People sometimes ask me, if my husband and I would like to live in a house with a garden. Pictures of sitting on a comfortable chair in the shade of an old oak tree, of gently caressing vermillion roses blossoming under my care, of leaves turning brown, red and yellow pop up in my mind. Yes, I tell them, living in a house is wonderful, but so far I have not found anything really wrong with living in a small apartment. The basic difference is that we do not own the nature we enjoy in. I look out the window and I see naked branches in winter, occasionally covered in snow or ice. I behold and absorb the...

Shadow all around – red beauty in the warm sun, passion surviving.   Take care, Helena Smole, author of: – a fantasy novel with romance Vivvy and Izzy the Dwarf: A series about relationships – Balancing the Beast, a book offering a bright view of schizoaffective disorder ˗ bipolar or manic-depressive type ...

Sunrays through the clouds – disturbing the early dusk, warm color’s caress.   This haiku poem is a result of entering the following challenge: Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 97, “Love & Time” https://colleenchesebro.com/2018/08/14/colleens-weekly-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-97-love-time-synonymsonly/   Take care, Helena Smole, author of: – a fantasy novel with romance Vivvy and Izzy the Dwarf: A series about relationships – Balancing the Beast, a book offering a bright view of schizoaffective disorder ˗ bipolar or manic-depressive type ...

Like most holidays in the heat season my husband and I made what is slowly becoming a traditional compromise: we spent 5 days in the mountains and 5 days at the seaside, both in our home country. You have probably guessed: he likes the mountains, while I prefer the sea. Although I must say, over the years of our marital journey, I have grown close to the mountains and he started to like the sea. It is funny how one’s likes are not so set in stone, once one is willing to step out of the box of one’s standard views. It took a lot of adjusting though. I can ascend up to 900 meters (3000 feet) of...

A few times a week I have my lunch in a local restaurant just to break up my lonely writer routine of staying inside all the time. Sometimes I run into people I know, sometimes not, it depends. I let my socializing be a coincidence instead of assuring I would have company by calling people up and setting a date. I do not even own a mobile phone, thus I am extremely easy-going in this respect. It is probably the only aspect of my life, in which I am so unconcerned. So, the other day I ran into my neighbor, who is deaf from birth, but very well educated. She reads a lot and likes to solve crossword...