A reflection
I grew up a Catholic in Ireland. I had good experiences with the church. In fact, I think it helped me a lot in my life. It gave me a space to pray and be quiet.
I am not a practicing Catholic today. I’m not against the Catholic church completely, but I have my reservations, so I do not subscribe to its doctrines.
However, making my Holy Communion was a pleasant, peaceful experience and a very special day for me. I believe I received the Holy Spirit into my heart that day and it has been my guide ever since.
…
WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE
The fascinating sky
Spanish blue skies
in July.
Not a cloud in sight.
The sun streams in
through
the window.
A yellow hue
of sunlight.
A canopy of blue above.
Rugged mountain tops
in the distance.
Greenfields below
emitting a
delightful glow.
Rows of sunflowers,
whitewashed walls, and
terracotta rooftops
basking in the sweet
Spanish sun.
With Barcelona on the grid
We are now far,
far from Madrid.
I wrote this poem on the bus from Madrid to Barcelona this week.
Below is an evening sky in Seville…
Travel. Portugal. Western Europe.
My third day in Lisbon, Portugal
I got off to a slow start today on my third day in Lisbon. I often forget that my body needs time to adjust when I make sudden changes like this. I need time to acclimatize.
After 7 months in Porto, Northern Portugal, and quite a temperature difference in the south, I needed to adjust.
It’s 29 degrees Celcius here. Porto average was between 21 and 22 degrees.
More hydration will be needed. Travel requires continual adjustments and flexibility. It’s something I tend to forget.
Free map given at the hostel:
A poem
People are not who you
thought they were.
Love insincere.
You realize, your
thinking is not at all
like those you once
held dear.
You know you can’t
go back to them
as they’ve lost their veneer.
It’s okay though—
you understand it now.
It’s becoming more clear.
Yet, there’s still
that part,
— the history
that has been
blown apart.
You would have liked things
to be different,
but they made their choices
and you couldn’t follow
what you didn’t believe in.
You tried to have discussions
but no,
there would be no such thing.
This was the most puzzling
part to take in.
If there was no talking
then, there was no point.
Sounds more like a
dictatorship
than a
relation-ship.
Ah well,
one must move on.
Let them be
—…
Letting go of something good
We don’t like to admit to being sad, but it happens. We try to hide it.
Even if we do admit it, we are not supposed to tell anyone. It’s the way we’ve been conditioned. We are meant to be happy.
But when I’m sad, I like to find the reason for it. I know I don’t have to, but I believe it helps.
In this case, it is because I am leaving a little home I had for a while. A nice city, good people, and I even made a few good friends. How nice.
But, all that makes…
