Monday, October 17, 2022

Family

"Why haven't you blogged?" my big brother said in our weekly, early Sunday morning Facetime.

"Because I'm scrabbling around trying to think of something to blog about."

"But what about our holiday?"

"What is there to say? I become less and less willing to post about personal stuff."

"You could always post photos of Wensleydale."

"I didn't take very many."

I was too busy walking the footpaths in the sunshine feeling happy to be alive, like Fotherington-Thomas in How To Be Topp ('Hullo clouds, hullo sky'), to want to stop and take many pictures. 

But here's one of the aforementioned brother snapping Mill Gill Force.




My big sister was looking at a similar stream when a student came up and said "Look at the colour of the water! The pollution!" She calmly explained to him that the water in the dales is the colour of beer because of the peat, not pollution. 

But back to the question of why I haven't blogged. There was a lot to think about when we were all together last week, but I don't want to share it.

This last ten days has been a magical blend of blue and gold October, and family - not just my sibs - and I have felt so happy. And our family is set to increase, because there's a brand new grandchild expected in November. I've been thinking a lot about family, and on Saturday when I was painting I was listening to an old edition of Poetry Please on the radio and was moved to tears by a poem called Grafters, by Nora Hanson. She is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother and her poem reflects that. It also reflects how I am feeling.

I chased up the poem and have permission from Valley Press, the publishers, to share it with you here.


                Grafters  

                by Nora Hanson


You can hear the poet read it in her lovely northern accent here.

And you can see more about Sparks, the anthology it comes from here.


Lastly, here for my big brother are two pics from our holiday:

View of eastern Swaledale

The river Swale








2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for Grafters. I
I hoped to listen as well but it’s too technically tricky Never mind. It’s a poem that speaks to me too. Your time away with your siblings is a tribute to the strength of the family bonds The historic family photo is beautiful
Ana

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing. I love the poem. Jenetta