Tag Archives: RDP Thursday

RDP Thursday: Orchestrate

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Band

Our local Gymnasium (High School) have a music department and a big band. They are all teensagers taking their first steps in making music, mostly jazz and improvisations. Once a year there is a concert and a couple of years ago they teemed up with some of the jazz musicians in our town for a concert.

Mr. Swiss is a hobby drummer and often played in various groups, so of course we went along to have a look. I did a little photo shopping with one of the photos I took, but here they are with the more professional musicians.

Kantijazz 014
RDP Thursday: Orchestrate

RDP Thursday: Petrichor

Posted in Ragtag Daily Prompt, Uncategorized by

Rainy Day

Rain on London concrete
Wet dust in the air
Wet, damp, stifling
there is nothing to compare
Looking through the window
watching raindrops fall
dark patterns written on a surface
of a wet and soaked wall
I take a train to somewhere
the windows beading drops
the journey continues heedless
rain is no reason for stops
Wear a headscarf and a raincoat
were the orders I receive
I hated rainy days
raindrops collecting in my sleeve
Rain on London concrete
Wet dust in the air
Wet, damp, stifling
there is nothing to compare

Rain 11.09 (1)

RDP Thursday: Petrichor

RDP Thursday: Friend

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Ornament in garden 08.09.2018

What is a friend? It is a feeling that you get after meeting someone and you find them on your wave length. Some stay, some go and perhaps you have that one particular friend that is always there for you. I have that friend, even though we are miles apart.

So that is the serious stuff, but there are others.

In the day and age of computer contact, you might have hundreds of friends in Facebook or other social sites. They might be gaming friends, or just friends of friends but you have never met them, and who knows? If you did they might get on your nerves.

I have memories from one particular guy. Today you get all sorts of strange telephone calls. Some want you to buy something, or they try to sell you an insurance that you do not want, the so-called spam, so we just put down the telephone, or perhaps tell them to get lost.

Then there is the guy that somehow has your telephone number and lives in Nigeria. Yes it happened to me.

“Hello, I want to be your friend.” were his words on the telephone. And to follow up “I am calling from Nigeria.”

Now how can a guy just call me and pay for a long distance from Nigeria? And why me?

My answer was

“Yes, but I do not want to be your friend” and so I hung up the telephone.

Are we that far in this modern day and age that we just tell someone you do not know, have never seen, and probably do not even speak the same language at home, that we call them to say we want to be your friend.

This was not an isolated case, because for a while, now and again strange men called me from Nigeria wanting to be my friend. I came to the conclusion that Nigerians must be lonely people. My natural reaction was to immediately hang up the phone and the calls stopped. Was I being selfish, unfriendly? Were these guys alone in the world and all they wanted was a sympathetic voice to talk to. Or did they want more? I never gave them the chance to find out.

Friends are not in a mail order catalogue.

RDP Thursday: Friend

RDP Thursday: Blizzard

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It's snowing

I come from a country famous for its rain
I am talking of England and not the plain in Spain
I knew what snow was, it came once every five years
It was white but did not stay long, afterwards it clears
And then I came to Switzerland, the land of William Tell crossbow
They told me there was chocolate but did not mention snow
The first Winter came and my hands began to freeze
And then came the snow, accompanied by a breeze
I thought this was something else and it would go away
The Swiss forgot to tell me that for a long while it would stay
Flakes of snow were falling down, and they were getting big
I put on my snow goggles and then began to dig
Everything was getting white, I wish I were a wizard
Then I could make it go away, this was my very first blizzard
And now after fifty years nothing has got better
And so I wear a furry hat and a very thick sweater
I wade through the snow drifts, I am now the best
They call me the abominable snowgirl, I wear a thermo vest.

RDP Thursday: Blizzard

RDP Thursday: Herd

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Cows 26.04 (7)

The cow population of Switzerland is approximately one and half million, meaning that there is one cow for every five people in Switzerland. We are surrounded by cows in our village, every spare piece of meadow has a few cows. One day the cows disappeared. I would take my daily wheelies in my chair to visit the cows and they were not there. I was getting worried and decided to stop eating beef. You never know if it was one of the neighbours you were enjoying for Sunday lunch when you chewed your steak.

The problem was solved when I met one of the farmers mending a fence on the range. Actually it was the field next to the local castle. I asked him where the cows had gone and told him of my problems with eating beef. Did he have a smile on his face in sympathy? He reassured me that they were all doing well and sleeping in the barn during the day. Temperatures were too hot for them outside when the sun was so intense. They had been transferred to the night shift and only let out in the cooler evenings.

As I wheeled past the field I saw proof that the cows were still here. They had left a mark to claim their territory. Even the flies were happy.

Cow 27.09.2017

RDP Thursday: Herd

RDP Thursday: Brace

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Raised-Bed

I just braced myself to write something but it has disappeared into the cyberworld on line. I lost the connection somewhere and was not prepared for such a catastrophe. My poem no longer exists, cannot be found. I spent an hour writing with intervals in between for a glass of mineral water and something sweet to eat. It looks like you are just left with the pit in our garden, full of air and darkness.

A gardener has just turned up to fill up the pit with earth, perhaps he might find my missing blog, but I do not think so.

My computer is possessed, I am absolutely sure
My poem is lost, oh what a bore
I wrote about a lady pushing her stabbed lover into a pit
Not such a great story and probably was not a hit
He climbed out of the depths after three days
The creatures of the night deserve no praise
Crept into her bed and took a bite of her neck
That was his kiss of love not a very nice peck
But all is well that ends well and now they are on fire
They go for walks hand in hand, being both a vampire

Or it was something like that. You have to be braced for everything when working on a computer.

RDP Thursday: Brace

RDP Thursday: Hirsute

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Shire Horse Guiness

Horses are not really known to be furry or hairy, but now and again you find a breed that has a bit more hair than the others. This was the case of Guiness, a shire breed. He lived in the stables across the road and the owner told me she had travelled herself to Ireland to bring him back to Switzerland when he was still in his foal years. I often walked past the stables and would take my photos of Guiness. He was used for riding when he was younger, but was now over 20 years old and no longer as fit as he was, so he lead the good life in the stables. It seems that rheumatism was making itself noticed and one day he was no longer there. I missed this wonderful horse with the furry feet.

Horses came and went and I still paid my visits.

Horse 31.08 (11)

One day this horse at the stables decided to have a closer look at the camera. I had never seen a horse before with hairs growing on its chin and nose. Was it the new bearded race of horses? No idea but it was certainly something completely different. I am keeping an eye on this horse to see if its whiskers will grow longer. Perhaps that is where the horsehair blankets come from.

RDP Thursday: Hirsute