Tag: family

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Day 4 of July Open Write

This day of the month is my favorite – the day when all three of my online writing groups converge – The Slice of Life (www.twowritingteachers.org), The Open Write (www.ethicalela.com), and The Stafford Challenge (a group on Facebook, led by Brian Rohr and inspired by William Stafford). I look forward to seeing my fellow writers in person at NCTE in Boston in November and hereby volunteer to work with others to help set up meet and greet points where we can all eat and write together. There is something special about getting to know a person through writing and then meeting them face to face.

Today’s host at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 4 of the July Open Write is Gayle Sands of Maryland. She inspires us to write Important Thing Poems based on the childhood classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. You can read Gayle’s full prompt here, and I hope you will write a poem and share it!

I so love this prompt and its reach to everyone, everywhere. This prompt would work to inspire verse in grades Pre-K through 12 and beyond. Classic books have the power to change the world, I am convinced.

Photo by Dhivakaran S on Pexels.com

Sparking Hope

The important thing
about a flame
is that it sparks hope.
You can warm by it,
hold hands by it,
kiss by it, sleep by it.
You can see with it,
you can remember through it,
you can glow in it, pray over it,
refine gold in it,
say goodbye or goodnight with it.
But the important thing
about a flame
is that it sparks hope.

Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers at Slice of Life for inspiring teachers to share their writing and giving space to read the work of all and share the love of the writinghood.

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my little buddy

when the others are getting

breakfast treats in the kitchen

Fitz stays with me

my little buddy

when my husband

leans in to kiss me

goodbye on his early

to work days

Fitz emerges from the

covers with warning

snaps ~ firm reminders

of who is who

when it comes to me

he goes where I go

sits where I sit

sleeps where I sleep

thinks where I think

eats where I eat

and is our only rescue

who has never bitten me

my little buddy

he snuggles me

when I read or watch tv

and catches popcorn mid-air

and gazes into my eyes

like I’m his whole world

my little buddy

my soul dog

my Fitzie

Fitz with his favorite toy, his squeaky turtle
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Still Life: Black Dog in Brown Chair Nonet

On any given morning, my family members in different group chats begin swapping random photos on a theme one of us starts. Saturday’s theme was our dogs. Dad sent a video of his schnoodle, Kona, getting her 5:30 a.m. treat from a friend at Parker’s gas station on St. Simons Island on their early morning routine walk. My brother sent not a photo of his dog, Kasa, but of the veterinary table where she was getting her shots (she’s a gorgeous Brittany, and I’d show her off every chance I got if I were him). I looked around and caught a glimpse of our aging rescue schnauzer, Fitz, sitting contemplatively in the brown velour chair that has become his window gazing chair.

This chair, one of a pair, matches nothing else in our house, so we have had it listed on Marketplace since bringing it home from one of Dad’s storage facilities to sell. But Fitz loves it so much that we may just keep the velour pair for our three schnoodle boys to call their own. I mean, next to a Velvet Elvis, what could be more of a conversation piece in a home filled with a blend of modern, farmhouse, and antique furnishings? What I noticed about the chair, though, was the variegated colors and the way the light played with the fibers and Fitz’s coloring. Immediately, I envisioned an old painter with an easel, painting a still life of a beloved family dog.

It was my picture to share in the group text.

Dad sent it to a painter friend named Carol to see if it could become an affordable masterpiece. She replied that it was compelling, and that she was glad to receive the photo – – that it will become a master watercolor.

I urged them to note the crossed front legs, showing a recent shave for a dental cleaning, the basking in sheer comfort, the deep reflective thought and philosophical consideration, the way the light plays with the wisdom of old age.

I hadn’t woken on Saturday thinking that Fitz, in a moment of silent reflection, would become the subject of a still life.

But here we are, rocking the reflective moments of life.

note the front legs crossed on the armchair

philosophical reflection

the way the light plays with age

salt and pepper mixed hues

he needs a top hat

and an old pipe

and a lap

to call

home

As the day wore on, I took a few more photos to continue the theme of the day, but the brown velour backdrop on the first pose was the best Fitz shot I was able to capture.

Sporting his teeth – which are scheduled to be removed to help with his CUPS disease pain.
This is how Fitz naps, but it didn’t make the cut for the master watercolor. He sleeps on his back like an overtired toddler pitching a fit who got still for just a second and was dusted by the sleep fairy.
The bane of Fitz’s existence – a deer in his yard

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How I Beat the Heat


Hallmark’s Christmas in July movies

high velocity fan, full blast

pretending there’s a blizzard

piping hot black coffee

wrapped in sofa throw

Schnoodles piled high

all of us

beating

heat 

The older I get, the less I can endure the extreme heat and humidity. Give me a blizzard to handle the scorching heat! I’ve found that a good snowy Hallmark Christmas in July movie with love instead of hate, free from the problems of the world, is my ticket to a better day! Raising a mug to you – Cheers! Stay cool!

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Sunday 3-Dog Donut Tricube

donut dogs

breakfast on

Sunday treats

trio of

Schnoodle boys

all lined up

awaiting

their next bites

patiently

*Tricube poetry consists of 3 stanzas with 3 lines of 3 syllables each, on any topic. As I prepare to return to school this year, I look forward to working with small groups of writers. These short forms help introduce various aspects of poetry such as line breaks, syllables, and structure. Having a bank of poems I’ve written helps me to introduce these to students as we write together.

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Cleaning Out!

we’re cleaning out a lifetime of stuff

making room for new adventures

goodbye to all the clutter

farewell to odds and ends

we’re clearing the air

ready for new

memories ~

coming

soon!

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Cat and Mouse Nonet

it became a game of cat and mouse

now who’s chasing, now who’s running?

who’s including, who’s snubbing?

who’s manipulating,

orchestrating now?

nobody knows

all sight lost,

reason

gone

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Birthday Cake Breakfast Haiku

my favorite cake

Publix buttercream-frosted

sliced birthday breakfast!

Today is my birthday, and already it has started better than I’d expected! I awoke to a birthday song recording from a member of my writing group and birthday cake on the counter. I’ve spent quiet time writing and watching birds, and the dogs are snuggled, fast asleep, next to me. The best part? I have no looming deadlines or plans today. I can write, I can read, I can drink coffee and eat cake and enjoy the day off here way back in the woods at home.

What’s better than that for a birthday?

Perhaps this is the best day of all to say thank you to YOU if you are reading this blog post. I experience life more richly when I can write about it and share the stories with those who read about it. Thank you, friends, for all the joys of another journey around the sun!

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Camper Modification

repositioning

makes all the sleep difference

in a tiny space

We’re teardrop camper fans who downsized from a 30 foot Keystone Outback to a 21 foot Little Guy Max to scale back and simplify our camping experiences. As primarily weekend campers, we don’t like to make camping a production with every gizmo and gadget. We like to spend time off the grid, using what we have to make do – – and we certainly don’t like to cook and wash a lot of dishes while we’re busy sitting around doing nothing.

Our favorite way to travel is to stumble across a sudden cancelled reservation on a campground and decide spur-of-the-moment to throw together a couple of pairs of shorts and t-shirts and whatever food happens to be in the kitchen and hook up the camper and go. Unplanned. Last minute. Spontaneously seeking an adventure that was not going to happen ten minutes ago. Not a five-star hotel with a restaurant and pool, not a cruise cabin with a balcony or a VRBO with a hot tub.

From the moment we brought her home, we loved this sweet little tiny space. It may look small, but it has all we need, including a wet bath (combination shower/toilet room) and a stargazer window. It has seven windows, a Fantastic fan, a clothes closet and pantry, and a tv in the front for watching church or for when it rains and in back for movies before bed.

But what we didn’t love was the bed. Even though the previous owners had upgraded the original mattress, we still woke up with hip and backaches and never could get quite comfortable enough for a full night’s rest. One of us (me) had to climb over the other one to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and two adults and three dogs in a queen size bed was not working.

That’s when we decided to modify the bed. We designed a plan to extend the sleeping space into the belly of the camper to allow more room. Here’s what we did:

First, we measured the height we’d need to extend the bed out. We ordered four 17-inch step stools for support on four corners of a one-inch Lagun table we already had and placed the table hardware-side-down in the middle of the stools.

Next, we measured the cushion width we’d need and saw that the cushions from the front table would work if doubled-up, so we added two on the bottom and two more on top of those cushions to level the cushion surface flush with the mattress and foam topper.

Since there appear to be no T-shaped sheets anywhere, we added a separate fitted sheet over the cushions and each took one sheet and one blanket to cover our space as we repositioned, eliminating any cover thieves who may be lurking with an eye to steal the other’s covers in the dead of night.

We think we’ve found the solution that will allow us to keep this camper for a longer time before we try another camper. We’re keeping careful notes of what we like and don’t like, but for now we think we’ve adapted a winner. And the only purchase we had to make, the step stools, double as chair-side coffee tables and foot props for when we’re in the camp chairs outside doing absolutely nothing.

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Fitz’s CUPS

We learned a couple of years ago that our more-Schnauzery-miniature-Schnoodle, Fitz, has Chronic Ulcerative Paradental Stomatitis (CUPS), a painful condition in which the plaque builds up on his teeth and causes painful mouth ulcers. We knew something was wrong when my sweet lap dog who was never anywhere else took to the underbed and began whining odd-sounding noises. It prompted a vet visit, which turned up the diagnosis.

We have to have his teeth cleaned regularly, and with each cleaning we have had to return for extractions to alleviate his condition by removing teeth. He’s down to practically goat status, and after eleven teeth the first time, 8 teeth the second time, and now a projected additional 8 teeth, I’m inclined to go ahead with extracting all of them and resort to soft foods just to end his pain once and for all and give him some quality days in his senior years. There’ll be enough other aging crap to suffer, so this will put the skids on one condition.

This is the downside of rescuing a dog in poor health (Fitz came to us with a severely broken leg, among other things), but it’s also the upside. I ask myself: if not us, then who?

We may not be able to love every needed rescue and save them all, but we can make a difference for this one.

And that matters. If you’re teetering on the verge of rescuing an aging dog, do it! Even though an aging dog sometimes costs a small fortune, the return is love as they gaze into your eyes and wish they could talk to tell you how much they appreciate all you do for them – – – and what’s more valuable than that?

our dog has few top teeth in his mouth

now after a cleaning we learn

he needs more tooth extractions

we need a Go Fund Me

to afford Fitzie

but there is no

price on love…..

he’s our

boy