Meme: Seven Random Things

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I've been tagged by Endment. Her blog is one of the quiet pleasures of cyberspace. If you love poetry and the beauty of wild places, go and visit and give yourself a treat.

This is how you play.

. link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog
. share 7 random or weird things about yourself
. tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs
. let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I've visited the Grand Canyon in winter: November 2000. A chill, grey morning, a few days after the Bush/Gore presidential elections - and nobody knew at that stage which way the result would go. Snow had fallen unexpectedly overnight and there was some doubt whether our bus would even be allowed to enter the National Park. but we made it. There were very few other tourists. The plateau was covered in a thin layer of snow but there seemed to be none in the canyon itself and the North Rim, closed at this time of year, was just visible through the haze, all those miles away.

I hesitate to use the term spiritual experience but this came close. We were only there a few hours. Of all the places I have been, if I had to pick just one for a return visit this would be it, no question. The quality of the silence as we stood in ones and twos on the edge of the canyon was extraordinary.

2. My mother introduced me to astrology as a teenager by showing me the astrological report of my birth chart that she had commissioned when I was born: And this was well before the 1960s. The reading was pretty damn accurate and I've been an amateur practitioner and enthusiast for many years now.

3. I am drawn to water: Although we weren't affected, given the scale of the July floods my house is possibly a tad too close to the river for comfort. But I'm staying put; to live further away from water would just feel wrong.

4. I don't have a car: Yes I know. For a lot of people this is definitely weird. In mitigation I am an extremely nervous driver. I haven't driven for years - and living in big cities as I did for decades you can get away with this. Here though you need wheels to reach where public transport doesn't and, although it feels like a distinctly retrograde step in view of my strong green tendencies, I want to get a car but then use it sparingly. Bicycle and bus are better, for monetary and for planetary reasons.

5. I lived in Paris for almost ten years: I spoke schoolgirl French before I went but the time in France gave me a genuine love of the language and a confidence in using it that hasn't faded in the years since my return. It's not that I speak it perfectly, au contraire, but I've stopped worrying about the errors that I will inevitably make. Communication is what counts.

6. I hanker after a bigger, better camera: With a tripod and a zoom lens for all those wildlife and full moon shots.

7. I can rustle up a very good omelette: Or so they tell me. Aside from that I am a less than wonderful cook but I aim to improve. With that in mind I'm doing the cooking this Christmas.

I hereby tag:

. Leslee at 3rd House Journal
. Kate at Integral Shamanics
. Sonia at Leaves of Grass
. Crafty Green Poet
. Krissie at Message in a Bottle
. Wenda at Daring to Write
. You. I don't want this to be exclusive. It is a game after all, so if you're not on this list and want to play, then go for it. Just leave a note and a link in the comments if you do.