World of Green

          

    I'm searching for a world of green

    Where life is great and air is clean

    Where nature rules over the land

    And all its treasures are at hand.

    A world so strange, so full of fun

    Where stress and worries are all gone

    With thick woods, rivers and vast plains

    Where all creatures are free from chains.

    But sadly my quest's an illusion

    So far there's only one conclusion:

    The green gets thinner every day

    Instead our planet turns to gray!

    We still have time to help the Earth

    To generate the green's rebirth

    So let us act for our own sake

    Cause the world's future is at stake!

   

  

Au Bord De La Rivière

    

 

        

        Je me promène au bord de la rivière

        Je sens la brise du vent dans l'air

        J'avance un peu au centre de cette île

        Et je m'éloigne du bruit de la ville.

      

      Sous le soleil qui brille avec douceur

      J'admire des choses près de mon coeur

      Les sons de la nature, les arbres majeusteux

      Et le movement tranquil de l'eau!

       Dans ce sanctuaire de la beauté

       Plein de splendeur et de sérénité

       Je marche sans hâte et sans souci

       Oh, quel bonheur de me trouver ici!

Spring Reverie

              

            

      I'm sitting lonely on a bench

      My thirst for beauty I must quench

      While feeling the wind's gentle breeze

      Under the shade of willow trees.

      There's so much silence in the park

      That I would stay here till it's dark

      Letting the sun into my mind

      And leaving the dark days behind.

      It's time for me to rise and shine

      Cause once again the stars align

      To bring the spring back in my soul

      And make me love life as  whole!

     A new bright age will soon arrive

     Flowers will bloom, critters will thrive

     And as the green will rule the Earth

     We'll celebrate nature's rebirth!

     

Nature Walk

                

 

        

      Into the woods I'm hiking

      Among majestic rocks

      I can hear nature's calling

      Which opens my heart's locks.

     I'm moving on with care

     Into the great unknown

     Exploring sights so rare

     Out of my comfort zone.

    I'm following the trail with ease

    Protected from the scorching sun

    By the shade of big old trees

    My trip is full of joy and fun.

    The journey has come to an end

     Like all the things we do

     But nature, my good precious friend

     I will always return to you!

     

Hiking On The Hills

 

            

           

       The dark autumn shows its face

       Winter will soon take its place

        So much time to spend inside

        Short days, long nights to abide.

       Yet, not even a cold, gloomy day

       Can take my great mood away

       When I go out on the hills

        For a journey full of thrills.

        Hiking on a dusty trail

        Among bushes, thorns and hail

        I move at a steady pace

        Till I find an open space.

       I have reached the awesome top

       So I can relax and stop

       Take a long look at the sight

       That will fill my soul with light.

       On a vast plateau I stand

        It's all I've hoped and planned

        Splendour everywhere I see

        On the hilltop I feel free!

     

Bucegi- The Mountains of Myth and Mystery

BUCEGI- THE MOUNTAINS OF MYTHS AND MYSTERIES

Traveling in the heart of the Bucegi Mountains represents an unforgettable experience for any person looking for stunning natural views and a little bit of mystery.

It is no doubt that Romania has to offer to those who visit it some of the most spectacular natural landscapes in Europe, and among these the Carpathian Mountains are famous for their incredible beauty. The Bucegi Mountains, which are part of the Southern Carpathians, represent a huge tourist attraction for people who visit the Prahova Valley and who come, among others, to see two of the most impressive elements of nature in Romania: the Sphinx and Babele(The Old Ladies), two spectacular rock formations shaped by wind and rain throughout millions of years which can be found in the Bucegi Plateau, at an elevation of approximately 2000 metres above sea level.

To reach those amazing figures, one must first choose how to travel there. The most frequent option is represented by the Busteni cable car, which takes the travelers from the foothills of the mountain to the top in a short period of time. Unfortunately, due to the large number of tourists who are eager to reach the Bucegi Plateau even in normal week days, one must wait for quite a long time before entering the cable car, but luckily for me there was another choice available at that time: a trip by a four-wheel drive vehicle, which represented a relatively new alternative for tourists. I chose this option because I didn't have to stay in a queue to buy tickets for the cable car and the price of the trip was exactly the same as that of the cable car.

The road up to the Bucegi Plateau, which used to be a dirt road until recently, is quite exciting and it offers an incredible scenery; there are also some deep ravines which make the journey more exciting and even dangerous in some parts. The asphalt ends close to the top and the last portion of the road is full of stones that force the drivers to slow down. Eventually we reached the plateau in good conditions and climbed to its two main attractions, the Sphinx and Babele.

The Bucegi is believed to be Kogaion, the holy mountain of the Dacians, the ancestors of the Romanian people, and the place on which their supreme God, Zamolxis, lived in a cave.

Although the location of this mountain is still a mystery and there are several other mountains which are associated with Kogaion, there is definitely a mythical feeling a person experiences when seeing the Sphinx, the product of millions of year of constant work from nature and one of the symbols of Romania. It perfectly resembles a human head, and when you stand close to him you have a strange feeling that you're in the company of a Dacian warrior who is ready to fight until death to protect its land from invaders.

The 8-meter high and 12-meter wide rock will certainly stun every tourist who will be even more amazed after seeing Babele, some strange mushroom-shaped rock formations situated just a few metres away from the mighty Sphinx. It is almost unbelievable that these rocks were shaped by nature and not by human hand.

Besides these two amazing rocks,the tourists who come to the Bucegi Plateau can also take an one-hour trip to the Heroes' Cross on the Caraiman peak,a memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives trying to defend Romania in World War I; unfortunately I didn't have time left for that trip, so I could only admire the majestic cross from the Busteni resort, at the foothills of the mountain. It is also definitely worth seeing from a close range.

  The Bucegi Mountains Plateau,with its fabulous nature-carved rocks, is a place of incredible splendor and another proof that Romania is an amazingly beautiful country. Once you visit them, these unique places will always remain in your heart and make you come back!

Back Into The Woods

     

              BACK INTO THE WOODS

                 by Sebastian Onciu 

         Back into the woods I go

         My heart's glad, my pace is slow

         There's no sorrow and no ache

         I love every step I make.

        In the shadow of a tree

        I'm alive, I feel so free

        I walk on the dusty trail

        There is no way I will fail.

        

       I am where I like the most

       Nature is my gentle host

       Worries are all left behind

       Nothing but joy in my mind.

     Magic forest, green and wide

     Be my light and be my guide

     Make me fearless, make me strong

     To you I'll always belong!

     

Mountains Calling

 

                 MOUNTAINS CALLING

                 by Sebastian Onciu 

         Sometimes my mind dreams of escape

         Into a magical landscape

         Of lofty peaks that touch the clouds

         So far away from noise and crowds.

        My daring journey takes me high

        To where the eagles boldly fly

         Among strong winds and chilly air

        Into the world around I stare.

      

        I can see it all from here

        There is no mist, the view is clear

        With vast plateaux and winding trails

        And glacier lakes from ancient tales.

       This scenery that looks so great

        Meant to enthrall and fascinate

        A stunning giant work of art

        Will stay forever in my heart!

Off The Beaten Path

   

 

       I'm going off the beaten path

      Away from stress, madness and wrath

      In woods where whispers call my heart

      To the unknown I dare depart.

      A world of secrets waits for me

      So many things to do and see

      I feel no pain and no despair

      There's only beauty in the air.

     Each step unveils a new delight

     And everything around is bright

     I feel that nature's my best friend

     I wish this trip would never end!

    The trail is over, I'm not sad

     My mind's at ease, my soul is glad

     I took the road that leads away from sight

     And off the beaten path found joy and light!

    

   #SebastianOnciu #poetry #nature #offthebeatenpath

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Sunday Morning Chillout in the Park of My Town, Onești

Autumn- the Season of Melancholical Beauty

As the autumn progresses and the days get shorter, wetter and colder, the combination between the dark, misty, often gloomy atmosphere which is characteristic for this season and the exquisite beauty of its natural landscapes generate contrasting states in my mind and soul.

I cannot deny it: whenever the sunny, often annoyingly hot, but also joyful summer days are over and the first signs of the fall appear I feel slightly uncomfortable as I have to come to terms with the fact that once again the sunshine will be replaced for the next half a year by rain, cold, darkness, and eventually the unforgiving frost of the winter. Although I have to go through this transition every year, as I have done ever since I was born, and I know that it's the natural thing that happens in a country with a temperate climate, I still can't avoid the feelings of sadness associated with this yearly passage from summer to fall.

The feeling of melancholy is almost inevitable during this period of the year and I'm convinced that a huge number of people who live in countries whose climate can be generally characterized as temperate are affected by it, and they have to make serious efforts to fight these negative moods which can certainly lead to depression and other serious mental and physical health issues.

One of the ways in which I try to keep this state of sadness under control and prevent it from taking over my mind is to go beyond the dark, the cold and the rain associated with this season, and see the outstanding beauty of nature in the autumn. If the weather allows me to get out of town and make some short trips in the surrounding areas and I have to admit that the first part of this autumn has been unbelievably hot, with temperatures soaring way above the normal the average for this time of the year(which is definitely not a good sign, but more than likely an indication of the fact that the effects of global warming are getting stronger and stronger in my country), I take full advantage of this unexpected opportunity during the weekend days, but even if a walk in the park is enough to change my mood as I immerse myself, even for a short while, in the beauty of the autumn landscape.

The exquisite symphony of colors which gives the impression that the hills around my town are in fact giant paintings with an incredible variety of nuances and tones, the distinctive sound made by the carpet of fallen leaves as I step on the alleys of the park or the hilltops shrouded in mist after the rain create a remarkable variety of images and sounds that have a healing effect on my sound as the inevitable melancholy associated with fall mixes with wonder and admiration at the splendors I discover all around me. It is enough to open my eyes and see how lovely nature is even during a season I generally dislike to realize that all we need to do it is see beyond the appearances to discover the beauty of the autumn, just as we have to explore our souls and go beyond its surface to discover the true beauty which lies deep within ourselves!

A Hike in the Forest near Slănic Moldova

Fallen Trees- Victims of Heavy Rainfall

Going on a hike in a forest on a hot summer day, with temperatures rising to 30 degrees Celsius is an excellent opportunity to enjoy the cool air and the much-needed shadow of the trees while also doing physical activity, which otherwise would be hard to do at high temperatures during the daytime, so when I was invited to go on a hike to the top of a hill on a Sunday afternoon in July, I gladly accepted the invitation.

It should have been a rainy Sunday in my region, but fortunately, the weather forecast turned out not to be very accurate that time, but it had rained heavily the night before. As a matter of fact, I had been awoken by the deafening sound of thunder in the middle of the previous night; there had been a violent storm which had come after several days of extreme heat, a furious outburst of nature which seems to take revenge on humans who cause so much damage to the environment by subjecting them to all kinds of extreme weather conditions.

But it is not only humans who have to suffer from nature's fury, as I could see during my forest hike. I was still close to the foot of the hill when I came across a spectacular, but also frightening view, which you can see in the photo above, of several bent trees forming a natural roof over the road as the contact with the trees from the other side of the road prevented them from falling to the ground. As I continued my hike up on the road I saw several fallen trees, some of the old and massive, with their roots, simply snatched from the ground, but luckily and rather surprisingly none of them had blocked the road, they were in the ravines, right in the middle of the forest.

 It was sad to see those trees knocked down, even if it wasn't man's hand, but nature's anger that finished them off, but it's an unpleasant sight I should be more used to. As humans, in their ever-growing hunger for profits, destroy the environment in an accelerated pace, they also have to suffer the consequences of their reckless acts, and violent, thunderous rainfalls are probably going to get more and more frequent in the region where I live, so I expect to see more and more and fallen trees, along with massive floods, and other devastating effects of heavy storms and other extreme weather phenomena, in the upcoming years. There is no other choice but to get used to these changes because it's obvious to me that our planet won't heal very soon, on the contrary, it will grow sicker and sicker and its suffering will only make our lives worse.