BACK FROM WONDERLAND!

"Child of the pure, unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder!
Though time be fleet and I and thou
Are half a life asunder,
Thy loving smile will surely hail
The love-gift of a fairy tale."
Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) 1832-1898 "Through the Looking Glass" intro. st 1 1872

Yes, back from "Wonderland" with a thud! The culture-shock: the speedy, stressed-out pace on this side of the Pond; the still-gloomy weather; everything and everyone looking dark and dismal. Not to speak of the the jet-lag!

But, slowly this week I've 'recovered'. It's been hectic though, as I had to immediately start preparing stuff for my night-school classes which begin next week, as well as adjusting myself to this more hectic life-style. And my body-clock has been running 16 hours ahead and at quite a more leisurely pace.

It was the most wonderful holiday. If you haven't already read the travel blogs, you can find them at http://travelthoughhistory.blogspot.com Yesterday I got all the photos and slides back and was so pleased to see how well they had turned out. I have to do a slide show in June for "The Armchair Traveller" so I was worried that the old camera I was using wasn't functioning properly. But it was! Here I was, a travel journalist on an 'assignment' trip and when I arrived in Malaysia I discovered my good camera was not working at all. So I had to rely on throw-aways and took slides with my old camera. (Luckily I had taken both!)

Now comes the job of sorting through my notes and taped interviews and writing up the stories. My head has been so boggled this week I wondered if I could get started. But suddenly yesterday the 'lead' for a story about Kuala Lumpur came to mind and I wrote it all down. It's a start.

I've tried to keep writing all week in spite of jet-lag and being discombobulated and dealing with a very naughty bird. (Read my blog on "Bird Psychology" at http://ruthakik.blogspot.com ) Such a distraction I didn't need this week! But hopefully I have it all sorted out now. (Practicing some bird behavior-mod techniques).

By next week I'm sure all will be back on track. The novel is waiting for me to return. And there's certainly lots of travel writing to be done. I have a full schedule of writing groups and classes to attend starting on Monday and the social life has already gotten into full-swing.
My Havana Buddy invited me to a concert last Tuesday at the Centre for Performing Arts to see the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and tonight it's "Beers with Peers" with the Travel Writers. Never a dull moment in my writer's life!

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax -
Of cabbages and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."
Lewis Carroll "The Walrus and the Carpenter" st.11