a spirit of simplicity

That morning she had woken with the sun rise. She had slipped down the path to the beach before the stars had faded. She had seen the sun as a sliver of orange light cresting the horizon. She had sat on a smooth rock and felt the first rays of warmth heating her face. She had waited there while the sun rose higher into the sky and filled the world with daylight. While she waited she listened to the waves coming up onto the shore and the gulls squawking at one another. It was just another day here in paradise. saturday centus treasure

she was centered just frayed at the edges like wild purple poppies she had seen once in a photograph pistil firm at the inmost parts petals fluttering a little on the margins he stood her in a jug of clear water and seeing her way clear again she leaned against his stamen. and drank the juices up Imaginary gardens with real toads Saturday challenge in honor of william carlos williams

my man above me. come down I whisper to him I've something for you trifecta

circles saturday photo hunting pink saturday

Bruce Lee 6 word friday

focusing on keeping her motives pure She let go of that which she could not  praise editing and edifying all things with love. for the hands that winnow are love and so is the salt that seasons coming on a whispered prayer, a fluttering breeze, a crashing wave it matters not love is the benediction.  friday 55

worship it's such a beautiful word.  I honor sacred spaces.  the sacred in people, the sacred in the every day ordinary moments I am blessed with, the sacred in the places at the beach or in the wood or walking down a city street. I honor the sacred in myself. I honor the sacred in my loved ones i honor the sacred in those who don't know love I have learned to let go of that which i cannot praise my chapel is the nature around me I send my devotions and offerings   over the sea and into the winds I have learned to worship the love regardless of where it comes from or how long it stays  whether it is strong and solid or fluttering for a moment on a soft and gentle breeze  love is my adulation my prayer my supplication my alpha and omega my benediction i worship love 5 minute friday

Next week I start my first day of college at the local community college my first day ever at fifty years old it's a fence I thought I would never hurdle ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   I have a new computer which i really needed i liked my old computer very much i miss it already ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ computer batteries do not last as long as computers do i think they should last longer ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ when you buy a new computer they try to sell you every single extra gadget and "plan" on the market If you don't buy them they send more sales people over to tell you what a great deal it is and how much you need it if you do buy it they try to sell you something else if you don't buy something else they send extra sales people over to tell you what a great deal it is and how much you need it ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ my pictures look better on the new computer it's bigger it has touch screen i only got that because it was the best

vibrant colors friday my town shoot out

when I come to their garden I steal in through the gate dverse

thunder They sat out on the porch and watched it roll in over the sea. Thick, black, huge, menacing  clouds that left no doubt about what they were up to. The entire island had settled and hushed in anticipation and the even the gulls on the beach had  stopped squawking at one another. The wind picked up and whipped the trees back in forth in front of them and the waves crashed so  loudly they could almost feel the salty spray from the shelter of their perch on the porch. And then came the thunder. 5 sentence fiction

when I came to their garden I smuggled in through the gate and roosted down amongst the eggplant blossoms  they are unaware of the rich and deepest purples looming on their horizons the  velvety leaves - teardrop shape - Italian heirloom - jewels of delicious creamy flavor  one could be sated with blossoms just by opening the gate little things thursday share your cup thursday thursday favorite things oh the places I've been home acre hop

steps her steps were like the dancers in an old fashioned musical up some and then back down down again and up some more never a discernible pattern at least not so far at least not one to pick out the first step is the hardest no matter how many times it is taken but I don't believe that it's the step you've lost count of that's the most difficult the one you can't remember if you took or not or where it led to or if it ever even had a starting point her steps were always quiet ones tippy toe steps that no one could hear or notice at all as it turned out now there was a route mapped out now she followed a path now she could hear the steps she took on her own journey see her footprints in the fog now she sang and danced in her own musical stepped in time to her own rhythm  now she noticed poetry jam

imaginary garden with real toads Wednesday word challenge the stars were edgy they thrust their drumbeat into the night sky rapidly with sharp finesse like crickets banging out a cryptic calypso the moon was a souffle she believed would rise and follow masters of her childhood universe they had  leverage on her soul she was not so fancy now that she had climbed in her fairy tale carriage and stood on the precipice now that she knew childhoods can be broken and crickets have a peppery bite   master  leverage  crickets  carriage  moon  edgy  believe  precipice  calypso  pepper  fancy  bite  thrust  cryptic  souffle  rapidly  drumbeat  bang  climb  broken

on the beach of a morning giant gull wrestling with a gooey-duck clam for breakfast gulls will grab a clam shell in their beaks and fly upward they let go from the sky and the shells break open on the ground then, of course, they fly back down as quick as they can to feast before  another gull comes along and snatches it up this gull had found himself a clam that was too big for him to fly with  he had to pick away at it from the ground   looking over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure that no other gull was going to steal it away from him because sea gulls love a free meal we remarked that it was an awfully big breakfast and perhaps he might skip lunch that day abc wednesday outdoor wednesday water world wednesday

dverse open link night in early morning the gulls kicked up a ruckus  from the water's edge rain fell quiet, soft upon darkened streets outside reflecting streetlamps at the earliest hour   he laid his hand upon her hip and she moved toward him  

Her mother had said the rose of sharon marked the end of summer and now she knew that it was true. it was at the old house that she had said it  there the rose of sharon grew at the end of the driveway and was white or such a shade of pale pink it was hardly even pink at all  this year she noticed the rose of sharon was purple and remembered about the poem she had read back then about the old lady that shall wear purple would it be like that for her mother now that she was getting older now that she was more than a pale shade of it more than the pink you could hardly see do other girls feel their mother's aging like rose of sharon and remember the words that they heard once in their mother's garden garden party tuesday garden tuesday tuesday muse texture tuesday

a walk in the wood and once there were raspberries mellow yellow monday   amaze me monday mosaic monday blue monday nature notes

back to school for the first time in 30 years! writing utensil Missed this one -oh well favorite subject my family lunch on the fly recreation we rode our bikes to the beach when daddy got home. we walked the tide pools and stood in the gloaming and waved to a family who had built a fire pit in the sand scavenger hunt Sunday

 quotography

the sunday whirl filtering the pieces out   she rides the train south it's not always easy to keep fierce enough she cries out   of the bitterness and steps into the gusting of a warm spring day

strong first born beautiful smart courageous loving loyal funny kind believer in fairies hearer of mermaids tree nymph   strong our beautiful world

33 word bedtime story g'night, she said, and kissed his cheek. the  night sky was full of stars. light from the silvery moon shined through the window. waves came up the beach and slowly went back down. trifecta trifextra

when I wake my first steps lead me to the porch and I see the morning glories blooming one morning only and by early afternoon they are gone all of that glorious creation all of that stunning beauty all of that magical celebration for one morning only how can i not notice each and every bloom how can I help but be humbled by the wonder of our universe saturday photo hunting the saturday photo hunt

the tide They walked to the beach together. In the gloaming. It turned out to be something they did quite often that summer. And they held hands. His was smooth and tiny and  her's larger and wrinkled with time. On rocks worn smooth by the sea they sat to watch the sun set. Then they walked home. friday 55

last they thought that these days would last forever.  all of them wished that this summer would stay. it was a magical  and it seemed as if even though time was not able to stand still it could  at least pause. We  even imagined that perhaps we could linger in the current of time like the seagulls that flew up from the beach and stood still in the sky for a short time. In times to come we would have only the hazy memory of looking down upon ourselves playing on the beach or riding bikes of an afternoon.  the children felt the pull as if they loitered near the edge of something We who knew it was there all along lived for a short time enchanted and then we walked together out of the last of the extraordinary summer 5 minute Friday

My boyfriend with his youngest son.  they grow too fast too soon. and summer's over with a sigh 6 word friday

~ ~ ~ I saw an acorn on the ground the other day.  I picked it up and put it into the nature jar on the kitchen table.  after a while of collecting tiny things the jar becomes layers of seasons...shells, pieces of beach glass,acorns, tiny pine cones,seed pods, a fortune from a cookie, a wish jotted down on a small piece of paper,back around to beach glass again. I wonder how many years we can fit into that jar.  almost a hundred maybe memories don't take up much space ~ ~ ~  my boyfriend's great aunt chioci died last week. she was almost 100   she never married - instead devoting her life to her sister's children and grandchildren and eventually great-grandchildren from what I have been told she was the kinder of the two sisters and all who knew her  speak of her with much joy this is a deep and enduring loss and she will be sorely missed ~ ~ ~ I have a serious case of poison ivy it has slowed me

the nutmeg scented geranium was in flower again. She rubbed her hands gently through the leaves and absent minded brought her fingers up to her nose to inhale the spicy scent.  The evening came on much earlier now and she had hung some small white lights on the lemon tree that was out on the porch. seagulls flew over head and cried out...she wondered what had rousted them from the beach. the sky was tinged with orange-pink earlier in the afternoon, or was it yesterday, she couldn't remember now, she picked up an acorn from the walkway and set it down on the bureau in the kitchen   it was there still. she thought there was a difference in red oak acorns and white oak acorns. One dropped the short, round kind like the one she had in the kitchen and the other a longer more egg shaped version. but she didn't know which was which. she had made a pork for dinner and the dishes were done put away in the cupboards with all the c

 travel The Aquacasino leaves the harbor for it's gambling cruises every day in summer.  It travels twice a day on weekends. The people buy their tickets in advance for the three hour gambling cruise out and back in again.  They stake their wages on a big win and they stand on the deck to watch the shore receding in the setting of the sun. I am happy to watch it's twinkling lights cruise by from my spot on the beach because I have always found the joy placing my hopes on the wonder of dreams  and not necessarily their arrival. 5 sentence fiction

in a vision i saw you now you are here your gaze is soft upon me poetry jam  I cried out As I walked the beach this morn and heard the seagulls call  stumbled through the maze of what my life has been thus far and marveled at the blessings in my steps when I saw my grown children taking on lives of their own and stood in awe at the beauty that I found in them  when I saw you gazing from across the willow grounds and found familiar solace in your eyes and when we watched the moon rise above the calmness of the sea and stood in the reflection of it's light I cried out but no sound could crack the stillness no words that I could utter would define no beating of my heart could break the silence for they have broken the barrier of the speed of sound and crashed right through the speed of light and still  no one has measured yet a speed to break the sound of love verse first open link n

fade to disappear or die gradually   I wanna tell you how it's gonna be You're gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Buddy Holly ~ ~ ~ busted flat in Baton Rouge waiting for a train I's feeling nearly faded as my jeans freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose nothing don't mean nothing if it ain't free yeah Janis Joplin ~ ~ ~ the nights are cooler now  the gloaming comes earlier along the path to the beach goldenrod and tansy grow where the wild roses once were blooming we sit on the porch of an evening -sweaters have been dug out from the back of drawers and sneakers mingle with the flip-flops and water shoes in the basket by the back door  low flying geese honk as they fly past us and settle onto the beach in the fading light of day  this week we've felt the lo

everywhere i go there are signs.... snippets of conversation overheard at the  fish market children talking amongst themselves about class lists and teachers. here and there the sumac leaves are turning orange  and aspens drop their yellow leaves on the walkway steps the nights are cooler now and mornings as well.  I find myself reaching for a sweater while i sip my  tea on the porch.     daybreak is later and the evening twilight settles sooner ~ ~ ~ as i ramble through the gardens it occurs to me that no one has mentioned any of this to the cosmos they just keep on blooming and pay no never mind what-ever to the calendar ~ ~ ~ garden party tuesday sweet shot tuesday garden tuesday tuesday muse texture tuesday nature notes

morning glories grow in a pot on my porch.   every fresh blossom greeting the morning sun is a celebration for me. The  bachelor buttons in the community gardens nod their little cornflower heads  here and there amongst all the other flowers. mosaic monday amaze me monday mellow yellow blue monday

the sunday whirl I dreamed we had not parted.  That we had spent the years nestled in each others hearts.  "Stay" you told me way back then.  But I was not persuaded And so we spent that period of time apart if there are degrees of separation  then we have closed the space in ours though after decades even, my vision of you did not fade and now we tread the same floors  we sleep beneath the same ceilings  and pay tribute to the youths that we once were now we occupy the same space we dream the same dreams Now our visions nestle in the autumn of our lives now there are no years between us save the ones that bring us forward and there is no space between us now now our hearts  stay 

scavenger hunt sunday ~~~ sky is to look up accessory is my camera verb is to  kite-surf transparent is the stained glass star hanging in the living room window tiny is the dolphin bridge on wonder-boy's ukelele 

quotography happy

to the woman who tends to the roses i often admire from afar i once picked a few of the buds near the fence and I carried them home in my car now they sit in the sun on my table with their stems in an old mason jar they perfume my house with their fragrance i treasure their old fashioned charm and i pen this short note to just to tell you though I don't wish to cause you alarm I admire the sweet-scented pink roses  that grow by the side of your barn I imagine you  reading my letter in your garden sipping tea and I leave you with warm salutations  signing yours truly from me tis the girl who admires the roses that you tend in your home by the sea  dverse

bashfully swanky ~ ~ ~ the weekly top shot the saturday photo hunt saturday photo hunting

small It's just a small thing. To be kind. To be generous. To be decent and civil toward one another. To be the type of person we all strive to be. To let go of anger and bitterness. To walk away from strife and confrontation. To change the direction and move into a place where we can get along with each other. One very small step. To be in control of one's emotions when faced with pandemonium or wrath or a hatred that's bitter and deep seeded. To find and focus on the small part, the nugget,  that is able to take presidence and control leading the conversation to a different outcome. Perhaps into a place where we can practice some empathy or at least get along. short of that i roll up the window and drown you out small 5 minute friday

It's only when we silent the  blaring sounds of our daily existence  that we can finally hear the  whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. K.T. Jong 6 word friday

caesar's  palace morning glory silly human, silly human race the first morning glory flower greets the day we have a porch garden it looks out over the sea and receives both early morning and late afternoon sunlight in the middle of the day the sun is above the roof of the porch and so it's well shaded our house sits in sort of a three pronged fork with beaches on either side and a small park in the middle. so we have a grassy area to play in but we don't have to mow it ~ There are white caps on the sound and i counted at least 10 kite-surfers! some days they gather there and the the more experienced surfers teach the new comers  the sport. ~ Baked beans were in the oven all day and the whole house smelled like Laura Ingalls Wilder had     been here. I keep expecting to hear pa on he fiddle. molasses, onions, brown sugar and bacon ~ mornings are cooler even though it's still August often i have

"we need to learn to dance more softly" She would bring the geraniums in from the porch when the cooler weather came. In her imagination she had already mapped out a place for them. The would sit on the sideboard table in the dining room. all of the winter they would be there with  low winter light shining soft and cottony over them. And in the spring she would bring them back out to the porch where they would greet the warm weather with new blossoms and unfurling leaves. In the empty places on the porch she would plant mums of yellow and purple. But not yet. Not till September when summer was truly almost over and the nights were cool for now, it was enough to sit out on the porch a spell  dream a little dream - plan a little plan wait to see if morning glories would finally  blossom   and marvel at how well the rosemary did this year  watch the rest of August come settling over the i