Tonight

Sleep well, and when you dream, dream of me, tonight.

[nicoleraikkonen]

Meringue in the Sky

26 June 2018, 7:20PM

As my grandparents look in awe at the blue sky covered with meringue that is the colour of pumpkin and burnt orange

I turn my gaze upon them

They are happy

[nicoleraikkonen]

The Buildings of Hong Kong

Taken in June 2018 with my hardy Pentax (+ Kodak Ultramax 400)

© Nicole

[nicoleraikkonen]

Bird encounters

6 March 2018

One

Rush off to work, head off to the library, quench your thirst to accomplish and move.

Say goodbye to your mother as she heads the other way after exiting the elevator. Your legs walk purposefully, left right left right

     Wait what is that sound? Your mother rushes back saying.

     Birds?

In her graceful way she walks to the edge of the porch, and looks at the trees.

A Bird

She doesn’t close her eyes. She simply stands there, and soaks in the sounds of a lone bird cooing a euphonic tune

     Click. Click.

    You record the sound and the distinct pattern the bird repeats

              but you cannot record how you feel when you see your mother looking at the trees, and you definitely cannot record how you feel when you know that your mother feels the sublime

    Your mother mimics the pattern of the bird, and laughs

    You record that too

What I will miss are the birds, she said

Three

Sip on a cup of coffee and plan your work for the day. Don’t forget to press play for some soothing waves of sound from a playlist called “Relax and Unwind”. Wait! What is this odd noise in the background? Your brain screams out. I can’t tune it out -

    Click. Mute. Focus.

Birds?

    Click. Click. Click.

Birds

Loud chirping, they’re feeling rather oddly chirpy today. Never before have they sang (or complained) so loudly before. Close your eyes but somehow you feel its cacophony

    Can’t you talk in unison?

And you think about that one bird,

the lone happy bird

that sang its beautiful tune

[allthingseurope]

Florence, Italy (by Olivier)

[nicoleraikkonen]

Turning Back The Clock

21 December 2016 - Cruise to Finland

It just feels tremendously surreal that 4 months have flown by

When the goodbyes and final meetings started, the reality set in

But I can safely say that I did all that I wanted to do

I pushed myself to new heights, made new friends, lived by myself, travelled around the world, visited La Citta Eterna, travelled solo, had one or two foreign romances

Now I’m on a cruise with my Peruvian friend, Lorena, and Ziyue, on the way to Helsinki via Turku, this feels unbelievable too

Hearing the staff on the cruise sing Finnish karaoke songs

And I know what language it is immediately - it is Kimi’s

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be venturing to Kimi’s homeland

This feeling is strange yet familiar, like I’ve come home

Till later

Time to hear the two staff singing to around 10 of us

Also it’s Christmas!

[allthingseurope]

Paris (by Andy Rodriguez)

[allthingseurope]

Prague (by d.wilesmith)

[nicoleraikkonen]

[nicoleraikkonen]

Pitter Patter Patter Pitter

15 August 2017, Tuesday, 9:49AM -

And     another sublime moment approaches as the sound of the rain hitting the different surfaces echoes into my room. Ricochet away -

If you close your eyes could you distinguish the tiny droplets in the midst of the thunderstorm

Pitter patter               patter              pitter patter

Do listen to some Jazz music aptly titled “haiku”

This year is all about              reflections and              dispelling              the mirages

Perhaps all the water will wash away the fears, the anxiety in groups of vaguely familiar faces

Faces that are prepared to speak but are all scared inside

We are all the same.

Frida Kahlo - do you think she felt the same way?

Nevertheless it is back to the grind, and I like my ground coffee. Put some steamed milk that will make your tongue tingle gently

with anticipation.

Be awake be alive

close your eyes

Breathe,

            and

                         hear the sound of the rain wash your fears away

Pitter patter patter                           pitter

[nicoleraikkonen]

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

[allthingseurope]

Chester, UK (by Damian)

[allthingseurope]

Lake District, UK (by neil roger)

[allthingseurope]

Saint Paul de Vence, France (by Nameless_1)

[nicoleraikkonen]

Time

“Now they were as strangers; worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted.”

- Jane Austen, Persuasion

[allthingseurope]

Lichfield, UK (By Dave Fieldhouse)

[nicoleraikkonen]

And I Mentioned That

I knew I would be the one left

drowning

again

and yet it happened

now with a sailor

drown girl

drown

[nicoleraikkonen]

Slow Dancing

“A glimpse through an interstice caught, Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room around the stove late of a winter night, and I unremark’d seated in a corner, Of a youth who loves me and whom I love, silently approaching and seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand, A long while amid the noises of coming and going, of drinking and oath and smutty jest, There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word.”

- A Glimpse Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)