Feeling a Little Blue?

So, here's my dog, Pippi, sitting by her stuffed moose, Retrievering, as usual.  All in a day's work.

My daughter and grandson left this weekend after visiting for two weeks.

Pippi was very fond of my grandson's toys, though the books were of very little interest to her.  This twinkling ball was wonderful, and she also kept sneaking off with a small, blue stuffed whale of his. I discovered that she enjoys retrieving paper airplanes, too.  Fortunately, she is a Golden, so her mouth is very soft.  We get her chew toys, and she keeps them for years.  I think she still owns every toy we've ever given her.  We try to only give her children's stuffed animals, as she doesn't like the squeak in all the dog toys.  She hardly ever makes a toy squeak though.  But if we accidentally step on it, and it squeaks, she gets concerned for its health and well-being.

Pippi has enjoyed having this cracker dropper/toy hauler around.
I think she misses him, almost as much as I do.
The cat...not so much.

Bye-bye!  Thanks for sharing!

Osprey are Learning to Fly!

Mabel is about to fly today!  Maybe! Check out the Osprey Cam today.  Tory already flew off.  They will return to the nest for a while before migrating south.  They have a long way to go, so after the first few weeks of August they will be gone, heading off to their winter homes in places like Jamaica, Mexico or Florida.

There are a number of osprey nests around the area that you can see from the highway, from the river, and from the bridge.  They are in the tops of trees or on very expensive platforms built specifically for the osprey nests.  Sometimes it takes years for a pair of osprey to build on a new platform.  The pair stay together for their lifetime, though they "vacation" separately when they fly south.  They return to the same nest each year, returning to the same spot within days of each other.

They are fun to watch, so a few places have put cameras close to nests (which doesn't seem to bother them in the least).  Osprey are protected, so there are fines for disturbing them in any way.  Of course, a few years ago when they wanted to paint a small bridge joining the island to the mainland, the State had a problem...the osprey were about to return.  They had to put off painting the bridge for a year while the osprey raised a family.  Then they built a platform, moved the nest there, and put cones on the overhead bridge framework so they wouldn't begin a new nest in the spring.

So go visit the nest in Bremen, Maine!  Hopefully you will get to see her fledge!

Remember when I made that cake...

I still remember the first cake I made all by myself.  I was probably 12?  It was my mom's birthday, and she was at work.  I was the "babysitter" for my three siblings at the time.  I remember thinking what a surprise it would be if I made her a birthday cake to surprise her with when she got home.  I had made frosting with my mother's help before, and I'd seen her make cakes.  Of course, this was before cake mixes and canned icings were available, or at least not in our household.
The cake turned out...interesting.  When I think back on it, it was kind of a disaster, but I remember it as not only funny, but a bit of a creative problem-solving event.  For some reason, I really didn't see it as a disaster.  It was a "go with the flow", "one mistake after another" type of project.  I'm so glad it happened.
Wish Mom was still around today...I'd love to make her another birthday cake!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She won't be home for hours.
There's time to bake a cake.
It'll be the best surprise,
And not too hard to make.

Just get out some ingredients-
No "packaged cake mix" days-
Some sugar, flour and water;
Sure measure always pays.

Grease pan and heat the oven,
Pour mixture, scrape the sides;
Then put it in the oven
And watch it start to rise.

The sweet smell fills the kitchen
As it sets out to cool.
Begin to make the frosting
But it ends up a pool.

The yellow lumps of butter
Can't hide in chocolate soup
The icing must be poured on
It's more like icky goop.

Tip pan to get the cake out,
Oh, no!  It broke in two!
It makes it worse to fix it,
It's turning into stew!

Quickly arrange the cake clumps,
Pour chocolate butter lumps,
Yell "Happy Birthday, Mom!"
And add surprise-y jumps!

Those mountain cakey mounds
With chocolate soup for icing
Must still have been to my mom 
Just a bit enticing.

I wish I had a picture
Of Mom's birthday mis-cake
And her loving over-look
Of my multiple mistakes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wishing everyone an ever-loving, over-looking mom!

Check out more poetry links at Sherry's place Semicolon .  Thanks for hosting this week's Poetry Friday!

Bird Watching

We have a few osprey cams in Maine for viewing the young in the nests and their parents bringing them food - fish, that is. The huge nests built of very uncomfortable looking sticks are found up on top of dead trees, bridges, power line poles - any high perch near a river. This camera is in Bremen, Maine, and has some month olds. 

I'm blogging from my car on a road trip....

Just saw a momma duck and her ducklings trying to cross the road.  The car in front of us never flinched. Just ran over two or three. We and everyone else went around them.  I think she made it with the rest.  I am going to assume the person that ran over them just wasn't paying attention and didn't see them until too late. Momma duck was frantic trying to decide which way to go.  I hate when that happens.

Anyway, enjoy the osprey, while I try to get this out of my mind....

WRiTE Club 2013!

The 2013 bout of WRiTE Club is starting soon.  If you want to write for it...Sunday at midnight is the deadline for your 500 word submission.  If you want to be able to vote on the writing... you still need to sign up on the LInky to vote.  If you are not on the Linky and you vote for someone's piece of writing, your vote will be disqualified.
So write or read and vote, but go to DL Hammon's WRiTE Club 2013 to get more information, rules and regulations, and to register for a really fun writing bout!

I Told You I Would

Shiny, wet leaves this morning, looking out my window from my "blogging post".

I told you I would repost.  But I'm not.  Today is Poetry Friday over at Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Poetry Farm, and I have linked my post from Sunday to it today.  So Poetry Friday people will be going to my post about the e-zine, Shadows Express to read "Two Rainbows and the Moon", while we stay right here...
So what shall we do?
We're here in Maine, Vacationland...ah, a trip to the beach, a picnic, hike the trails, go fishing, pick strawberries, kayak the bay, eat some Gifford's ice cream, do some hammock stretching exercises...
Oh, it's raining outside... again?
It's actually cold enough in the house to turn on the heat.  A while ago there were a couple of sweltering, days and nothing was funny.   It got so hot in the middle of June, we broke down and bought an air conditioner.  That was evidently all we needed.  I was amazed by its cooling effect.  Most people have to install the air conditioner to have it work.  Ours is still in the box.  I may have to return it, it's making it rain now, too.  I don't know how to turn it up with the box still sealed.
Well, time to get that sweater and some socks...
and a puzzle or the cribbage board...
and hot chocolate.
Ok, really, I'm getting my socks and sweater.  And Gifford's is going to have to wait (yes, we eat ice cream even in winter here, but that's when we're wearing socks and not standing in the rain... well, wait... no, rain doesn't matter).
Anyway, I'm freezing.  But it's better than being hot, I think. 

Totally unrelated event as I finished this post:
HA!  I just saw something out of the corner of my eye... a big ole' wild turkey was looking in my sliding glass door at me (remember the one with no porch).   I guess they don't mind the cold, rainy weather.  Barefooted, too.
I love it here.

Elevator Gate Photo - 15 Words or Less Poetry

Laura Salas has 15 Words or Less picture prompted poetry today.  Go there to see the picture and read more poems inspired by this iron elevator gate.  I had to write three....sorry!  I'm stopping before they become four, or five.  You are welcome.

Eight arrows flew
Into the air
And landed in
A row right there!

~~~or~~~

A fancy comb
for Queenie's locks?
Or the elevated part
Of argyle socks?

~~~or~~~

Elevator eliminator = stairs
Procrastinator terminator = deadline
Incubator hibernator = egg
Instigator propagator  = gossip
Alligator motivator = hunger

E-Zine Published

Shadows Express e-zine has their Summer Edition out and available here free.  And my poem is in it!  Yea!  "Two Rainbows and the Moon" was written one year ago (less about a week) right after I saw that beautiful sky after a rain shower.  It just struck me as so beautiful, that I had to write about it.  Here's what I wrote the day I saw two rainbows and the moon, before writing the poem:

"But let me tell you what I saw.
On my left, the horizon was sporting puffy golden and pink clouds with upper highlights of silvery white on the light blue watercolored sky.  To my right, there were heavy gray clouds, threatening rain.  But in the middle of those gray clouds was a rosy deep pink glow, like the flushed cheeks of a child with a fever...the glow seemed to emanate from the cloud, but in reality it was the reflection of the setting sun on that cloud...and then...
two rainbows over that fevered cloud!
As I made a turning exit off the highway, almost reversing my direction, I saw now between the two sun creations, the bright white, almost full moon in the clearing between the clouds of the setting sun and the reflective clouds with rainbow.
How much beauty can you take at one sitting, I wondered.
I was mesmerized and wished that I could somehow get this recorded.
I guess I did in a fashion...
I hope my memory of it remains clear.  At least I've written a photograph."

Then I wrote the poem.  To read the poem, go to Shadows Express, and then read lots of good short pieces and poems by new writers... Hey, I'm on the last page!  How great is that!?!?!?! I love it!  And I love the photo they put as a background.  It isn't quite as lovely as what I REALLY saw that day, but it's still pretty great!
Thank you everyone who has encouraged me in my poetry.  I love doing it, and though sometimes I am still scared inside that people are just being nice to me and tolerating my  okay poems, I'm beginning to believe that some of them might really be pretty ok.  Why is it so hard to believe in ourselves sometimes?  I'm still sure someone someday is going to step forward and say, "Who do you think you are, girl?  You aren't a writer.  We've just been letting you write and making you feel good as best we could.  But your time's up.  Put your pencil down and get the laundry done."  Oh, wait, that "someone" saying that is me.
Anyway, I am going to be so bold as to say: I liked this piece -  I am pleased with this poem -  I hope I have more in me that can fall onto the page as well as this one did.
And it is so absolutely neat that on the last possible submission day, which also happened to be my husband's birthday, I accidentally re-discovered this ezine as I was blogging around.   And then I got so bold as to think "why not?"  And submitted a poem.  AND got it accepted.
If you saw this today, you will see this as a repost on Friday.  Readership is down on Sundays, and I'd like to have it posted for Poetry Friday.  So I'm pre-posted for two days.  I was going to wait until Friday to post this, but I just CANNOT.
Have a great day, all!
Wishing you two rainbows and the moon today!
Embedding it here:

Cat and Mouse Game

Today is Poetry Friday and it's being hosted by Carol at Carol's Corner.  Go there after you leave here and read some other great poems and things about poetry linked on that page!

A couple of days ago, we watched a robin in the middle of the road readying a caterpillar for its meal...not the caterpillar's meal... the ROBIN'S meal OF caterpillar.  I have to get better at the English language.  It's the only language I speak, so there are no other options or excuses.  Maybe I should learn French.  I might be better at it, who knows?

I wish I'd gotten a picture of this incident though.  It was cute in a kind of cruel way... but it was just nature's food chain thing:

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Intent on a caterpillar crossing the road 
The robin ignores our car to do what he does
We wait a few feet away hoping no one comes
While he keeps a beady eye on the stretchy fuzz
  - and we wait.
The robin sees nothing but his prey in his path
As he keenly keeps his focus pointed then - jab!
Curled caterpillar bounces and rolls like a ball
He plays with it like a cat with mouse until - stab! 
  - on the plate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cute image, huh?  Okay, now for the short version:

Caterpillar crossin' -

Robin starts a'tossin'!

Caterpillar bounces -

Robin pecks and pounces!

Caterpillar's fate -

Robin's dinner plate!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's short and sweet...
           "Like a caterpillar!" declares Robin...

Thank You for Yesterday

I was overwhelmed by the blitzing yesterday.  It was so incredible to have that many people visit my site.  I hoped that no one was disappointed in their time spent!  It occurred to me that it could have been a silly waste of time - a nice gesture - but still a waste of someone's time.  For those who don't like poetry it probably WAS a checklist item... go there, grit your teeth when you see it is poetry time, read it (maybe), comment, done, get on to something else.  And for anyone who was looking for tips about writing... not here.  For a paranormal experience?  Nope.  Won't happen here.  For a funny, squirt milk out your nose laugh?  Not yesterday anyway!  For a cute cat picture?  Sorry, not yesterday - Purrsee wasn't posing in our frying pan again.  For a cute, young blogger with fluttering eyelashes?  Ha! She's been here, but left a few years ago.

So...SO...for all of you that visited yesterday and read my poems of trees and sight, whether you got what you came for or just checked off a list item, I want to thank you.  Thank you, because whether YOU got what YOU needed...you were willing to give someone else something that THEY needed!

And I am so grateful for this experience and happy that I have blitzed others alongside you.  It's an incredible experience and I wish it upon everyone!

In Celebration of Seeing Trees

At long last all the trees in Maine are sporting fresh greens, and I have sprouted glasses.  These coinciding events have made me doubly appreciative of each.   See yesterday's post "The Blessing of Sight".

I got carried away and decided to literally focus on trees for today.  I pulled the first rhyming poem from my file of poem parts and finished editing it, and then the second one, non-rhyming, is hot off the press, having just popped out of my brain and plopped out on the page.

So now the two Poet Trees to celebrate Seeing Trees... that would be ME seeing trees, not trees that actually SEE... but you knew that. 

Poplars never stand alone
Where one is there’s another
And if the other’s not a friend
It’ll be a sis or brother.
They shake their green well-spangled arms
When winds begin to shout
They flutter-dance and clap and swing
Till leaves laugh inside out.
A happy lot the poplar is-
So friendly and quite popular
From spreading roots below its trunk
To the upper tippy-topular.

And my second "Seeing Trees" poem today:

I never saw you

this way before

or maybe I have

but it's been so long

that I forgot -

I forgot

how your arms

could reach out

to greet me

how up and down

your rough exterior

valleys were created

for ants and caterpillars

and made harsh lichened wrinkles

that skinned my elbows and knees

I've rediscovered how

shadows play with you

and make you

twinkle and shimmer

I seem to remember

how crisp your leaf edges

could be

I am fascinated at

the perfection in

all your imperfections

elegant

flora of forest

with fantasy

roots housing

woodland fairies

and chattering

chipmunks

providing lofty shelter

for birds and

cupping feathered nests

shading turkeys and deer

that scratch and browse below

while overhead

squirrels make their

way on unnamed roads

and highways

overpasses

without stop signs

or speed limits

I want to see

all the splendor

of your world

If I were younger

I would climb

as I did in years past

to look at the world

surrounded by a leafy frame

but today I sit below

leaning against

the solid
age concealing bark

my head tilted skyward

looking up

at your leafy

kaleidoscope

world

Have a wonderful day!  Hug a tree if you get a chance!

The Blessing of Sight

Baby grasshopper by a small water bottle cap.

This morning, as I stood on my porch, I saw things.  I have new glasses.  I've been wearing reading glasses for quite some time.  Years.  And I just got bifocals.  I have a cataract in my right eye and my left has had double vision for a few years now.  I've made do with readers, refusing to succumb to the authentic need for vision assistance.  The cataract will be dealt with in a few months, but I decided I really would like to see before that.  So now I have my glasses. 
I almost cried in the office when I got them.  It wasn't a good cry.  It was not a cry of "Oh, how wonderful, I can finally see again!"  It was a cry of, "Oh, no, I still can't see and it's even worse with glasses on!"  The 200 pairs of glasses on the wall in front of me looked like 400.  The words she put in front of me to read, floated from large to small and wide spacing to narrow.  I could see nothing, and was nauseous to boot.
These can't be the right prescription.  She checked the numbers.  Everything checked out; it was my prescription.  Maybe the doctor had made a mistake?  I would have to go back to see him and get this straightened out - literally.
I put the glasses in their case and left the store with my son.  As we got to the parking lot, I told him that if these were supposed to be the right prescription, maybe I just needed to put them on and see if my eyes would adjust somehow.  It would have to be a miracle though.  These glasses were terrible and I didn't know that I could have them on long enough to even find out if they were ever going to work.  But I put them on anyway and made my way to the car.  I drove with them at the ready...ready to take them off, that is.  I didn't think driving was the best place to experiment, but I did it anyway.  Actually getting out of the office with all the glasses on the wall staring at me had helped immensely.  It was about a 25 minute drive home, and I took the glasses off a couple of times, when I really needed "familiar" depth perception - like pulling up behind someone at a stoplight.  But then I'd pop them on again.  My eyes  actually started getting used to the distance vision. 
As I pulled into our driveway, which is a wooded setting, I could see the light playing deep in the forest that I hadn't seen in years.  I could see the full roundness of the tree trunks, even the sharp edges of the leaves as they moved in the breeze.  It looked like the branches were reaching out to me now.  I laughed. The whole image was surreal.  I made the comment to my son that it was like being in a 3D movie...at which point he asked, "Mom, do you really think you should be driving?" 
I was in my own personal stereoscopic viewer world.  Yes, I should be driving.  I was going to keep my eyes open forever.
I realized because of the glasses I had been wearing, one eye had become dominant over the other with them on, and the other was dominant with them off.  They were never working together anymore really.  And now, with these glasses, my eyes were learning to work cooperatively again. 
The optometrist says it may take a few weeks to be fully comfortable with the glasses.  The close vision is still weird at times, but it's getting better.  I don't have to squint and rub my eyes all the time now.  I can see to read fairly well, and better than I could.  I'm excited to see things I didn't know I was missing.
The great part is, I can see how beautiful the world is again.
The not so great part is ... I have wrinkles.

Wordless Wednesday

Another rainy day.

I Wonder...

It's Poetry Friday!  Yea! Tabatha Yeatts of The Opposite of Indifference is our gracious host today.  Go find some great poetry links to sunny up your day and make your toes sing! (oh, yeah, they sing...ask my kids) 
Okay, here are my poems for kids at heart... all wondery today.  The first one, posted before but read very little, was instigated by Father Goose.  It in turn instigated the others poems.  I wonder what will be next.

How and Why

Are you supposin'
a rose is chosen
by a honeybee's nosin'?
Or thinkest thou
the hue is how
and why a rose gets chosen?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ant Bee

An ant's as busy as a bee
without the wings to fly.
Do you think ants would love a chance
to strap on wings and try?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Wonder

I wonder what a fish would do
if he had shoes like us.
Do you think he would walk to school
or ride in a school bus?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who Is It?

When I was just a little one
I knew my momma’s voice;
And if I saw a hundred mom’s
There'd only be one choice.
I’d know my momma’s face and sound,
And run right up to her;
I’d snuggle close to go to sleep,
And then I’d start to ...
                             
                                        purr-rrr-rr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a few more "wonders"...

Drama in the Woods

I was working around the kitchen when I heard the little notification that my daughter was online and chatting with me.  So I went over to the computer on the kitchen table - well, one of the kitchen tables - the cat and computer table - and started chatting back.  I face the sliding glass doors to nowhere - twelve years and no deck yet - when I sit at my computer, so I can watch the backyard where turkeys and deer meander through occasionally.  My husband has been keeping up with a bird feeder out there that two red squirrels have taken a liking to, along with some gorgeous blue jays, some chickadees and a variety of other seed-eaters.  From time to time there is a ruckus as both squirrels arrive at the same time.  I've watched them stare each other down - one one the seed brick and the other on a nearby branch.  No one gets to eat then. 

Squirrel 1 on seeds, Squirrel 2 on empty corn holder - staring at each other.

Finally, I will see one chase the other up and down and around tree trunks until someone gets too tired and leaves.  I never know if it's the one doing the chasing or the chasee that gets tired...they look alike and it's a bit like a NASCAR race to me as to whom is ahead of whom.  I mean, when you are going around and around a tree trunk, how do you know who's being chased?
Anyway, as I was chatting...you know, with my daughter...I told you that.  I'm hearing all sorts of commotion in the woods outside.  Scampering, leaves and brush moving, squirrel barking.  Yes, they bark.  My husband is a squirrel eater and he knows.
This commotion seemed to go on for a bit, but I couldn't see anything happening, until suddenly this large bird flew quietly through the trees, and out toward the house.  Now the chattering, barking squirrel was really upset, wherever he was.  I grabbed my camera and went outside (not through the sliders though - and why not?) and slowly went around to the back of the house.  There in the tree just a few feet into the woods was a big ol' owl looking down at me (at this point I remember hearing the owl call just about 10 minutes earlier). 

The squirrel was barking at me now, too and I could see him on the tire of the old lawn tractor, hiding under the fender of the rear wheel.  I took a picture of him and then looked back to take one of the owl, but he was gone.  Just like that.  No noise, no commotion.  Just gone.

The squirrel stopped his barking.  I guess he was no longer mad at me.  He just stared at me from under his John Deere roof.  I went back inside and finished my chat.  The squirrel after a bit came out and raced up and down the closest tree three or four times.  On his last run up the tree he kept going.... hey, now I know why they call them routes and branches...well, roots and branches... they misspell root on the maps.

A blue tarp has been pretty much removed and its fabric backing torn off for some plush nests.

Sunshine

Thanks, Mary Hill of Maryeandering for passing on the Sunshine Award to me.  I would love to now pass on a little sunshine if I could today.

Here are my answers to the questions posed -

1. What inspired you to start blogging?  
I actually started blogging on a couple of my other sites,  one being "Wireless in the Wilderness" which was the start of a blog telling people where they could have a cup of coffee and be wireless in Maine - which are not always easy to find in the wilderness, and the other is "Talk n Tech" which was to pass along tech tips for teachers.  I then got involved with Two Writing Teachers through their Slice of Life daily blogging in March two years ago,  and from there I just kept on writing.

2. How did you come up with the name of your blog?  
Well, my site is main(e)ly my writing in Maine.  It just fit and no one had the name already.  Can you imagine if I lived in California...Californialy Write...nope.

3. What is your favorite blog to read?  
This is not a blog of one of my blogger friends out there.  It's just a blog I've enjoyed reading and recommended to my new mom of a daughter. I haven't visited it much lately.  The title is almost worse/better than the blog: Crappy Pictures.  A mom draws simple pictures to go with her all too real stories about her life with young children and family pets.  I find it hysterical most of the time. You need to read more than one post to get a real feel for the reality of it.  Maybe start with this one.
I have many other favorite blogs written by bloggers I've come to know a bit, but I hesitate to name them all, as I will undoubtedly leave out someone's blog.  So suffice it to say, if you know I'm talking about you, I am.

4. Tell us about your dream job: 
Being a writer and writing something really, really wonderful that even I like to read, as well as people who don't even know me, so they don't have to think it is wonderful because they know me, but think it is wonderful in spite of the fact that they don't know and love me already.

5. Is your glass half-full or half-empty?  
My glass is at least half full.  It's usually running over.  I really need to pay attention when I turn the water on.  A couple of days ago I was cleaning the kitchen sink and I left the water running.  Good thing there was that second drain...

6. If you could go anywhere for a week's vacation, where would you go?  
I would teleport to Newfoundland.  I don't want to go by boat or plane and a car is out of the question.  So I'd teleport as soon as that becomes available to people older than 6.  I've taught first grade.  They teleport.

7. What food can you positively not eat? 
It seems that I have developed an allergy to strawberries and grapes.  And I hate egg whites.  Uncooked they are gross and cooked you can chew them all day and you can't swallow them.  They just turn to fine particles that stay in your mouth forever.

8. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate? 
Yes, please.  (you know, for the longest time I was reading it as chocolate milk and couldn't figure out why the question would be worded that way)

9. How much time do you spend blogging? 
I don't think this is important for anyone to know.  I can quit any time I want to.  I quit before.  I could quit again.  I'm fine.  I can quit chocolate, too.

10. Do you watch TV and if so, what are your favorite shows? 
We are on AppleTV and watch mostly old shows on Netflicks.  We watch all the episodes of a couple shows at a time, one episode a night till it's over.  One of my very favorites is a British show called Doc Martin.  He's a surgeon who has developed a blood phobia and has moved out to a private practice in a rural coastal area.  He's a bit autistic, so it makes for very interesting viewing.

Okay, now for 9 out of the 10 bloggers possible, that I have nominated for the Sunshine Award - take the button and answer the questions, if you feel up to it!

Linda Baie at Teacher Dance

Lynn Proctor at My Life as Lynn Proctor

Ethan Russell at Wind and Wheat

Faith Elizabeth Hough

Tina at Life is Good

Misha Gericke at My First Book

Cindy Dwyer at A Reason to Write
Andrew Leon at Strange Pegs 
Tara at A Teaching Life

Saturday's Poetry Friday Continued

Well, Friday morning came way too early for me.  I was congested and up by 2 am and attempted to sleep in a chair.  That didn't work out.  So I was pretty tired for Friday.
While I was awake, I wrote my poems for Poetry Friday and posted them along with some tired drivel that I decided to leave up.
After I posted my poet/poet tree poem, I visited other Poetry Friday posts.  When I got to Father Goose's I read his poem about a bee, and then wrote the following poem as a comment.  I changed my mind, and didn't submit it as a comment.   I'm posting it now as a poem inspired by the poem written by Charles Ghigna at Father Goose's.

Are you supposin'
a rose is chosen
by a honeybee's nosin'?
Or thinkest thou
the hue is how
and why a rose gets chosen?

Oh, goodness.  The title that I was just about to write for this post has inspired me to write something else.  So I have to think of a different title, just in case I use the one I'm thinking of on some other piece of writing.  I'm becoming consumed by another idea now.  I should be sick all the time.

Poetry Too Early

I woke up at 2:00 AM and it is now 4:23 AM.  These are not hours one should be aware of.  Or - These are not hours of which one should be aware.  Oh, dear.  I'm getting tired when a preposition at the end of a sentence bothers me. I'm sneezing and coughing and stuffy.  I haven't been sick since a lot of time ago.  I don't think I'm going anywhere tomorrow/today.  Mucinex DM, please kick in.  I want to go to sleep.
While sleepless, I did manage to be somewhat fruitful, crawling out to the computer and writing these for Poetry Friday hosted by Betsy at Teaching Young Writers.  I don't know why, but poetry and poet tree and po-or tree kept floating through my mind.  I stopped them for a bit to mull them over and try them out.  So this is very early morning poetry...and there is no poet tree in sight.  I am not sitting under it.  I'm in the kitchen 'neath a bright o'erhead light.  Oh, I'm tired.  I need to breathe.
I'm posting this and then maybe sitting upright in the living room to fall asleep before the dawn's early light...which should be happening any minute now.  Oh, no.  I hear birds.  It isn't even light yet, and the birds are awake...I'm doomed!

Poet

Poet tree
I sit by thee
and write a bit
of poetry
I'm happy to be
poet me
instead of
little
poet tree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poet Tree

I'm a little poet tree
Where poets come to sit by me
And wrestle with their poetry.

I wish that I had words as fruit
And ripened they'd fall at my root
And poets could pick ones that suit.

But I've no words so cannot try it
I only have some shade and quiet
I cannot help a poet write it.

I'm just a peaceful poet tree
Where fruitful poets sit by me
And words submit to poetry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm out of here.  Ear plugs for the birds.  I mean for me... so the birds can't be heard.  I don't even know where their ears are.  I think the Mucinex is working.  I'm breathing and sleepy.

PS: I wrote another poem that I will wait to post tomorrow.  It isn't about a poet tree, thankfully.

15 Words or Less: Returning Thoughts

In 15 Words or Less - my response to Laura Salas' challenge for Thursdays....Go there to see the photo prompt and read other responses to it.

Currents of thoughts,
like water through
a trap,
with turning tides,
return
yet untapped.

One More Thing!

This is not a real lobster.  Do not eat it.

We have been doing a special Sunday School program for 6 weeks now, and will in two weeks be at our final day of the program.  I won't go into detail here, but suffice it to say it involves decorations, incentives (food and prizes), weekly letters home, puppets, scripts, activities and songs.  I have been writing and arranging all these for each week and have enjoyed every minute of it.  It is time intensive, though.  It means writing letters on Mondays; printing and snail mailing on Tuesdays; researching for and starting the script on Tuesdays; writing and emailing scripts on Wednesdays; making sure everything is in place for Sunday on Thursdays and Fridays; and getting extra letters for new people on the bus route for Saturdays.  This has left very little time for SOL on Tuesdays, Poetry Fridays, 15 Words or Less on Thursdays, and writing my own project manuscript.

But now, there's one more thing.

When a group of singers came to sing this Sunday at church, the lady that travels with them saw the program in Sunday School and really liked it.  She's an editor of an ezine, and  asked me if I'd write an article about the why's, how-to's and what's of this program.  It will still be for no pay... but it is writing.   Wow.  I am amazed.
And now I am just a little bit busier.  I have one more thing to write...750 words or less...I hope I can be concise.  I hope it can be used.  I think I'd better get busy, I have a script to write first...it's Tuesday.

Double Take

Today is Poetry Friday, hosted by Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Snow finally erased

from memory

I do a

Double take as

Bluettes skim

The new spring grass.

15 Words or Less Today

Laura Perdie Salas does a "15 Words or Less" writing challenge on Thursdays, which I used to do pretty regularly.  I need to get back to that, because I really like it.  So today I went there and found, as a writing prompt, this gorgeous theater picture all golden and tall.  And so I wrote what it made me think of in 15 words exactly.  It came to me pretty quickly.  About 4 renditions before I could say it in only 15 words.
I love being in old, elaborate, ornate theaters.  I wish we still made them that way. The acoustics are phenomenal, and there's so much to look at during intermissions!

I drew this awesome picture in Canvastic....so I wouldn't have to use any one else's photo to illustrate it...I think it sets a classic tone for whole blog today.   I think you should look at Laura's picture though, too, as you may find that hers is a bit more to your liking!

songs and
declarations rise
leaving golden
voiceprints
where they rest
evidence
that they
were here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then I found this one in my head...

          popping around....

                   so I wrote it down here...

                            stopping the popping...

"The pop stops here!"

I'm going to make a poster of that to put above my workspace!

Sometimes you jut have to write stuff down so you can relax again.

Here's the second 15 worder to go with the photo/exquisite drawing.

tragedy’s
golden backdrop
comedy’s
shining stage
drama’s
opulent setting
audience’s
stunning vehicle
to virtual reality

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Found Poem in the Midst of Our SOL

I've taken most of our Slice of Life post titles and written a found poem...It's a triple part slice of life poem of appreciation...a gift of acknowledgement to slicers out there.  I apologize if I could not fit yours in this poem.  Some titles were just not fitting in the three categories to my liking, so I had to leave them out. I have read almost all the posts today and found so many good ones.  Lots about connectedness and connections in life, lots of reflective pieces on the past school year and Oklahoma.  Now I'm going back for commenting.  Wow.  What a group.  What wonderful slices.  Just thought you should know.  I appreciate you.
See what I'm talking about.  Visit the "rest of the stories" here at Two Writing Teachers.


A Triple Slice of Life - Appreciation Feedback: A Gift of Acknowledgement


Oklahoma strong
Storms
Swarm
This close;
All gone,
New game.
Material Girl through a new lens

Praying for Oklahoma,
The bitter with the sweet

Connectedness
.

The Great Divide -
Should have been...

Beginning to reflect...

What about respect
?

Thinking about purpose for students,

Risking mediocrity
;
Tales of words, rich - glorious - sound stretching words
...
Clerihews and limericks.

Mind flip -
Saturday mornings
Searching

My secret keeping place
,

Walking

(I am not much of an outdoor person)
,
Summer reading

Once a year
 -
No Regrets.

This is Not the Poem

I came across a link yesterday purely by accident and just in time.  I could have dismissed it.  But I didn't.  I pursued it.  And in one day I got an answer.  One day.  Actually in less than 24 hours I got a yes.  It's not a huge deal but it is.
Anyway, when you are done here, hop on over to the next Poetry Friday host's site to catch some more poetic blogging entries.  They're at Ed DeCaria's Think, Kid, Think!

My husband had a birthday
On the 15th day in May
And I wished for him a good one
I sang his praise that day

As I poked around my blogroom
I noted one old link
I'd followed for a while
But they'd drifted off, I think

They hadn't posted in a while
Since April's end last year
So I went off to take a peak
Don't know what drove me there

This poster only wrote for May
Then came to a dead stop
They only wrote for A to Z
Existing for one hop.

I don't know why I did it
But I clicked the site a bit
And found a little book link
That said to click on it

And that is where I found
A magazine online
Submit your finest work
You haven't lots of time

Have you a work in words?
Do you have aught to say?
The deadline is approaching
Submit it right away

And so I rushed a copy
By email, not by post
They really liked my poem
Though I don't want to boast

They said that it was good
They said they'd like to use it
So I'm going to have it published
Where others may peruse it

As soon as it comes out
I'll tell you where to find it
I had to tell someone, so
I hope you didn't mind it!

It isn't a paper copy, and it isn't for money, but it's published by someone other than myself!  So I'm pretty ecstatic.  I'll give you details when it comes out.

Happy Birthday!

It's a pretty day!

My birthday card to my husband today:

Happy birthday to the one

I love the most in all the world!

I'm so happy that you were born;

I would not be the me I am today

If not for that wonderful day!

Your day is worth celebrating

To me and to all who know you.

Even if you don't want to acknowledge

The passing of years,

I still need to celebrate the fact

That you came into this world 

On this day in May

And that meant 

You would come into 

My world someday,

And we would make 

Our world

Together.

I know he always reads my blog.  He's one of my secret readers who never comments!  We have no cake today.  I gave him his present yesterday.  The only thing left is this page and my e-card.  Those e-cards take him days to open for some reason.  He just sees that they are there and then leaves them unread until I bug him about it.  Here's my official bugging him about it #1.  It's a pretty day for a birthday.

Here are some flowers I picked (to photograph) for you!

Ten Things (or so) That Make Me Really Happy

It's Slice of Life Tuesday, so head on over to Two Writing Teachers, Stacey and Ruth's for some great blog reading.

I have not blogged every day in May, but I think I'm going to take some prompts from Jenni at Story of My Life, where she has a challenge to Blog Every Day in May.  I'm not going to actually DO the challenge, as May is just too busy AND I've missed almost half of May now anyway.  I got the idea of just hopping in in the middle from Mary at Mary-andering Creatively, since she just started it yesterday.  I'm just adding my own twist now in addition to coming in late...

The Challenge today is to write 10 things that make you really happy.  I'm going to start listing, but I'm afraid there may be 100 things that make me really happy.  I don't know if since I'm not really doing the challenge, that I will stick with 10 things, or not.  I might be finished writing now.  Maybe I'll just be a channel for others to go to her site.

But here goes.  I think I will start.  Wait.  Should I do it randomly, or put number one as my happiest thingy, or my least happiest thingy - though it wouldn't be least anyway because I have more than 10 and least would be like the 99th-ish?  I'd best start with the happiest maker, or I'd never get to it the other way without listing all 100 things.

1. My husband, even though sometimes, rarely, we aren't happy with each other.  Most of the time we are happy and very.  And the rare times are just that - rare and short-lived.  So, though he is not technically a "thing" that makes me happy, I'm still going to let him make the list of top ten...or the list of top one, if I stop here.

2. Wildlife walking through or using my yard as if I didn't live here.  Turkeys, deer, moose, owls, grouse, robins, chickadees, phoebes, mourning doves, squirrels, butterflies, dragonflies and hawks.  I'm not even upset about the occasional snake.  I do, however, hate the bees, mosquitoes, wasps and ants...oh, and spiders.  But we aren't talking about them right now.  Just the happy critters.

3.  My grandson's "hewwo".  I actually could put this first on the list, but my husband was first in my life and without him we would not have our grandson...I'm going to try to put an audio file in here.  He's so cute.  And I am not just saying that.  He is.

4. Pancakes.  I don't think these are going to be in order now.  I have a feeling there will be something that makes me happy even more than pancakes...oooh, besides them being blueberry pancakes with REAL maple syrup!  Now that makes me happier.  We'll go with that, so that the next thing really will be less happy making.

5. Spying a flower in the woods.  I don't care which kind.  They all are like little treasures that only you got to see.  Well, unless you are in a park on a trail and then others will and probably have seen it.  But I'm a pretty good pretender, thanks to my mother, who told me everything should be an adventure.  She was an adventurer in our backyard.

6. My mother then, should probably get to be on this list, again not as a thing, but the things she did.  Even though she's passed on, she is an incredible influence on my life.  She's still here when I need her.  I just ask myself, "what would Mom have done?".

7. Sitting by the ocean makes me happy.  I don't seem to do it long though.  I think actually I need to be walking by the ocean.  Sitting makes me antsy to be looking at the beach instead of sitting on it.  There are so many things to discover that have washed ashore.  I love finding beach glass, interesting rocks, creatures and even pieces of creatures... shells, that is.  And I love the sounds of the waves and the gulls.  I usually have to walk in the water some, even if I'm going to get wet and have no towel or way to get the sand off my feet.  It's not going to kill me to track some sand in my shoes!

8. The sound of the ice cream truck makes me happy in a way.  I don't think it deserves to be on this list though.  The ice cream it trucks around is terrible and expensive.  And now that I think of it, it actually always brings me back to a day when I was a kid and it was coming past the end of our road.  I finally got to my mom who gave me some money for an ice cream...but the truck was gone before I could get down the road.  I hate ice cream trucks.

9.  Ice cream makes me happy.  All kinds.  Plain or sundae.  In a cone or in a dish.  Just not melted and sticky on me or the table.

10. Book smells make me happy.  I don't like the smell of musty, old books, though.  Just new books.  It makes me think of the old Trixie Belden mysteries I used to buy, and the book orders from Scholastic and Troll.  We didn't have much money when I was a kid, but there was one thing my parents WOULD buy me and made sure to provide for me, and that was books!  I read anything and everything I could get my ready little hands on (oh, I thought that was going to be so clever when I wrote it...like greedy - read-y as in reading a book...but no, now I see it is "ready" which is a real word making it a not so clever and somewhat confusing usage of the word "ready".  I guess it could be "ready to get the book in my hands and read it" meaning.)

So there's my 10 things that make me happy.
I think number 23 would be my rose bushes out in front of our house.  They look scraggly most of the time, but when they are blooming.  Wow.  What a wonderful, sweet smell as I walk up to the front door.  I probably should make them like number 6 or 7 instead.  Well, I'm not going to keep this up, because now I'm thinking of other things, like my cup of tea with cookies, listening to Celtic music, making jewelry, sewing, baking bread...this is never going to end if I go past 10 or start second guessing myself.  So just assume, if something you know I like didn't make it to this list, it's just that 10 is not enough, and I can't always remember all the things that make me happy until they do it.  I'm happy now, and nothing is going on except my cat cleaning himself right here on my table beside my computer as I type this.  Computer #16, Cat #32.  The computer doesn't throw up hairballs.  Yet.

Harbor Spring

In a somewhat cheating fashion, I wrote part of this yesterday and posted it.  Then this morning, I fully intended to just use Thursday's post as my Poetry Friday offering.
But the poem had other ideas.  Instead, I cut and pasted just the poem into a new post.  Then, like I said, the poem had still other ideas because just after I did that, it decided to grow new limbs.  So I've put additional lines to the poem, per its request.  Thank you so much poem for making me late for both posting AND my shower.

Harbor Spring

It’s time...
One by one they slip back
Into the waters again
happy greetings abound
around the harbors
and coves
the docks awaken
to the sound of boots
to the curl of ropes
to the scuff of traps
to the rumble
of men and boats
activity not
seen or felt
for the long, deep
cold days
on shores
...it’s time!
The smells
of bait
of salty air
of fuel
and musty
foul weather gear
all mingle
together
to make
the sights and
sounds fully
real
...it's time!
Hands grip
faces set
seaward
legs brace
remembering rhythms
an arm extended
to the sky
to the shore
a salute
a wave
a see you later
gotta go
and she's off
...it's time!

©Donna JT Smith, 2013

Keeping on Track

I am trying to stay on track with a project I'm doing...
So first I had to get this little boat to keep by my computer as a reminder to stay focused.  It's on my keyboard even as I type.  As long as I don't need the numerals two, three and four, I'm all set.  I guess I should move it a little to the side or middle.

And then I made this cute Tagxedo, to remind me of what it is I'm supposed to be focusing my attention on...

I had to draw the boat shape first.  Then I listed the names, decided on a font, etc., etc., and so forth.
Not sure, but I might be distracting myself from the important task.  I'm going to get right back to it now.
Just have to start the wash.  Oh, right, the paper shredder area needs vacuuming, too.  It was too full when I tried to empty it after shredding paper this morning.  I'll just quickly pop in the den and finish that job.
And then - then you will see work on my project like I have never done - yet.
Is there anyone else in this boat with me?

Oh, no.  A poem just came.  At least it's on topic.

Harbor Spring

It’s time...
One by one they slip back
Into the waters again
Happy greetings abound
Around the harbors
And coves
The docks awaken
To the sound of boots
To the curl of ropes
To the scuff of traps
To the rumble
of men and boats
Activity not
Seen or felt
For the long, deep
cold days
On shores
...it’s time!

©Donna JT Smith, 2013

Stop Moving, May! I Want to Bask!

May is just tooling along, just like March and April did.  What is with these spring months?  They just keep moving along like we are in a hurry.  Today is another beautiful day, and it is going to be tomorrow if I blink.  I would so like the days to slow down so I can enjoy them a bit more.

These are the days I was looking forward to savoring as a retired teacher.  I no longer have to keep tabs on where each student is, what assessment I still have to give someone, do I have a good piece of writing from each person, and have I written all scores in the 20 places they need to be recorded (even though they told us having the "system" would make it easier - somehow it just added places to put information without cutting any of the others out).

I want to bask in the sunshine of these days of not having to sort and pack up a thousand books to store over the summer - along with every other little scridge of paper, every block, every pencil, crayon, calendar piece, and oh, so many other little pieces of vital equipment you will need for teaching the next year.  No more do I need to make sure everything is stored on shelves or the moving storage cabinets or in boxes stacked on top of tables or desks.  This time of year was building up to the grand finale and your stuff is in the way for washing the floors over the summer.
 
The primary grades are killers for packing at the end of the year.  First of all, there is just so much stuff...so many little pieces, manipulatives, hundreds and hundreds of books, pieces of paper, crayons, pencils, stickers, erasers, art scraps, number lines, markers...  And surprisingly, the students aren't much help.  I would just try to be civil when a teacher of older kids would say, "Get your kids to help!"   Believe me, I've tried.  And tried numerous ways.  No help.  At all.  No help. 

Oh, yeah, on surface level it looks like they've done what you asked.  There are piles of books. But as to sorting the books according to the level tag on the back -  well, sometimes they couldn't find that big yellow dot with the 13 in it, so used numbers that were somewhere else on the back of the book...like an ISBN number.  So even if most of the books were done correctly, you still had to go through them again to make sure.

Packing a box is another non-helpful chore.  They don't know how to pack things so that you can get more than three items in there, or so that you can actually close the box without bending the top of a book over.  So you have to figure in repacking time.

Then there's the "someone else's job looks more fun" problem, so they leave and try "helping" that person - which in first grade is highly irritating to the person being "helped".  So that's rarely helpful to me either.

There are always jobs you think they can do, like sorting the old crayons and keeping just the long ones and throwing away the rest.  That seems like it will keep them busy a long time, and you can go on to something else yourself.  But for some reason, that job is over in two seconds.  There were 1000 crayon parts in that crate.  How can it take no time?  Ah, I see, they've thrown them all away. They want another job now.  Of course, sometimes you do get the right person for the job, and they sort crayons methodically by size and color, but run out of time, so they have to put them all back in the crate again to get ready to go home.

So, I don't have to do this any more.   My crayons are still in their box.  My books haven't been unsorted.  I haven't scored anything to record anywhere.  I would like to savor my May.  Bask in June's glory.  But these months are going by too fast.  Savoring and basking are never to be mine, are they?

My Daughter's Birthday

"holding up our present to watch her unwrap it"

My niece just had her first child last night, missing the opportunity to share my daughter's birth date of May 4th.

Though technology can sometimes separate us as we hover over our devices and ignore social contacts sitting right beside us, technology is also marvelous in its ability to bring us together.

And that is what happened tonight.

My daughter lives 8 hours away, so being there wasn't going to happen for us.  But the computer brought us together today.
First, the e-card through Hallmark, was scheduled to be sent months in advance.
Second, the present shopping and ordering was online through Amazon.  Shipped directly to her, I never even saw it in person.
And then thirdly, when it came time for cake and presents, we were there through FaceTime for the whole thing!  We sang "Happy Birthday" with her husband and in-laws.  We watched her blow out her candles.  She offered us some cake.  I got to see her open our gift, and took a couple of pictures of the celebration.  The photos were not as good as I'd have liked, since I used my iPhone to take a picture of the iPad image.  But that's okay, her husband can email me one he took on his phone.

It was almost as good as being there.  I would have liked to have had some cake though.

Robin's Proclamation

Is there anything more cheerful and commanding than a robin's warble on a spring morning?  I wrote, rewrote, re-rewrote, and finally wrote.

Spring robin proclaims
This joyful day to be his
Please share it with me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I heard a robin,
unstoppable
in his cheery
morning greeting
telling the world
of this glorious day 
that was his
and
in that chirping
message
I also heard
he would share it
with me
if I'd like.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin and I do
Hereby joyfully proclaim
This day glorious!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a robin
unstoppable
in his cheery
morning greeting
proclaims to the world
that the day before him
will be glorious
and it is his
but
he invites all
to share with him
the enjoyment of
this
perfect
day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, there are four ways I wrote this.  I'm going to stop now! I think I like the last one best. Any thoughts?

May Day

Welcome to May!  May there be many glorious everyday moments for you this month!

May Day

 

the sun rising

copper clouds

stretching

rays

forsythias

pop yellow

waving

flags

noon day sunlight

enfolding
wrapping
warmth

jackets dropping

like fall leaves

springtime

litter

greening, budding

new shadows

changing

views

night time noises

spring peepers

happy

songs

© Donna JT Smith, 2013