Mainely Write: April 2017

Sunday, April 30, 2017

ZOOMWGN #AtoZChallenge

ZOOMWGN

Zoomwagon

We had a station wagon - what?
You don’t know what that is?
Well it’s a kind of longish car
To take kids for a whiz.
You stuff them all loose in the back -
No fastening seatbelt;
They hadn’t been invented yet,
You don’t know how that felt!
We stood in back of Daddy,
And breathed on Mommy’s neck;
But if we got too rowdy
Dad’s hand would sweep the deck!
Sometimes we’d crawl way back to sleep
And peace would reign for miles,
But one would wake for bathroom break
And end the parents’ smiles.
Oh, it was fun to travel
To zoom on open roads
But I’m a’feared it wasn’t fun
For those who drove the loads.

by Donna JT Smith, 4/28/2018

A scheduled post for Sunday...
I have a picture somewhere of me and my four siblings perched on the fins of our 57 Chevy station wagon, looking pleased as punch - though in reality our faces were kind of scrunched up from looking directly into the sun. That's how you always had to face in those black and white photo ops back in the 50's.

Found a station wagon that at least looked like ours!

And the last of the A to Z Challenge! I made it! Xselnt! Yippee! Zowie!

Here is a recap of all - Z to A! Please visit more if you get a chance!

And that is it until NEXT year.

We are making progress in our sorting and paring down and will be moving on Monday! There are piles of things to keep us organized... yard sale items, Goodwill things, give-aways for friends and family, some with question marks, lots for trash.
But we did take about an hour off yesterday and went for a refreshing and invigorating motorcycle ride down to the beach, and then to the docks. It was a beautiful day for a ride!
I'm sorry to see the end of April here already. It has been a fun month of poetry.
For those who asked or wondered, I took all the pictures of vanity plates, beginning at the end of last year's AtoZ Challenge. I have many pictures that didn't get put on the blog. Maine has a lot of vanity plates - and these were taken only in our local area in probably about a 50 miles radius!
The Progressive Poem has reached its conclusion today! Let's see what the surprise ending is! Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids is supplying the last line today!

Saturday, April 29, 2017

YOGA #AtoZChallenge

YOGA - an Acrostic

Yoga says Clear your mind; Become
One with the universe, But
God says, I am His creation;
And I must meditate on His Word.

Donna JT Smith 4/14/2017

I'm betting this is a plate from a yoga instructor! I would have liked this one to be posted on a Sunday, but Z is for Sunday and it isn't Z and it isn't Sunday...

Only ONE more letter to go!
See you tomorrow for the end of the alphabet: Z! (the only A to Z post on Sunday!)

Here is a quick list of the A to Z Challenge posts, so far:

We have one more day in the Progressive Poem. Check out what 30 poets have created - well, 29 today. The last day is Sunday, and the poem comes to a conclusion. We have been all over the stage with this one. Check out where Charles at Poetry Time has taken the poem today!

We are moving by bits and pieces, out of the house and to our small home up the coast. Some things are in a pile for a yard sale, some for Goodwill, some for friends and family, some with question marks, lots for trash. This will feel good when it is done. Right now it is just exhausting!

Friday, April 28, 2017

XSELNT #AtoZChallenge

Notes about this challenge:
The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except on Sundays.
To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post. Read through the comment links on that page and see what interests you. Read. Comment. Spread the love of our alphabet around!
If you are commenting here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily. I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!
If you want to see where I've visited, click on A to Z Challenge in the tab at the top and it will take you to a padlet of links. If you want to see yours there, visit me. If you are doing the A to Z Challenge, I'll visit you and link you.

Still paring down and sorting, so I apologize for not getting around as much as I should! We are going from about 2000 sq. ft. to 900 sq. ft., and on top of that we have been married for - well, let's see... this September it will be 45 years. So we have plenty of stuff, even after the flooded basement and the soot damage from the fire 10 years ago.

Ok. I'm on limited time. I'm going to try to finish the A to Z tonight and schedule the posts just to be safe. So I need to stop gabbing and get writing. Below are my "Maine Vanity Plate and a Poem" for X. Below that you will find my list of previous plates in case you missed them.

XSELNT

What part of speech
Is excellent?
Is it a noun or verb?
It can't be one of those things
For "to excellent" is absurd.
It cannot be a person,
a place we go, or thing.
So what is left for it to be?
I think I know it, "Ding!"
Things can be so excellent,
As can friends or where you live;
It means the same as "Wicked Good",
So, it's an adjective!

By Donna JT Smith, 4/27/2017

Only two more plates to go! Collect the whole set! This Sunday is the last poem. In order to get 26 this year, we have to post on Sunday, April 30. I'll have mine scheduled to go, so check back for Y and Z!

Yesterday I used the definition of "excellent", "wicked good" as mentioned in the poem.
It is also Poetry Friday, and being hosted by JoAnn at Teaching Authors.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

WCKD-GD #AtoZChallenge

Wicked good... a phrase often heard in Maine... means ultra good, the best, way cool!

Wicked Good

I think that I shall ever grow weary of

sliding on seaweed covered rocks hiding sidling crabs,

watching wind worn gnarled scrub pines survive a'salted by the sea,

staring up at regal King's pines shooting plumage straight to waiting clouds,

dodging silky seagulls swooping, snooping, scooping eating lunch for free

rolling along on acres of northern fields of bobbing potato blossoms

stumbling over farm grown rocks popping up faster than any other crop

spying on deer feasting on grasses, daffodils and any ornamental plant

breathing in, breathing out, listening to the whispering of waves nonstop

It's more than good;

It's wicked good.

by Donna JT Smith, 427/2017

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

VLCRPTR #AtoZChallenge

Velociraptor

I’m called “swift thief”
A Velociraptor;
My fame misnamed:
I’m a “not so fast” captor .
I’m tiny, too,
But really fierce;
Admire my teeth
That rip and pierce!
I may be small,
But I’m tenacious
I seek more food
Always rapacious!
    -I’d feed on you
     For I’m predacious;
     But, don’t worry, dear,
     You run too fast -
     Remember what I said
     Of that?
No lizardy skin
As shield from weather
Instead I wear
Some bird-like feathers.
    - Well, that’s how scientists
      Think I was...
      But I'm Velociraptor
      Mysterious.

Donna JT Smith, 4/26/2017

In the middle of sorting stuff for Goodwill, yard sale and keep. I just got this done on a break. Another sip of coffee and away I go again...

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

UGONANY #AtoZChallenge

Notes about this challenge:
The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except on Sundays.
To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post. Read through the comment links on that page and see what interests you. Read. Comment. Spread the love of our alphabet around!
If you are commenting here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily. I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind! If you want to see where I've visited, click on A to Z Challenge in the tab at the top and it will take you to a padlet of links. If you want to see yours there, visit me. If you are doing the A to Z Challenge, I'll visit you and link you.
PS: If I don't get to your site today or this week, for a visit, my post today explains WHY!
It is also Tuesday's Slice of Life at Two Writing Teachers where there are more links to snippets of life from teachers.

You Go Nannie!

We are moving this week:

madly dusting,

quietly fussing,

silently cussing;

Decluttering

while recluttering,

sputtering

muttering

puttering;

Wrapping up my life,

taking pieces of it and

giving it away

to other lives -

We don’t need mugs for

every day of the year;

We don’t need towels for

every possible extremity

or calamity,

We don’t need ten chairs

in our kitchen of two bodies.

We will bring

just what we need

and nothing more,

Except maybe my mandolin

that sits by the door

that I still can’t play.

But maybe

in this new place

its mellow tones will grace

that shore.

by Donna JT Smith

I had this plate, too. It has the same message.

By Sunday night, we should be in Friendship. We have spend the past 18 years in Georgetown. When we first got here it was an adventure living out on an island just a few miles from the beach. Every night coming home from school, I crossed over three bridges to get to our island home we had built. I got to see what vacationers see when they come: the beauty in the rock ledges, the tall white pines, the rivers, the sandy beaches. I got to see what the vacationers don't see: the inside of the little school, the town transfer station, the wildness of the beach in winter, the grounded lobster boats wintering on shore, the lobstermen repairing traps and painting buoys, the April day of the osprey couple's return from Jamaica, the departure of the osprey in fall.
When we first moved here there was a family of moose we might encounter at night as they strolled along the edge of our dark (no streetlights) road, browsing on the young birch and other wonderful greens. Sometimes one would look in our big picture window to see what we were doing.
There were terrible mosquitoes, wasps and ticks, too. But over the years, all these creatures seem to have disappeared for the most part. No more moose stroll through, and the biting insect population seems to have gone down.
We had no squirrels for many years, but for the past five years there have been a couple of gray squirrels, a couple of reds (one with a partial tail), and some ground squirrels that have all helped tear up the blue tarp that covered our old lawn tractor to use the lining for their nests.
The deer and turkeys are plentiful and entertain us as they pass through, finding things to eat. It is a safe spot for them, and they don't mind too much the barking of the dog. The owls that visit us sit still and watch our comings and goings. Once when my grandchildren were here, a pair of them sat in a tree branch over our driveway.
We had a grouse who came to visit and stay for a season. He'd appear each time we came out of the house to follow us around the yard, tug on our pant legs and chase the car down the driveway each time we left the house.

We said good-bye to our church family on Sunday, though we will be there off and on for special days or when family visits there. But the church is over two hours away from us now. We began going when my father died and my mother had no way to get there. We drove her every Sunday from 2001 to 2003. And when she died, we kept on going - over an hour's drive each way every Sunday.

I will miss all of this. I won't be sitting by the same window as I type my blog, create my poems, paint my world. My drive will still have the ocean, but not the same look. I'll still have a chair by a window, but there will be no deer, turkeys or owls. Seagulls will replace the owls. I don't know what new moments we will make in our new home, but I'm sure they will be ones we could never have dreamed of. It will be good, too. Just different.

We bought this new house five and a half years ago. We've been slowly having work done on this "House with the Wrinkled Wall". It is almost finished becoming a house that can become our home.

Retirement.
It has fully set in.

U - Go - Nannie.
You go.

What will be next?

Monday, April 24, 2017

THWAP #AtoZChallenge

It is day 20 of the A to Z Challenge. I'm moving through the alphabet using vanity plates from Maine that I've seen since last year's A to Z Challenge (except for one - used an older plate not written to yet).
Here's your chance to expand your vocabulary as you visit some awesome bloggers.
My A to Z tab above will take you to a list of my daily visits to the A to Z posters, if you are inclined to see the Padlet of places I've been. Or click here.

I just wrote these acrostics, and couldn't decide which one to leave here today, but since they are short and star the same beast, I'll leave them both as a double acrostic - since there are usually several "thwaps" at a time. Kind of like "hiccups"...

THWAP!

Terrifying daily
Hazard of the
Woods and shore;
Agressors awaiting you -
Prolific, predatory mosquito!

Thwarted irritating attack as
Hand hits home, without a hitch
Welt averted, without an itch
Anticoagulating agent of a
Probing probiscus diverted!

By Donna JT Smith, 4/24/2017

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Sunday 4 BELEAF

Today is not an AtoZ day...it's Sunday.
Sunday is day 23 in the Progressive Poem over at
Let's see how our poem is coming along! Last I knew we were on a ship, weighing anchor and sailing away!

Here is an "EXTRA" vanity plate and poem today. Though it is not an A to Z Challenge day, it is still National Poetry Month. I'm doing a poem a day for April, and there are seven more days to go!

The acorn
falls Planted in places

Of rocks and rain But Sunlight
Is warming And that which was asleep
Inside begins to surge With life that

Knows no other thing than To grow - Born To weather

storms It knows no other direction Than up; It knows no other

protection For withstanding the cold Times of life Than to

follow the Sun To life in the Light. It knows no other option

As the winds snap The tenuous, dying twigs -

Those useless and dried, than to Hold onto

those leaves And supple branches That bend

and sway Back to straight And growing;

It has no other

mission Than to

continue

tossing

acorns

to the

ground

To the

field, To

Life and

to then Stand

to face Another storm

With well-grounded and faithful roots.

Donna

Saturday, April 22, 2017

SPILAGE #AtoZChallenge

Notes about the AtoZ Challenge:
The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except on Sundays.
To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post. Read through the comment links on that page and see what interests you. Read. Comment. Spread the love of our alphabet around!
If you are commenting here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily. I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!
If you want to see where I've visited, click on A to Z Challenge in the tab at the top and it will take you to a padlet of links. If you want to see yours there, visit me. If you are doing the A to Z Challenge, I'll visit you and link you.

I met the teacher who had this vanity plate. Come to find out she teaches in my town's school. She said she got it because in her young classroom when something was spilled, the children always asked for the spillage rag or cloth to clean up their messes. So I went with that! Kind of...

Spillage

Carol got some cocoa,
Mom put it in a mug,
But when her elbow hit it
It crashed upon the rug!

“Calamity cloth!” Carol cried.

Tina wanted water
A tumblerful to drink -
Forgot to take the drain plug out
And overflowed the sink!

“Tragedy towel!” Tina trilled.

In Michael’s search for juice
He opened the fridge the door;
The juice lid hadn’t gone on tight
So juice splashed on the floor!

“Mishap mop!” Michael moaned.

Sammy wanted ice cream
Scrumptious chocolate chip;
It suddenly began to melt
Then slipped out of his grip!

“Spillage sponge!” Sammy spluttered.

With towel, mop, a sponge and cloth
They each cleaned up their places
Until there was no spillage left -
They even had clean faces!

By Donna JT Smith, 4/21/2017

Here are other S plates. I'd thought about trying to write a poem using all four plates, but then I wondered why I'd do that to myself when I have so much to do already. Shoot, why did I say that?

I have a problem obviously. You do not have to read this one.

So S(p)illy

The white caps
looked like snowfields
as we set off
over sea,
sailing amid
the ocean squid
new villages to see
determined that at last
and first
our vessel'd
surely be
remarkably unsinkable,
so fine and spillage free
and that the sails
that once were slack
would get their second wind
and even without
maps to guide
we'd know
just where
we'd been'd.
"That's all for now,"
the sailor said,
and headed off to bed
in hammock swayed
all night he stayed
he never slept
a wink
Through eyelids shut
He kept his watch
so diligent
(and vigilant),
I think.

by Donna JT Smith

Oh, look, I did it - speaking of "I have a problem"...
I used all four - plus some - but I don't have a clue what it says or means - other than "I have a problem".
I probably should have kept it in a sealed envelope or locked drawer (if I had one), and not put it here. But this is where I wrote it, so this is where it is.

(Why would I put my name on this?)

Friday, April 21, 2017

ROSIE #AtoZChallenge

Today is Poetry Friday and it is a FULL post today, full to the brim! When you have finished here, there are wonderful blogs full of poems to visit. Visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference where there are links to lots!

Today is the 21st line in the Progressive Poem initiated by Irene Latham! And it is here -
along with my AtoZ below. Scroll down to the license plate if you are here for AtoZ and/or if you want to skip this growing poem instigated by Irene Latham for National Poetry Month.

But why would you?
You are here because you like writing and writers and stuff they write, right?
So you should read it before you go on to the AtoZ Maine vanity plate and poem.
One poet a day adds a line to the poem. In the side navigation you can see a list of line contributing poets.

Today the poem was handed to me for the next line.
But a couple of days before my line I was scribbling words and phrases thinking maybe, just maybe I could use some of what I'd thought about, and maybe by chance it would save me time and thinking when I would be under pressure. It didn't really work, but it was a good warn-up.

When BJ supplied her line, "trip" was the connecting word I had used in some of my lines. Nope. Couldn't use "trip" for the "-ip" internal rhyme...but it did lead nicely into using "ship" which is definitely a good way to take a trip to escape the grip of Dragonworld!

The navigation on the sidebar has all the poets with links to their sites.
Here is the poem thus far (Don't you love the sound of "thus far"? I do, too!) and my new line is last in bold:

Progressive Poem 2017

I’m fidget, friction, ragged edges-- 
I sprout stories that frazzle-dazzle,
 stories of castles, of fires that crackle 
with dragonwords that smoke and sizzle.   

But edges sometimes need sandpaper,
 like swords need stone and clouds need vapour.
 So I shimmy out of my spurs and armour 
facing the day as my fickle, freckled self.   

I thread the crowd, wear freedom in my smile, 
and warm to the coals of conversation. 
Enticed to the stage by strands of story, 
I skip up the stairs in anticipation.   

Flip around, face the crowd, and freeze! 
Shiver me. Look who’s here. Must I disappear? 
By hook or by crook, I deserve a second look!
 I cheer. Please, have no fear. Find the book.   

But wait! I’ll share the lines I know by heart. 
Mythicalhowls, fierytones slip from my lip
 Blue scales flash, claws rip, the prophecy begins 
Dragonworld weaves webs that grip. I take a trip…

"Anchors aweigh!" Steadfast at helm on clipper ship

Then take a look here - for interest's sake, I found the poem to be easily broken down into 9 lines in each stanza, making it quite "prettily poetic"! See what you think of breaking it up thusly (not a good word, but fun).

I just found this today, hanging in a bookstore! Isn't it gorgeous?

Progressive Poem 2017 (possible alternate layout?)

I’m fidget,
friction,
ragged edges;
I sprout stories
that frazzle-dazzle;
stories of castles,
of fires that crackle,
with dragonwords that smoke
and sizzle.

But edges sometimes

need sandpaper,
like swords need stone
and clouds need vapour;
So I shimmy out

of my spurs and armour,
facing the day
as my fickle,
freckled self.

I thread the crowd,
wear freedom
in my smile,
and warm to the coals
of conversation;
Enticed to the stage
by strands of story,
I skip up the stairs
in anticipation.

Flip around, face the crowd,
and freeze!
Shiver me. Look who’s here.
Must I disappear?
By hook or by crook,
I deserve a second look!
I cheer.
Please, have no fear.
Find the book.

But wait!
I’ll share the lines
I know by heart.
Mythicalhowls, fierytones
slip from my lips;
Blue scales flash, claws rip,
the prophecy begins;
Dragonworld weaves webs that grip.
I take a trip;

"Anchors aweigh!"

Steadfast at helm

on clipper ship

Take it away, sail on Jone at Jone Ruch MacCulloch, the next line is YOURS! Oh, phew! Let's get this puzzle solved.

**************************

Now the A to Z Challenge -

The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except on Sundays.
To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post. Read through the comment links on that page and see what interests you. Read. Comment. Spread the love of our alphabet around!
If you are commenting here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily. I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!
If you want to see where I've visited, click on A to Z Challenge in the tab at the top and it will take you to a padlet of links. If you want to see yours there, visit me. If you are doing the A to Z Challenge, I'll visit you and link you.

My rose smells the pink skies,
Rock beaches and sands,
The salt of the sea,
Seaweed’s tangled strands.
My rose hears the roaring
And crashing of waves,
The chorus of laughing gulls
Devout fishing knaves.
My rose though as fragile
As tatted French lace,
Its petals surround
Giving bees an embrace.
My rose owns a sweetness -
The lightest bouquet,
Heavenly nectar
To carry away;
My rose with the softness
of breezes adorning,
Callously stings
Without any warning.
Too soon she is gone
Leaving hips for my tea
And promise of new blooms
To smile upon me.

by Donna JT Smith

Congratulations on making it to the bottom of this page!

Tomorrow is S in the A to Z Challenge... I have a few vanity plates to select from... let's see.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Q? #AtoZChallenge

Notes about this challenge: The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except on Sundays. To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post. If you are commenting here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily. I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!
If you want to see where I've visited, click on the A to Z 2017 tab at the top and it will take you to a Padlet of links. If you are doing the A to Z Challenge, I'll visit you and link you on the Padlet.
Spread the love of our alphabet around!

So, you say, this doesn't begin with a Q. But, see those two Q's! So this counts. And it is the only one I could find besides GQQD LF which I used a while ago on a Sunday this month.

MQQSEY

"Mooose,"
said Doc BrownCow,
"I think she'll be fine!"
"Thang-Q,"
Said Mommoose.
"I'll cut down on the pine."
"She does needed some fiber
But stick to the reeds,
That's all the fiber
a growing moose needs."
QT Moosey moaned,
"No more piney trees?
I love how they taste;
Just one more tree, please?"
"You heard Doc BrownCow now,
Not one more tree, dear;
You must eat in the marsh;
Doc BrownCow was quite clear!"
"I promise," QT said,
Then they moosied on down
For a snaque in the swamp
Brows furrowed with frown;.
They lunched on some ferns
For growing strong bones,
But then came dessert -
A cool treat of pine cones.

by Donna JT Smith, 4/19/2017

So, forgive me for no Q at the beginning?
See you tomorrow for the biggest day this month. I will have an R plate and poem. AND it is my day to supply and share my line of the Progressive Poem. I am not ready because you can't really be ready. Who knows what the line will be before you? Tomorrow I'll know and then we'll see what the brain comes up with to hand off to the next poet to continue on Saturday morning.
See you then!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

PBE4UGO #AtoZChallenge

Notes about this challenge:
The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except on Sundays.
To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post.
If you are commenting here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily. I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!
If you want to see where I've visited, click on the A to Z 2017 tab at the top and it will take you to a Padlet of links. If you are doing the A to Z Challenge, I'll visit you and link you on the Padlet. Spread the love of our alphabet around!

I saw this license a few years ago and thought it hilarious! It's on a van. I'm guessing a van full of kids. Cracked me up! Getting kids ready for anything - I remember getting all my snow gear on for playing outside - and in our family of four kids we didn't have snowpants - We wore layer upon layer of clothing to play outside. The layers helped to not get hurt when you were ice skating or sledding, as we were prone to do with two helpful brothers.

At any rate, just when mom or dad were thinking "yay, they are ALL ready and we can shove them out the door and have quiet time!" someone would say, "I have to go to the bathroom". Remember the movie "The Christmas Story"? That WAS our life.

The easier thing was getting us in the car then though. No seatbelts, no carseats, no boosters...just four kids loose in the back! So getting out to go to the bathroom was not as big a problem - however, as soon as one kid says it, we all had to go suddenly. And though the problem wasn't one of complicated seating arrangements in cars, there was the bigger problem of VERY FEW PUBLIC BATHROOMS. There were few Rest Stops, no fast food restaurants, no bathrooms accessible to the public really.

We didn't WANT to go sometimes. But if we were making a pit stop for one, it was all or none! But really, usually the mere mention of the word "bathroom" was enough to make you decide maybe you should go.

So PBE4UGO...Pee Before You Go brings up so many smiley memories!

PBE4UGO

Our family of 2 boys, 2 girls
Piled quickly in the car,
Dad said that we would take a trip,
The ride would be quite far.

Climbing in the back seat
My sister had her doll,
One brother had an Army man,
The other a baseball.

Under my arm I always had
Some mystery book to read;
Dad started up the Chevrolet,
Mom wielded map to lead.

We started as a merry load,
That fidgeted and wiggled
Across a bumpy, bouncy road
We jostled and we giggled.

But pretty soon the joyful jounce
Got us four feeling antsy
We asked Dad for a bathroom break
No need for something fancy.

Finally with waving arms
One screamed out like a crow
"I told you all," Mom shook her head,

"To pbe4ugo!"

"There isn't any bathroom here..."

"Oh, find a place to stop!"

"Umm...Never mind, I'm okay now;
Did some one bring the mop?"

by Donna JT Smith, 4/19/17

Q is tomorrow...this one is a bit of a fudge. I have only found one Q plate and I used it last year. But this one DOES have 2 Q's in it, so I think it counts. And I get to decide.

On Friday, it is Poetry Friday AND is will be my day to supply the 21st line in the Progressive Poem. Buffy Silverman added her line yesterday. And today's 19th line will be posted sometime today at Patricia Weaver's blog, Writer on a Horse

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

OXPOWER #AtoZChallenge

Watching an oxen pulling contest is like watching baseball. If you like it, you really like it. There's nothing really fast going on, but the skill and the teamwork are amazing.

The team masters are firm but kind to their animals. There is no abuse. You can't abuse a team member. An abused animal will not work for you. Don't mistake the goading and loud voices for abuse. The oxen respond to authority, and at no time do they get overworked or overburdened. They have trained and been well-conditioned to do this. The team master will quit the session if he feels an animal is at their limit. They know what their team is capable of, and they certainly don't want their team hurt or soured for this work.

I enjoy a good oxen pull where the team is really together, pulling well together and the team master is able to keep them just calm enough as they hook on, but still excited and ready to pull as soon as they are given the command. I actually like watching this more than baseball (sorry, Dad).

Once upon a time there were two oxen, Mt. Katahdin and Granger. And they were born and raised in Maine. And they grew. And grew. You can check it out here.
I did not know about these two huge oxen until doing a bit of research on oxen for this plate. We have oxen pulls at the fairs here, and when I was in elementary school I knew a kid who lived on a farm that used oxen, and he still pulls with a team now...or did a few years ago when I last saw the pulls. It often "runs in families" (as they mention in the video).

Mt. Katahdin and Granger

Coal-black mountains
Traveled by train
From small town Maine
To big time fame
Five tons of rippling muscle
Dark as night
Smooth as satin
Glistening might
Immaculately polished
Click-clacking hooves
Gleaming horns
Raising the roofs
Wherever they went
One man’s dream
To grow his team
Harness a tower
Of ox power

by Donna JT Smith, 4/17/17

Tomorrow P... I love this plate. Hope I can do it justice! I saw it a long time ago and loved it, then finally found it again this past year and got to get my picture! I don't even need to wonder what it is about. The plate says it all. See you then!

Monday, April 17, 2017

NEEDER #AtoZChallenge

Today's letter is N. Since last May I've been searching for new vanity plates, and this is the one I found to feature for this year.

Do you suppose this is a needy person, or maybe a kneader of bread? I did not meet them, so I don't know. I get to make this stuff up. Whatever I want!

Needer

Earth needs the sun,
Wind needs the sky,
Sky needs the birds,
And others that fly;
Or maybe that’s just
The other way round,
And birds are the ones
Who need the sky town.
The sun needs the earth
To figure its worth,
And the sky needs that wind
To know where it’s been.
We are all needers;
More important than that,
Other needers need you
To help them right back.
But we all need to need
And be needed by one
And that’s why the Earth
Needs to hang round the sun.
So go ahead, need,
But just don’t forget
Someone also needs you
To have their needs met.
By Donna JT Smith, 4/17/17

This was an early morning writing. Had tried thinking about this earlier and started writing some words. Words. Words. And then the thought came. It is strange about writing. Sometimes it comes through so clearly when you least expect it. And sometimes you can't think until you start writing drivel. Some may still consider this drivel, but it rhymes at least. Ha! So read it and weep! Or read it and sleep!
At least N for Needer is DONE!
Tomorrow is O, and O Dear, I am not done... I think I'll try it now while I'm on a roll.
Let's see:

O is for orange
I'm not fond of the color
So I've thrown my crayon
Way down in the cellar...

Too bad tomorrow isn't O is for ORNGE - I'd be done.

Just decided to add this...looking at the picture my husband took on Saturday -
N is also for NICE bike, ma'am...

I could not help it. This has nothing to do with anything EXCEPT my need to get out in the sun and see if I could remember ANYTHING about riding a motorcycle. I took it out for a spin on Saturday when the weather was in the 60's! Snow is mostly melted and gone now, forsythias are trying their best to be yellow, but there's still gravel left on the roads from plowing and sanding, so I had to be careful as I enjoyed the ride. I only went a couple of miles to see how we (my bike and I) would do. We did just fine!

For those who don't know it, I got my motorcycle license last summer. I have a 400cc Bergman scooter that I thought would help me learn, and a 250cc Virago that did help me learn. Then I immediately went to the Honda Shadow 750 when I got my license at age 66. It was never something I planned to do. I wanted to be a passenger again after losing weight - like in the old days. But I didn't like being a passenger on the Harley Sportster my husband got. So with coercion from my son and husband, I decided to at least take the class. And there you have it. Short story. I could go into the longer version that tells about taking the required two day course with all the 18-30 year old men. But you can imagine. Yes, I'll let you do that.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Third Sunday in April - Easter

Wouldn't I have loved to have a vanity plate that said Easter, but here's my Sunday Best for Easter:

Waiting for God...

I love the mystery of His second coming.

Matthew 24: 36, 44
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

And I love the mystery of His timing in our lives. I have more than once been taken aback by the "coincidences" in my life that have occurred because of some timing issues.

Waiting for God

Unfathomable

Infinite and unbroken

God's perfect timeline

by Donna JT Smith, 4/15/2017

I guess I will not know until I'm supposed to know... anything. Isn't that just the way it always is?

Happy Easter to all those who believe in Christ as our Savior. And to those who don't, I hope that you might someday understand what an amazing day this is, just as I did 31 Easters ago. Wow. 31? THAT doesn't seem right... I'm not even that old yet. (I have my own timeline I'm using.)

Saturday, April 15, 2017

MK IT SO #AtoZChallenge

Make It So

Did you ever wish
You could swim deep with a fish?
When you were a kid
You know you did.
Splish!
Maybe have a go
By saying “Make it so!”
At walking on a cloud
Waving to the crowd
below
Could you
Race faster than a train
Or be a splash of rain;
Trek on a shimmering lake,
Eat a whole birthday cake?
"Make it so!"
Did you wish for wings
Or horns and other things?
Crave a kingdom in the sea
Shrink as tiny as a flea?
"Make it so!"
Did you ever take a trip
In your cardboard rocket ship?
Turn your bike into a steed
And rescue those in need?
"Make it so!"
Try to read a person's thoughts?
See a fairy, maybe lots?
"Make it so!"  
Train a grasshopper to walk,
Then teach it how to talk?
Talk to a rabbit,
or a seagull,
or a mouse,
or an eagle?
Make it so!
 You’d best have done it in your youth
For now knowing the whole truth
You’ve lost the gift of playing
And that power in the saying
“Make it so!”

by Donna JT Smith, 4/15/2017

So most of this stuff makes up my childhood. I left out the things that didn't rhyme. There were lots of those. Things like making the big rock into a ship, pine needles into the ocean, my blankets into mountains, the livingroom floor into the deep sea and the furniture into islands. I'm sure my mom was pleased to see us jumping from one island to another on rainy days. We didn't sit and watch tv. There was nothing on in the first place, at least not in the 50's in Maine anyway. You had to turn your imagination on full force. And we did.