Sharing our Horizon: A Journey Through the Scottish Highlands with Two Adopted Whippets

by Xenia Tran

Overview

Welcome to Sharing Our Horizon, a selection of poems and photographs from the popular blog Whippet Wisdom that capture daily moments in the Scottish Highlands with our two adopted whippets, Eivor and Pearl.

Like most dogs, Eivor and Pearl love spending time in nature. They have taken us to places we had never visited before and the restorative energies of those quiet beaches, mountains and glens have played a big part in their rehabilitation.

The poems and images show the beauty in each moment and the potential for the healing that spending time in nature brings. The prologue and title poem ‘Sharing our Horizon’ invites us to pause and see the gifts in these moments. The opening poem ‘Before the Daffodils’ is a distilled version of conversations and observations in and around animal rehoming shelters. It reminds us that sometimes, dogs are surrendered when people realise that simply loving a dog is not enough. A dog also deserves regular exercise, regular stimulation, socialisation and play-time. A good home provides all of this, in addition to love, food and shelter.

The majority of poems are a modern take on the ancient Japanese poetry forms of haibun, haiku and tanka. Traditionally, these poems begin with quiet poetic observation and conclude with a moment of philosophical of spiritual insight. They are written in rhythm with the seasons and the fluctuations of the weather within those seasons.

Like the traditional haiku poets, I would describe haiku as a way of life, a way to look and marvel at nature and see the magic in the ordinary. To me, this is very much in the spirit of how Eivor and Pearl look at the joys of the everyday and the beauty nature offers. By capturing these moments in a few words others can experience a glimpse of what we see and connect it to their own experience.

For those who are interested in finding out more about the history of these Japanese poetry forms, the book offers a helpful section ‘About the Poetry Forms’ at the back of the book as well as a Bibliography for further reading.

The overall theme of the poems and images is how rewarding adopting a rescue dog can be, how they enjoy being part of a pack and how they thrive when allowed to spend time in natural settings. The natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands is visible in the images throughout.

Sixty per cent of net profits from the sale of this book will be shared with animal rehoming charities at the end of each financial year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781916470422
Publisher:	Holistic Linguistics
Publication date:	10/05/2018
Pages:	84
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.23(d)

About the Author

Xenia Tran was born in the Netherlands in 1962 and began writing and journaling at a young age. She enjoyed reading poetry in Dutch, French and English and soon English became her language of choice for writing poetry and short stories.

Her early studies were interrupted by a desire to travel and explore different cultures. It wasn't until she was happily married and settled in London that she decided to return to study as a mature student.

She studied for degrees in French Studies and in Applied Linguistics at Birkbeck College, University of London, whilst working full-time as an administrator in a research centre for a French company and running her own holistic practice as a complementary therapist.
When she and her husband relocated to Kendal to be closer to her husband's ageing mother she joined a women's writing group where her passion for creative writing reignited. She submitted a few poems to publications and websites and was delighted to see them accepted. She wrote short stories and poems about their adopted rescue dogs with the idea of creating a book to help raise funds for animal shelters.

She worked as a volunteer in a local animal shelter and later did voluntary work for a foster-based rescue organisation.

After attending a Summer School at Queen's University Belfast she enrolled at Newcastle University, where she completed a postgraduate course in Creative Writing before relocating to the Scottish Highlands.

The beauty of the Highland landscape and the quality of its light inspired her to invest in a good camera and take photographs to accompany her writing for her blog Whippet Wisdom. It was meant to be a simple place to record the walks with their adopted dogs in images and words, an organic place to develop her writing and photography. It quickly gained a loyal following, she met and connected with poets, fiction writers and photographers around the world, and in 2018 she started a second blog, Tranature, to share her personal observations on nature.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Sharing our Horizon

ix Introduction

The Poems

2 Before the Daffodils

3 That Moment

4 When Nature Gives Us Poems

5 A New Season

6 Spring Me Happy

7 A Glimpse of Spring

8 When Stillness Runs Deep

9 Hazy Moon

10 A Loving Gift

11 A New Breath

12 Highland Breeze

13 Evanescence (I)

14 Evanescence (II)

15 Poems in Your Eyes

16 Dream Waves

17 Call of the Wild

18 A New River

19 Spring Me Blue

20 Mountain Path

21 Dancing Leaves

22 A Painting from the Sky

23 Joie de Vivre

24 Heart of the Glen

25 Moon Blessing

26 The Silver Cloud

27 Peaceful Waters

28 Journey in Time (I)

29 Journey in Time (II)

30 Tidal Eclipse

31 Changing Seasons

32 Komorebi

33 September Green

34 Sapphire Blue

35 Magic Light

36 Silence

37 A FairyTale

38 Writing the Stones

39 Stairs of Nature

40 Shifting Sands (I)

41 Shifting Sands (II)

42 A Glimpse of New Tomorrows

43 Transformation

44 A Peak into Winter

45 Autumn's Voice

46 First Snow

47 Acceptance

48 Where Frogs Are Sleeping

49 Low Sun in Bent Grass

50 Winter Solstice

51 Warm Path Through Winter

52 Song of Life

53 BothyTales

54 Winter Morning

55 When Old Becomes New

56 True Friends

57 Frozen Footsteps

58 Song for a New Day

59 Freedom of the Dawn

60 Divine Timing

61 About the Poetry Forms

62 Haiku

64 Tanka

65 Haibun

65 Free Verse

66 Acknowledgements

68 About the Author

70 Bibliography

72 Stay in Touch

Editorial Reviews

‘I enjoy the poetry, prose and photographs to be found on Xenia’s blog Whippet Wisdom, very much. Xenia has put together a wonderful selection of her work in her debut release, Sharing Our Horizon.

If you’re a dog and/or nature lover this could be a book for you or a lovely gift for someone you know, and at the same time you’d be helping rescue centres care for and rehome abandoned and abused animals, with 60% of the proceeds going to animal charities. Inside Sharing Our Horizon there are a collection of beautiful photographs and poems, stunning scenery and two gorgeous rescue whippets having fun and enjoying life in the Scottish Highlands. Beaches, glens, forests, sea views and mountains – this book has them all, the photographs complemented by wonderful tanka, haiku and haibun (and vice versa). Here’s one of my favourite verses …

‘when days cool down

sky unfolds her warmest

blanket of colours’

Calming and inspiring, it’s the perfect book to dip into and appreciate anew each time.’

(Cathy R, UK)

‘Inspiring poetry with lovely photographs. Xenia's combination of photography and poetry makes you want to pick up this book again and again! Eivor, Pearl and Xenia share their experiences in the Highlands and make me want to go out there and wander the trails and let the gorgeous landscape inspire me!’ (Frank, USA)

‘Your lovely book arrived and brightened my day. It’s precious. It’s lovely.’ (Martin, UK)

‘What a lovely book! I enjoyed reading it and the photos are a delight. I shall give a donation to our local dog charity in your name.’ (Carole, UK)

‘Simply beautiful. If you love dogs, especially whippets, haiku poetry and photography, this book will blow you away, it did me! Beautifully presented, the pictures are stunning, and there are the dogs – what more could you want?’ (Anna, Austria)

‘This is such a beautiful book, I love everything about it. The poems and photographs are simply lovely. I am deeply moved and have just made a donation to our local rehoming charity.’ (Christine, UK)

‘A beautiful, soulful book. “Sharing Our Horizon” combines poetry, breathtaking scenery and two rescued whippets – Pearl and Eivor. Xenia Tran, the author, follows these dogs through the seasons, and the sparse, lovely poetry seems to illuminate their inner lives, the landscape, and ultimately, our inner lives.’ (Laurie, USA)

From the Publisher