Chapter Two: Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut If there’s one thing worse than a snorer, it’s a snorer on the Milford Track. It was the subdued talk of the hut on the morning of Day Two. Some were convinced it was the Israeli. Others swore it was the father and son from Boston.…
The Milford Chronicles: Chapter One
I walked the world-famous Milford Track last week. It was one of the best adventures I have ever had. Maybe it was because the last year has been one of tremendous personal upheaval, and this trip felt like a significant "marker" on a difficult emotional journey. You'll be pleased (I hope) to know that every…
Dip. Edit. goes bush
I have finished my year-long Proofreading and Editing Course and I am now (as long as I didn't bum out in my final assignment) actually qualified to point out grammatical and spelling mistakes to people. Oh, and fix them. And now the hard work begins, because it's all very well having a pretty certificate up…
Less really is more
Here is another poem inspired by my daughter. It's amazing how an everyday task can spark a creative impulse. At first I tried to make the poem much longer, and sat for a number of hours trying to come up with more clever and intricate word plays and puns. In the end, I just went with the few,…
The Invitation
I want to share a poem with you this morning. It's not one of my own (but boy, do I wish I had as cool a name as the author). I was introduced to it just two days ago by a special friend. In a world of smartphone addiction and getting ahead and Rushing Woman Syndrome…
Leunig the Living Treasure
If there was one Australian author I would recommend that you read before you die, it would be Michael Leunig. He is described by Wikipedia as a cartoonist, poet, and social commentator, and was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1999. What on earth do you have to do…
Narnia Revisited
I've started to read C.S. Lewis's classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my seven-year-old daughter. She's past the stage of having to look at pictures on every page of a book. She can now sit still, eyes wide and settled on the middle-distance, listening to the story and letting it come to life…
Flowers
This, for better or for worse, is the "crap but short" story I referred to in yesterday's post. I just sat down and wrote the first thing that came into my head. What emerged was an unintentional mini-meditation on the issues preoccupying me at the moment: love and sadness, regrets and hopes, the dream state,…
I've recently finished Stephen King's On Writing. I loved it. I originally downloaded it on my Kindle, but after finishing it I immediately ordered it online so I could have a hard copy to scribble over and highlight. I would like to share a few of those highlights with you. Firstly, a reality check: When…
Old Love
Love not like the novices do, intently, purposefully. Now that you know the ropes, you can swing on them. Love like over-ripe peaches: too sweet, too juicy, fit to burst. Love like the wild ones who howl at the moon and seek at dawn with satiate ease their beds of oblivion. Love like beasts with your…
Patricia Bell, Author 