Category: Reflection

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VerseLove Day 5 with Bryan Ripley Crandall of Connecticut – Scars

Bryan Ripley Crandall, our host for Day 5 of VerseLove 2025 at http://www.ethicalela.com, lives in Stratford, Connecticut, where he directs the Connecticut Writing Project and is Professor of English Education at Fairfield University.

Bryan offers these directions: “Write about a scar, one that may be physical in nature or one that might be moreĀ  emotional.” You can read his full prompt here.

I chose a Pantoum form for this poem and made the decision to keep a staccato rhythm, as if touching a hot stove and getting burned.

Heart Scar Pantoum

my heart is scarred

it opened

it believed

it got stomped

it opened

it trusted

it got stomped

it realized

it trusted

it committed

it realized

it learned

it committed

it believed

it learned

my heart is scarred

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#VerseLove Day 4 with Dave Wooley of Pennsylvania – Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Dave Wooley, our host for Day 4 of #VerseLove 2025, lives in Pennsylvania.

Dave inspires us to write from the perspective of a traveller, choosing to focus on the place, or focus on the experience of traveling, or maybe just the idea of being a traveller. He suggests using photos to help relive moments and inspire the thoughts of the poem. You can read his full prompt here.

I chose a photo of my youngest granddaughter with me having ice cream at Leopold’s in Savannah, Georgia and wrote a pantoum poem to capture the memory.

Sisterhood of the Southern Sweet Tooth

there we were, so sassy

Magnolia Mae and I

eating rose petal ice cream

at Leopold’s in Savannah, Georgia

Magnolia Mae and I~

grandmother and granddaughter

at Leopold’s in Savannah, Georgia

of the Sisterhood of the Southern Sweet Tooth

grandmother and granddaughter

sharing a spoon and a knowing smile

of the Sisterhood of the Southern Sweet Tooth

Georgia girls with flowery style

sharing a spoon and a knowing smile

eating rose petal ice cream

Georgia girls with flowery style

there we were, together

My youngest granddaughter and I – sharing ice cream
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#VerseLove Day 3 with Denise Krebs of California – Borrowed Rhymes

Our host for our third day of #VerseLove is Denise Krebs, who lives in Yucca Valley, California, near Joshua Tree National Park. She blogs and resists at Dare to Care. 

Denise invites us to write Borrowed Rhymes poems today in her prompt. You can read the prompt in full here. Please jump in today to read the posts and feel all the harnessed energy of a community of writers. We’d love to have you!

Denise encourages us to find a poem with rhyming or song lyrics we like. “Extract the rhymes and write them down on the right margin. Fill in your own line for each rhyme,” she explains.

I extracted these words: blue, knew, round, down, time, mine, care, anywhere from my favorite Eagles song, Take it to the Limit. I wrote them at the end of each line and crafted my poem using these pairs.

More Time

….when out of the blue,

who even knew?!

can I last one more round?

do I feel too beat down?

I want more time

to call mine – ALL MINE!

to spend time how I care

to day trip anywhere….

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#VerseLove Day 2 with Leilya Pitre of Louisiana – When Spring Speaks in Tricubes

Leilya Pitre, our host for Day 2 of VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com, lives in Ponchatoula, LA, which is known as the Strawberry Capital of the World. She teaches at Southeastern Louisiana University and coordinates the English Education Program.

Leilya inspires us to write spring tricubes, and you can read her full prompt here. A tricube consists of three stanzas, each with three lines, and each line having three syllablesā€”quick, rhythmic, and focused. Itā€™s easy to remember as 3:3:3.

It’s a great day to think about spring!

Springtime Tricube

umbrellas

daffodils

rain showers

butterflies

Easter eggs

wildflowers

hummingbirds

sunshine’s warmth

trees tower

Come join us today – read, write, and share! And if you happen to be in middle Georgia today, come by 1828 Coffee Company in Zebulon, Georgia and meet The Poetry Fox. He’ll write a free poem for you between 3:00 and 6:00 and share about his life between 7:00 and 8:00. Hope to see you there!

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March 31: 9:00-9:31 p.m. The Goodnight Magnesium and Music Festival

bedtime rituals

foot rub magnesium cream

relaxing music

I’m a firm believer in sleep – not too much, and not too little. I wish I knew the sweet spot of food like I know the sweet spot of sleep. I head bedward at 9:00 so I can start getting sleepy. The goal is to be fully asleep between 9:30 and 10:00 and to wake at 5:00 without exercising the snooze option more than a couple of times (much more challenging on a Monday).

For years, I took melatonin, but the nightmares were real. That’s when my sister in law told me about magnesium foot cream, and my sleep has never been better. This is the first part of my sleepy time ritual.

Plus, there is music. Which leads me to Leigh Anne Eck’s Music Festival. I’m showing up in pajamas and slippers, hair up and face drenched with moisturizer because my music is focused on peaceful relaxation and not feeling like I want to get up and dance or bust a move my body can no longer handle.

Let’s start with Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World. No one on earth offers greater reassurance that things are still okay with the world than Louis himself. I need that at the end of a day when everything has reached the crescendo of doubt. Trees of green and red roses, skies of blue and clouds of white and babies…..it’s a feast of all-is-well, now go to sleep knowing it’s going to be okay. Tom T. Hall’s I Love is one that offers some reassurance, too, but not quite like old Lou.

B.J. Thomas may be in my top 5 artists with songs like Don’t Worry, Baby for relaxing. This one is on par with The Alan Parson Projects’ Eye in the Sky, which brings it waaaaay up on the list with its one greatest line in the whole song: the sun in your eyes made some of the lies worth believing.

But the best ever, the top top top line I love in a song is actually a question, and anytime we hear it playing, my husband and I look at each other and answer, “Yes.” The Eagles: Take it to the Limit – – if it all fell to pieces tomorrow, would you still be mine?

Now I could go far down the John Denver Country Roads and Calypso lyrics a long, long way…. they’re on my relaxation playlist, too, at this Goodnight Music Festival.

Let’s get this goodnight party started as we close out another year of The Slice of Life March Challenge and look forward to the Tuesday slicing all year long.

Good night, Moon! Good night, March! Good night, Slicing family! Thank you for the stories and for sharing your lives this month and inspiring everyone. See you on Tuesday!

Hey, wait……that’s tomorrow! In that case, see you around 5:00 a.m………

Special thanks to the TWT crew for making this month of slicing possible, to each of the writers for all of the inspiration, and to Glenda, Barb, and Denise for slicing in time increments throughout the day. Your writing kinship means the world to me, and I’ll end with a group hug and an invitation to write through April with another writing community starting tomorrow as we kick off VerseLove 2025 at http://www.ethicalela.com. If you wrote for 31 days, you can write for 61 – – believe it! Hope to see you there!

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March 26: 6:20-6:51 Handwarmer Mug

6:20-6:51 p.m.: My peace rituals are more necessary these days than they’ve ever been before.

Is it because I’m older?

Or because life is busier?

Or because the world feels so different today than it did yesterday?

Some evenings, I take a long walk with the dogs. Other evenings, I light candles. Some nights, I soak in a hot bath. Most every afternoon or evening, I make a pot of hot green tea and my husband and I indulge with local honey and a flavored herb blend. There is nothing that compares to the feeling of togetherness and unwinding over steam rising from a cup. When the world is cold, there is warmth in togetherness.

Steeping Peace

I come home from work

steep a mug of hot green tea

sweetened with honey

grab a tea towel

slip my hand inside the mug

buffered towel warmth

when the world is cold

a handwarmer mug steeps peace

from the inside out

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March 25: 5:48-6:19 – A Long Walk

long walk after work

out on the farm with the boys

we love exploring!

I come home tired at the start of the work week, which almost always starts out in high gear. All day, I look forward to returning home with the dogs and being able to put on a pair of sweatpants and go for a walk with them. More and more, my heart stays right here on this farm even though my mind and body go to work.

I gather Fitz’s leash from the basket by the front door – the only one of my trio who will chase a critter into the woods and completely lose his way back. Boo Radley and Ollie only lose their minds with excitement to get out the door as we prepare to take to the trails my husband keeps cut back just for us. It’s my slicing time today, my 31 minutes between 5:48 and 6:19, just before dinner, and the boys and I step out into the still-chilly damp air and hear the birdsong. Except for the occasional airplane, it’s all we hear other than our own footsteps.

It’s peaceful. So peaceful, in fact, that I could take the rest of the school year and just take walks instead of going to work, where the phones forever ring, the meetings never stop, and even the delightful sounds of laughter are still…..well, noise.

I signed my contract for another year, and by December of this year I’ll know whether I will pursue retirement starting 26-27 or hang in there for another year on the heels of the coming one.

So much is changing in the world of education, and at times it seems overwhelming to keep up. It seems there is no “staying ahead of the curve,” as there used to be.

The more I take long walks and feel the inner joy of the peace it brings just being home, the stronger the chances of retiring next year. I want to read more than I have the time to read as it is now. I want to take long walks with the dogs in the late morning. I want to press plants and decoupage them onto candles, to sew soft flannel rag quilts in light pastel patterns, to visit grandchildren and have lunch with retired friends…….to bake, to work the crossword puzzle every afternoon, and to get started on some writing projects that work leaves no time to enjoy. I want to think less each night about what I’ll wear the next day based on which meetings are on the calendar.

How does one know when it’s time to turn in the keys and sign on the dotted retirement line? If you’re retired, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one. On one hand, I feel ready – – even past ready. On the other hand, it all seems so final to walk away from a career in education when that has been my life.

I would love for you to share your perspectives with me. What are your best tips and pointers, and your best advice for someone considering taking the leap?

Boo Radley and Ollie
Johnson Funny Farm West Side
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March 23: 4:44-5:15 p.m. Checking Out Campers

checking out campers

our three Schnoodles have their say

each wants his own way

We sold our 2022 Extreme Outdoors Little Guy Max Rough Rider camper on March 2nd to a couple from Nashville, Tennessee after two years of enjoying the most exciting adventures in it. We knew we wanted to replace it with something slightly bigger but still small enough to get into state park campgrounds. I didn’t cry, but I have had a hole in my heart since we watched it drive away.

We like being able to take jaunts on weekends and spend time away from the demands of work and home. Our 3 schnoodles stay ready to go, too. They’re campground dogs, through and through. Each asked us to look at one particular kind of camper that they say they’ve had their eye on after chatting it up with the other dogs in our favorite campgrounds, so we dedicated a part of yesterday afternoon to starting the search.

Fitz likes Airstreams. He’s a classic dog with an old soul, very traditional, and he likes the Flying Cloud, the Globetrotter, the International, and of course the Classic models. He’s not picky – – he just wants one with those wraparound windows so he can sit up there with his sunglasses on and watch the girl dogs trot by with their blingy pink collars. He’s a lofty dreamer, to tell the truth.

Boo Radley is more technologically progressive and likes the InTech Aucta Willow Rover model with its aluminum chassis, all-composite woodless materials, and wind-sensor automatic awning. He’s a little more particular about what he likes and doesn’t like, and he’s got his eye on the openness of this camper so he can stay all up in everybody’s business the way he always does.

Ollie is a far more futuristic dog and likes the InTech Aucta Sycamore Rover model with a longer body so he’ll have plenty of room to chase his ball around inside. He likes the spacious seating area so we can all pile up onto one couch and watch movies and eat all his favorite snacks.

We located an Aucta Willow Rover about an hour from our home, so we made the drive over to Southland RV in LaGrange, Georgia during my slice of blogging time to take a look at Boo Radley’s camper pick. (He especially likes it because it is all light gray and white so he can blend right in). We were impressed with the comfort of the seating around the table – and the amount of light and number of windows.

The storage space looks minimal, but that’s how we roll. We don’t take a lot of extras or all the bells and whistles. Two of each type of cutlery, two plates and mugs, a toaster and coffee maker and only small sizes of the things we need suit us fine. Years into this journey, we’ve learned that less is SO MUCH more.

The table turns to allow ease of getting into the U-shaped dinette, which is nice, but we weren’t impressed with the lack of counter space for our coffee maker and toaster. We’ve become modification dabblers too, though, and there are surprising ways of making things work in small spaces that at first might not appear that they could.

For now, though, we continue to compare and shop and look and research.

And dream, along with Fitz, Boo Radley, and Ollie.

Boo Radley lobbies for toast in the Little Guy Max
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March 22: 4:12-4:43 – Appetizer Snack

I’m hungry by the time I arrive home from work, and most days I try to keep an apple in the car for the ride home to stave off the voracious hunger and temptation to ravage the pantry before dinner. When I was sick and couldn’t stomach much of anything, the saving grace for me was sherbet. It felt like I was swallowing refreshing sunshine to put smiles all through my insides and wrestle the germs loose.

I’m feeling much better, but this sweet treat is still calling my name from the freezer when I come home. I’ve been scraping the top layer for days – – straight outta the plastic tub, y’all — with no shame and no regret.

Now that I’m nearing the bottom, should I resist the temptation to buy more? I was always a pushover for a Push-Up, and here I am elbow-deep in an adult-sized helping of rainbow sherbet of summer memories at the swimming pool.

I need an intervention.

Appetizer Snack

After work snack or dinner appetizer?
Letā€™s call it whatever we want –

should I try to hide

that I scrape straight from the container?

that I eat it right out of the tub?

why bother when

itā€™s mine

~ all mine ~

(he only likes vanilla)

guilty

bliss

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March 21: 3:40-4:11 Picking the Suckers Off

I often stop by the Ace Hardware store on my way home from work. In a small town like mine, it’s the place to go for everything – I read the Magnolia Home paint chip stories, buy lightbulbs and birdseed, and even once when I needed a wagon for a book talk where I was selling books, I went in to get one and the Ace man took the box to the back and put it together for me so I could go straight to my event. He’s also the man who taught me something about my tomato plants……..

Tomato Suckers

if I were 30something

I’d be out in the yard

planting a garden in the earth

but I’m not

I’m too old to bend over

and pull weeds

so I bought container gardens

ready to go, ready to grow

containers, potting soil, plants, cages

I bought them ready-made

as inexpensively as

I could plant them myself

.

……but my favorite part is the

Ace Hardware man who

loads my plants and teaches me things

don’t forget to pick the suckers off, ma’am

he says, loading each one carefully from

the cart into the back of my RAV4

you’ll need to look between the stems

in those pockets and find the suckers

that sap the life away from the plant

sucking all the energy from the tomatoes

he pointed at one of them and then

grabbed that sucker and pulled it off

flung it down onto the pavement

I had three of the four plants

went back for the last

I heard him telling the cashier

about those suckers

here’s one you can use to show her, I offered

placing it on the counter

he went to work, teaching the young lady

how to tend a container tomato

I smiled as she peered into the plant

taking careful notes of the learning

from the Ace Hardware man

who says he learnt it all from an old farmer…..

…….and them’s the best teachers of all.