Mainely Write

Lightning flashed. I don't like thunderstorms and I especially don't like them in the convertible. Well, not the storm IN the convertible, but me in the convertible with the storm outside it. I'm riding to Rhode Island with my husband to meet up with our daughter who is driving up from PA today. My husband will go to work and I will drive back home with her and the baby, so she only has to drive halfway by herself. Her husband will come up in a couple of days.. Her cousin, my niece, is getting married this Saturday, so any last minute fixes and photos she will help with. On a tight budget, my niece enlisted the help of her sister to do the wedding photography. All was wonderful until the sister realized she, being the maid of honor, was going to have to be in many of those photos she had to take. So my daughter said if only she had a good camera, she could learn how to do the wedding photography. Hmmm. I said, "Guess what? I have one of those good ca

Memories Day keeping time in a box keepsakes of spent time memories packed up and stored forgotten trinkets of parents' past everyday clothing Sunday jewelry Coast Guard tags calendars watches timekeepers no longer keeping time © 2012, Donna JT Smith

I took a couple of days off, and have returned refreshed!  I have not finished compiling my poems, as I'd really like photos to go with them.  So I'll look into getting those this week. We spent Saturday up at Gull Haven ...my husband mowing the lawn, and me singing at the top of my lungs in the house.  No one could hear me because of the mower, I'm sure.  That's what I told myself anyway. It was absolutely the most gorgeous day in the world.  I took this picture out the doorknob hole.  We brought up doorknobs for the two entry doors, so this will be the last time I look out the doorknob hole to see the view.  I guess that's what they make windows for. blue and green ribbons land, ocean and sky   picture perfect day framing a moment rushing to move on put in the doorknob and open the door new beginnings of adventure and rest  renewed and refreshed ©2012, Donna JT Smith Thank you, Lynn for the Kreativ Blogger awar

Today is the day I am learning to get my A to Z Poetry book in order... I need to redo pictures for it, as mine are Tagxedo images with copyrights.  So now I have the task of finding new images, or taking pictures.  I have some I can use, but not all.  I could try drawing them, I suppose.  Maybe after I have all the text set down in one place I'll be able to figure it out.  Maybe after I've read all the guidelines I'll think it's easy, why didn't I just do this a long time ago.  Maybe I need some coffee... Last year, I had my class do a rewrite of The Seven Blind Mice, and they came up with a great book that we printed through Apple. It is a beautiful book.  The kids were pleased and so was I.  We shared it at our end of year Author's Tea, gave a copy to the school library, and some parents purchased copies. But this will be different.  With the Apple book, if someone wanted a copy, I'd have to order it from Apple.  It isn't digital and it'

I can see you through this hat! This is a poem/song, to the tune of "I'm an Old Cow Hand, From the Rio Grande" by Roy Rogers , or by Gene Autry and Mary Lee . (hear the tune by clicking on a link).   An Ode-e-o to my little grandson! No Need to Cry Today! I'm a happy guy Let me tell you why Every need is met I don't need to cry. When my diaper's wet You can surely bet That my mom or dad Will be there to get This old wet one off And I'll be all set  A diaper that's dry, hooray! A diaper that's dry, hooray! If all goes as planned, I will play in sand; Got a cowboy hat So I won't get tanned. When the sun's too hot There's a shady spot; If it gets too cold I get dressed a lot. If it starts to rain An umbrella's sought.  Temperature's fine, hooray! Temperature's fine, hooray! I ride a bouncy stroller It's a real good roller And I have front teeth, I don't need a molar. I don't

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2012 from Donna Smith on Vimeo . The challenge went from A to Z I wrote until the hours were wee The days were fun and full of glee I’d written most in March you see So days could just be used to read I had no fires and flames to feed And I could sleep when e’er I’d need And follow blogs where e’er they’d lead I met great people of the blog Writing about master’s wee dog Or how they're lost in some blog fog And sitting in a cabin  of log   Some wrote their fiction with a twist Or ordered the towns in a list Then exercises meant  for brains Or blogs of cars or of great danes . Not all finished every letter Others got their feet much wetter Some days could have been much better, But I am not a sad regretter, I wrote about every letter, Year two should be even better! Suggestion:  Next year, maybe have tags for posts, or categories or headings, so we can bop around more easily to the ones we might have

Here's the thing: I wrote this first poem and posted it yesterday.  Then I started messing around with it, kind of like the progressive poem that was done a bit ago, and edited all to pieces to come up with a new shorter poem.  Well, I tried that in my own way, with the poem from yesterday.  I kind of like all of them, for different reasons, and maybe the whole thing should be a poem, all together.  I could name the format with its editing rules even.  You will be able to discern what I took out each time and I think there is only one word change that was necessary.  So my question to you is, which one is the best version, in your opinion?  You can say you don't like any of them, and I will be slightly hurt by that opinion, but I will definitely take it into consideration, and it won't kill me.  I do think it will be fun to see/hear/read others' viewpoints, so if you could vote for the number of the favored version at the top of the navigation column here, swell!  I

Friends Sharing a Moment I opened the slider, and the cat and dog shared the smells, the view and the breeze together.  I wondered which of the senses the animals most enjoyed during this close encounter with the outside. Spring... smells fresh of grass and leafy buds like greens and purples; of dirt and worms awakening. Spring... looks new with changing shadows like rippling waters; with yellow dandelions popping. Spring... feels soft as a kitten or puppy like a fuzzy friend; as breezes tickling. Spring... sounds gleeful with goldfinches and robins like a musical interlude; with busy bugs humming. Spring... tastes smoky as blackened marshmallows like burned bubbles; as hot dogs grilling. ©2012, Donna JT Smith Tomorrow, a poetic exercise and an opportunity to vote on the one you liked best.

It's my daughter's birthday today!  Yea!  And she is home for a bit visiting with her baby, so I get the presents!  Ha!  The joke is on her! Somewhere in time On this day in May A daughter was Born to me And she is As sweet as, And as kind as, And as beautiful as... Nothing I can think of; All compare to her. Honey is as sweet as she, Angels are as kind as she, Her child is As beautiful as she. © 2012, Donna JT Smith I could be prejudiced, but I'm trying to be objective here...really!

You know when I was little, we only had mosquitoes to be irritated by, and then, they weren't that bad.  Well, I'm excluding the bees and wasps genre, but really, that was it.  Now we have ticks in Maine.  And this year is the worst I've ever seen.  For the prior 12 years, even in the woods where we are, if you didn't go in the bushes, you were very unlikely to pick up a tick.  But so far in two weeks I've seen three of them, two of which have been on ME.  This second one was embedded.  I am not very good at this kind of thing.   I tend to get panicky when a creature wants to crawl on me, and close to madwoman when it wants to bite me. Today, I was a big girl and did not hyperventilate or pass out when I found the tick on the back of my knee this afternoon.  My husband was not home.  My daughter had taken my car to a friend's house.  I was alone.  And I couldn't reach the back of my knee, and I was afraid to look at it in a mirror, knowing my propensity to

Happy May Day! Remember when we made May baskets and put them on a neighbor's doorstep, rang the bell or knocked, and then ran away?  They were supposed to chase you and give you a hug...or a kiss if it was your grandma or aunt or someone huggable like that! I don't think kids even know about them anymore.  Pretty sad! Anyway, happy May Day! And I finished the A to Z Challenge.  I wrote poems for each day of the month (except Sundays), one for each letter of the alphabet, and made a tagxedo to go with each one, and tried to use a form of poetry that began with that letter (along with the font and style names of the Tagxedo).  I'm not sure what possessed me, other than my PCD (Poetic Compulsive Disorder). So for today, I give you a haiku to May: rainbow toes of spring tiptoe past leaving color in flowery paths Enjoy the new month!