The Great Outdoors

Enjoy the weather while you can!

Cliffhanger

What?

A cliff-hanger is when you leave a story at a suspenseful moment only to finish it later.  One of these days I will finish my story of Pasta Pause:  A Beginning.  

Chicken Soup

For the Soul

If you like reading inspirational stories then this is the place to go!  Chicken Soup for the Soul is a compilation of true short stories sent in by people all over the globe.  Some stories will make you cry and relate to others.  Some stories will motivate you.  Enjoy some chicken soup today!

Judy Blume

Remember Fudge?

I was just thinking of this the other day but have you ever read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing?  I read this book when I was much younger and this book is so funny!  You just have to read it.  I consider this to be iconic elementary school reading material.  It turns out there is also a YouTube of it:  A trailer if you will.

Cincinnati

Time to Visit!

Spring is in the air!

Spring has sprung!

He loves me.  
He loves me not.  
One petal left.
I pull...

He loves me!
Love blooms
like daisies 
in disarray.

People drive 
around distracted.  
Hoping to fall 
in love.  

Not texting 
as some people 
are prone to do.
Disastrous!
 
Driving 
into a tree trunk 
and saying
Good-bye!

@JoSH Poetic Popcorn Poetry

Drive safe!  Don't text and drive!  So you can fall in love some day!

Haiku!

Like a Little Child

Be like a child
Instead of a grown up, why?
It's more fun that way!

Haiku poems are short poems that have three lines.  The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third line has five syllables.  Why not write a haiku today?

C S Lewis

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

So says C S Lewis...  If today is the first day of the rest of your life.  What would you do today?  How would you spend your time?  Time is something that once you lose it, you don't get back.  And life is going by faster and faster, isn't it?  I finally took care of some of my projects but I still have projects left to finish.  Where does the time go?  The days just start swimming together.  Tax day came and went.

Make the most of today!

A Ferry Capsizes!

Disaster Recovery

On the way to an island
excited high school students
ride a ferry unaware
of impending doom.  

Parents and families
cry for their loved ones 
after the capsize
because they are no more.

What began so happily
ended so sadly.
Our hearts go out
to you and your loved ones.

There's been so much disaster in the news lately between the missing Malaysia flight and now this.  What is up with our world today?

Life's Simple Pleasures

Lunch Munch

Meet with a friend for lunch.

Eating salad greens and cut up fruit.

Talking and catching up on life’s quirks.

Look out the glass and watch ducks swim by.

I ask “How’s life?”

“No more kids,” says she.

“Kids all grown!  All gone!  Bye-bye…”

Now’s my chance to be by myself.

Or not.

I wrote this years ago after having lunch with a friend.  Sometimes when you go through situations in life you realize how much simpler your life can be after getting out of the rat race.  People are always pursuing success but if you let go of some of the stuff in life that you can live without, it's amazing to learn how much more fulfilling your life can be living on less.  The pursuit of happiness is guaranteed in our Constitution but how many people do you know who are truly happy?  

Blood Moon

do i see red?

something red
something new
sometimes half
sometimes blue

look at the stars
what do they tell us?
how about the moon?
what is the significance?   

we see the moon
in so many phases.
a new moon rising
crescent shaped
half full glow
gibbous concave
and a full round
sometimes blue.

tonight though
it's red
blood red
if you can see it 
through cloudy skies. 

Tonight is the blood moon!  Check it out if you can!  I hear that it is gorgeous!

Pasta Pause: The Beginning

A short story for the Italian pasta lovers in all of us! 

It was an everyday kind of day in sunny San Fran when Franco Macaroni, who was a human resource specialist working at Pasta Finance, set out to do his fair share of harm.  “Who can I pick on today?”  He gleefully chortled while he twirled his curly black mustache with a glint in his eye.  “It’s been ever so long since I got rid of anybody and I must get rid of someone today as we have only recently found out that our prestigious pasta pension plan will no longer be available for new hires.  We must get the dried out old pasta out of here before they cost us more money.  They’ve been sitting out in the sun far too long.  Who wants stale and dried up old pasta anyway?”

Franco thought so hard that his macaroni stretched.  “What to do?  Get rid of Susie Meatball or Sam Spaghetti?  However there’s always Paula Perogi…”

Now Paula Perogi was a problem.  She had fallen down the metal colander one sad year and clipped a chip into her nice even edges.  It had taken a lot of time and effort to smooth her nasty chip away and it would never be as good as new.  Although she was a good worker she just had to go.  Plus she was on her way to becoming a dried up old spinster and had worked there far too long.  “Now what reason could we use?”   

He pondered and he twirled.  And he stewed and he steamed.  Until, he finally decided to ask his special friend Bettina Bacon to hand him some chilies to spice up the afternoon.  In a secret conference he asked Bettina Bacon to coat herself in chocolate because chocolate covered bacon was becoming more the thing.  Finding himself getting sidetracked he finally left the meeting to return to his desk. 

To be continued...

Flash Fiction

A type of writing genre!

The short story is becoming more and more popular.  Flash fiction is a short story usually consisting of 300 words or less.  This is something I explored in my writing classes previously.  Ideas for flash fiction stories keep running in my mind.  I have certain characters that seem to manifest themselves.  Characters such as Dr. Frankenberry of a futuristic affordable health care world or Franco Macaroni who prides himself on being an extremely conscientious HR specialist.  The imagination runs wild.  Names are always fun to come up with. 

When you think of humor in the workplace, how can you not think of Dilbert or Office Space?  Hmmm...

Lithuanian Sculpture Prompt

Mary With Arms Crossed

"I'm not worthy!"
Cried she...
Rapunzel with her hair 
so fair that reached 
down to the floor.
Her arms wrapped tightly
around Mary,
Mother of our Lord.
Her arms were crossed
in front of her
protecting her heart.
Demurely covered
a face worn and gaunt
from seeing her son
die so cruelly and unjustly 
on the cross that day.

It was interesting to hear how this writing prompt was interpreted by each of us in the writing group.  We all picked up on a similar theme especially being that we are nearing Good Friday next week. 

What's comfort?

simple pleasures

simple pleasures
remind me of scents
favorite and comforting
fragrance of lavendar
sprayed on my pillow
a dryer sheet
fresh out of a dryer
smell of fresh-baked bread
driving by a bread company
the tang of a freshly ripped
apart tangerine
the aroma of hot chocolate
on a cool winter's evening
while curled up around a book

I met with my writing group this past weekend and this is one of the poems I wrote based on the writing prompt of "simple pleasures."  It's interesting listening to the different writings of the writers in my group.  Each has his/her own literary style. 

Cinderella meets a fella...

Forbidden Fruit

snip snip snip

Submerge Yourself!

Poetry in Motion...

Smooth Sailing

 

Sometimes 
don't you wonder 
why life isn't 
just smooth sailing?
Without stormy gales
and constant waves 
that ebb and flow?
Why not gentle waves
that tickle our feet
instead?



Just a quick poem because life does throw unexpected twists and turns our way.