Petite white paws with pink beans
You stole my baby boy’s heart a long time ago
Taking up too much space in his bed at night
Hunter extraordinaire in your day
Agile and strong
Ginger fur softening as the years flew by
Over the roof and in through the window you’d go
Reluctantly accepting my love in time
A big softie underneath it all
Sleep easy, beautiful boy
March 2009 – 14 March 2005
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Tagged #acrosticpoem, #blogger, #cat, #CoralMcCallum, #grief, #IndieAuthor, #newblogpost, #poetryblog, #Pythagoras
23 March 2020…the day the UK entered its first Covid 19 Lockdown.
How on earth is that five years ago already?
It all seems surreal…
I remember sitting having a coffee in the office canteen with a friend three days before the announcement. We pondered if this virus would come to anything and if we were told that we had to work from home, how long would that last. Little did we realise…
Five years down the line and we’ve not sat together in the office canteen with a coffee since.
That first lockdown for me marks the start of the world changing forever. I appreciate that in my family’s case our lockdown suffered a dark cruel twist of fate when The Big Green Gummi Bear received a terminal cancer diagnosis in September 2020. In so many ways we lived in semi-lockdown conditions for three years.
In years to come, when our children’s children are in school, they’ll come home and ask us, “What did you do during the Covid 19 Lockdowns?” It’ll become one of those questions like “where were you when 9/11 happened?” and “where were you when Kennedy was shot?”
Will our grandchildren really believe that overnight all schools and offices and non-essential shops closed, that you were only allowed out for an hour a day, that the supermarket shelves were half empty and that you had to queue to be allowed into the store to follow a one-way system marked out on the floor? (I still recall being yelled at by a member of our local supermarket staff for going the wrong way down an aisle only to witness her cooing over a customer’s baby in a pram a few moments later and not obeying the 2m social distancing rule….) Will our grandchildren believe that folk were stockpiling toilet rolls and that you couldn’t get any in the shops for love nor money? Will they believe that for months on end people would stand on their doorsteps at 8pm on a Thursday to clap in support of the NHS workers? Will they be able to comprehend having to wear a mask in shops/schools/offices and on public transport? Will they even be able to comprehend not being able to see our loved ones for weeks on end and then when we could mix socially again you had to stay 2m apart and only meet up outdoors? Will they believe that everyone’s general knowledge dramatically improved as everyone was keeping morale up by doing quizzes on Zoom or Teams?
How do you explain the covid testing rituals we all went through to prove that you didn’t have the virus? Or how to describe the initial panic when the test was actually positive? Would “it” kill me?
I could go on, but you get the gist…. after all you lived through it and have your own memories of the challenges lockdown brought but does it really truly feel like it was five years ago?
It all seems surreal.
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Tagged #23March2020, #anniversary, #blogger, #CoralMcCallum, #Covid19, #IndieAuthor, #lockdown, #memories, #newblogpost, #pandemic
Dilemma
How to sign?
Signing autographs feels alien
Full name?
First initial and second name?
Signing autographs feels alien
First name and a kiss?
Decision made.
A short poem inspired by the real life dilemma I faced ahead of my recent book signing in aid of Ardgowan Hospice.
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Tagged #autograph., #CoralMcCallum, #IndieAuthor, #newblogpost, #poem, #poertryisnotdead, #poetryblog
The Measly Jar of Motivation has thrown out two phrases that scream “Breakfast!”
Breakfast is a meal I’ve had a difficult relationship with over the years. I’m not great at eating first thing in the morning. A big, cooked breakfast would be totally wasted on me.
Those followers of this blog who know me personally might be somewhat surprised that hot coffee is not the first thing I need every morning. At a push, I can make it to lunchtime without my caffeine hit but I cannot function without my orange juice. It’s a vital component of my morning routine. I love the taste of oranges although I would never sit and actually peel and eat an orange. I hate finding “bits” in my OJ so its smooth/pulp free all the way for me.
After OJ then comes hot coffee – hot, strong and black. I can’t stand cold or even cool coffee. I like my Americano piping hot.
As for food… well, that’s either a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel or hot buttered toast. If I’m in the office, it’s a cereal bar.
On a Sunday, I like to have a more leisurely start to the day and treat myself to some crispy pancetta with my cinnamon raisin bagel and my coffee. We all have our weaknesses…
Last summer, when I returned to visit Rehoboth Beach, I became a regular at a local diner. I also became a creature of habit despite their extensive breakfast menu- OJ, coffee and a short stack of pancakes. Delicious! I can’t wait to go back this summer for more of the same.
So, what’s your breakfast guilty pleasure?
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Tagged #bagels, #breakfast, #coffee, #CoralMcCallum, #guiltypleasure, #newblog, #newblogpost, #pancakes, #themeaslyjarofmotivation
Most days I walk by the house I grew up in…well, grew up in from the age of nine to seventeen. I look fondly at its steep driveway and smile.
I have many memories associated with that driveway by my favourites are of playing on it in winter in the snow. As an adult, I hate snow. I hate being cold. But as a child, that driveway was the best place for sledging and for sliding.
After one memorable snowfall, I recall playing for hours with my childhood friend. I didn’t own a sledge, but she did. The best I had was an old metal tea tray that I waxed with a candle to make it run faster.
We spent ages that day smoothing out our “run” down the driveway. I should explain that at this point in time, under the several inches of snow, the driveway itself was unsurfaced. Blaze had been spread over it to provide a surface for future tarmac and at the bottom there was still a pile of several tons of blaze. With a bit of work and some snow packing, it made the perfect ramp at the bottom of our “run”
With clumps of ice clinging to our woolly gloves and filling our wellie boots, we spent hours sledging on the driveway, getting closer and closer to becoming airborne off the top of that ramp.
If memory serves me right, my friend managed it at least once on her sledge before we realised it was better fun sliding down on the metal tray as it went faster.
The closest to the luge as I’ll ever get!
Precious childhood memories that were rewarded at the end of the day with red icy cold fingers wrapped round a mug of hot chocolate.
Happy carefree days….
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Tagged #bloggerlife, #childhood, #CoralMcCallum, #IndieAuthor, #memories, #newblogpost, #news, #sledding, #sledging, #snowfall, #themeaslyjarofmotivation
In meditative repose
I lie in shavasana, corpse pose.
Breathing quietly in and out through my nose.
Did I feed the cat?
Should I put on the washing before work?
Need to remember to call the dentist.
Oh.. and I need to add milk to the Tesco list.
And so my mind whirs on…
No quiet thoughts to be found
I focus on my breathing…in and out…
Seeking the stillness of the pose.
Need to remember to post that birthday card.
And I’ve to call the garage about the car.
Wonder what time my first meeting is today?
And so my mind whirs on
In meditative repose.
photo sourced via Google- credits to the owner
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Tagged #blogginglife, #CoralMcCallum, #IndieAuthor, #newblog, #newblogpost, #poem, #poertryblog, #poetrtisnotdead, #poetrylovers, #shavasana, #yoga
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Coral McCallum 