ABC Wednesday: O is for Orange County

Orange County lies next to Los Angeles in California. We visited there for a week in 1999. This fountain was inside a mall in Tustin.

Our host was Viki, a writer whom we had met through the internet. She and her husband Mike invited us into their home and made us very welcome.

The last of these three photographs is of the Crystal Cathedral another photograph of which I featured on Saturday under Weekend Reflections.

For more O posts see ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday:N is for New Zealand

It is 10 years since we visited New Zealand. You can read my account of the trip at Land of the Long White Cloud.

When the earthquake hit Christchurch we were very upset, especially as one of our neighbours had returned from a three month visit to their daughter in Christchurch only the day before. They were still getting over jetlag when the news broke.

We stayed at the Heritage Hotel in Cathedral Square. The Heritage Hotels website states

Updated 14 April 2011 - Following the February earthquake, Heritage Christchurch is not currently taking bookings and at this time a reopening date is not able to be provided. A cordon remains in place around the CBD area and as such this date is contingent on the lifting of access restrictions. Further information regarding the cordon will continue to be updated on this site as it is advised. All Heritage Christchurch staff and guests evacuated the hotel safely at the time of the earthquake.

The resiliance and spirit of people as they rebuild their city is inspiring.


Michelle's blog, Christchurch Daily Photo provides a great continuing insight to life in the city, whilst photographs of the damage to the cathedral and latest information can be found on the Christchurch Cathedral website.

For more N posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Weekend Reflections: Crystal Cathedral

When I mention to James about a glass church in Orange County, he reminded me that it was the Crystal Cathedral so I went back to my archives and dug out this photograph as a contribution to his Weekend Reflections.

See more of my California photographs.

ABC Wednesday:M is for Mabel

I recently came across this photograph taken in November 1982.

Left to right are Loris Essary, Christine England, Mabel Ferrett, Mabel McGowan and Fred Schofield.

Loris was editor at the time of the US magazine "Interstate" and called on us during a visit to Europe. We held a small meeting of the Pennine Poets at our house and Fred Schofield from Leeds brought over the two Mabels for the evening.

Fred Schofield founded the Yorkshire/Lancashire haiku group in 1995, and is presently the haibun editor for Presence.

I published a collection of poems by Mabel McGowan, "Testament to a Life" which includes the poem Circle.

Read my account of Mabel Ferrett's life on Ackworth born, gone West and an obituary by Pauline Kirk in The Guardian.

This second photograph was taken in 1986 and shows Mabel Ferrett in the garden of her house on Vernon Road, Heckmondwike.

Read her poem about and my photographs of Hartshead Church.

For more M posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Online Translation

On my Collected Poetical Works blog I recently posted a Valentine's day haiku.

just a single dove
atop our back garden tree
on Valentine's day

The poem has been translated by four Russian translators on the Version website.

I thought it would be interesting to see how they back-translated and I found the Paralink translation site which offers two translations of any text.

The results were

1. просто одинокий голубь
   на верхушке нашего черного садового дерева
   день Валентина

   translates as

   Simply lonely pigeon
   On a top of our black garden tree
   Day of Valentine

   or (via Google translation)

   just a lone dove on top of our black wood garden Valentine's Day

2. голубь - одна штука
   на обуглившемся дереве в нашем саду
   в Валентинов день

   translates as

   The pigeon - one piece
   On the charred tree in ours to a garden
   In Valentines day

   or (via Google translation)

   dove - one piece at charred tree in our garden in the Valentine's Day

3. стонет белый голубочек
   на черном-черном дереве -
   Валентинов день

   translates as

   Groans white голубочек
   On black-ebony-
   Valentines day

   or (via Google translation)

   moaning white dove on a black-black tree - Valentine's Day

4. ...а всего-то одинокий голубок
   на верхушке чёрной яблони в саду
   да Валентинов День

   translates as

   ... And only lonely голубок
   On a top of a black apple-tree in a garden
   Yes Valentinov Den

   or (via Google translation)

   ... And just a lone dove on top of a black apple in the garden so Valentine's Day

Quite fascinating to see the variations. Do they understand Valentine's day in Russia?

ABC Wednesday: Lis for Lealholm

Lealholm is a little village on the River Esk near Whitby, Yorkshire.

My photograph of the stepping stones was taken in August 1962.

I have no idea who the people in the photograph are.

For more L posts visit ABC Wednesday