NEW BLOG - TAKE 2!

MOVING,MOVING, MOVED


This time, dear friends & readers,
and in the advent of NordicblackbirdDOTcom's fate, (sudden deletion by the provider) 


please adjust your bookmarks:


nordicblackbird.com has MOVED to a new (and SAFER) HOME


there's another roosting place :-)


I shall see if/ how long this blog will survive on the web, but I must confess I have learnt the very hard way not to put all eggs in one basket...

We are from the stars and the sea

Wherever I look, I lose myself in the great waterworld

I often describe my island as a long sausage - so narrow, so close we all live to the water's edge.

We, the people of the north sea, north atlantic and nordic world, we can't escape from wind and spray.

So we build boats to weave friendship and connections.

 humblyband

Da boat, as it is known on all fringes of my island, has long remained the traditional means of transport... 

 

We have special boats here on this latitude, handcrafted and modelled on the viking one... Wood and rivets, kabe, hamle- humli- humblyband.

Ropes, lines, riggings

...Wood and rivets, kabe, hamle- humli- humblyband. To me it sounds like a rengaine, earth leitmotive... And when I tie it to a friend, our nomadism braves each wave from Bressay Sound to the Firth of Lorn :-)) 

What does it mean to the nomad? ...An opening to our own world.

afternoon in Hillswick

reunion

I promised myself a few things before the new term starts and visiting Fiona, aka Oily Muggie, in Hillswick was one of them.

The drive alone to the northern village is an adventure in  itself, for one ventures though Shetland's  spectacular wilderness and, from the top of the hill on approach to Urafirth, Ronas Hill, culminating at 450m above sea level - that Pink Giant -  dominates one's field of view... Impressive lump of rock! The view towards Hillswick never ceases to amaze my heart.


Finding Fiona is not really difficult, since all one needs to do is to follow the (only) road, past the St Magnus Bay Hotel click here! and then a first signpost will lead you to Muggie's homeground, the very last house where the road ends. :-)

Fiona seeks treasures from local artists and assemble them neatly inside the old doctor's surgery - not Aladdin's cave... Oily Muggie's Cave of Wonders! The very first impression one feels when entering is that of serenity. Local music welcomes you in. ...It's magic :)) There I found a myriad of craftsmanship, from pottery to textiles, via Abby's famous raincoats (hand-made cards) and culinary delights...

I went back home with a scarf, a star, two raincoats sharing love, Lonely Hearts ...Some delicious Baltasound oatcakes as well as a present for a friend... But I also take back a wonderful slice of life I treasure forever! Thank you, thank you, Fiona!!!

Oh, and if you are unfamiliar with Oily Muggie's smile yet, I strongly recommend a visit, either real and/or virtual at: Oily Muggie 

Introduction

Arcania, poet’s world – sea, sky, earth scapes were born off a moment during a creative session with Jen last August, who asked us all to fashion our personal inner scapes out of local / known physical ones. Jen started us off with specific concepts and let our poetic minds wander for each section. Such exercise was taken as self-indulgence and started off with a piece of verse entitled Snapshots from Arcania.

Yet Arcania represents more than the poet’s world to me. For all I know, it is the very fabric of the shore I walk on a daily basis, virtually free of mind pollution, or chains and feel more real as it brings me closer to earth, the real world.

I once mentioned an earlier life experienced south of the border; needed and yet compartmented, obeying to specific laws, system in which we lost ourselves… By walking away from this kind of materialistic world, we learnt to appreciate each sunrise; the taste of salt glued on our lips, the way wind talks through breeze or gale, folk work and speak…rawness of land and elements, the way we fit inside it all. It’s like learning to live again.