time enough

what is it with this time changing? yeah, yeah ... i grok it had something to do with the war. but, hell's teeth man the war was a really long time ago!

i have resided in the uk for nigh on five years now and i still don't 'get it'. back home we don't mess around with time!

sunday i changed all my clocks. i am the proud owner (thank you a and m) of a wall clock which receives signals from the atomic clock. this saves me the ultimate stress of having to work out whether we are going forwards or backwards in time.

did i say i changed all my clocks? whoops ... missed one! the clock on my mobile ...
that would be the one i use as an alarm on the rare occasion of an occasion which requires me to be up and at 'em at a prearranged time.

like today!

i wanted to wake up at five in order to sort myself out and pack the last few items for my trip. the daughter in law is fetching me at nine to take me through to saltcoats.

'nough said ...
so i woke at four this morning. no big deal ... hah!

california's prop 8 matters... vote no to inequality

see hahnathome




why does it matter
why do they care
what dark fear haunts the minds
of those who would vote 'yes'
on proposition eight
do they fear our love
our desire to be united
in the presence of man
love is a gift of the spirit
it wages no harm
if man loves man
and woman loves woman
we are as blessed with this love
as are you who love
across the gender divide
why deny us the right of citizens
to pledge our troth
to live, to love
to grow old together
equal under the law



who votes to deny equality?
who dares to judge love?

one week and one day

one week and one day.
i arrive at newark, not jfk this time around. means ... longer drive for herself to fetch me,but ... i fly straight from glasgow to newark. no hanging around at heathrow or schipohl for hours on end. direct flights ... damn, what an invention.

i am also flying on a thursday, not my usual saturday out flight. which means ... complications! my village is two and a half hours drive from glasgow airport, my flight leaves at eight, which means i had better be at the airport, present and accounted for by six in the morning. so ... would it really be possible to talk anyone into driving me to the airport if we had to leave at three thirty on a winter's morn. nope! a plan was required, i needed to leave on the thursday flight in order to be with herself on our 4th anniversary! but ... for the kid's ( my much appreciated lift to airport givers) thursday is a working/school day. difficult, so ... michelle will take me to saltcoats on the wednesday, i will sleep over with nikki, ian and co, once more ousting my sweet savannah from her bed. thursday morning, really early, before the clarion call for school and work rings out ... somebody will deliver me to the airport. not quite sure yet as to who the chosen one will be, but somebody will rise at an ungodly hour and deliver myself to where i need to be. fortunately saltcoats is only a half hours drive from the airport, but still ... i am going to owe someone ... big time!

not just another foot fetish

aahhh ... feet ...

my recently found, local reflexologist is a marvel!

not a gentle therapist, oh no ... but ...
when isobel works your reflex points ...

every therapist is different, they follow their own healing path. after my first hour and a half in her zero gravity chair, i realized, ms iz does not fool around. she follows the pain path and exterminates it!

so ...
no gentle hour of sweet massage and relaxation for me. she is gonna work my feet and i am gonna know it.
ms iz even has a small crystal wand (hey you all ... move your minds up a level, think holistic healing!) which she uses to pursue recalcitrant reflexes.

today was my second treatment, i have already felt the benefit of the first. i enjoyed today as i knew what to expect, my body understands her touch on my feet.
memories stir, emotions untwist.
relax, learn to trust and allow the past to unravel... let the healing begin.

no pain, no gain

life and how it happens.

i was born in a small town, nestling at the feet of the mighty drakensberg mountains. i grew up (well mostly) in a university town in the natal midlands.

the years of my time as wife and mother ...
durban ... on the indian ocean,hot, humid, palm trees, mosquitos and hot, spicy durban curry

pietermaritzburg ... sleepy hollow, a great place to live, a wonderful place to bring up your children. avocado trees, guava trees and orange trees.

johannesburg ... dry heat, harsh on your skin. big, big, blue, blue skies and electric storms so beautiful they would make your throat tight with emotion. for the mann ... career peak, success, making it in the big naartjie. for my children, the teenage years, for myself ... breast cancer, chemo, cricket and growing up.

there is more, maybe another day?

today ... a village in south ayrshire, scotland!

i stop and look back .

i wonder ...

how the dickens did i end up here?

thursday ... time to learn scottish dancing ... seven thirty in the village hall.
michelle (the daughter in law) and myself have decided to attempt to conquer the intricacies of scottish dance. inspired by the ceilidh back in july, we too wish to dance the sets of reel and jig!

we wander up to the hall. the main hall is full of men! men playing carpet bowls! we obviously have the wrong time/ evening ... or something. damn! who knew there was so much going on in the village of an evening. michelle finds a side door ... voila!

there are eight of us plus a rather fearsome teacher. what can i say ... i have an authority figure complex! i spend the next hour learning to pas de basque, travelling steps, skip change, slip step and 'cast off' ... or was it 'cast out', dang, and i thought that was summat to do with knitting? scottish dancing is complicated and exhausting. the somewhat fearsome teacher spends a good deal of her time addressing me, as in ...
"wrong hand, wrong foot, wrong shoulder, wrong way, faster... you are supposed to keep up with the music!"

eight thirty, coffee ...thank barnabas that is over! i relax with a strong black coffee, i allow myself a chocolate biscuit. i am bushed and glad to be going home.
uhuh!
that was a halfway break :-(
we will dance for another hour!

will i be back next week? well ... can't use age as an excuse, the fearsome teacher is for sure older than me and most of the girls were no longer in the first fine flush of youth. can't use pain as an excuse, these girls take a pain pill for the arthritis before they start to dance. what can i say ... the scots are a hardy race!

razor reflections

today i shaved my legs ...

now, the truth is ... i seldom shave my legs.

i shave my legs for special occasions.

for instance, if i think i might have broken/sprained/torn a ligament in my leg/foot/ankle. no way is any medic about to handle my legs in their natural state of porcupinal prickliness. a woman has her pride!

there are other odd occasions ... i have been known to shave my legs before a romantic assignation.
i have indeed ...
nothing inspires me to partake in a little razor work more than the hope of 'getting lucky'.

so why today?

last thursday, there was a knock on my door. well ... actually, somebody rang the damn bell, which let me tell you is loud enough to wake the dead!
i glided down the staircase, taking care not to trip and break something. i opened the door and there was ...
a stranger, to be more precise a strange woman. the shock must have registered on my face, the woman hastily stuck out her hand and introduced herself ...

"hello, i'm isobel"

afraid my face must have retained it's pallor of non recognition.

"i'm a reflexologist, i live on the other side of the village."

ahah! vague stirrings of memory ... i had heard rumours that another reflexologist had moved into the village. i had immediately dismissed the ridiculous possibility of two reflexologists in one village of six hundred people as preposterous.
wrong again ... there she was, in the flesh, in my doorway.

my heart leaped, hope swirled through my being ...
the words rang loud and clear in my mind ...
a possibility, a chance, a hope for...
reciprocal reflexology!

when i lived down south, i had my college mates, those who qualified along side me. eager to offer reciprocal reflexology.
i had my reflexology college in oxford, where there was often the chance of volunteering as a guinea pig for the students.
in other words, my feet and their needs were pretty well taken care of.

and then i moved to scotland!
'nuff said ...
my feet and i have suffered almost two and a half years of reflexological neglect.

today, at eleven, i have an appointment. an appointment to relax for an hour, in the heaven which is reflexology!



come to think of it ...
two reflexologists is a perfect number for a village of six hundred people.

soft grey

home, along the way
minishant, through and on
i topped the hill before turnberry
a place where great golfers play
and rich people stay and do whatever
and where she should have been
she was not, gone missing
rode her giant turtles and left

ms ailsa how i stretched my eyes
in search of one quick glimpse
but no, the craig is awol
and you, sweet goddess of the rock
absorbed within the distant sea mist
so ,sunk my leaden heart a little more
this dreary soft grey day
of tear washed eyes

All materials Copyright © 2004-2008 by Eryll Oellermann

north wind and another rhyme

north wind

oh dear
i do believe it's started
the last of summer
has departed

the wind is blowing
from the north
and heading south
not back and forth

the bed and breakfast sign
next door
is lying broken
on the floor

hooked on the fence
a blue ground sheet
buffets wildly
scaring sheep

the grey clouds racing
up on high
and not one patch
of clear blue sky

it's cold!
and that is worth repeating
it's cold!
i need my central heating

All materials Copyright © 2004-2008 by Eryll Oellermann




christmas in the summertime



so now my thoughts
will turn to home
the place to which
the birds have flown

they know a thing or two
i say
when winter comes
they fly away

to places
where the weather's nice
where water flows
instead of ice

where blue skies rule
the sun shines bright
and there is warmth
both day and night

but no ...i'm here
i've come to stay
and damn it's fun
on christmas day

i tell you
turkey never should
have been a southern
christmas food

back home
we did our best you see
to keep things
as they used to be

before we climbed aboard
and sailed
on boats to which a mast
was nailed

and landed up
in far flung places
which were so hot
they tanned our faces

no more
a pale and pasty white
our skins grew brown
to our delight

yet still
when christmas came around
we missed the snow
upon the ground

we longed to feast
like long ago
when we were living
in the snow

and so we cook
we bake and sweat
plum pudding, turkey, spuds
and yet

if the whole truth
were truly told
we should forget
those days of old

and settle for
a feast outside
with pap and sous
and meat all braaied

and chuck a melon
in the pool
and let the water
keep it cool




cause christmas in
the summertime
is sticky hot
and less sublime

All materials Copyright © 2004-2008 by Eryll Oellermann

happy anniversary darling ..

today 42 years ago...
three o'clock in the afternoon, oppressive october heat, storm clouds building.

me ... just turned 18, full of self belief, sure i was as grown up as i was ever going to be.

dad at my side, handsome as ever, escorting his fifth and youngest daughter down that long, long aisle.

the church was full, so many people . come to share our happy day.

and then...
i saw you waiting and my world grew still and there was only you and me.
you and me sweetheart and that is how it ever was.