serene – clear and calm, unruffled; placid, tranquil, unperturbed
The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1976)
Unicorns – The Stream; by Niki Broyles
(from John in England, February 2017)
‘Early morning on Derryclare Loch, Connemara, Ireland’
(sent to my parents from Swedish friends on holiday in Ireland, probably in the late 1990s – the card not dated, and the postmark alas illegible)
‘Sgurr nan Gillean from Portree Bay’, Isle of Skye, Scotland
(sent to my parents from British friends on holiday there, August 1999)
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In Swedish we have a verb “återfinna”, meaning “to find again” – used for example about finding things that you thought you had lost, or had forgotten about.
Still being in the (slow) process of reorganizing things in my study (after getting new furniture with more drawers back in January), I seem to be re-finding a lot of things lately… including old postcards. This week I (re-)found some cards that were sent to my parents in the past. Most of them from family; but also these two (above) from friends of theirs whom I never met.
In my teens back in the 1970s, we went on two longer (3 weeks or so) family road trips in Britain – driving through England, Wales and Scotland. (We also spent one week in London, without car; and one summer I stayed one month “on my own” with a family in Yorkshire.) My parents went back to Britain on car holidays a few more times after that, though – and also made some friends there, with whom they kept in touch and met more than once. However, I don’t think mum and dad ever visited Ireland, or the Isle of Skye – and neither did I. On one of our family trips we did go as far north as Inverness and Loch Ness, though; which makes the (serene) landscape in these two cards still feel kind of familiar to me.
PS. We never saw a unicorn either… But we almost saw Nessie
The Loch Ness Monster. Postcard bought at Loch Ness in 1971; glued into my photo album from that trip. It seems pretty unperturbed to me, even if perhaps not as serenely tranquil as the unicorn…
You can travel through the entire U.K. by car, how amazing! The Isle of Skye is such a beautiful and mystical place, I would love to visit there. These are gorgeous, and serene for sure. We are giving our youngest granddaughter a pink unicorn for her birthday this week. I think my favorites are two and three.
ReplyDeleteGinny, I'm glad I did get to see a much of Britain as we did back in then, since I never got a good opportunity to go back later.
DeleteI've been cleaning out and throwing away and digging through drawers and closets and I'm finding things too but nothing as pretty as these. I love the one from Ireland that photo that's on it is just stunning. My dad's family came from Ireland and my mom's from Scotland so either one of these places would be great for me
ReplyDeleteSandra, when we cleared out my parents' house there were lots of things (esp. letters and cards and such) that I just couldn't decide what to do with, so I just took them home and stowed them away for "later"... hmmm...
DeleteSuch wonderful pictures on the cards, most i see are rather boring in comparison.
ReplyDeleteJanet, for the blog I try to choose the best. (Unless, perhaps, the theme "boring" should happen to turn up!)
DeleteThe first picture is like something one may dream. An artist can put the images of what they have dream at night on paper; I wish I could do that, too!
ReplyDeleteSerenity is not always easy to find, is it, especially when living in a busy town.
I agree, Meike. In a busy town serenity is harder to find. I'm usually drawn to the rivers and parks for that :)
DeleteHi Monica, I've read about återfinna before and it's so lovely to come across this Swedish term again. These postcards by the way are all mesmerizing and the first one looks magical! I'll make sure to get the link out for this post even though you missed the linky. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Maria :)
DeleteBy water is one of the most tranquil places to be, perhaps Nessie might disturb the calm a little but only to smile at the tam o' shanter hat. Lovely cards.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joy. And yes, I too associate serenity very much with water. The Nessie card was really only included here because one thought led to another... As they often do! :)
DeleteThe two your parents received show typical tranquil country scenes from the British Isles, especially the Irish one. I can just imagine sitting by the water there, meditating.
ReplyDeleteSo can I, John :)
DeleteYou have never seen a unicorn? A treat awaits you.
ReplyDeleteGraham, one never knows. Maybe one day I'll find the magic door to Narnia (or Hogwarts, or whereever)...
DeleteHi Monica, These are some great cards for the Serenity theme. I think my favorite (and it’s hard to pick just one) is the Isle of Skye. What a beautiful, serene location! I also enjoyed your comment, “Still being in the (slow) process of reorganizing things in my study (after getting new furniture with more drawers back in January).” I’m still in the same mode here in my study after moving to this new location two years ago. Does it ever end? :-) Best regards from Seattle!
ReplyDeleteJohn, I kind of suspect it's a job for life... ;)
DeleteI especially like the postcard from Ireland. I am not sure if seeing an unicorn would make me "serene"... :)
ReplyDelete