Creative Writing Probians

Words Into Masterpieces / Creative Writing

PROBUS DAY OCTOBER 1 st 2020

Poem by Jean Watson Hastings Point/Tweed Coast Probus Club (NSW)

Welcome to our PROBUS DAY. Greetings everyone! Let’s enjoy the fellowship, the friendship and the fun. We are living in difficult times: we’re not completely free. But with careful thought and Covid planning, it’s as good as it can be.

We miss so much but still we have so many things to do, Like greeting others with a smile and asking ‘How are you?’ If we maintain a social distance and even wear a mask We can still communicate: it isn’t a difficult task.

For 44 years a Probus club has been on Australian land And we are proud that Hastings Point is part of that noble band. Members have worked hard all their lives and now deserve a break. To share a meal, enjoy a talk, is a tonic we all can take.

So do your best to enjoy this day, despite what lies ahead. Probus is always here to help, to bring you peace instead Of worry about future days and all the present pain. We’ll offer fellowship and fun and friendship again and again.

I’M OFF / IT’S OFF

Poem by Pat Cartwright St Helens Combined Probus Club (TAS)

I was off to Singapore but that dream slowly died. It wobbled and it spluttered till it finally expired.

I was off to Queensland for a conference in the sun. But Queensland didn’t want us So now it’s ‘21.

I was off to Darwin, Kakadu and the Ghan. But Mr Virgin stopped the flights then the Territory said “scram!”

New South Wales will have us. To the Snowy Mountains instead. But now we’re banned from entering - Victorians facing “Road Closed Ahead”.

So now I’m off to Warrnambool, the Shipwreck Coast to explore. But stop – just turn around now ‘cause you’re not welcome anymore.

The final trip was Christchurch, booked when things seemed brighter. Christmas with our Kiwi kids is a fading dream for this writer.

But…… If we all have plans for the future, for when this nightmare ends, If our families stay safe and healthy Then all will be well, my friends.

CAPPADOCIA - A GEOLOGICAL AND HUMAN MIRACLE

Narrative Recount by Natasha Strommer Dingley Probus Club (VIC)

It is a vast area in southern Anatolia, central Turkey considered to be one of the “eight world miracle”, with a turbulent geological history of powerful earthquakes accompanied by appearances of numerous volcanoes, massive lava flows, more volcanic eruptions, more lava flow, more turbulent earthquakes -all of this within hundreds of million years of those complex geological upheavals which were responsible for the unique landscape of this area.

At the end of 2018 my partner Tony and I took a flight from Istanbul to land on this special place; we knew what we should be expecting, but when I opened the door of our airport shuttle, I was stunned by what was around me… Goreme, the name of this small touristy place, has all the usual attributes of a tourist township - hotels, cafes and numerous restaurants, colourful shops with attractive local produce, parking lots, buses and taxis, pharmacy and post office - all of this set amongst these bizarre, huge shapes of stony giants.

We booked into a small but special hotel with its huge overhanging open air veranda, where we would be having our breakfasts and dinners and the roof top from which to admire the dark starry sky and the lights of the town below. Unfortunately, we were not able to book into one of the unique “cave hotels”, nestled inside some of those stony giants, hand excavated years ago and equipped with all the necessary facilities, but on a smaller scale.

When next day I woke up as ever very early and rushed to the veranda, I was met by the early morning pre-sunrise sky filled with huge colourful balloons, many already flying and others getting filled with the hot air ready to rise up. Such a spectacle by itself would make a worthwhile trip to this part of the world! Since that morning, by 5 am, I would be on the veranda ready to have more of the show.

We spent about a week in this exotic place, travelling around the vast area, visiting valleys stuffed with the numerous giants. What was interesting - the different valleys contained specific types of those columns of various colours, sizes and shapes, with names like Red, Pink or Sword Valley, etc

One huge depression in the ground called the Love valley, was filled with so called “fairy chimneys’’ - columns of very peculiar pointed forms suggestive of the name of the valley; another one was filled with sparkling white shapes of bleached volcanic ash. The columns topped with flat square blocks were of a particular interest and some tourists looking at them would seriously wonder if these blocks were “put by somebody” on the top of them.

Well, the creator of all these “miracles” was (and still is) the Mother Nature herself who first supplied the material (lava) and then started to work on it with torrential seasonal rains (water-), storms (air) and extreme changeable temperatures sculpturing the various unrealistic shapes within millions of years of the repeating actions. In the last millennia, people started to arrive in this area, applying their own abilities to changing those columns, by carving them by hand, often very high, producing liveable caves as a protection from possible invaders.

The first dwellers of such caves were Greek and Turkish monks, often fighting with each other as well as with a common foreign enemy. They were decorating their caves with skilful colourful paintings and drawings.

Not only caves, but the whole huge underground cities, were created as temporary refuges against passing enemy hordes during those turbulent years. We were lucky to visit one of them, to follow our guide deeper and deeper underground, through very narrow passages and steep steps , wondering at the structure of the huge multilevel complex with all necessary facilities for living there - numerous separate chambers, food and water storages, air vents and chimneys, animal quarters, etc. Such unique underground cities represent another man-made type of local ‘miracles’ and the numerous colourful paintings and drawings in the galleries reflecting their way of life, are not only aesthetic but historical treasures as well.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020 ACTIVE RETIREES | 53 | WWW.PROBUSSOUTHPACIFIC.ORG