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I think a big thank you is in order!!

Posted on by Opher

The blog goes from strength to strength. My books continue to sell and I do receive a lot of kind words. Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Opher's World

Thank you to all the people following my blog. There is around 1850 people now and that is really incredible.

It is fantastic to think that people from 119 different countries are interested in what I am writing. Thank you for following me.

Secondly – thank you to all those people who leave ‘likes’ and comments. It is very rewarding and makes you feel like going on. So far this year there has been 32,000 views, 4700 likes and 1200 comments. Now I know stats don’t mean a lot to you but they are very reinforcing for me. They make me feel that it is worth doing. So thanks for the support. Blogging takes a lot of time, effort and thought. It’s nice to know there is an appreciative audience.

Thirdly – Thank you to the people who have put me forward for awards. I’m not really into awards but…

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The Corona Diaries – Day 215

Posted on by Opher

I walked up my hill today under leaden skies. I was wrapped in my scarf and gloves. There was a cold wind. I shuffled through fallen leaves and looked out over a landscape that looked drab in the twilight of midday. I stood and thought back through the preceding months, of the scorching sun and cool breeze, the gaily dressed fields with nodding poppies. The scudding cotton clouds. Life is change.

Already the land was shutting down.

My long walks are give me time to think. My walking is mechanical, my mind introspectively trawling through thoughts, memories and feelings. I often return with ideas, poems and new understanding. I’ve soaked in the beauty of nature and been refreshed. It is good.

Looking ahead to the future – things will improve.

Trump is on his way out. We will no longer have the division, the bolstering of hate, the empowering of the Neo-Nazis, or the war on nature. With Biden the UN and WHO will be funded, allies will be given precedence over tyrants, global warming and pollution will be addressed and science will be properly recognised. The world will not be guided by superstition and conspiracy propaganda, it will be a better place.

Johnson and Bolsonaro will follow. The Amazon will not be burnt down for profit. Britain might get a half decent leader. The clown will be gone.

We will start putting the world back together, going to green energy, putting a halt to the destruction of forests and healing the damage. We can and will restore nature. The animals need a chance!!

Brexit will be over. It will cost us a fortune and many will lose their jobs, life will be harder, but we can put it behind us and start healing that media and politician driven division.

Given a little longer we can ditch this incompetent callous bunch of Tories and get a government that cares about the people.

By next summer there should be a vaccine and life can begin to get back to some kind of normality. We will pick ourselves up, rebuild, and start to live again. Music will return. We will meet up with friends and family and we will hug, eat, drink, watch films, go to gigs, go to the theatre and laugh a lot.

Looking ahead – it is all going to be better!

Just stay safe until then!

A Native American Indian girl on a Greyhound bus across the States.

Posted on by Opher

I dug this one out for Stewart

Opher's World

A Native American Indian girl on a Greyhound bus across the States.

In 1971 I was on a greyhound bus with my girlfriend, now my wife. We’d spent three months in the States working in Boston and then hitch-hiking and bussing our way around. We’d been up to Canada, down to Mexico and across to San Francisco, the redwoods, San Diego and Los Angeles with a memorable night under the stars at Big Sur where the mountain lions howled.

There were numerous incidents and tales that came out of that trip, tales of cars, crashes and near death, friends, camping and music. But now it was nearing its end.

We were heading back from the West Coast to the East in order to get a plane back to Britain.

On that long bus ride I got talking to a young woman. She was a Native American Indian who had been…

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Poetry – Fifty-Three Years

Posted on by Opher

Fifty-Three Years

Fifty three years ago

A young lad pulled up outside a house.

It was mid-summer,

The warm sun still shone brightly in the evening.

He sat for a moment calming himself,

A fluttering in his belly,

A nervous heartbeat,

A sense of dread,

Yet also excitement, expectation and anticipation.

He took a breath,

Opened the door,

Climbed out and walked up the short drive.

All around the world was glowing,

New and confident,

Bright and welcoming,

Promising.

He rang the bell

And there you were;

Dressed in that short summer dress of very pale white and blue,

Long dark wavy hair falling across your shoulders and down your back.

A broad nervous smile, eyes glinting in the sun.

You grinned at me

And I grinned at you.

You closed the door and we set off.

Opher – 24.10.2020

I was on my daily walk, thinking back over these last fifty three years. I can still remember that first day.

The kindling we laid blazed and the fire still burns.

Poetry – You

Posted on by Opher

You

When the rain is falling

And you are here,

The sun is shining.

When the troubles are piling,

With you at my side,

There’s a golden lining.

You lighten my load,

Straighten my road,

Make everything better.

You help me breathe,

Make me believe,

I can be that go-getter.

Opher – 23.10.2020

There is no doubt that we are stronger in partnership. It is a bond that provides support, that gives comfort and joy.

Sharing is so much better.

Love radiates into every corner and brightens the whole world.

More Photos from the South of France – a fabulous region.

Posted on by Opher

It was in 2003 that we ventured back into France. I love the culture, the people, food and wine. The scenery is spectacular.

It was an opportunity for me to utilise the language skills I picked up at school – strangely the French people did not seem to understand their own language!