Clouds gather swiftly –
pouring rain, biting winds –
still, clear skies follow.
Posted for the Daily Prompt: Clarity
Haiku: ©2016 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
Clear path meanders
through bleakness to storms afield,
whose gray consumes all
but a bantam blue patch, veiled
beyond sight in the corner.
Posted and inspired by the Weekly Photo Challenge: Symbol
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
Open it
and
walk through,
to lands
beyond
yours,
and you’ll see
narrow
confines
widen
to horizons
beyond imagining,
whether by travel
or pages unravelled.
Open it. Walk through.
Posted for the Weekly Challenge: Door
©2011-2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
Once, I thought the desert barren,
a lifeless, stagnant place
of no particular beauty or worth,
but as the years roll by,
and I, too, approach a desert
solely mine,
I find, to my delight, an oasis
of bittersweet contradictions:
life in constant motion,
whose sandy floor bears footprints
just as easily erased
as they were stamped on my soul
by eager visitors.
Posted for NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
I took for granted
this incredible vantage
until it was seen
only in dreams,
a monochrome
of my once colorful home,
so I zealously steep
this view inside – deep –
guarding against the day,
hopefully far enough away,
when only faded memories float by
like empty clouds in the sky.
Posted for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Afloat and NaPoWriMo
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
Sometimes dreams burn to embers,
and, mourning, convictions scatter
like ashes blasted by the wind.
When the fire’s fizzled, though,
and the burn salved,
a tiny bud emerges from the gray,
not quite new
not as fresh
but there –
there! –
nonetheless.
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
Briers cast shadows
long of thorn, short of flowers.
Behold one, reward.
Posted in Response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Reward
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
This week’s photo challenge was a little difficult for me, because I had a hard time choosing one to share. After about an hour of trying to cull, I gave up and decided to post them all – well, SOME.
Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey
Less than two hours outside of Barcelona by train, Montserrat Abbey is an impressive place – and not just because construction began in the 9th century on a mountain towering over 4,000 feet “above the valley floor…of the Catalan lowlands.” The monastery also boasts a museum which features works from El Greco to Dali. Many tourists, however, queue for the Black Madonna (sorry, no photographs allowed of Her).
We visited in January, when the crowds were thinner and the fog thicker. Though the monastery needs no help with ambiance, the swirling mist just made the place more otherworldly…and dare I say spooky? The following photographs were taken when the fog thinned enough for clear images.
Loch An Eilein
With over a thousand square miles of protected land, Cairngorms National Park is HUGE and a must-see when visiting Scotland. To make it easy on ourselves, we chose to visit the first village we had to drive through as we wended our way from Inverness to Perth: Aviemore. And apparently, we lucked upon one of the more popular places to hike in Scotland.
The trail hugging Loch An Eilein was muddy but relatively easy. I suggest, however, that you get hold of a good map. Buy one at the visitor center or visit The Walking Englishman. The one we were using was a general (cheapo) map from the car rental place (I know…I know), and it wasn’t very clear about the optional Loch Gramhna loop. So, we probably added a couple miles to the trek and another hour what with the mud.
Despite this, I’d do it again, especially because of the serendipitous, sweet reward post-walk. A few miles after we were back on the highway, we saw a sign announcing cream cakes. Dessert after a hike? Yes, please! The Potting Shed is a working nursery, but holy cannoli, they had awesome cakes – which you can eat while watching red squirrels scamper around the canopy of trees. I have no photos for this, though. I was too busy stuffing my face!
Posted for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Symmetry
©2015 V. del Casal All Rights Reserved
When the Door Closes 