every one should be KIND... and more than KIND... to LOVE... UNDERSTAND and FORGIVE... 

I believe in the freedom of expression without physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual abuse, without intimidation, without violence, without cruelty, without destruction, without murder, irregardless of belief in faith, religion, political stance, without discrimination against others, without negativity in any form. 

I condemn all cruelty, criminal activity, violence. I also believe that justice will come to those who are injust. What goes around will come around... or whatever the expression is.....

The world is full of terrible tragedies... people being taken against their will, transported to HOPE and away from violence only to be thrown into other chaos.  My heart is full of pain! Anguish!

People should be entitled to their beliefs and let live in Peace and Harmony alongside each other despite creed, colour, name, beliefs, disabilities, etc.

IT IS WRONG TO HURT OTHERS.
I am not perfect therefore I cannot preach. Mea culpa! 

I wanted to use  and WANT to use, but am reluctant to use the phrase supporting CH because I believe that Islamists, Catholics, Protestants, other religions or atheists or agnostics all have a right to support and express their beliefs providing that they are not trying to convert or intimidate others.  There was a Muslim killed in yesterday's murder in Paris.  None of those people should have been murdered.  The people who did this are running for their lives. 
What justice / injustice is it?  None. 
In my opinion it serves no end towards Peace between Nations and Peoples. 
YET... I HOPE that the murderers are caught soon. 

I don't like to use phrases that join me to a crowd.  That is because of my own internal dilemmas.
However, I have marched on rallies in the past and silently marched and also railed against that which has annoyed me. 
In LIFE, it is a FACT that I have had to come to terms with: 
PEOPLE get annoyed and get HURT by others .... and ...  annoy and hurt others. 

Probably, every human being, if offended or hurt  will attempt to explain themselves and even defend their thoughts and beliefs... that is freedom of expression.

HOWEVER,

I believe that everyone has the right to express their thoughts and emotions, to express beliefs without fear of violence providing that they do it without anger, without intimidation, without punishing others, without cruelty in any form.

I pray to God, any God, a God, all Gods, that Peace remains in the lands where I live and prevails in all places on this planet.

I believe that no one has the right to judge others against our own beliefs or thoughts as we try to work out what our beliefs are.....although I have judged and sometimes do. That causes me and has caused me much shame in the past and it is something I try hard not to think. If I do find myself making a judgement then I try very hard, I think, to question it and try to change it... I am not being righteous or holier than anyone... I am trying to be a better person at my age with my precious levels of innocence and naivety about the world and its peoples.

I believe that a person has the right to believe and follow a religious faith without judgement from other religious faiths or beliefs including being an agnostic or atheist and without giving judgement to others who may follow a different set of beliefs.
I believe that a person has the right to have political viewpoints which I may or may not agree with.

I believe that humans should not criticise, blame, denigrate those who they think do not believe in what they do... or who do not follow their path.  People who do that, perhaps think they are  better than, more perfect than the one they are criticising, or is it that they see themselves in that person!

I follow a belief that there are many religions and faiths where parts are plausible and no one should be persecuted for their beliefs.

I am not against Catholicism, though some Catholic managers treated me exceptionally badly, and in an un Christian manner, I have known since of C of E and Catholics being rude and unwelcoming in their own church and of course others who are very embracing. I once had a lovely friend who became a Muslim and he married and she became one too... Lovely, lovely people.  I once had a Jewish friend.  I have known Methodists and Baptists.  I also at one time in my life met a lot of Indians and they were wonderful. Music enjoined us.  I have known atheists and agnostics..

It doesn't matter what colour outside and inside we are ... it matters what kind of person we are...

Whoever has the power to injure or kill in my opinion is a mentally mad maniac and if that person has caused injury or death then they should be questioned/trialled.  I cannot begin to think what could/should/would happen to them.
I don't like to take the precious gift of life for a life but in some cases perhaps it is Just.

We do not need WAR OF RELIGION... we do not need WAR of any kind.

I cannot condone nor criticise the journalism but a message from the editor did seem rather taunting... and seemed to invite the Law of Attraction... that what we wish for can sometimes come true... although of course  in his case he did not wish what happened to come true.  I am deeply saddened for all those who have been injured, including the loved ones of the deceased and injured.

I know that cartoons have been created about Gods and Angels and Devils etc but it is wrong to provoke, to goad.

I know that and I have been guilty of goading in a minor way and it was terribly destructive. In my case it was done when one feels helpless or very injured inside.

If there is freedom of expression for one nation / one person then surely we have to accept that for all nations / all peoples / any person ... ???? ..... 

I don't like anger. I lived with a sometimes violent father and who was mostly as meek as a lamb.

I shy away from debate because I have never been able to in a face to face discussion express personal opinions or thoughts ... or even to have them when I am trying to listen to someone else and at the same time form an opinion about things I have no foundation or experience of.   I have not been able to debate. It is better if I can reflect.. and the internet helps me... I can read one set of values and another.  I only know what I have heard or read on the internet... and try to search for different viewpoints and not just National Press.

Lives have been ended... and I am deeply saddened that people want to kill others....
I don't necessarily agree with cartoonists or expressions of thought by journalists all the time as much as I don't always agree with myself all the time!

I live for Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.  (although I don't think that all is possible) BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO STRIVE for a better world.
In England, France or wherever,  there are peoples of different nationalities and faiths... we don't have to agree with them. As long as they don't hurt each other in any way at all, then we can live in Peace and Harmony.    I dream.   I worry. 

Last night some people wore labels ... and the phrase was screened at the start and end of the Mayoral Reception.  Solidarity?  The people involved in Paris have all played a part innocently or with provocation or deliberate action. I am so saddened

These thoughts are jumbled... I keep wondering if I should withdraw them from the public domain...
.... now... I need to attend my own business for I cannot change other people and the world.
It requires more than effort to change myself!

Partytime!

Life is strange and full of coincidences.
It was a spookydooky occasion when disguise was appropriate.
This last week I delved into unopened boxes packed extremely efficiently ten years ago and other boxes packed four years ago, some not quite so well. In fact some stuff just packed into the box muddled! Within the last four years some boxes have been opened and strewn in a muddle in my attic when I had searched for something but lazily or in a hurry didn't re-pack the boxes correctly. Likewise the books boxes... I keep discovering more books which need to be assigned to their place!
The coincidence is that I found silver jewelry that could be worn to the party which hadn't been seen for aeons. I found masks used at Hallowe'en events once in France with the kiddies group I used to volunteer with and previous to that at fantastic Hallowe'en parties in England at my neighbour's house! Out came the red scarves, masks, feathers but no hula-hula skirt.  I could have worn that red sequined Monsoon top that I re-discovered exclaiming "WOW"! It had been forgotten, only ever worn the once when I discovered a thread of sequins required replacement. I think I wore it to a Hallowe'en masked ball some 17 years ago, or maybe I bought it because it was fabulous at the time and still is!... ...  ... and another wow, I found art prints from that evening, needing as ever, to be framed! So many memories have been opened in the last week that have made me laugh and tell a story to my Workawayers from California who commented that if only they have such memories and identity when they are my age then they will have known that they have lived!
Sex Pistols played 'Anarchy in The UK' and The Clash played 'London Calling' whilst almost 40 yr olds and some over 50s and moi 65 danced in smoke machine mist...whilst kids galore laughed and danced in the cloud.  It was wonderfully warm for an al fresco bonfire party and fireworks. Evidently Surrey was the warmest place on record in England for October 31st - 22.5 Celsius at about 4pm time!

Cinderella disguised as The Red Witch made it home before the pumpkin arrived and she didn't lose a slipper, malheureusement! English jacket potatoes finished in the bonfire embers plus grated cheddar and baked beans was soooooo good! There were English sausages plus mulled wine... called vin chaud en France! Toffee apples, ghostly cakes, skeletons, bats, cats, and ugly, scary faces made it all fantastic. Great Party. Great friends!

Ré-turn

When I ré-turned to this fabulous, luminous Île I was immediately in Heaven, in Paradise, with all the angels singing without a cloud in the sky, without anxiety, without a care in the world!  I know because I wore that 'certain smile' all day and each day whilst on and off my bike, irregardless of whom I met or what I did! Age did not matter! Nothing mattered!  It stayed until I moved to Île d'Oléron, which was equally, if not more luminous.  However, it is absolutely truthful that the continuous blissfulness witnessed for four full days on each of those three visits, faded as I left that isle.  Maybe, ancestral roots of Saint-Onge call me to that region.  Although sitting on beaches for long is difficult, here the sand is soft, the water warm, with space to move to or away from people, to walk, cycle, read, paint, or water sport if one fancies but that latter is not for me. Like the Cancerian Crab that I am, a shoreline needs to be available to scuttle hear and there! September sunrise and sunset make this the most marvelous of beaches. I kid myself to believe that I could stay for ever... but when the tempests come, ... , I like everyone will find a different haven for safety and security.
After pitching tent before five pm, the beach beckoned me insistently, to paddle and to picnic on peaches and a mirabelle tart. A bottle of water to quench the thirst.

To the south

To the east

To the west

To the north

To my taste buds

A View of My Wonderful Village

and this at closing of the shortest day 21st December 2013 towards the south and west!

As free as a little bird

Whilst Living in France continues I increasingly feel as if I am achieving more and more to be

 as free as a bird... 

I recognise that I am only imprisoned in my own cage when I forget how to sing and dance or when sadness creeps over me like a dark cloud. 
Yet, when the sky is blue and the sun is warm my varying persona emerge as one and then I love to fly free ... in fantasy, in reality and I become happy.
Is that poetic nonsense or an artistic creative literary style? 

I would have preferred  'l'hirondelle' but this chubby chappy is such fun ...

he will look down upon me and I will always look up to my little bird!