Winter Harvest
In limbs fruit laden
His face matches the berries
The house finch warbles
-
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A Haiku for the Day
Preparations for Winter
Tales flash in the tree
Squirrels gather winter food
Frost lies thick as snow
-
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Friday, October 19, 2012
Long Overdue, a Post for a Friday Flash Fiction
A Word of Advice
One more ring sounded and then her answering machine clicked
on.
“Lori, pick up. I
know you’re there. I can see your car
parked out here on the street.”
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Thursday Thirteen - The View From My Back Porch
Sitting outside to write on a chill day, I couldn't help be distracted by the view. It's not oceans or mountains, but I still see some fine things. You can't help noticing that many are birds. I only miss my summertime friends, the turkey buzzard.
1. Cardinals
2. A red bellied woodpecker
3. Black capped chickadees
4. Neighbors visiting
5. Starlings
6. My bare Japanese maple
7. A tufted titmouse
8. Sparrows
9. A stalking cat (okay, that was yesterday, but still)
10. The barren "vulture tree"
11. My neglected Eastern Bluebird house
12. Grass that needs cutting
13. House finches
~
1. Cardinals
2. A red bellied woodpecker
3. Black capped chickadees
4. Neighbors visiting
5. Starlings
6. My bare Japanese maple
7. A tufted titmouse
8. Sparrows
9. A stalking cat (okay, that was yesterday, but still)
10. The barren "vulture tree"
11. My neglected Eastern Bluebird house
12. Grass that needs cutting
13. House finches
~
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Thursday Thirteen - Vacation Wishes
As I type, I'm looking forward to a vacation. I hope:
1. That I won't be groped too badly by airport security
2. It won't be too hot and humid in Florida
3. Mom and Dad are both well for our two night stay
4. Dad has another good fishing day out his back yard while we're there
5. The Salvador Dali museum is as cool as I hope
6. There are some awesome things to buy at the museum shop
7. The hotel is as swank as expected
8. Beach time is cocktail hour
9. The big cat rescue visit is half as fun for the animals as for us
10. Restaurants are excellent and relaxing
11. Shopping might unearth some fun fashion finds
12. The cat sitter comes in and out without setting off the alarm system
13. I come home with a demeanor other than wanting to bark at everyone at work
~
1. That I won't be groped too badly by airport security
2. It won't be too hot and humid in Florida
3. Mom and Dad are both well for our two night stay
4. Dad has another good fishing day out his back yard while we're there
5. The Salvador Dali museum is as cool as I hope
6. There are some awesome things to buy at the museum shop
7. The hotel is as swank as expected
8. Beach time is cocktail hour
9. The big cat rescue visit is half as fun for the animals as for us
10. Restaurants are excellent and relaxing
11. Shopping might unearth some fun fashion finds
12. The cat sitter comes in and out without setting off the alarm system
13. I come home with a demeanor other than wanting to bark at everyone at work
~
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Thursday Thirteen - Inspiration from Author Chris Cleave
I make no secret of the fact that I'm an aspiring writer and am participating in National Novel Writing Month. Recently I read on the NaNo website an inspirational message from writer Chris Cleave and decided to share thirteen of my favorite sentences from that message. I can only hope he would approve. Here goes:
Often sheer euphoria at your own brilliance will keep you writing late into the night, and you can hardly sleep because what you’ve written is so damned good. Then you wake up the next day and read it, and you realize it’s a pile of self-indulgent crap. This happens to me two days out of five. Then you get the opposite case, where you beat yourself up because the ideas are coming so slowly and all your dialogue seems timid and pedestrian. A week later you might look back on that day as a pretty solid performance, where your characters were honest with each other and maybe even created a couple of touching moments.
The more I learn about the writing process, the more I suspect that there is no such thing as a bad day at the keyboard. Sometimes you need slow days where you work through a dozen ideas that aren’t destined to fly. It creates a kind of intensity that eventually goads your brain into giving you a good day. Or sometimes, if you keep having slow days, then perhaps the novel really is asking you a deeper question about whether your plot, or your characterization, or your theory about the human heart really is up to scratch. Experience is knowing when you’re having a slow day, versus when you’re having a slow novel.
The good days are when you perform; the slow days are when you learn to perform better. The only bad days as a writer are the ones when you are too cowardly or too lazy to sit down at the keyboard and give it everything you have.
If you can sit down at the keyboard every day in November and give it everything you have, then there is no writer on earth who is better than you.
~
Often sheer euphoria at your own brilliance will keep you writing late into the night, and you can hardly sleep because what you’ve written is so damned good. Then you wake up the next day and read it, and you realize it’s a pile of self-indulgent crap. This happens to me two days out of five. Then you get the opposite case, where you beat yourself up because the ideas are coming so slowly and all your dialogue seems timid and pedestrian. A week later you might look back on that day as a pretty solid performance, where your characters were honest with each other and maybe even created a couple of touching moments.
The more I learn about the writing process, the more I suspect that there is no such thing as a bad day at the keyboard. Sometimes you need slow days where you work through a dozen ideas that aren’t destined to fly. It creates a kind of intensity that eventually goads your brain into giving you a good day. Or sometimes, if you keep having slow days, then perhaps the novel really is asking you a deeper question about whether your plot, or your characterization, or your theory about the human heart really is up to scratch. Experience is knowing when you’re having a slow day, versus when you’re having a slow novel.
The good days are when you perform; the slow days are when you learn to perform better. The only bad days as a writer are the ones when you are too cowardly or too lazy to sit down at the keyboard and give it everything you have.
If you can sit down at the keyboard every day in November and give it everything you have, then there is no writer on earth who is better than you.
~
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thursday Thirteen - Thanksgiving Foods
Our family actually celebrated Thanksgiving in the US early. Still, I wanted to pay tribute to the holiday if only in a frivolous way. Here are thirteen foods besides the ubiquitous turkey that have graced the family table:
1. Mixed nuts - from the can, not the family tree, thank goodness
2. Cheese cubes
3. Vegetable tray
4. Green bean casserole
5. Cranberry sauce
6. Rolls
7. Sweet potato casserole
8. Cheese ball and crackers
9. Taco dip and chips
10. Dad's outrageous stuffing full of chestnuts and rice and bread
11. Pumpkin roll - a favorite of mine from my sister-in-law
12. Cherry cheesecake
13. Pumpkin pie and whipped cream, of course
~
1. Mixed nuts - from the can, not the family tree, thank goodness
2. Cheese cubes
3. Vegetable tray
4. Green bean casserole
5. Cranberry sauce
6. Rolls
7. Sweet potato casserole
8. Cheese ball and crackers
9. Taco dip and chips
10. Dad's outrageous stuffing full of chestnuts and rice and bread
11. Pumpkin roll - a favorite of mine from my sister-in-law
12. Cherry cheesecake
13. Pumpkin pie and whipped cream, of course
~
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Thursday Thirteen - Images From My Hot Air Balloon Ride
I''ve had these on my camera for a while and it's high time I share. They're by no means professional grade photographs of the dual balloon flights, but I hope you enjoy...
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