In Which I Get a Taste of Canada

Hello all!

Today I am writing this post from Texas. It is my first day here, and also the first time I set foot in America, so all in all I'm pretty excited. It is only morning and already rather hot, but I can't wait to use the swimming pool and go see new places.

Travelling here was not as bad as I had expected - I usually get quite bad travel anxiety, but I was remarkably calm once I'd arrived early at the airport. All went smoothly, bag checking, security checking, etc.
The plane was an Air Canada one, which I was happy about.. For my new readers who might not yet know, I have loved Canada since I was 16; at the time it was nearly an obsession.
So I found my seat in the plane, a window seat, and there were not many people so I had two seats for myself, which would come in handy later. I made myself comfortable with my neck pillow and the plane pillow and once the safety announcements had been made, I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding. For the first time, believe it or not!
Lunch was alright, pasta and bread and a little entree. Then I watched Mean Girls. This was then the problems started. I had a headache which was getting steadfastly worse, and 23 minutes to the end of the film, I had a full on migraine. Trying not to think too much about how much I felt like I was going to throw up, I spread myself on the two seats and tried to sleep. Thankfully, about 3 hours later my headache had lessened and I watched ten more minutes of Mean Girls whilst eating a chicken fajita wrap, and then we started the landing.

I was now in Toronto. I had seen the CN Tower and the lake as we had descended, and after going through security again (boy the Americans ask a lot of questions!), I was now in transit in Toronto. The CN Tower and the other buildings were visible in the distance. It was so close, yet so far - but the closest I had ever been! Still, it was a little like seeing a display of cakes/sweets/kittens and being denied them. I did however buy myself a magnet and postcards. Then, after hearing my flight would be delayed, I went back and found another shop, and bought myself a maple leaf pin, and some salmon jerky from British Columbia.. The place in Canada I most want to visit! I also had some Tim Horton's coffee and a doughnut.. A tiny taste of the country I so wish to see..

So that is the story of how I spent six hours in Toronto, without really being in Toronto, before flying off to Dallas!

I will most definitely be writing about my Texan adventures, so feel free to come back! And now, to you! Do you have any funny airport stories? Nightmare transits? Which country would you like to visit the most?

Thanks for reading, and if you like my blog feel free to check out my Facebook page!

Not Otter Nonsense

Good day to all! (It's actually nearly 1 am here, but oh well.) I was doodling a lot yesterday, trying to get the perfect drawing (still haven't found it!) and finally felt comfortable enough to use my watercolours. This is an otter!  And it represents me! Isn't that just adorable? Unless you hate otters, in which case.. Sorry? I'm not really an otter, if that helps? (Do you like tigers?)

Uh, but Kerridwen!! I hear you exclaim. Your blog is called The Tiger's Sterne! Explain please?

Yes, yes I shall. You see, I have quite an unusual name. This name has a rather long meaning behind it,  it's all Welsh legends and stories - often with the name being spelt 'Ceridwen'. Well, in pretty much all version of the stories,  Ceridwen gets a bit annoyed with someone and chases him, at one point turning herself into an otter. Voila.

Here's the wiki entry on Ceridwen if you want a better explanation.

My kingdom for a horse..?

I hope to update the blog in the upcoming week. In the meantime, here's a horse, playing what I hope looks like a banjo. Enjoy!

Poetry For The Homesick

So it's already a week since I wrote my last NaPoWriMo poem, and I'm already relapsing back into, well.. nothing! I will try working on my poems but I do need a bit of time to read them with a fresh mind. I do not, however, want to let this blog become silent again! So tonight I have a poem for you. Not a poetry challenge one, just a regular poem.

Poetry For The Homesick

Love Song of a City I Hate

Ireland was a welcome breath

After months of stifled air all around.

The river was my water and the

Irish sun stretched my roots.

The dark side to this growth

Was a previously unknown side effect.

Not advertised on the mountains.

After three days of life

The return was unavoidable.

Then the problems start - allergies.

A side effect of Wicklow, 

the river Liffey and Irish air.

I was allergic to you.

My love, my life.

We've had our problems, I've

Loved and hated you,

But I can't see me living without

You.

And now, now I cannot stand this

This staleness, this asphyxiation.

You never let me grow, you

Never let me live freely.

With you here I am chained to the past.

You bring up past mistakes and

Never let me move forward.

I thought we were happy together

I thought you'd help me become

A better version of myself.

But now it all feels like lies.

You bombard me with gifts

Dinners and love songs.

Until you tear me apart over

Last year's fight.

I don't want to leave you -

I've loved you so long.

But I need my space and

I need a future.

You play me sweet sounds by the river

Melodies of my past melancholies.

Even your music is in the past.

I want to follow the river and see

New things, feel new emotions

But you keep dragging me back

Drowning me.

Please, can we put the past behind

And keep it behind?

I miss your sunny laughter and

Song birds.

Now you're all noise and dust

Crowding and 

I

Can't

Breathe.

It can all be alright

I still hope and believe.

But you must let me breathe.

Lead me to your mountains

So I can fall in love again.

#24 - Sleep Pyramid

My attempt at an ethere.. Sleep eludes me mostly because I don't go to bed at regular times.. oops..

--

Sleep

Eludes me

More, these days.

My dreams last longer

When the morning arrives, fast.

Suddenly I am comfortable and cosy,

Now I really could sleep for hours!

Alas! My alarm clock simply does not agree.

I moan and sigh and toss and turn, groggily.

"I should go to bed earlier!" I promise and fail.

#23 - Blue Mountains (A Triolet)

Attempt at a triolet, a form which I find difficult but want to be better at. Prompt here.

The mountains stretch across the land

The river's mouth amongst the clouds

I wish that I could understand

The mountains. Stretch across the land,

Blue mountains upon where you stand,

Safe from the problems and the crowds.

The mountains stretch. Across the land,

The river's mouth, amongst the clouds.

#22 - Difference

Used this prompt again. I love languages, so this prompt appeals to me!

違い

Auttakaa minua!

I cannot travel

This road alone.

Regarde le ciel.

Grey like the eyes

Of your long-lost friend.

Så sorgligt.

Vieni con me

To the land of secrets

Behind the sléibhte.

There, I know,

Hides your truth.

Perhaps even the door of

حب

#21 - Erasure

For this poem I used the 'erasure' prompt from NaPo. Can you guess which poem I used? 

Erasure

Breeding lilacs, mixing

Memory with spring rain.

Covering life with

A shower of sunlight

And coffee.

Children out on a sled, frightened

In the mountains.

You cannot say where the sun beats the dry stone.

There is something different from

Your shadow at morning

Or at evening, rising in a handful of dust.   

       

Hyacinths

Speak, and knew nothing. 

Light, silence.  

 

Cold pearls I do not find  

Under the fog 

In your garden.

Poem used: 'The Wasteland' by T.S. Eliot. 

#20 - I Wandered Lonely As A Pillow

A silly poem inspired by Absolute Radio's task of the night: Replace a word of a song with 'pillow'. I did it with a poem.. 

I Wandered Lonely As A Pillow

I wandered lonely as a pillow

That floats upon the bouncy sheets,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of soft and squishy cushions.

Beside the bed, against the wall

A pile of them, a pile so tall.

I wandered lonely as a pillow

Amongst a crowd and pile of cushions.

#19 - The Secret of The Blue Mountains

Attempt at a prose poem. Ireland, again..

Blue mountains spread in the distance,

a place where the keys are hiding. Silently

I watch them. They stretch under the sun and

under rolling clouds, puffed with pride. There

I feel your presence would be felt, and I wish

I could travel the earthy paths too, smelling the

Fresh grassy air and touching skies. I'd pick a

wildflower and examine it in my palm.

I'd let the wind tangle my hair. I couldn't go, though,

and it remains a mystery to me, much information

waiting to be uncovered. I couldn't fix it, yet.