CLOUDS IN THE SKY

Clouds in the sky

are like ideas in my mind,

they are floating up and down,

dancing and whirling,

without a sound.

Clouds in the sky

are like waves in our hearts,

they are moving and changing, 

taking our dreams so far.

Clouds in the sky 

are like a sweet fragance

that thrives,

filling and touching our lives.

(Picture from thinking.umwblogs.org)

Are you able to retain things that you have read or heard easily?  Do you remember what you ate the day before yesterday?  Do you remember what you did every day during your last trip?  If you do…..there is good news: you have a good memory!

Let´s go further:  you do not know where you put your keys or glasses, do you?  How about names, dates, addresses, phone numbers or even anniversaries or birthdays? Do you remember them without problems?  Well, if you do not….that means that your memory is not so good!

Of course having a good memory helps to increase your creativity and ability to solve problems, improve your reading comprehension and self-esteem, reduce stress, etc.   It has many benefits for your health.

But don`t worry….it is not all bad news.  Sometimes a bad memory has some advantages too.  “One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory...” states a famous quote.  In some cases it can be a “gift” because you move on through the difficulties easily, you do not hold grudges and that can help to maintain relationships.

But let us come back to the point, there are many tips and exercises to sharpen your mind and boost brain power: give your brain a workout, get enough sleep, do physical exercise, make time for friends, have a laugh, eat a brain-boosting diet, do puzzles, follow a schedule, read more, etc.

If you cannot improve your memory, well, nobody is perfect….at least you can learn some expressions in English that can help you to show that if you forgot something it was not your intention and that you are doing your best!.  If you add “I am sorry”, that would be much better!! Here we go:

Be on the tip of your tongue: you think you know it and that you will be able to remember it very soon.     The answer is on the tip of my tongue.

Slip your mind: you forget it.   I am so sorry I forgot your birthday, it just slipped my mind.

Your mind goes blank: you cannot remember a particular thing, or you cannot remember anything.   I tried to remember his name, but my mind went completely blank.

Ring a bell: to sound familiar. The name rang a bell, but I could not remember where I had heard it before.

Rack your brain:  to think very hard.   I have been racking my brains all day, but I cannot remember her address

I had more but I forgot them….just kidding!  I think it is enough for today!

Let’s go!! Try to remember these expressions and exercise your brain!!  Good luck!

Thanks for reading it!!

Picture by Leslie Anneliese

A majestic bird with golden plumage landed on a rock in front of the ocean.  A tiny fish poked out his head, drawn by the beauty of the bird.

With haughtiness the bird began to speak:

B:   Have you ever been in the blue sky?

F: No, I haven't, but I have been in the blue and fascinating ocean full of life and mystery.

B: Have you ever touched the stars?

F: No, I haven't, but I have touched the brightest reefs on earth full of light and color.

B: Have you ever danced on the clouds?

F: No, I haven't, but I have danced over foamy waves following with my fins the rhythm of the sea.

B:  Have you ever flown to the most remote heights?

F: No, I haven't, but I have swum through the dizzying currents reaching the depths of the ocean.

The bird kept silence.  He understood that that humble fish had a "sky" too: blue, vast, full of mysteries, challenging , magnificent and  heartwarming!  The bird smiled and, fluttering, he rose to the sky again!

THE BENCH

THAT TOUGH COLD WINTER passed taking with it those elongated nights and shortened days of light, melting with a beam of sunshine the last whitish snowflakes over the tight grass.

On a lonely corner was “the bench”….while dawning she opened her “ears” listening to a tender song of a small sparrow perching on a slight branch.

Lengthening her wooden arms, still yawning she opened her dazzled eyes. With a blurred vision she saw a colorful bouquet of newly budded flowers, two straight trees looking at the horizon and a refreshing water fountain.

She did not know how long she had been sleeping. She only knew her heart was beating full of life and that her brain had recorded the last yearnings of those who had sat there before she fall asleep:

That thin-skinny woman with two little boys who was crying because she lost her job and did not know how she was to feed them…..

A cheerful couple who dreamed for long hours about their future and swore love forever….

One stubborn young man wearing rounded glasses that studied from a thick book dreaming to become a great doctor….

Those lively friends who gossiped and joked carelessly…

That calm old woman who knit while recalling with every stitch those lovely moments that would never come back….

The bench realized she was alive, ready to hear once more those hopes, sorrows, joys, triumphs and hardships that entwine every human life.  With energy and eagerness while grinning the brown bench curled her wide mouth and said: IT IS SPRING AGAIN!

Thanks for reading it!

The world before social media      Yes, there was a “world” without internet and social media….different, but not bad at all!!  I thought that while looking at the picture.

I think that most of us agree that technology has advantages and disadvantages. I do not intend to argue about this. Rather, I want to focus on how life was without it.

I showed the picture to a couple of teenagers who cried out:  Ohhh how did you live without facebook!!?... I would have passed away without “Instagram”…and so on.

Then I shared the picture with friends, I got funny comments!!!

“I was the “remote control” of the house!  -uttered one-. There were six siblings in my house, I was the youngest. Every afternoon we sat together to watch our favourite T.V programs.  Everyone said to me: go change the channel!!  I stood up and did what they wanted many times…You know, the price to be the “baby” in the family.

Another one stated:   “In my childhood we did not have video games, we spent the day making up games with our neighbors. We were “pirates”, “superheroes” running outside the house. We kicked balls, climbed trees, laughed and talked in person, went to places together instead of visiting online..that was fun!”

“My mom -explained Jessica-  loved to collect pictures from the whole family with her old “polaroid camera”.  She took those pictures for special occasions and she spent many days cutting every photo and putting together a photo album for every member of the family. With her handwriting she described those magical moments, adding thoughtful comments on every image.   On Sunday, all of us got together to see the pictures and listen to the stories of those shoots from my mother’s memories”.

“My house was not big -stated Antonio smiling- . We only had one green, antique phone placed on a corner at the entrance of my home.  When that phone rang everyone rushed to take that device, we never knew who was calling, every call had a kind of mystery and surprise…. We had to line up to use it and all knew whom you were talking about!! Nothing to say about the bill…I cannot forget my parents’ face.”

I could continue more and more…Technology is great, otherwise I would not be able to write this blog and share it with you, but listening to those experiences was valuable and priceless.   Life was somewhat mysterious and captivating!

Thanks for reading it!!

COZY FROG

“At that small and enchanting fountain

rests cheerfully a chirpy frog

while smiling, singing, croaking

it says “welcome” to every door

I can feel that refreshing water

with its calm and shiny drops

greeting and reviving that tiny-little frog…”

I was just about to post this photo when I read Rosemary’s blog “Writing tips”.  She suggested that “there is no flawless text and making mistakes is a healthy sign of good learning”…..then I felt encouraged to write a few words related to my picture.

Without wanting it, I wrote my first “verses” in English!!!......Well, I know that they are not a “masterpiece” but they are mine…

I will never be a poet, that is for sure! But I will improve my English.  Writing them helped me to discover new words.

I never thought that my first “verses” would be about a “cozy frog”….., maybe I would have liked something "deeper".... but even a small frog can bring happiness and fun to our lives. That depend on us!!

Would you like to take the challenge and write your own words about this unworried frog?.

Thanks for reading it!

VOCABULARY

Cozy (Adj): Giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation.

Chirpy (Adj): Cheerful and lively.

Unworried (Adj): not anxious or uneasy.

Croak (n): A characteristic deep hoarse sound made by a frog or a crow.

LET’S GO FLY A KITE!!!!

Let’s go fly a kite…..up to the highest height, up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear….”.

I was a little girl when I heard for the first time the famous song from the movie Mary Poppins (*): “Let’s go fly a kite”. I loved that song and I imagined myself cheerfully jumping and singing at the park like in the movie...well maybe not only imagining!!…..I don’t know if my father was a little tired of listening to that song in the house, but one day he bought enormous and colorful kites for my brothers and me. I remembered that we were over the moon!

Starting then we went to an open field every Sunday to fly our “magic devices”. We all ran through the prairie flying our kites. We felt free as birds touching the sky, reaching the stars and feeling the rush of the air over our faces and we were so happy! . At that time I thought there was no kite like mine…but I was wrong!

I grew up and…… I forgot about my kite. I moved to another place and one day a friend told me that he saw giant kites in Guatemala. He said that in a little town of that country there were the biggest kites he had ever seen. I looked at a picture and I was so impressed: they were huge!!. “People in that town –continued my friend- build those kites to honor the dead on a special day, they write messages to their loved ones who have passed away”. I was “all ears” and I understood that those men and women wanted to send messages beyond the stars using the kites. Suddenly I remembered mine.

GIANT KITES IN GUATEMALA

I didn’t know how far those kites could fly but I concluded that those people had the same feeling I had when I was a child -no matter the size of the kite-: the capacity to see beyond!
I realized that when we fly a kite we “look up and around”, enjoy nature and being outdoors, breathe fresh air and share with people around us or far away..

Nowadays we are so busy that we forget these little things and we spend the day “looking down” in our own world, immersed in ourselves.
Maybe we should “fly a kite” more than once in our daily life: plant a flower, take a walk, take time to observe a tiny bee, be amazed by a hill, marvel at the brightness of a raindrop, be mesmerized by the shape of a cloud, laugh with our family and friends, take care of a loved one, listen to someone near us, look up and notice the needs of people around us, and so forth. It is worth reaching that sky and seeing beyond!!

So, let’s go fly a kite with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite…..and send it soaring!!!

(*) Mary Poppins: a classicAmerican musical film produced by Walt Disney. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g89NxTTycxc

Expressions:

Over the moon: feeling pleasure and happiness.

All ears: to be waiting eagerly to hear about something.

Vocabulary:

Kite (n): a frame covered with cloth or plastic and joined to a long string, that you fly in the air when the weather is windy.

Rush (n): the act of suddenly moving somewhere quickly.

Outdoors: outside a building, in or into the open air.

Mesmerize (v): attract strongly, as if with a magnet.

Soar (v): to rise very quickly to a high level.

I am taking the challenge as well!!!

When I was a child I wanted a sister.   

Many years ago my mother got pregnant and I remenber when my parents went to the hospital because the "moment" had arrived!  (at that time you were not able to know if the baby was a boy or a girl. You had to wait that your mother gave birth to know it!), I got anxious, because remember: I wanted a sister! 

I put my elbows over the window and waited for long hours for my father"s return from the hospital. When I saw my father I started to run to the entrance of my home and without breathing I asked him loudly -with my elementary language at that age-  DAD, WHAT HAPPENED? and he said: IT IS A BOY!!!

I started to cry inconsolably ....because I wanted a sister!  The same story was repeated many times....because I HAVE FOUR BROTHERS...... and I do not have sisters!

I love all my brothers and I am extremely lucky to have them.   Everyone of my brothers is a treasure for me, but when I was a little girl I really wanted a sister!! Now, when we remember that memory we laugh a lot with my family.

Thanks for reading it!!!

 PD: That is not my picture.......