The Very Inspiring Blog Award

Arrgghh – Shiver me timbers, splice the mainbrace, Shalom and a tot of rum to ye all. I am flabbergasted by this sudden windfall of awards, and a little embarrassed – it’s like peeking into your parent’s closet and finding your Christmas gifts before the 25th.

Thank you so very much Cheryl at unbound boxes limping gods who nominated art rat for this award.

I am not Jewish but have friends who are – so a Happy Hanukka to you all.

Cheryl can be found at: http://cherylmoore.wordpress.com   and you can read my nomination description of her site under my ‘Blog of the Year’ post.

Cheryl also nominated me for the ‘One Lovely Blog’ award but as I already have this award (nominated by dear Philippa at http://seascapesaus.wordpress.com) I must forgo this honour. Apologies again for an untypically long post.

Here are the rules for this ‘Very Inspiring Blog’ award:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. State 7 things about yourself.

4. Nominate 10 other blogs for the Very Inspiring Blog award and tell them you’ve nominated them.

Here I go for #3:

(1) Face to face with a Cougar – Working as a BC Forest Service fire tower lookout-man in northern British Columbia, Canada I experienced a number of unusual events:  One was having a cougar cross the forest path I was walking on with my dog, not 10 feet in front of us, so close I could smell it and the path so narrow that the cougar filled its width. I was petrified but it looked at me without interest. My dog, Malika, chased the cougar into the bush. I thought I would never see her again but she emerged, panting and unscathed minutes later looking quite proud and happy.

(2) UFO? – Yet another strange lookout event was when the inhabitants of a hunting lodge on Babine Lake, the largest body of lake water in BC, below my mountain, drove up to my lookout to ask if I had seen the UFO hovering above my lookout during a recent massive electric storm. I immediately thought that they were having a joke at my expense and told them so. But they denied it and were quite serious in their attempts to persuade me that they really had all seen a hovering light above my mountain. I hadn’t gone outside during the storm because of the danger so couldn’t confirm this. Later, sharing a trailer with another, much older lookout-man at the ranger station, during a wet weather down-time from the lookout, I told him the story. He thought this not at all strange and it was well known amongst long time lookouts that UFOs often appeared during electrical storms and suggested that this was when they recharged their power. He said seriously that the UFOs docked in the unplumbed depths of Babine Lake and rose only to recharge during the storms and to make research forays into the countryside of BC.

(3) Appropriate dates! – My first son, Sam, was born prematurely on ‘Labour’ Day in Canada. He had to stay in an incubator until he gained a certain weight. We were finally and gratefully able to take him home on Canadian ‘Thanksgiving’.

(4) Ewe Begone – I had a summer job at Bristol airport in England in the early 1960s. It was a small airport then and the first thing I was assigned to do was to ride my Vespa scooter and chase the sheep off the runway to clear it for the first flight of the morning.

(5) One Man’s Meat is another Man’s Poissons –  I haven’t eaten meat since 1969. I do however eat fish so I guess I am a pescatarian.

(6) Sun Child – My sun sign is Leo with moon in Cancer. I love the sun and heat of summer but have yet to learn to appreciate the beauty of cold and winter.

(7) Ancestors –  Exploring my family tree I found myself in a churchyard in Cornwall, England amongst a row of headstones that were all inscribed with my exact name (John, no middle name, Clinock). I felt like a ghost. I also discovered that one of my ancestors was hung for smuggling and another exiled from his family for writing revolutionary texts.

And now #4 – my 10 nominations –  I will be nominating blogs that I had to miss on my previous nominations – here they are:

1) http://walterkittysdiary.com

Within Ms.Walter’s ‘diary’ you will discover inspiring, perceptive, sensitive and humorous prose and poetry – all shared with beautifully written and warm human feelings. Ms Walter is not posting too much these days but visit anyway – you never know what you may find!

2) http://ephemeralgecko.wordpress.com

Eph’s writings about the process and exploration of creating art are detailed, clear and light-hearted. This is an inspiring, informative and colourful blog full of ideas and gorgeous photographs.

3) http://moleculesofemotion.wordpress.com

Gregory explores the psychology, science and philosophy behind visual art, including his own wonderful work. His written explorations are wide, deep and fascinating.

4) http://beautyanddreams.wordpress.com

Chrissy’s blog contains her own art and thoughtful writings about people and books that have inspired her, spiritually and philosophically, especially children’s literature of magic and wisdom.

5) http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com

Ese’s Voice inspires with, in her own words: “Thoughts, memories, impressions and adventures unleashed”…A light and lovely miscellany of thoughtful writing and photography.

6) http://notestothemilkman.wordpress.com

John is an accomplished print maker from the north west of England. His excellent writings about art are deep, thought provoking and perceptive and his own adventures in art making are always inspiring.

7) http://barbaraelka.com

Barbara inspires my dark artistic sensibilities  with her moody, dreamlike and evocative black and white photographs. Often gritty and distressed they echo urban or haunted landscapes. Unique and surreal.

8) http://emorfes.com

“eMorfes is a photo blog  focused on the unique and bizarre things of the world”. It hosts artists, designers and photographers who explore their subjects in awe inspiring ways. Always something to blow your mind…

9) http://thekalechronicles.com

Sharyn is on a temporary hiatus from blogging at this time, giving her energy to daily survival. Please don’t let this detract you from visiting her blog. She is the soul of inspiration and the human spirit. Sharyn writes about real food and its preparation and her food paintings and recipes are delightful. But she also writes about music, love and real community life and her words touch both heart and taste buds.

10) Here I bend the rules a little to recognize ALL of the bloggers in my on-line community. You all inspire me and each other in your own special way and continuously create the warp and woof of the tapestry that is our daily sharing. I admire everyone for the time and thought and effort you put into your blogs. We only know each other through this amazing technology and maybe this is only second to looking each other in the eye, shaking hands, hugging and sharing a glass of wine, a cup of tea or a meal – but it is better than never having met at all. I ❤ you all.

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