Words in the Week: Happy New Year!

What better way to get back to my little space on the web, than to begin again with a quote.  Happy 2015!

Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

 

Words in the Week: Wendell Berry

Words in the Week: May, Gratitude #2

Recent Reads: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

What does one do when they are laid up from a recent knee surgery other than find a very thick book and be appreciative of the opportunity to read for hours without excuse.  I did just the thing after my ACL reconstructive surgery and savored every moment of The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.

The Luminaries is the recipient of the2013 Man Booker Prize, and an excellent story that follows the lives and the interconnectedness of several characters in the 1860’s New Zealand Gold Rush.  Scandal and theft run the line of the plot, as one might expect with the prospect of gold, but there is also love, or the convenience of, and the untidy mess that love between two people might bring. Only the moon knows how these people and their relationships might be connected through the turn of events, and, eventually, the reader does, too.

Catton captures the timeframe and place of the story remarkably, as well as the tone of each individual character’s expression through action and language.

Words in the Week: May, Gratitude #1

Small Stone #43

A field of snow and my brain says it's December,
                          not spring.

Physical therapist says, "Bend your knee, just a little bit more,
                                                                                     a little bit more...
Relax.

See knee, we aren't doing anything bad here."

In my notebook: Calm

Spring snow and ice has contained much of my time to our house.  I had to take a drive just to get out of town, just so I could see beyond the houses that make up my skyline.  I drove out towards Sheep Mountain on Hwy 230. My sister and I used to take the same route when we were going to school at the University of Wyoming so we could escape life and have a few hours with good music and beautiful surroundings. 

The evening was cloudy with evidence of another spring storm on its way.  The unrest in the sky matched my mood, but I was surprised at how calm I began to feel just as I left town and the view of the plains and the mountains opened up.  Those “university days” drives my sister and I would take were years away, but the familiar feel of escape and freedom, if only for a quick drive, were easily found.

I drove just over 20 miles out of town and stopped at a little lake surrounded by cottonwoods.  The water in the lake, the stones around the shore line, the trees still lifeless from winter all seemed gray.  I related with thoughts of upcoming knee surgery, recovery, along with other stressors in life.

But there were hints of green below the pale grass that covered the plains, and the surrounding mountains held on to the last snow storm and stood out against the dark sky. 

Calm- was the word I thought of as I drove back home.  Nothing more than calm…

Words in the Week: Featuring Barbara Brownskirt

In celebration of National Poetry Month, you must be introduced to Barbara Brownskirt,Poet of the People. She is the self-appointed Poet-in-residence at the 197 bus stop. If you don't understand poetry now, you may not even after this video; but you'll laugh. I'm still laughing....

Small Stone #42

Oh, Snow.

      60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday,
      and today you ride in on the Wind.

I just pulled out my sandals,
my skirt.

Oh, Snow.
  
      You are cold when it comes to change.

Foto Friday: Campsite Dreams

There are many nights I dream of our first campsite at Lake Powell, what a view to wake up to.  We tried to stay there again this year only the lake had lost 20 feet of water and we could not maneuver our way in to the alcove.  Thankfully we found a new site and made new memories; however  I do love returning to places that have touched me, and where I have enjoyed my time there.  Perhaps that's why this certain location is so often in my dreams.

Words in the Week: On Poetry #1

 

April is National Poetry Month.  To celebrate, Words in the Week will focus on thoughts about poetry throughout the month.

 

Small Stone #41

There are many ways to find the glass half full-

                          through my husband's eyes,

                          the bumper sticker that reads "It gets better."

Thank you!

I want to say thank you to all the people who have sent me well wishes, thoughts, and prayers since I tore my ACL at the end of March.  Your support is very much appreciated and I feel as though you are all a part of my posse!  Thank you!

 

 

 

Words in the Week: Thoughts on Life #2

Small Stone #40

From my recent trip to Lake Powell...

       ...sand...mesas...fish...campfires...simple meals...
            ...kids run beside the shores of the lake...

                           .....these are the only things that fill my days here...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Words in the Week: Thoughts on life #1

 

 

 

Small Stone #39

            "to be, not to seem"


                              oh, the relevance

In my notebook: Longing for green

In March I long for green.  Other places must see the color already out in nature.  In Wyoming there is more snow, more gray, the grass still brown.

I wait to see green, even imagine its presence, for as brief of a time that the color exists in the West's arid climate, sometimes the imagination is as close as one can get to such a color.