COOKN4U #AtoZChallenge

Yesterday was the third day of the Progressive Poem, and Doraine Bennett, at Dori Reads supplied the third line.  Let's visit Michelle at Today's Little Ditty to see what's in store next! Here's the poem is so far:

I'm fidget, friction, ragged edges--

I sprout stories that frazzle-dazzle

stories of castles, of fires that crackle

The schedule of poets in April is on the side navigation if you want to check where it is heading this month.  I'm day 21 to add a line...that's a looong way off!  Lots can happen in before it arrives here!

There are a lot of letters in the A to Z Challenge between now and then, too!

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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.  
I am, for the second year, posting vanity plates in Maine.  Because it is April, National Poetry Month, I'm going to write a poem based on the the license plate. On Sunday I will post a bonus plate - an extra one I've found that intrigues me.    
To find more A to Z Challenge blog posts, click on any A to Z Challenge link I've made in this post, or the  C badge above. 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.

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Today is the third day of the alphabet, and dedicated to the letter C.  Or as Sesame Street used to say "Brought to you by the letter C!"

So here is a plate of C today, and a side of poem for Poetry Month.

Song of the Cook

Bacon and eggs,

Sausage and ham,

Breakfast of champions;

Pan fried Spam.

Steak with mushrooms,

Broccoli, greens;

Spaghetti with meat sauce,

Chili with beans.

Lobster and clams,

chicken and chops,

mutton and liver,

fresh from the shops

I B cookn 4 U,

N M Hap-E 2 do it

But give me a crock pot

Cuz I'd rather stew it.

Donna JT Smith, 4/2017

See last year's Letter C Vanity Plates from Maine, with the poem for CHAPS.
See you tomorrow for "D delightful" next Vanity Plate!

BRAVES #AtoZChallenge

Yesterday was the second day of the Progressive Poem, and Tabatha Yeatt's supplied the next line.  Doraine Bennett, at Dori Reads, is composing the next line for today, so check her site often to see when it "goes live"!
Here's the poem is so far:

I'm fidget, friction, ragged edges--

I sprout stories that frazzle-dazzle

Where to next, Dori??  I'm day 21 to add a line...that's a looong way off!  Lots can happen in 20 lines before me! 

There are a lot of letters in the A to Z Challenge between now and then, too!

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It is the Day 2 of the A to Z Challenge!  And this year I am again posting vanity plates in Maine.  Because it is April, National Poetry Month, I'm going to write an acrostic, a haiku, or some other type of poem that I don't even know yet.  But each will be based on the letters, the word or the words on a license plate.

The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except Sunday.  On Sunday I will post a bonus plate - one I've found that intrigues me.  It may be a duplicate letter or one that starts with a number instead of a letter, but still has a message for us.

There are themes galore being done.  If you are interested in reading more A to Z 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.  Take a peek.  Comment!  Spread the love of our alphabet around!

If you are commenting here and are in the A to Z Challenge, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily.  You can do that even if you aren't in the A to Z Challenge.  I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!

Here's the plate for today B is for BRAVES:

He Braves

He's no coward;
With hands on hips
He shuns the dread
That could eclipse
Another not as brave.

He braves the foes,
Remaining tall;
He won't retreat;
He cannot fall;
They will not see him cave.

No flames to throw,
No x-ray eyes,
No webs that stick,
Nor cape that flies,
Yet all the weak he'll save.

Embraces storms,
Stands up to force,  
Braves the conflict,
And stays the course;
To fear he is no slave.

Donna JT Smith, 4/2017

Tomorrow a Plate of C!  C U then.

Last year's Maine vanity plate link.  Ha!  I just read this post from 2016, and it kind of goes with this year's only it was a totally different plate.  Interesting!

Sunday 1

This is not a day for posting to the AtoZ Challenge, but I am going to write a poem for each day this month, so...
here's a spare A vanity plate - my own car's plate...

secure though winds blow

 assured despite cresting waves

anchored in safety

Have a restful, thoughtful, graceful Sunday.  See you back on Monday for the letter B!

ABUNDNC #AtoZChallenge

Welcome, April! Welcome Poetry Month!

Waking to Maine's April Fool's Day... just a little joke for spring....

Surprise... one more time...

Hooray! It is the start of the A to Z Challenge!  And this year I am again posting vanity plates in Maine.  Because it is April, National Poetry Month, I'm going to write an acrostic, a haiku, or some other type of poem that I don't even know yet.  But each will be based on the letters, the word or the words on a license plate.

The A to Z Challenge is to write to the letters of the alphabet in order, one a day each day in April, except Sunday.  On Sunday I will post a bonus plate - one I've found that intrigues me.  It may be a duplicate letter or one that starts with a number instead of a letter, but still has a message for us.

There are themes galore being done.  If you are interested in reading more A to Z posts, go to Blogging from A to Z to read through the links and see what other posts interest you.  Take a peek.  Spread the love of our alphabet around!  If you want to see which AtoZers I've visited each day, check out the AtoZ tab below the blog title or go here AtoZ Challenge on Padlet

Please leave a comment here!  Maybe you have a vanity plate and would like to tell me your story!  When you comment here, please include your post's link so that I can return the visit easily.  You can do that even if you aren't in the AtoZ.  I'd like to visit your site, if you don't mind!

Here is the FIRST LICENSE PLATE OF THE CHALLENGE: A is for...

...I am going to assume this is "Abundance" - no spaces, one word.  And this is the poem for this lucky person's plate.  I never got to meet this person, so I don't know why they chose this word to put on their vanity plate, so I get to make anything up I want.

Abundance

Sufficient, it is, enough, even more;

a gift one might deem as riches "galore";

tho' abundance exceeds just deserts, I am sure,

it may simply mirror the life that's in store.

Donna JT Smith, 4/2017

Here's a link to last year's AtoZ Challenge post with more A vanity plates and a poem: A Vanity 2016.
See you tomorrow, though it will not be an AtoZ post.  We take Sunday's off.  But I will have a filler post and poem!  Monday will be the letter B.

Don't forget to check out the Progressive Poem that starts today with Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe!  The schedule is on the right navigation.  I will be up later in the month - the 21st - to add a line.  This year is focusing on making sure it is a kid's poem, so it is sure to be fun to read and keep track of its progress this month.  Heidi already has her line - the very first line of the poem - posted:  

I'm fidget, friction, ragged edges --

We are on our way!

SOL Ends and Poetry Friday

SOL17 and Poetry Friday:

Today's poetry is being hosted by Amy at The Poem Farm!  So make sure you drop by - you are invited.

Sky

Just after dawn

dreams scatter without a trace

somewhere in my brain;
 Morning redolent with nature,
 I hear a call so perfect -

 the sound of a bird - 

Is it red bird from his branch?

You wait patiently;    

that splash of pink 

across the sky -
      color into a crescendo of light

just right, but fading be

from the sky above

like a balloon being 

popped but no one hears.

There is so much to admire

before the sun sets;

bless the eyes 

and the listening ears.

Last week I put up a Scavenger Hunt challenge of finding the words to a poem using the clues to their location.  The clues were listed on a padlet that can be found through the link at the top of the page, or by clicking on it in the side navigation.

The poem above, is the poem I created with the lines in order, but not necessarily with the breaks where the original lines were.  The lines could be left just as is, with punctuation added, or with the words flowing in order but not necessarily on a separate line for each.

I believe Linda Baie and Joy Acey Frelinger were two that I heard from that completed the scavenger hunt.

Here are the blogs, the clues, and the words:

A Teaching Life  P 1 L 1 W 1-3 Just after dawn
Friendly Fairy Tales  P 1 L 3 W 1,2 dreams scatter
RainCity Librarian P 1 L 12 W 3-5  without a trace
Michelle Kogan P 1 L 1 W 1-4   somewhere in my brain
Random Noodling P 5  L 2 W 2,3  Morning redolent
Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme P 2 L 41 W 3,4  with nature
Robyn Hood Black  P 1  L 9  W 3-6  I hear a call
Write Time  P 1 L 13 W 1,2  so perfect
Kurious Kitty’s Kurio Cabinet  P 1 L 15 W 2-6  the sound of a bird
Whispers from the Ridge  P 1 L 6 W 1-7  Is it red bird from his branch
Today’s Little Ditty P 1 L 2 W 1-3  You wait patiently
TeacherDance P 1 L 7 W 3-9  that splash of pink across the sky
Jama’s Alphabet Soup P 1 L 28 W 4,5  color into
Live Your Poem  P 1 L 12 W 1-4  a crescendo of light
Robyn Hood Black  P 1 L 2 W 3,4 just right
To Read To Write To Be P 1 L 17 W 7-9  But fading be
Poetry for Kids Joy P 1 L 27  W 1-4  from the sky above
Reflections on the Teche P 3 L 11  W 1-5  like a balloon being popped
Poetry for Kids Joy P 1 L 22 W 1-4  but no one hears
A Year of Reading  P 1 L 5 W 1-6  There is so much to admire
Kathryn Apel P 1 L 12 W 1-4   before the sun sets
A Year of Reading P 1 L 8 W 1-7  bless the eyes and the listening ears

Thank you for playing along with the Scavenger Hunt!  If I do this again, I will make it shorter.  I really wanted to see how many different poems/blogs I could get in, and do it as quickly as possible!  There are lines and words I would change if I were to do it over.  But it is intriguing still as a poetic exercise.  Try it!  Post your clues on the padlet. I'd love to give it a go!

This is the last day of the Slice of Life Challenge.  Except for missing the first two or three days, I made it through the month.  I had decided that I wouldn't have time to post every day this month, so I was going to skip this year.  Then I thought better of it, and began my posting just before the deadline.  And I'm so glad that I did.  There were days when I couldn't get around to as many bloggers as I felt like I should, but then there were days when I got on a roll and let clothes wait in the washer before getting a ride in the dryer, or let the dirty dishes pile a little higher.

There were some great blogs this year.  What a joy to read!
I wish I remembered whose blog I went to that got me to Worcester yesterday.  Someone had gone to see a display of Ed Emberley's work, and I commented about wishing that I could see it, and that we didn't really have much around us.  I Googled Ed Emberley to see where his work might be displayed, in case it would be a moving display.  When I did, lo and behold, I discovered it was right close by-ish in Worcester, MA at the Worcester Art Museum and the showing was until April 9.  I immediately determined that I would go there!
And I did!  What a wonderful educational and inspiring display!  My husband and I both enjoyed our impromptu "field trip", made possible by the SOL community!  How awesome was this to make a date out of a blog reading!
Thanks!

~~~~~~~~AND~~~~~~~~~
The Progressive Poem begins on Saturday... I'll put the links up here to keep track of where the poem is headed for its next line.  Irene Latham is the organizer of this fun event!

~~~~~~~~AND~~~~~~~~~

A to Z Challenge begins tomorrow also, on the first day of Poetry Month!

For those who are wanting more day by day stuff happening, there will be a new challenge that opens up on the first of April.  It is the AtoZ Challenge.  You write to a letter of the alphabet, starting with A, going in order to Z, one letter a day, starting with A on April 1.  No posting is done on Sundays though.  That way all the alphabet is complete on April 30!
Here are some links if you are interested in participating.  Your link is put in the comments each day JUST like you did for the SOL challenge.

This year I am continuing my quest for vanity plates starting with each letter of the alphabet.  I think I have just about all of them now, and a few more.  I have my poem ready for Saturday.  I think, as much as I'll miss the SOL and March, I'm ready for the next chapter! 

Blogging from A to Z

or Blogging from A to Z (Wordpress Site, if you have trouble linking on the first one, go here - it's a duplicate site)

The gracious hosts of the A to Z Challenge are:

Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Alex J. Cavanaugh @ Alex J. Cavanaugh
Jeremy Hawkins @ Hollywood Nuts
Heather M. Gardner @ The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Zalka Csenge Virag @ The Multicolored Diary
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

J Lenni Dorner @ Blog of J. Lenni Dorner

Here are some pages from other years doing the AtoZ... just to get an idea...

A is for Arms - I did this in 2012 using Tagxedo and all the words from my poem about arms.

A is for Amy Sue - This was 2013 using lobster boat names. 

A is for Animal Hide & Seek - I featured books by Maine authors.  Dahlov Ipcar was my first, being from our town.  She died earlier this year.  Her art and books will be treasures forever. 

A is for Airport - Signs that were strange or funny that I found in 2015

A to Z on a Plate - I found vanity plates in Maine and wrote a poem to each.

I can see the earth this morning!

March is ending like a lamb here.  I'm looking forward to the green beginning in the midst of all the white and browns of winter.  Every day there is a new patch of dead brown leaves or grass showing.  Can't be far off now!
See you in April!

Tomorrow's Poem

Tomorrow I will post the Scavenger Hunt Poem for Poetry Friday!

Tomorrow is the last day in March.  I can hardly believe it.  March has gone by rather quickly.  Though I don't like the late snows of March that well, I do sort of hate to see it go.  I like the month of writing and reading, of visiting and having guests over.  The SOL community is such a welcoming and fun group to be a part of. (yes, I know that's a preposition at the end)  I wish it could go on forever.  But I know we'd most likely run out of steam eventually. 

For those who are wanting more day by day stuff happening, there will be a new challenge that opens up on the first of April.  It is the AtoZ Challenge.  You write to a letter of the alphabet, starting with A, going in order to Z, one letter a day, starting with A on April 1.  No posting is done on Sundays though.  That way all the alphabet is complete on April 30!
Here are some links if you are interested in participating.  Your link is put in the comments each day JUST like you did for the SOL challenge.

There are all kinds of blogs and posts happening for the month of April.  I have done this challenge for a number of years now, (oh, just looked it up - started 2012) combining it with Poetry Month, writing a poem a day in April.  This year I am continuing my quest for vanity plates starting with each letter of the alphabet.  I think I have just about all of them now, and a few more.  I have my poem ready for Saturday.  I think, as much as I'll miss the SOL and March, I'm ready for the next chapter!  Onward to A!  Oh, it would have been so awesome to find a license plate that said "APRIL"!

Blogging from A to Z

or Blogging from A to Z (Wordpress Site, if you have trouble linking on the first one, go here - it's a duplicate site)

 

The gracious hosts of the A to Z Challenge are:

Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Alex J. Cavanaugh @ Alex J. Cavanaugh
Jeremy Hawkins @ Hollywood Nuts
Heather M. Gardner @ The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Zalka Csenge Virag @ The Multicolored Diary
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

J Lenni Dorner @ Blog of J. Lenni Dorner

Here are some pages from other years doing the AtoZ... just to get an idea...

A is for Arms - I did this in 2012 using Tagxedo and all the words from my poem about arms.

A is for Amy Sue - This was 2013 using lobster boat names. 

A is for Animal Hide & Seek - I featured books by Maine authors.  Dahlov Ipcar was my first, being from our town.  She died earlier this year.  Her art and books will be treasures forever. 

A is for Airport - Signs that were strange or funny that I found in 2015

A to Z on a Plate - I found vanity plates in Maine and wrote a poem to each.

Gearing Up

It is almost April!  I love April.

The osprey come back in the first 8 or so days of April.  I love seeing them arrive and start fussing with their hodgepodge of a log home.  The couple always arrives one or two days apart.

No snow lasts for long.  Even blizzards in April melt quickly even when they are deep.  A good snow in April even helps the mountainous snowbanks in the shopping malls melt more quickly.

The snowbanks now are coated in black, gray and brown dirt scooped up and plunged into the snow as the snowplow shoves it to the side of the parking lots.  They look like scoops of ice cream with sprinkles.  Or chocolate chip ice cream...or maybe vanilla ice cream with chocolate cookie crumbs in it.  Kind of.

These snowbanks don't melt well in the sun for some reason.  You would think they would, for as they melt the dark dirt gets more concentrated on the surface of the snow, and dark draws the sun's heat.  But it doesn't seem to.  Those snowbanks last and last and last.
You can almost count the storms by reading their layers...

Snow Banking

I need to make a deposit
said the snowplow in the street
and promptly scooped the snow up
and dumped it at my feet.

By Donna JT Smith

Squawking

SOL17

Today I tried to write a post about the squawking crows, and ended up writing another poem.   I'm not putting the crow poem here; it is being filed with the geese poem and a couple others waiting to see if my motivated self actually does something with them, or the procrastinator wins with another cup of coffee.

Instead then, I started writing a post squawking all about me and blah, blah, blah!  You know how you think you want to say something, and then you realize it is just to hear your self talk?  That was that.  Eeesh!  I hate that.  No one wants to hear that.  So I shut myself up and deleted it.  You wouldn't have enjoyed reading it.  I didn't enjoy reading it.  Sometimes you just have to shut up.

I had three long paragraphs.  And I've just deleted them.  Now I have three short paragraphs.  And I'm much happier with them.

My photo of a nice winter beach day

If you don't have nuthin' good to write, 

don't write nuthin' at all.

But if there's a glimmer

the least little shimmer

Than let it all on the page fall.

I don't want to write

About any plight

Like ships torn asunder at sea

So you needn't wonder

If that sort of blunder

Is really the story of me.

by Donna JT Smith

Glasses

This started out as a post about the crows.  But as I sat here waiting for the coffee to brew and then having to feed the cat who would not let me type anything until he was happier, I glanced at a glass.  This glass was one we got free at our mall here in our small, happy town.  I started thinking about all the free glasses we've gotten at the mall.   The Mall is a section of the transfer station, where people leave things that have not seen all the use they are capable of for others to pick up and take home.

We visit this section each time we go there.  We've gotten ice cream sundae cups, bikes for the grandkids, books and frying pan lids and a kitchen table, which I am hoping to use in Friendship next month... I've brought them mugs, clothes and plant pots.

Mostly we get small juice glasses.  We started picking up small glasses just for ourselves for reasonable portions of any drink.  We picked them because they felt good in the hand, and looked pretty on the shelf.  They are now taking up quite a large portion of our cupboard, and we find that we like them better than our huge glasses.

As each of the grandchildren became old enough, they use these when they visit.  This last visit they were able to pick the glass they wanted to use at each meal.  For some reason I get so much pleasure in having them pick the glass they would like. So far no fights have happened and they aren't just stuck on one glass - like a dirty one, so I would need to wash it!

Group shot

I decided to take a picture of the one my husband got this weekend at the mall.  It is really very pretty.  Then I took out the rest, too!  Maybe a group shot would be nice.  So I got the family together in a reunion pose.  But as I was setting them out, I noticed that the light through each glass was magnificent, and decided to focus on that instead of their meager start and purpose.

Newest addition

When I took the picture, I had to take more.  Look at the light through the glass!  Do you think they made the glass to look pretty or make the the glass so that its shadow would be pretty?  Do you think the glass designer knew?  Have you ever looked at your glasses this way?  I hadn't.  Now I'm thinking it is the next step in picking out a glass.  Right size, right feel, right look, right shadow.

You know you have to go back and look at them again.  I did.  I haven't even put them away yet.  I want to look some more.  The fancy ones don't have quite as nice a shadow as the plainer ones do, but there's still a shine inside.

Fancy glass... still pretty.

Interesting.

A bit like life and people, don't you think?  Go talk to someone who doesn't look like they have much that looks out of the ordinary about them.  See what shadows they are own.  I'm always surprised.

Plain glass... shadow looks like a clam shell?

Geese Murmurs

SOL#17

This morning as I took the dog out at the cold, gray crack of dawn, I could hear the geese gathered past the trees, at the foot of the hill, at the river.  They were murmuring in those low almost human "voice in the distance" sounds they make.  It sounded as if they were quietly taking attendance.
 
"I'm here.  You there?"
"Yup, I'm here.  Where's Joe?"
"Joe, who?"
"You know."
"Oh, yeah.  He's here."
"I'm over here."
"Hi, Joe."
"Babs with you?"
"Yeah, she's here."
"All here."
"Yup, all here."

And then quiet.
They must have determined that they are all accounted for after the dark night.
No coyotes had supper here last night.

Then there were the crows. They'll have their day here tomorrow.

Have a good day.  Touch base with friends today.  Make sure they know you are here and all is right.  Then take a nap.

I wrote a poem today about the geese, but decided not to publish it here.  Maybe you will read it someday when I become a famous poet and my book is in your library.  Or maybe just my grandchildren will read it.  That's good enough for me.

Sharing My Ditty Ode

You may have already seen this if you visited Michelle Barne's blog this week.  She has a challenge to write an ode to an inanimate object at Today's Little Ditty this month.

I happened to be sitting in the kitchen beside a big box of tissues when the call for an ode came through.  Those tissues seemed open to the idea for an ode just for them.
So I oded them.  I also acrosticated them.

Guidelines for the Ode to an Object:

Choose an object (a seashell, a hairbrush, a bird nest, a rolling pin). It should not be anything symbolic (such as a doll, a wedding ring, or a flag). Write five lines about the object, using a different sense in each line (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell). Then ask the object a question, listen for its answer, and write the question, the answer, or both.

An Ode to a Tissue (and an acrostic)

The faintest whiff of clean, starched sheets 

In white, you lie flat, stiff, well pressed, waiting as
Shaking fingertips flounder, feeling for your straight, thin edge
Silently you caress my face, no, you are quietly humming
Unduly seasoned with salt from my tears.
Eternally crumpled, rolled up in a ball, do you have any regrets?
Shush, so happy to help.

Donna JT Smith 

This may seem like cheating to put this up today, but I have places to go and things to do today.  I hope you are able to try out a few lines at least of the scavenger hunt sometime this weekend.  I will post both poems next Friday!
The link to the padlet with the clues is at the top of my page just above the pages tabs and below the title. AND it is to the RIGHT in the navigation bar along with a QR code for accessing it on your mobile device quickly and easily to take with you on your phone...  I don't know how necessary that is, BUT since it can be done, why not do it?  That's my motto.

Have a great weekend!

Poetry Friday

Today is Poetry Friday, and Catherine is hosting at Reading to the Core.
The game is afoot!

I'm posting the Scavenger Hunt I quickly put together when Tabatha Yeatts thought maybe I could challenged me to make an online version of what her very gifted and talented and obviously LOVING daughter did for her birthday!  I cannot help but steal a good idea, or fall for a challenge, so I did. 

See here for historical, birthdatical references...

🎂

Click on the cake!

To post clues, I stole Michell H. Barnes idea of using a padlet.  She uses one for people to post poems, I thought it might work for a Scavenger Hunt.  Let's see!

I will be posting POSTED a second scavenger hunt on the padlet, too, after some poems become available through the Poetry Friday linkups today.  So if you have done the first scavenger hunt and want more, there will be IS a new one very soon!

If YOU want to make a hunt for the rest of us to solve, create your own box on the padlet with the clues.  Click anywhere on the padlet to create an editable box.  See how I formatted it, with:

• name of blog linked (you don't need the date)
• P for # of poem on the page
• L for which Line to go to in the poem
• W for which Words in that line to use. 

In creating a hunt, please limit your poem selections to those listed as participating in Poetry Friday this week.  It will enhance our readings and visits to the bloggers here this week!

My suggestion, from the limited experience I've had, is that you should try a short poem first...maybe only 4 lines.  It can be time consuming and your family will not know you anymore.  I only made this one long because I have CLIGS - "Can't Let It Go Syndrome" - or maybe I just wanted to see how many I could get... ok, maybe that's the same syndrome.

When you are in a hunt or if you are making one, remember these rules for Poetic Success.

• Click on the links in order.  
• Look for the poem, line and words.  
• Copy them down in the order given. Tah-dah... a poem.  The first one has 9 lines
• If you have done the poem, you can post the completed poem on your page.
• Then in the comments in the padlet box where you found the clues, or in the comments on this page, put a link to show where your poem is so others may cheat check to see how you did. (See the comments box on the padlet to see how I put mine in)

The link to the March Scavenger Hunt padlet is at the top of this blog right under my header.  Click on that to get started!

My second hunt will be up later today or Saturday.  I need time to see what's there!  If you post a hunt to the padlet, I will see if it works out to post it also on my page one of the days this next week for extra coverage and opportunity.

Don't forget to wear a badge if you do either part of a scavenger hunt.  You may wear it for the rest of your life.  Or your blog's life anyway.

Questions?  Comment so I can help out.  Broken stuff?  Let me know so I can fix it!

Next month is:

• Poetry Month 
• and the AtoZ Challenge.  I will be posting a poem a day - and my theme this year is again Vanity Plates in Maine.  Oh, we have more!  I will post a plate and a poem a day all month long.  
• And we'll try to get a Scavenger Hunt in, too.  
• Oh, and the Progressive Poem.  
• Oh, and a trip to PA for my grand daughter's birthday 
• and my daughter's birthday, kind of.  

Wait.

• AND I'm moving?  

Ok, no problem.  I've got this.  I forgot my poem.  Double Haiku.

The Writer

🌹

Where are you going

bags packed with punctuation,

words, white space and heart?

🌹

To scribe my story,

 of unpacked thoughts and burdens

on white space, with heart.

🌹

 by Donna JT Smith

Hope to have something for ME to solve on the padlet!  I have extra time now!

Insecure about Social Security

SOL17 (if you were here earlier, Blogger messed this up big time... or Padlet did.  This is alllll new...and good.)

It is Thursday and my husband is on his way to the Social Security office AGAIN.  We have tried and tried to get our SS untangled, but they keep tangling it up again.  We get letter after letter from them explaining how much we aren't getting THIS time, and how much they are taking out for the prior months (that they've made mistakes on).  I did not know that retirement was going to be a full time job at the Social Security office, but so far it has.  And it seems to be a money loser.

I'm hoping when their fixes to their mistakes finally catch up with their paperwork that they will repay the back-pay money they took out.  I'm not too optimistic about it.  At this point, I'll be happy to simply stem the flow.

I can't tell you how weird it is to both be retired now.  It is both weird and scary.  We shouldn't be scared; we prepared for this.  We have funds set aside in various nets.  But there is something about sitting here in the boat with your nets full, releasing them one by one and hoping that you don't run out of them before YOU have run out; or hoping that the boat won't sink, leaving you without boat or nets.

I have to put that aside.  Those worries are not for me to deal with.  The worrying time is done.  Now it is time to just do.  We WILL be fine.  I have my assurance of that.  I just need to hold up my faith to ward off the worry.  Set worry in its place...the backseat of life.

No Worries, No Regrets

I shall not give over to worry
that stalks in the shadowy dark;

I will cling to the hope of tomorrow
and pull myself up to embark

on the journey of life that awaits me,
a future to flame from a spark;

be gracious in walk and grow kindness,
embrace what is tried and found true;

don't ever regret to go boldly
and reach for the good that is new.

the good in tomorrow is out there
past worries just waiting for you .

by Donna JT Smith
My OLW last year - BOLD  and this year's word - REACH both helped out today.

Poem and Keep Scavenging

SOL17 - 22

Hey, Hunters of Slices, Hunters of Poetry!  I didn't have any idea of today's post until last night, late.  Oh, and I just found my "Ode to a Tissue" posted at Michelle H. Barnes Today's Little Ditty.  Hope you can visit her.  It's tear-jerker - well, in a way...

Whilst reading last night instead of going to bed as I was supposed to be doing, I came across a cinquain Mrs. Surridge on her blog, Stuff, wrote about her pillow (I'm sorry, Mrs. Surridge, I don't know your first name!  I've looked and looked for it.  I feel like I should know you better!).

Her pillow was soft, fluffy, good for lounging, very welcoming - such a nice "friend" when you are in need of relaxation.  It was a lovely read.

But then she just had to ask, "Does that give away what I'm thinking?"
"Yes, I believe I know what’s on your mind" - sleep! (as I should have been doing right then); but then, came the "aha" moment and I added "….or what your mind’s on,"  as in your mind/brain is lying on the pillow!

And then it started, my mind was evidently not ready for the pillow yet.  With her poem, her picture of her pillow and my comment, a different view of that friendly pillow evolved:

A pillowcase I made; my grand daughter uses it when she visits!

Pillow Fight

My pillow’s on my mind
And I just want some sleep,
My mind’s on my pillow
While I’m still counting sheep;
They’re soft and they’re fluffy
But I can't keep from blinking;
My mind’s on my pillow,
I need to stop my thinking.
I have to get some rest
And end this endless night;
You, my dearest pillow,
Have provoked this mindless fight.
And now you must desist
And let me get my rest;
I’ve tossed and I’ve turned
While you have done your best
To keep me from my sleeping
You’re lumpy, scratchy, hard -
I'm thinking I’ll just go throw you
Right out into the yard!
What’s that I hear you saying?
You’ll try to be more billowy?
You want just one more chance
To behave a bit more pillowy?
Okay, I'll give you one more try
You must let me catch some z's,
To close my eyes and count my sheep
And end this pillow fight, please!


by Donna JT Smith

There.  Done.  Sleep.
Don't you love it when one post leads to another?  The beauty of SOL...

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If you are wanting to do the

click on the logo.  

It will take you through time, back to yesterday, where all the directions were, and all the clues were.  I will have the same hunt posted for as long as anyone wants to do it.  There's no time limit on it, though on Friday I will have links to all the places the poems have been posted, AND I will have a new one up.  You are free to do this one still.  It's good practice!

Friday's will be longer, AND I will have a padlet to use, so that you can post your own clues there.  More on that Friday.  But be thinking about creating your own poem from this Friday's

We have a few people who hunted down the words to yesterday's poem.
Here are links to their poems on their blogs:
TabathaYeatts:The Opposite of Indifference     Musings     Person 3?

Congratulations!
And don't forget, you get to wear a badge when you finish hunting down the words!

 Happy hunting, happy slicing, happy happy!

And just for fun... notice that at the top of my blog there is a link to the Padlet already.  AND I have included right here, a QR code to get to the padlet on your mobile device.  Just a fun think thing to try.

Scavenger Hunt for World Poetry Day

SOL#17, Day 21 -
It is World Poetry Day!  And one day into Spring!  So there has to be a poem today.  Today there will be two poems then, in a fashion.

First, today I am sharing a website that I used pretty frequently with my first graders, and then some with older students when I taught technology at the elementary schools.

ReadWriteThink

I am sure that teachers have been here before.  But just in case you haven't, here is a treasure trove of Poetry and Writing resources and tools.  I used to use the interactive parts with my students in computer lab, as a whole group activity in the room, or in a writing center.  I also just like to play around with it myself.  There is a cool "found poem" part that has a large word bank with the option of creating your own "magnetic" word to use.  Then you can save it to work on later, save it as a .pdf or email it.

My poem today is a found poem from 6 blogs today.  As I was visiting I pulled out phrases from each of the sites and composed this poem:

Beautiful sun glistening

Scoffing at the wind

Sending warmest wishes

Tossed on an updraft

On a frosty March morning

The welcome mat's out, Spring,

Come back!

These lines were taken from my post, Mainely Write on 3/20, Reading to the Core 3/17, Life on the Deckle Edge 3/16, Crackles of Speech 3/17, Live Your Poem 3/17, Violet Nesdoly/Poems 3/17, Dori Reads 3/17

It was an experiment in found poetry - lines found on each of the above sites.

You do not have to read the rest of this post, unless you want to.  This is an experimental challenge in Found Poetry, a scavenger hunt, below.  Another way to celebrate World Poetry Day, if you have time.

I will link to it all this week at the bottom of my posts for those looking for it again when they have free time!

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

Then I adapted the plan, with the help of Tabatha Yeatts and Linda Baie as guinea pigs...very cute and kind ones...it's just an expression.  I don't know why we couldn't have used butterflies or bunny rabbits more in experiments.  But I digress.

So to further celebrate World Poetry Day I have a

It is the first hunt of Poetry Hunting season (April being Poetry Month...)!

I have set up a Padlet to use starting next week for anyone who wants to submit a list of clues to their poem.  That will open on Friday.

Where did this come from?  Who is responsible for challenging me to do something, anything... with this?  Well, here is the short history of the

It all started when Tabatha Yeatts was born.  It would seem that the hunt should have a long history, but it doesn't.  It also has to do with a daughter of hers, who gave her a very special gift for her birthday.  This may have been done before, but I don't know of it, so there.  I have adapted this concept, so that many can play at once.  Literature is all around us.  So we are going to use the literature that we all have right here on our blogs!

Click HERE to see the history of this hunt.

Here's what you have to do to join the hunt:

1. First get yourself something to drink and maybe a snack.  Do not do this challenge until you have had sustenance. 

2. Make sure you are connected to the Internet and you have your computer in front of you - just like you do now.  Done!

3. I've linked to the pages where the poems are found.  You don't have to go looking for them!  Yay!  This time.

4. Below you will find the clues to a poem.  Read them, memorize them and then eat the paper so no one...

5. Do not really eat the clues, as it is not on real paper and you could get hurt.

6. Read the clues, and keep this page open so you can refer to them. 

7. Get something for recording the words as you find them. Paper and pencil, or open a document to copy and paste the words as you find them.

8. Now, get ready to FIND THAT POEM!  Look at the first clue.  It will tell you the blog's name.  It is one that was listed in the Poetry Roundup listing on March 17 (or 16). Open that blog post. You just have to click on the name; it is linked.

9. Read the next part of the clue.  Look for the P - it stands for Poem,.  It will tell you which poem it is on their page.  Some people have more than one poem listed.  Find the correct poem.  The number after the P is the poem number (1 would be the first poem on the page, 2 would mean the word will be in the second poem, etc.)

10. Once you have the correct poem, look at the clue again.  L stands for Line.  Count down the correct number of lines.  Titles don't count as lines.  If the L is 0, then that will mean the words are in the title line!  Sometimes there is only a part of a poem on the page, and you may have to click another outside link to get to the rest of the poem to get to the correct line where the rest of the poem is.

11. When you are on the correct Line, check the clues again.  W stands for Word/Words.  It is the number of the word or words being used.  So if there are 7 words in the line, and it says W3-5, you would use only the third, fourth and fifth words of that line.

12.  Take a sip of coffee, water, etc. 

13.  Carefully copy those words down in order.

14.  Do not do the directions in any other order.

15.  Do not do the clues in any other order.

16.  All clues are in the correct order to complete the FOUND POEM. 

17.  Post the found poem on your page.

18.  Put the link to your page here in comments so others may see it, when you have completed the

19.  Take one of these badges to show you are a Scavenger Hunter Extraordinaire.  Display it proudly!

The Badge - either

20.  Towel off and get another coffee - or water.

NOW for the clues!!!

1. A Journey Through the Pages - 3/17/17 -  P4  L1 W1,2
2. Life on the Deckle Edge - 3/16/17 - P1 L2  W 1-4
3. Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference - 3/17/17 - P2  L3  W1,2
4. A Word Edgewise - 3/16/17 - P1 L7  W 2-5
5. A Teaching Life - P1  L16  W 2,3 
6. A Day in the Life 3/17/17 - P1 L 7 W 3,4 
7. Kathryn Apel 3/17/17 - P1 L 5 W 3-9 
8. Random Noodling - 3/16/17 - P1 L2 W 2-4 
9. Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet - 3/16/17 - P1 L1 W 2-4 

This is a 9 line poem when you are finished.  I have double and triple checked it for errors... but I suppose I could have done something really not good.  If you keep coming up with something not making sense, leave a comment explaining.  I will need to fix it!

Stay tuned for the next

Don't forget to post
1. the poem on your site
2. leave your link in the comments so people can to there and see
3. let your blog wear the badge with pride - so far it is not on a shirt, so only your blog can wear it.

On Friday, I may try another, if this goes well...

Once Flaky, Now Shiny

#SOL17 number 20...
And it is officially Spring today...

Just look at the beautiful sun glistening on the waves...the white caps...

Snow banks at the parking lot, shining in the sun

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And here is another shot.  Note the way the waves break on the shore.

Looking out across the school ball field

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And here you can see the reflection of a mast of a sailboat on the glassy, calm waters. 

Ball field light pole reflection on frozen snow

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love how the waves rush in, crashing at shore's edge.

Plowed banks silhouetted against the frozen field, trees against the sky

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What?  Aw... snow?  Really?  I thought it was spring!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sun shining on the snow, melts it just a bit and then it refreezes.  It is not the fluffy stuff of shouting "Merry Christmas".  It is not packy.  It is packed... solid.  It is icy.

Yet, also because the sun is stronger now, it is melting in some spots, and then surface freezing, like on the road and walkways.  So just when you think you can walk on it, and not wear your boots because all is frozen solid... that's when you break through into the puddle below.  Ask me how I know.

No don't.  I'm drying my shoes.
It's a sure sign that spring will be coming soon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Poem time:

An acrostic for SUN

Steady, searing, shining star
Ushered unerringly upward, ultimately
Nudging neighboring nebulose night

by Donna JT Smith

Spring Flyers

Two Writing Teachers brings us the Slice of Life Challenge for March.  This is #19.  Thank you for all the inspiration and opportunities!

(My post a few days ago - the jealousy post - kept nagging at me.  I had good thoughts for that at one time; they had to do with the signs of spring that I can see.  I think this was it:)

Signs of spring?
In Maine, there are none to be seen outside except maybe the longer days.  We are still deep in snow.  It is still cold.  I need boots, winter coat, etc.  I still keep extra warm stuff in the backseat in case the car breaks down on the side of the road.  It will be a cold wait for help, or a cold walk to anywhere, so we still have emergency stuff in our cars.

But our mailbox has delivered signs of spring!

We got our hardware store flyer in the mail, and there are rakes on sale (and NOT roof rakes for the snow).  These would be the ones for raking up those dead leaves you missed in the fall.  They would be for the clumps of grass and rock that the plow has deposited on your yard.   They have lawn mowers and garden hoses.  They have bags of grass seed and lime, and seed packets.  You can even get leaf blowers, grills, coolers, and wheelbarrows.

The farm store has chicks ready for ordering.   It has wagons for pulling loads of mulch and other stuff around your estate. I didn't see a single snow shovel, generator, roof ice pucks, sled or bag of ice melt.

The fabric store is blossoming, too - all the floral fabrics are out, plastered on the cover and throughout the flyer.  There are lightweight fabrics, gardening tools, birdhouses, garden gloves, watering cans, pastel floral arrangements, pastel ribbons and butterfly wind chimes.  There is not a snowman, snowflake, star, or white flecked tree to be found.

The clothing catalog is sporting flip flops, tank tops and tee shirts.  There are rain boots, shorts and caps.  Stored away until mid-summer flyers are the boots, sweatshirts, snow boots,snow pants, mittens, and hats with fur lined ear flaps!

So there are definitely signs of spring that surround me, but none of them quite work for me yet.  When I see less white than brown, less ice than mud, more sun; when I see the only the tall black-brown covered pile of snow the plow placed skyhigh in the grocery store parking lot - then, and only then, will I declare it spring.  Everything else is just forced - like forcing a bulb to bloom on your counter in the dead of winter.  It does not make it spring.  I don't care what the calendar says.

It is not spring here yet.  Thanks for trying.
I remember the blizzard we got on April Fools Day, I remember the snow in June once... When I see all the pictures of blossoms and green happening elsewhere, I wonder about my choice of habitat.
I like snow, but really?
That green is starting to make me a tad jealous....or is that yearning I'm feeling?

Spring Timer

the earth is covered in white frozen shiny snow

where are those small bits that come up

through the dead brown wet mushy 

grass that is not dead either but 

only acts like it is and how 

can it not be dead in all

this cold deep freeze

oh it looks dead

it acts dead

until

it

isn't

anymore and

it starts to shimmer

and glimmer in a green

sequined vest and glorious

purple, pink, yellow, red hats

and they begin their dance in the

breezes sometimes colder than we think

they should get but they just wink and smile

and keep dancing to the stunning concert of birds

by Donna JT Smith