Lighthouse, Nieuw-Haamstede

(New 'Ham-stay-duh')

Hubby went to his bridge evening in Breda and I was busy with the Wordsworth MOOC, for which we occasionally 'have to' do some assignments.  We were discussing the influence of setting when you are writing a poem and the challenge was to go out, find a quiet spot that we particularly liked, sit down, close our eyes for a couple of minutes, open them, take down the surroundings, then try to write down our impressions.  I could have waited for a sunny day to do this, and I absolutely had no rush, but autumn is coming and the temperature is falling slowly and I have no time on weekdays, so I thought I would do it tonight.  Of course, I had miscalculated the time the sun would set (it's been so hot and sunny that you tend to think the summer solstice has just been) so it was practically dark by the time I got to the beach.  You have to walk a kilometer to get to the water but all I wanted was my favourite bench at the top of the small hill.  I followed the instructions but couldn't think of anything new when I opened my eyes, except for a haiku which I later submitted, accompanied by the short story of my evening out.  Walking back to the car, though, I thought, why not visit the lighthouse as it is just around the corner, so off I went.  Too dark for a shot of the whole thing but as this was the first time I saw a working lighthouse at night, I decided this would be it.

You have read that correctly -- I haven't been doing any poetry lately.  At least, except for a poem I began months ago and am still busy with.  That definitely has potential but it still has a long way to go.  Mad Hen has heard me read a part of it and her reaction was quite encouraging, to say the least.

The rest of the day was spent working at home, with the MOOC in between when I need a break.  Mondays are at least not so stressful right now.  Will not last long, though.