Friday 1 February 2013

Paradise or Hell?


Today’s picture prompt for GBE2:Blog On prompted me to write my first ever haiku:
 
Isolated cottage,
No power, no internet.
Paradise - or Hell?
 
At first glance, this small isolated cottage seems idyllic, a place to escape to when everything gets too much, a welcome respite from everyday life and the demands that other people put on you. No phone ringing or television or music blaring, just the sound of the surf and the sea birds.
 
I’m already imagining that many people who respond to this blog prompt will wax lyrical about the prospect of being alone, of having time to think, of finding themselves again.
 
For me, it holds no attraction whatsoever. Ten minutes in that confined space, which is probably cold and damp (and full of spiders and cobwebs), and I’d be screaming to be let out.
 
Maybe I’m fortunate that I live alone, and so I can escape into myself in comfortable surroundings. I want my home comforts, my central heating to keep my warm, and my television and my computer to link me to the outside world.
 
No, you can keep your tiny cottage, however beautiful its surroundings might be. I’m happy right where I am!

 

14 comments:

  1. I can understand wanting those creature comforts, Paula. I think that is why I have never spent a night (or a day) in a tent *chuckle* Brave you for having a go at a haiku too. I steer clear of writing poetry, for the most part, as I am useless at it :D

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  2. I've spent time in tents when I ran a Girl Guide unit, Gill - but never really enjoyed it.
    And I'm hopeless at poetry too, but this haiku just came into my mind!

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  3. A lovely haiku - especially for the first go! I could dream of being alone in a small house, and I could see it for a few hours (What wonderful writing hours that would be!), but truth is, it will never happen. And I'm glad it won't :)

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  4. I love my time alone but need running water:))

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  5. Many thanks, Tonja. I don't think I'd like it even for a few hours!

    Talya - very good point about the running water!

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  6. Such a realist, you are. lol I just see the peace and the water, but I also envision my home just a few hundred yards north of that cute little studio space. I'm not ready or willing to go comfort free anytime soon. I like cooking on a classic modern gas range with all the bells and whistles and my tiny yet comfortable fully functioning bathroom! The central air and heat would never be left behind and of course, the high speed wifi! Not much of a Ruffin' it girl either. :-)

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  7. I guess we're both realists, Jo, and prefer our home comforts to basic living!

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  8. I so hear you..and its a gift to find the place within, with NO SPIDERS, no MOLD no cold :)

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  9. Paula, I loved the haiku and also your take on the prompt. It's a place I would like to visit on occasion but nope, I couldn't live that isolated.

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  10. Not me. I'd like to spend a weekend there.


    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

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  11. I like the country and isolation, but not that much isolation! Great haiku :-)
    Is this a regular blog hop? Is there a link?

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  12. Brenda, you're right - no spiders!

    Thanks, Langley. I couldn't be so isolated either!

    Joyce - for me, half an hour at the most :-)

    I'm the same, Sherry (and will send you the link

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  13. You said it well. We can never have the best of both worlds. When we choose something, another's gotta give...

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