D M Roberts's Blog, page 3

Breezing through.

What is your favorite type of weather?

All weather has it’s place; you could hardly go skiing in 90 degrees any more than you could do a beach holiday in the snow. I like weather that sticks to it’s own season, I’m picky like that.

Give me a white crisp snowy day in January, a bright blue sky on an Autumn day or, a hot Summers day in July and I’m happy. If I had to choose my favourite – which is the purpose of the prompt I guess- it would be be a warm day, light warm breeze and a bright sky.

Light seems to make humans happier, we wear our weather on our faces, too hot and we get cranky, too rainy and we’re glum.

An actress in the making

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

The most influential teacher I ever met was, strangely enough, not a teacher of mine but of my children. I had the privilege of witnessing this woman’s incredible ability to totally engross all of the children she taught in her lessons.

I worked at the school as a teaching aid for reading and writing purposes with the children that needed the extra support and so I often saw the class in progress. The children always looked captivated as she read stories, explained math or rolled up her sleeves ready for the next art project.

She had a rare way about her, even if she had to tell a student off she did it in such a way that there were no sassy comebacks simply an acknowledgement of what she said.

She was also a lovely soul, with a unique way. Her name was Morag, she was a person I will always remember with fondness and admiration.

Seaside scenery

Camber sands photos by dmroberts©2022

Somebody mentioned this lovely place, you know me, I take pictures wherever I go

Dance in the rain

What do you wish you could do more every day?

I would love to be able to dance. We had ballroom/Latin dance classes before the dreaded plague hit and I loved it!

Yes it was much more energetic than I thought it would be but it was not only a great way to exercise, it has to be the most fun a person can do with their clothes on. Really, give it a go if you get the chance

Fly free

What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?

I have one tattoo, I didn’t get it until my late 40’s and I was sober.

It may be quite cliché to some but to me it signifies many things. It is transformation, freedom, hope and love all wrapped up in a beautiful creature. It reminds me that life is fragile and strong intertwined. It shows me how short a time we are here and how we have the ability to change if we want to.

I have lots of friends and family that are covered in tattoos and that’s their choice. Personally, I will likely only ever have this one. But, if I ever did decide to get another it would probably be another butterfly, one of those life-like 3D types perched on the end of my nose.

The NicNac shop

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

Compliments are great, aren’t they. They should always be given when deserved and accepted in the way they’re intended. I’m still old fashioned enough to appreciate a wolf whistle – not pc I know, so sue me- each to their own I guess.

So there I was, in a nic nac type shop and this lady comes over and starts chatting about how windy it is outside etc etc, she rummages around in her bag and pulls out a small bit of card then proceeded to scribble on it. She hands it to me and says “I never do this but if you ever fancy meeting up give me a call or message, now I’m going before I embarrass myself” and off she went. Personally I thought it was really sweet and very brave but mostly I took it as a huge compliment.

John Candy as your travelling buddy?

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

It’s funny because one of my ‘go to’ cheer up movies is Planes, Trains and automobiles. I know it’s quite a sad film in the end but it’s so heartwarming and a great tale of human nature. I would love to have done that journey with the great John Candy, what a travelling companion he would have made.

Steve Martin’s unforgettable line from Planes, trains and automobile

You can start by wiping that f* dumb-ass smile off your rosy f* cheeks. Then you can give me a f* automobile. A f* Datsun. A f* Toyota. A f* Mustang. A f* Buick! Four f* wheels and a seat!

The comedy genius of the writing is so good that you can watch this over and over yet it still makes you laugh and whats more it makes you want to get out there and take that trip.

One thing this question has left out is boats, I love boats so would have to incorporate a boat ride in my journey at some point. I realise this is cross country but there may be a giant lake? Who knows!

Trains, love them. I could happily ride on trains all day. The pro’s of public transport, and bikes, are that you get to see so much more than you would if you were busy concentrating on traffic which in turn would give you a far better experience on our trip.

Buses are great too, you meet the most interesting folk on a bus ride. If like me you will normally chat to anyone you can hear the most incredible stories from the unassuming person sitting next to you. Give it a go.

Planes, I’ll skip this one. I can swim but I know for sure I can’t fly.

Sixes and sevens’s

The older I get, the more I realise how precious life is and how important people are. This is not to say that I didn’t think this beforehand, I did, only in a different way. It stands to reason as we get older we will lose friends and family forcing us to evaluate our time here.

Were we all we could be? Are we a good person? Do we have things still left to do? What will our legacy be?

At present I can’t seem to finish anything. I have at least 4 WIP on the go but this restless wave seems to be interfering with all of them. It’s true to say that in the grand scheme of things it matters not whether I finish, I mostly do them for my own sanity and believe me, my sanity needs all of the help it can get right now. The vanity on my shoulder tells me I must, who knows, there could be a future classic amongst them… pause for laughter.

A wonderful friend passed away recently, he was one of the most interesting characters I had met in my life. He was a perpetual womaniser, a fantastic teller of tales, a champion of the people and I called him the leprechaun. One of his hobbies was photography, he had an eye for details, I was fortunate enough to have him take many pictures that I can look back on with a smile.

Photo by M Lyons

I suppose my point is this. We will have times when we feel our optimism has deserted us but these times are fleeting, make the most of your happy moments and look back by all means, don’t get stuck there, brighter days are coming xx

Trick question?

How would you rate your confidence level?

I know a huge amount of confident people, things is, once you get to truly know them you realise they are winging it like the rest of us.

There are things we do that we know we are great at doing and there are some things that we do on a wing and a prayer. We’re human and that’s as it should be. 100% confidence is a dangerous thing.

Keep me with you.

Whenever you feel you can’t breathe with the pain

Think of my arms around you

When tears continue to fall like the rain

Feel my love surround you

If you feel you’re alone in the depths of the night

Hear my memory calm you

Talk of me often,

talk with a smile,

Of how special our time was together

Do all of this and you will keep me alive,

and they will forget me never.

D M Roberts ©