Category Archives: The Outdoor Life

Poems on outdoor life, walking and hiking

The Northern Lights

The Northern Lights

A sojourn in the North
Broadens the mind
From the self-obsessed view
Of the Central Belt

Aberdeen must be distinguished
From the Shire
The City slightly careworn
It’s energy like its oil, degraded

The County offers open fields
And wide horizons
Verdant land and beefy livestock
Earth and sea happily combined

The strand of sunkissed beaches
Busy harbours
Vibrant boatyards
Burgeoning off-shore wind-farms

Country riverside rambles
The gentle ascent of Bennachie
Nature reserves teeming with wild flowers
Myriad Castles, the treasures of Haddo House explored

The Northern  Lights
Shine brightly, not just by solar wind
But by a country and a people
Still confident in life

Ken Fisher

Kindling

Kindling

Kindling,
Seems like a rather old-fashioned word
Reminiscent of getting the coal fires lit
In days before central heating

Kindling,
Gathering a few sticks
And sometimes cheating by using paper
Or even firelighters to get the campfire burning

Kindling,
Might also be a metaphor
For planting some idea in your head
And providing the spark of stimulus

Kindling,
The promotion of some initiative
Combined with the oxygen of enthusiasm
It might burgeon
Impacting its own sphere

Kindling,
Without it the fire aborts
Tinder may start the fire
But kindling feeds the flames

Ken Fisher

Snow

Snow

Noiseless in the night
This crystal blanket falls
Carpeting wherever
Without discrimination

Roofs and gardens
Streets and parkland
Trees and plants
Offer no resistance

At first so pristine
Then humanity makes its imprint
Footsteps, tyre tracks, dog paws
Even brand new plastic sledge trails

Eyes screwed up against reflected sunbeams
Dark glasses donned out of season
Bodies enveloped in warm attire
Mufflers and woolly hats with pom poms abound

Children cavort
Parents compete
Snow balls, Snow fights, Snow men [women?]
Igloos and snow forts

A paradise for the young
A hazard zone for the elderly
The young pray that it lasts
The old pray that it melts

Snow will do its own thing!

Ken Fisher

10,000 Steps

10,000 Steps

To this daily routine you have to commit
No feeble excuses to allow you to quit
10,000 steps are the target each day
From that objective we never must stray

Since lockdown imposed so many restrictions
We all must abide by these rigid conditions
But somehow we must seek our health to preserve
And reasonable fitness we would try to conserve

We are glad daily exercise is still permitted
So to a routine we have become committed
10,000 steps seems a worthy objective
Ensuring our frame might still remain active

But how do we count those 10,000 paces?
To ensure all our effort has not been wasted
By modern technology, that’s how we count
So that each day we know the total amount

The Fit Bit is best to act as a monitor
And your mobile phone contains a pedometer
Hence a record is kept of each active movement
Thus helping promote all this self-improvement

So when you’ve completed your daily routine
Just focus in on one of these tiny screens
The total pops up to reveal how you’ve done
Hoping that figure doesn’t spoil all your fun

The target we set we wish to achieve
By honest endeavour, we would not deceive
That 10,000 steps is our goal and our aim
Hurrah! We have got there, we proudly proclaim

Ken Fisher

Let’s Not Lose the Plot!

Let’s Not Lose the Plot!

Plotholders surely don’t want to lose their allotment
Which despite lots of hard work gives them great enjoyment
No matter the season there is always something to do
Useful tasks keep them busy all the year through

There is no fixed pattern, each will do their own thing
And to their site their bright ideas will bring
Some on the land construct an arable farm
Others think an orchard won’t do any harm!

But most plotholders respond to the challenge
To cultivate the earth maintaining a balance
Between flowers, fruit and veg in varieties galore
For immediate consumption or for winter store

Their hut is vital to the plot’s operation
For storage of tools to avoid transportation
But such cabins are useful for purposes social
To provide a gathering space at one’s disposal

Of course we cannot gather due to covid-19
And right now we hanker for what might have been
Meantime our endeavours are a solo act
As we don’t want to risk our respiratory tract

All plotholders want to preserve the environment
Taking into account all the enlightenment
We have received from those with concern for our globe
The warming an equal threat as that nasty microbe

So let’s continue to enjoy the fruits of the earth
And value our plots for all they are worth
And for natures’ gifts we would all give a thought
Whatever befalls let us not lose the plot

Ken Fisher

Anything Can Happen and Probably Will

Anything Can Happen and Probably Will

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Some say that life is full of surprises
Surely that is one of its greatest blessings
Where would we be if every day was predictable
And the element of surprise completely absent?

A heritage radio programme – Take it From Here
Used the catch phrase – anything can happen and ……..
The comedy show then showcased lots of skits
Where the unexpected added spice to the scripts

Mind you, there are those who would prefer a life
Where surprise was kept to a minimum
Perhaps they have lived through too much uncertainty
Their smooth passage interrupted by many incidents

Recently we moved house and are settling in
To our new home.  Quite a stressful transition
We had planned it quite well, but did not escape
Unpredicted collateral damage!

Often the best way of coping with the unexpected
Is to be prepared in advance for eventualities
Then when something springs up it is less of a trial
More an unexpected pleasure, something of serendipity

Sometimes we can deliberately seek out excitement
By exposing ourselves to the unknown, even the dangerous
From a simple mystery tour to a trek into the wilderness
From tourist to pilgrim, to nomad or adventurer

So why don’t we attune our minds to the possibility
That in life anything can happen and probably will
Because things do happen, no matter what
And our reaction may bring us grief or joy

Ken Fisher

 

 

The Great British Beach Hut

The Great British Beach Hut

During this great summer of exceptional heat
While languishing on a fine east coast beach
I rediscovered this classic wooden structure
A credit to the practitioners of our architecture

I refer of course to the beach hut or cabin
A seaside feature you may long have forgotten
Indeed these bijou gems are by no means extinct
Resplendent in colours from blue through to pink

Apparently these tiny buildings are still much sought after
And despite being the butt of much ignorant laughter
They survive to provide many convenient features
To assist the regiments of sun-seeking creatures

For although the facilities in them are basic
They offer the users a handy oasis
From the trials of getting undressed on the sand
Where our nudity is not something we should grandstand

The owners have employed much ingenuity
Making the maximum use of all opportunity
The internal space to greatly enhance
Thus their convenience they truly advance

The way in which the space has been utilized
Would be to many, quite a surprise
Each nook and cranny is called into service
A function is found for every shelf and surface

In the bright summer days they give ready shade
And when rain arrives we can quickly evade
The hazards that threaten to disturb our peace
As we try to relax and be quietly at ease

One interesting fact is that huts cost quite a lot
And over the years prices don’t seem to drop
Whether you simply pay rent or take steps to own
Make sure you get value from this temporary ‘home’

So whether you are seated outside in your chair
Or inside to keep the rain off you hair
You will reflect on the merit of such private space
The British Beach Hut – the pride of our race!

Ken Fisher

Sunshine’s Kiss – Summer 2018

Sunshine’s Kiss

Sunshine’s Kiss is

Gentle on our faces

Basking in its slanting rays

Tree lined arches project

Dappled patterns

On the pathways

The wind is hushed

Replaced by buzzing bees

Marauding in bright flower heads

A dragonfly takes a momentary rest

A world of warmth and peace

Caressed by our loving star

Ken Fisher

Dragonfly

Winter Transformation

Winter Transformation

[Statue of a stag at Dunkeld House Hotel]

 The winter drabness of field and forest
Carpeted by snowflakes within an hour
Outstretched branches given a two-tone finish
Craggy slopes coated like newly iced buns

The river undisturbed in steady progress
Swallows up the chilled precipitation
Its banks, by contrast, rendered glistening white
The fish benignly ignorant of the change

Wild animals observe this monochrome world
With calm composure, their peace undisturbed
Many wisely hibernating in their chosen bower
The larger beasts left to face the icy blast

And we humans, young and old, find
Pleasure and pain in this winter wonder land
The youthful and active gamboling on shiny slopes
The old gratify their worship of hearth and home

Ken Fisher

Winter Solstice 2017

Winter Solstice 2017

The shortest day the longest night
Benighted souls seeking the light
The sun in deepest declination
Darkness shrouds the northern nations

The solstice marks a time of change
From the light we’ve been estranged
For longer days our hearts do yearn
Sunlight surely must return

For in due time by steady progress
The sun’s climb will this dark suppress
And soon its penetrating rays
Bring the lengthening of each day

As the solstice now we mark
Entombed in gloom and shadows dark
Let’s look to brightening days ahead
As light again becomes widespread

Ken Fisher

Autumn Fruits

Autumn Fruits

[Newly harvested from our garden]

 

Caressed by raindrops
Chilled by winter frosts
Kissed by sunbeams
Cooled by gentle breezes
Coaxed to maturity

Month by month
From bud to fruit
Bramleys burgeon
Until they can no longer
Defy gravity

And their goodness
Cascades down on us
To titillate the palate
In tasty tarts and
And crunchy apple crumble

Such joy!

Ken Fisher

 

 

Golden Glow

Golden Glow

[On a sunny July day]

Sunlight’s golden glow
Accosts our sleepy eyes as we awake
Dawn’s shadows scattered
By the radiance from the east

The prospect of a sun-filled day
Fills us with anticipation
Active hours in the great outdoors
Or lazy languishing in some shady arbour

Our spirits lifted by the vaulted sky
Azure blue with tiny wispy clouds
Flowers standing proud and tall
Bees teasing their alluring petals

All’s well with the world
As temperature mounts towards noon
No place to be out abroad in such heat
Siesta time surely has been called

From its apex the sun tips gently downwards
But still much joy in parks and gardens
As tiny tots cavort in paddling pools
And barbecue sets called into service

Throughout the afternoon’s long sun-filled moments
Absorbed in a novel’s world of imagination
Or transported by some majestic symphony
Brought to our senses by head-phones

Gradually the sun inclines toward the west
Daytime pleasures stretched into twilight
The glasses shared bring greater conviviality
Until the chill of dusk chimes benediction

Ken Fisher