No Ordinary Day 1977

Gosh, Jenny...you must have been petrified. But I bet the beach would have been nice and clean afterwards;-)

I really, really enjoyed this. It is a wonderful account, and a picture so skilfully painted with your words. Just a tiny typo: should be 'sewn' in the ninth stanza.

The ending took me completely by surprise...but not half as surprised as you must have been.

You have put much work into this, and it shows, and has certainly paid off.

This, my favourite stanza:-

"the aquamarine of the Ocean - inviting us
to play...we held hands like children...
our spirits high - racing to the shore...
the cool sensation - a blessed relief -"

Great stuff, Jenny;-)

Tina

Hi Tina,

thankyou for the help, I'm so glad you enjoyed
reading this.

I can honestly say it's one of those moments I'll
never forget, we really thought we were going to
die from the fumes. But like you said the beaches
were so clean, there were no flies or mosquitoes.

I have to say, this has been one of the hardest
pieces I have written to date and my poor partner
has been so patient, in fact when I finally finished
it, I felt like I'd run a marathon, but it was well
worth the effort, as I really got a lot out of it
with those memories too.

Thankyou for the lovely comment and I too love
that stanza aswell.

Thanks again.

Jenny.

Dear Jenny, not an ordinary day. I'll say: it must have been quite an ordeal. It must have stuck in your memory as you have been able to describe every single event. Perhaps if you had been acquainted with the language you might have been informed of the situation.
What a horrid way to end an enjoyable day.
Well recounted.

Luigi x

I agree with Sue- you bring the experience to the foreground and not yourself. That is a very good trait and makes such an interesting read and as you are so close to nature it reads so beautifully. Though this was a pretty terifying experience. You built it up really well. A real masterpiece- a lot of hard work really well done Jenny.

;)Pia

Hi luigi,

I have to say, it definitely wasn't an ordinary
day, not even for a holiday. We spent three weeks
in what was then Yugoslavia, it was one of the
best holidays I've ever had, the people were so
friendly and as I was telling Tina, everywhere was
so clean.

Thankyou so much for reading, I really do appreciate
your thoughts.

I really do wish I had learnt the language, but at
least I came out of the situation okay, I can now
just think of it as an experience.

Thankyou again.

Jenny. x

Hi there sue,

that was such a kind thing to say about my writing,
I don't even notice the way I'm writing, I just
tend to go with the flow, whatever comes into my
mind.

Whenever I write something, I never think I will
beable to improve on it, this is one of those
pieces, because it actually made my head hurt
and I'm one of those people that cannot sleep, if
I have an idea in my mind, my concentration goes
fully into the story, or poem.

I really do appreciate your supportive words because
I admire your work so much.

Your descriptions in your stories are amazing, you
create a picture, which is what I like to do with
my pieces, I think it helps the reader get into
the story better.

Anyway thankyou again for reading and leaving a
comment, I always love to hear your thoughts.

Jenny.

Dear Pia,

I'm so thankful for your thoughts on my writing.
I really had to say phew! when I had finished
writing this piece, it was certainly a mind blower.

Really pleased that I was able to bring the story
out so fully for you, to get a vivid picture of
what happened.

The experience was very terrifying and we were so
young back then, didn't really understand danger,
or were not aware of it, just living for the here
and now, which I'm sure you can relate too.

It's not so bad when you come through bad experiences
and are able to talk about them afterwards, it kind
of puts life in prospective, 'I think that's the
word, I'm trying to convey.' If we didn't have these
situations, life would be boring, I think it's what
gives us our imagination, don't you think?

Anyway I'm rambling again, so I'll say thankyou for letting me know your thoughts and for reading.

Hope you're having a good Tuesday.

Take care.

Jenny.

What I love about your writing, Jen, particularly your poetry, is that it is never self-obsessed (unlike mine) and it is always objective, in other words you are always able to get outside of yourself and see truths. You never seem to be hampered by what is known as 'author intrusion'. I thought this was exceptional from you and I continue to be amazed and thrilled at your progress.

sue

Hi sue,

thanks again for your kind words, always appreciated.

Jenny.

new skinner_jennifer
Hi! jenny,
brilliant way you have told the story.
And as most have said the way it is told.
But I should think anyone would be shattered,
store this up so long. But sometimes we do! Or may have too! Now the story has got out!
With the sad consequences. I like the same stanza
as Silver-Spun-Sand typed written.
The ending powerful, happening and all alive!
Well done fumigation can kill, but all seemed to
work out in the end. Definitely not and ordinary day.
Sometimes memories go back, or we forget no other way. Loved coloured images and ocean etc;
I remember Kareoke night in hotel on holiday Skegness
last night, huge storm going bed,lights all out.
Leaving next morning, but for the grace of god go I
out-side all in morning, only hit chimney tops, shut
all electricity off.
all the best
julie xx

Hi there julie,

thankyou first of all for reading this piece of my
holiday.

It was definitely one of those experiences that
will stay with me forever. I suppose what made it
even more frightening, it was the fact that we were in a different country.

Yugoslavia was one of the best countries I've been
to, the people were so friendly, I remember a little
bar we used to go to, I can't remember the name of
it, but they played all our favourite music, we went
there practically every night and we became quite
friendly with the barman, who was able to speak
English.

I'm glad you liked the description of the Ocean, as
I also loved the Ocean, it was so aqua blue and
clear to look at and swim in, also to see the shoals
of fish swimming.

That storm you mentioned sounded really bad, I hope
you were able to sleep. I actually love storms, well
as long as I don't have to go out ofcourse, but I
love thunder and lightening, I find it so energizing.

Well hope you sleep well and thankyou again for
reading and leaving a kind comment.

JENNY. xx

Really evocative. What an experience, especially not knowing what was happening. You describe it so well. I also went to what was then Yugoslavia and stayed at a beautiful mountainside resort called Bohinj. Not sure is that's the right spelling. It was so beautiful and peaceful. But not everything always goes right on holidays, even if we expect them to. I got really ill in Bali, which should have been a paradise. Perhaps I too, could write about it some day. Thanks for a great read.

Hi there Overthetop1,

firstly can I say, thankyou so much for reading this
piece, it's really appreciated.

I have to say, that I've not heard of Bohinj, but
then again Yugoslavia was a big place back then.
We stayed for two weeks in a place called Podgora,
from which we did a lot of touring. One of the best
places we went to, was Dubrovnik, you could walk the
castle wall and look out to sea, it was so inspiring.

The third week we stayed on an Island called Brac,
which is where this piece is based on. The hotel had
its own beach, it was such a beautiful bay. But I
have to say that the steps leading from the beach up
to the hotel, were just like a stairway to heaven,
because they seemed to go on and on.

I think that it would be great for you to write
about your holiday in Bali, it's such a shame when
you go on holiday, especially to somewhere so exotic,
then you become ill.

Anyway again thankyou for reading and sharing with
me your feelings, I really enjoyed reading.

Jenny.