“I woke from a comma…”

Leave a reply

(And you wonder why I love the AI stories! Best comedy around.) No, that’s not a typo on my part, it was, I think, a functionally illiterate AI. Whoever is posting these stores, really needs to spend a wee bit of time to edit them. Both the written words and the spoken ones. 

Another story was about a wealthy businessman, 42, whose mother had a baby when she was 19, and gave the baby up for adoption at her parental insistence. Anyhow when the man met his sister, he was forty-two, the sister was 39. Now, I don’t do numbers, as most if not all of you know, but… Other than that, it was a fun story.

I have noticed AI stories don’t know how to follow a calendar, nor do most of them understand tenses, especially when the word is spelled the same as in read and read, but I’m pretty sure I mentioned that before.

The Bullet Takes Forever, poems by Heidi Kasa

I don’t remember who recommended this book, but holy moly guacamole! I wish I’d written it, and I’m so grateful my muse passed it to Heidi. It’s personal, it’s political, it’s beauty, it’s horror, it’s not an easy read, I’m only on page 10, but it’s a necessary read, an important read, and one every American needs to read!

Bears and Manatees

I’m amazed at the bears at Brooks Falls I’m fair confident they’re not much, if any, different from bears of the plains, the mountains, or wherever bears live. They all must eat high fat, high protein in order to survive their winter nap, and it seems like that’s all they do—sleep in the winter and eat when they’re awake. Though the sows do have babies, so they must be doing something in the deep of the woods we can’t see from the 24/7 cam. 

I find it fun to watch these behemoths as they strive for ever more fat. It’s a wonder to me how they can sit in the cold water as long as they do, and wait for the fish to come to them. And they do.  It’s fun to watch them on the top of the falls as a fish jumps into their open and waiting mouth! The younger ones still like to play and catch their fish by leaping and pouncing on them. 

As I watch this morning, Sunday, at 7am, there is only one bear at the falls, and I haven’t seen a single fish. Now, I’m not watching with undivided attention, but it seems a bit odd, I wonder if this particular run of salmon is over? There were a lot of bears out last night, more than I’ve ever seen, did they know the end of this run had come and were after all they could get? There were three bears earlier, but now just one, and he looks like he lost his best friend. (yes, I’m anthropomorphizing.)

And why to they call it a salmon run? I’ve never seen legs or feet on  salmon, which I think would help them go up the falls. Do they prefer Nike shoes over going barefoot?

I’ve found a second live feed that is also fun, Manatees at Homosassa Springs, FL. Especially fun to watch the babies and the fish swim. I’m not positive, but I think I read some time ago, that there is a nuclear power plant here, and the water is always warm for them. 

There are different kinds of fish swimming around, just saw a turtle, but haven’t yet seen any ‘gators. Which is probably a good thing. 😉

Workshops

Started another poetry workshop. We’ll meet monthly, spend three hours reading, discussing, and writing various types of poems. Yesterday we discussed Persona poems which I love and worked on a persona poem of a non-human persona. I wrote about the Elwha River. We even had time to do a wee bit of research in the class. Gotta admit, I love the internet for some things. And, yes, I donate to Wikipedia. If I’m gonna use it, I figure I ought to support it, and it’s not only less expensive than a set of encyclopedias, it takes up less room on the bookshelf, and is easier to move, as well as constantly upgraded as new information comes along.

Two Hens and a Drake

When I let Sammy out this morning (Monday) at 5:30, there were at least 30 ducks flocculating outside the door so I grabbed this shot. A mallard hen and drake, and the Muscovy hen with the gorgeous white jabot.

Remember, I love you, I appreciate you, and I give you a wonderful week to enjoy!

I Finished the Marthon!!!

Leave a reply

So, yesterday, Sunday 12 July 2026, was the 5th annual Ekphrastic Review Marathon, boy dowdy, did I discover just how out of shape I am! A normal marathon is 26.2 miles. Yesterday’s marathon was 8 hours plus!

We received our .pdf packet at 0630 hours in the morning, and had 30 minutes to read it, and look over the art work, and choose the art we’d write about. Or thought we’d write about, then, at 0700 we set the time and had 30 minutes to write our first draft. At the end of that 30 minutes we started on our second, and so on and so forth. There was an hour in there we could take a break, from 1100-noon, and then back at it. The goal was to turn of our internal editor, and in seven hours of writing, end up with 14 first drafts. Not everyone did, but that’s okay. The art we had to choose from was varied by style and artist. I wrote about a Diego Rivera painting, Two Women, then a peat bog, a young black girl, a First Nation transformation mask, ending up with one I set in a gasthaus in Switzerland. Then we had a zoom meeting to celebrate our participation, I stayed for an hour then moved to a different zoom meeting for an open mic. 

All in all, I spent 11 hours at my desk, computer, and zoom. And loved every minute of it. Can’t wait until next year’s!! Yes, I think I got some publishable poems out of yesterday, with some edits, of course. If you’d like to read some good ekphrastic poetry, please the The Ekphrastic Review at https://www.ekphrastic.net. They are the ones who sponsored the marathon, and put out a fantastic ezine.

Today’s excitement

Today, I saw my favorite PCP and she said she’s happy with my health, gave me a couple of ideas, and said she’ll see me in 6 months. (We’re tracking my red/white blood cells. They go up a bit, down a bit and she’s not concerned, I’m not concerned, and the chief hematologist at the hospital isn’t even a wee bit  interested! Says when the white goes waaaay down, then he’ll become interested. I’m delighted my PCP and the Chief have their boundaries for worry, one less thing I need to worry about. 

Bears at Brooks Falls – Katmai NP AK

In the meantime, I’m keeping the Bears at Brooks Falls—Katmai NP AK, as my background. Mostly I just hear the water going over the falls, but every so often I hear growls and look up to see a couple of them snarling and cuffing. Not sure what the problem is, there are plenty of fish! Right now there are about 12 bears in view, as the camera moves, more or less show up. Mama bears and the cubs are down river a wee bit in the riffles, away from the ill mannered boars at the falls. There may be some sows at the falls, too, but no cubs. If you would like to watch them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZrIDvqlic&list=TLPQMTMwNzIwMjbwoTyMakr5vQ&index=10

Talk about fresh sushi!

Some of this bears have pretty bare looking back sides where they’ve rubbed their winter fur off. Wonder if they are colder because of it?

There is also an underwater salmon cam you can watch. And now and then see a bear underwater, and hear them snarling at each other above water. Sometimes they dive and nose the camera. The salmon are at: https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/underwater-bear-cam-brown-bear-salmon-cams

Sammy Brave Dog

Sammy has changed a bit in the last couple of weeks. Don’t know if it was the 4th and the explosions, but he is spending a lot more time in my office than he used to. He comes in, curls up and sleeps, or just curls and day dreams? I dunno. I wonder if his union rep came by and told him what his job truly is, to stay by me????

Keeping mostly one eye on my safety in my office.

All the Secrets…

2 Replies

I hope you are all sitting down, as I have a bit of shocking news to tell you. I received a book in the mail the other day. See, I told you…/snort/  Anyhow, the book is All The Secrets Of The World a novel by Steve Almond. I checked the label several times, it was addressed to me, from a bookstore. I figured it was from housemate Dan so trashed the mailer. The problem? When I thanked him for it, he had no recollection of ordering it.

Did any of you think of me and send it? I really haven’t a clue who to thank. One of the larger secrets of my world! Hmm, did I receive a notice to order a free book and this is it? It’s a hardback, $28.00, pretty pricey for a freeby, eh?

Telemarketers

I subscribe to a daily poem from Rattle magazine as well as A Poem A Day from Poets.org. I’m seldom disappointed, but today’s (4 July) from Rattle I’ve got to share. I’m pretty sure it’s copyrighted and I can’t post the whole of it, so I’m giving you the link. It’s short. It’s humorous. Please, read it! “Telemarketer” by Brett Garcia Myhren. Isn’t that the bestest ever comeback to a telemarketer? 

Referrals

I also subscribe to a few blogs/newsletters, some are free, some I pay for. Three are:

Newsletter of Carla Ra, a scientist by day, a science-fiction writer by night. She’s a brainiac with a marvelous sense of humor. Check her out. Join her mailing list and join her Bot Family. Great fun. Carla Ra at https://www.authorcarlara.com Free

Dr. Stacey Patton. She has both free and pay. I pay. She is an African American professor of media, journalism, film & communication at Howard University. I don’t know where she gets all the energy to teach, write, speak, etc. Sometimes her newsletters are angry with cause, sometimes, she makes me cry, and sometimes she makes me laugh. Always, I learn something. And her Sunday sermons are marvelous. For the first time in years, I look forward to going to church, her church. Today’s newsletter is “Forget the Founders. Celebrate the Enslaved Black People Who Escaped on the 4th of July.” It’s a powerful piece. Read it and learn some history! Stretch your mind. It’s good for you! She’s on Substack.

And, of course, I subscribe to Sherman Alexie, also on Substack. I pay, but he also has a free subscription.  I get poetry, essays, short fiction, opinion, audio, and video, and yes, some recent history of life as an Indian in modern America. His poem, “The Book of Samuel” is one of those poems. It’s free, so I can share.

Please Consider

I have written before about the Iraqi bakery/grocery store/restaurant next door to me, Somer’s Bakery. Now I want to write about the family operated store or restaurant or bakery near where you live. If you’re too busy to shop there because the Big Store you go to has everything, or better prices, or is more convenient, please consider the Mom n Pop in your neighborhood. Not for all your needs, but for some. If you are lucky enough that the owners are from another country and sell things you’ve never seen or tried, consider trying. Support them. 

Somer’s is my bread store, my pickle store, my date store, my eggplant and pickled cabbage store and my homemade and fresh baklava store. Also my baba ghanoush lunch restaurant. But now it will probably me my ex store come January. Gas has gone up, shipping has gone up, people aren’t buying as much, he can’t afford to stock product and throw it away when it expires. And they’re from a different country.

Did I tell you that’s where I buy my bread. Pita bread. Do you know why I buy it there? I’ll tell you, it’s the ingredients—flour, water, yeast, salt. Period. Not only can I pronounce all the ingredients, I can spell them. And remember them. And the taste and texture is so much better than grocery store bread.

Is he competition for the Big Store across the street? No, he’s too small and carries things they’ve never heard of. Oh, did I mention the cheeses? sigh….

So, if you have a Mom n Pop near you, support them. Get to know them. And if they came to America from a different place, try their foods. Tell your friends. Help in a small way for someone to reach the so-called American Dream. A taste bud once introduced to a new experience will never settle for boring again! /snort/  

Latest email from Cousin Jimmy

“I just read this post to Substack. I believe it needs to go viral.”

Well, I just read it, too, and totally agree with him. A well thought-out article and well worth the couple of minutes to read and longer to cogitate.

The Epstein Class: What Jeffrey Epstein revealed about wealth, immunity, and institutional failure. by Eli Goldstein at Eli’s Substack

.https://libertylens1.substack.com/p/the-epstein-class-what-jeffrey-epstein?r=4nb43&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Addendum:

Goodest morning, y’all. It is Sunday, 5 July. The Brave Dog snuggled most of the night, thereby keeping me safe from those nasty exploding things outside. And I’ve already been to church this morning—still in my jammies no less!—and I invite you to come sit in the pew with me, there’s always room for my friends. The doors are open, and the message is strong! Dr. Rev. Staceypants is Preachin’

“Death is a reminder to live fully.” —Ram Dass

Remember, 
I love you, 
I appreciate you, 
and I give you a fantastically wonderful week 
so take it and run;-)

Auntie Lenora

Something New—for YOU!!

1 Reply

I belong to two different poetry prompt groups that I enjoy no end. Why should I get all the fun?? A friend of mine used this photo as a prompt and wrote a great poem, so I’m sharing the photo with you, and asking you to use this photo and write something. Anything. A line. A poem. A story. Shuckin’s, a novel if you want. Just write something! It doesn’t need to be ‘good’ and it doesn’t need to be shared unless you want to share. 

My friend Bill Ransom, says there are three kinds of writing—private, shared with a few, and public. And Marvin Bell said to give yourself permission to write a bad poem (or whatever). So, write something, inspired by this photo, and it doesn’t even have to be about a moon, who knows what idea this hollowed out moon, filled with clouds, will spark for you.

The photo is copyrighted, but I have the permission from the photographer to use it.–“Hello, Lenora. Sure, no problem. Thank you for your kind words. // Cheers, // Debra“

What I think happened to the moon is the mice got hungry and ate it, it is made out of cheese you know. They hollowed it out, allowing clouds to move in. And Venus was too far away to help. Or maybe too smart to get close enough to help. Those mice are sneaky little devils. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they would thrive in Venus’s atmosphere!

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260620.html

Astronomy Picture of the Day 

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2026 June 20

Daytime Moon Meets Evening Star 
Image Credit & Copyright: Debra Ceravolo

Explanation: Venus is now appearing on the celestial stage as Earth’s brilliant evening star, performing with the Moon, other wandering planets, and bright stars in western skies. For evening sky gazers on June 17, the celestial beacon rose after sunset close by a young, slender, crescent Moon. But from some locations the Moon could be seen to occult or pass in front of Venus. And from a backyard observatory in southern British Columbia, Canada, the lunar occultation was played out in daylight. This stunning telescopic snapshot captured a scene in dramatically cloudy skies, following Venus’ hour long disappearance, as the evening star emerged beyond the bright lunar limb.

And, yes, after I wrote this, I wrote my poem. And, yes, I’ll let you read it, but it will cost you. I want to see what YOU wrote, the sentence, the paragraph, the poem, whatever you wrote. Email it to me, and I’ll share. lenora.good@icloud.com.

Auntie Lenora Promises Not to Sing

Our country’s 250th birthday is Saturday, and because Auntie Lenora loves her country, she won’t sing, though her rendition of Happy Birthday might be better than a certain country singer’s rendition of The Star Spangled Banner the other night at another birthday bash. Auntie used to have a friend who paid her not to sing Happy Birthday to him. She’s that good at being awful!

In the meanwhile, have a great celebration. If you’re going to fire off those explody things, please remember pets, vets, and fires. If you have a large body of water near you, take them to the shore and fire over the water. If you don’t, see if you can find a large area ground covered by concrete with no trees nearby. Whatever, just be responsible and safe. Auntie Lenora loves you, appreciates you, and doesn’t want to see any of you harmed by those bangy, explody things.

Auntie Lenora is, per her wont, staying in. The great and ferocious Chihuahua, Sammy Brave Dog, has promised to keep her safe, and she has a bottle of W. H. McBrayer Kentucky bourbon she is going to open and try. Her grandfather, Carl Henry “Skipper” McBrayer was the genealogist of the family for years, and a cousin, Bill, re-built the family distillery on a small scale. Old Auntie is looking forward to some good sippin’ whiskey. If you’re interested in reading a bit about it, check out McBrayer Legacy Spirits. And like the bangy, explody things, if you drink, be responsible!

Sammy as his ferocious winter were/wolf ready to defend me against noisy things.

“Life is to be lived, not controlled, 
and humanity is won by continuing 
to play in face of certain defeat.” 
~ Ralph Ellison

It’s Done…Almost

Leave a reply

As you may remember from previous posts, when I discovered my elder brother of choice Thomas, did not have a Literary Executrix, I volunteered. Obviously, I must have been on special assignment when we covered volunteering in Basic Training!

The first thing I did was work on his memoir, which he finished just before he died. That took a while (hard to see the computer screen if one is blinded by tears), but I eventually got there. Bless his heart he did a lot of copy and paste, instead of cut and paste. But I finally got the duplicates eliminated, and the tenses corrected, and sent it off to a friend to look over—and she will be publishing it in 2027!

The second thing I did was go through his many thumb drives and print out every written thing I could find. Best guestimate was 500 pages plus or minus. That’s a lot of stuff to go through. And as my friend said, why didn’t I just use a spread sheet to put the titles and dates in and use that? She even volunteered to make me the spread sheet! Well, if Thomas had been that consistent or organized, it might have worked but I found he had worked on poems and changed the title, but not the poem that much. Or he had written different poems, but used the same name. He used thumb drives and I found copies on multiple drives.

The third thing was to collect all the pages, and go on a week-long retreat to Port Hadlock, WA with friend Dixie of the spread sheet suggestion. There, I got all the poems in alphabetical order, found lots of pages that weren’t poems or were incomplete, and eliminated them, then went through each section and pulled out what looked to be the final copy, the complete copy, and then (why do I have an ear worm of Along Came Jones??) I divided them into categories. And then the week was up.

After coming home, I began going through them again, quickly, skimming, and divided the poetry into three books, and the stories into one. Took the hard copies I’d printed out, to Office Depot and had them scanned to thumb drives, one for each book, came home and got book one, Blanchard Mountain Woman, moved to a .docx file, edited, ordered, and saved in three places. One-hundred-thirty pages of poetry! And, of course, found a couple more duplicates with different titles, same words, different format. sigh.

Now, to find a poetry editor I can afford to go through the poems while I write the Frontis Matter, and the Back Matter (Backis Matter??), with the Table of Contents being the last in case we change the order. I plan on self-publishing these books, and hopefully deliver them to one of Thomas’s sons to take over, sell and manage the royalties which should be divided equally between the brothers.

One of these days, I hope to get back to my writing, and collections, and maybe get another book of my poems out. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Yes, I can tell, you are almost as excited as I am /snort/ In the meantime, I hope my files are a bit easier on my Literary Executrix, which I already have, and she has agreed to. 

Mama Turtle

We have a mama turtle in our little pond. Perhaps we have a papa turtle, too, or he might be in the large pond next door. Every so often I see a baby turtle, but the heron gets them now and then, as well as the osprey, when they’re small. And since the landscrapers cut down our live trees by the pond, but left the dead ones, I’ve seen fewer turtles and frogs as they no longer have the protection of the trees, or the shade. The other day I noticed something in the water that was moving against the wind, grabbed my phone, put it on the largest telephoto I could and grabbed this shot of turtle swimming. As soon as I got the shot s/he dove back underwater, but at least I know we have at least one turtle, still. Dan says he’s heard Jeremiah sing now and then, and plop into the water when he goes outside.

“I’m here today because I refused to be unhappy. I took a chance.”—Wanda Sykes

Remember, you are loved, you are appreciated,
and you have a marvelous week ahead.

Fire Season is Here…

Leave a reply

Remember, I love you, I appreciate you,
and I wish you a Fantabulous Week!!!

This morning’s newspaper says the Tries (Tri-Cities) where I live, are surrounded by wild fires. But, there must be a clear space to our SE as the breeze, such as it is, isn’t bringing smoke—so far. The sky has a hazy silvery tint to it, so I can tell it ain’t totally clear, but I just walked the dog, and no smell of fire. 

My weather app says our AQI is 46-good, my EPA Air Now app says it’s 22. That’s a bit of a discrepancy, yes‽ And it matters, because there are a lot of people in the area who have sensitivities to things in the air we breathe! Me being one of the many!

And the Tries are located in the Columbia Basin, basin being the operative word. We are a sink hole, and as such, collect and hold stuff like smoke. Five or so years ago, I was getting ready to convert Coffee Break Escapes to a podcast and we were surrounded by fires for over a month. Even wearing a mask, especially outside, the smoke forever changed my voice. Part of it was my fault for trying to talk through the smoke-induced laryngitis, still….

I am considering recording some of my short stories and putting them up on my YouTube channel, including coughs, glitches, &c and “advertising” them as both written and narrated by a human. They won’t be as exciting as the AI stories but the tenses and pronunciations will be somewhat better. /snark/ But, probably not as funny.

New Read:

Last year, I read Frogs Don’t Sing Red poems by Sandi Stromberg and loved it. When I saw she had a new book out a while back, Moonlight, Shaken poems by Sandi Stromberg, my order was placed asap! From the first epigraph, “To what shall / I liken the world? / Moonlight, reflected / In dewdrops, / Shaken from a crane’s bill.” —Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) I was entranced. Both books are published by Kelsay Books.

Stromberg has lived in different countries, has travelled widely, partaken of cultures, languages, and foods from around the world. Her love of travel, and new friends and acquaintances, is shared in this marvelous book. Do I have a favorite? Oh, gosh, no. I have several. The one that affected me, physically, more than others (all affected me emotionally) was Sixty Seconds of Infinity. “”It’s just for one minute,” says the museum guard, // Out of the dark, hundreds, maybe thousands, ‘’ of golden lights careen toward me, tiny lanterns / ceiling to floor….” She goes on to describe a most fascinating sixty seconds. I close my eyes, try to visualize what she saw, what she felt, and the early twinges of vertigo began. That’s powerful writing. And now, claustrophobe that I am, I want to visit the Infinity Room, by Yayoi Kusama at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. All because of one poem!

Early morning sun (7:47), September 17, 2021, during our month of smoke. It never got better until it was gone.

‘Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?’ –Frida Kahlo

Blatant Commercial

1 Reply

I love you. I appreciate you. I give you a fantastical new week!

It’s an anthology! It’s paper! It’s a book! More Poemographs for Peace, A Photo & Poetry Anthology, ed by Cathy Warner. As the blurb on Amazon says: “includes poetry by 22 poets: Carolyn Wiley, Cathy Warner, Charles Perrone, Cindy Domasky, C.L. Halvorson, Dawn Smart, Genét Bosqué, Jan Haag, Lenora Rain-Lee Good, Leslayann Schecterson, Linda Whaley, Paula Wychopen, Rose Anna Higashi, Spirit Thom, Sterling Warner, Stuart Kurtz, Sue Daly, Sue Magrath, Susan Glenn Lampe, Teresa Gauthier, Thomas Jones, and Tino De Guevara. These fine poets responded to daily photos as they participated in this National Poetry Month anthology fundraiser. All proceeds from the sale of More Poemographs for Peace will be donated to World Central Kitchen to provide meals in war-torn Gaza, and to the American Civil Liberties Union to support the work of upholding democracy at home. The poems in this anthology, like those in its predecessors Poemographs for Peace (2022) and Poemographs (2021), continue the conversation between photography, writing, art, inspiration, action, and creativity.” [Bold is my addition.]

This book is truly food for your soul, and food for people in Gaza. Please consider buying copies.

I’m so honored this group of Poets has allowed me not only to be a part of their Zoom family, but accepted one of my poems, “KZ Gedenkstätte Dachau (II)” but also two of my lowkus.

Please note that ALL of the proceeds/royalties will go to World Central Kitchen to provide meals in war-torn Gaza, and the American Civil Liberties Union. In order to get maximum royalties for our charities, please order your copies (yes, plural, they’re great gifts) from either

Lulu.com https://tinyurl.com/56tsx78v

or Amazon, click book below

The book contains 166 pages of great poems and gorgeous photographs

AND, yes, there is more!

The book launch is Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 6pm PDT, via zoom. To RSVP your very own Zoom Room to watch us all read, please contact me for the information.

I paint flowers so they will not die. — Frida Kahlo

It’s Monday–and I’m Retired!!

Leave a reply

Happy Monday to you! I
love you, I appreciate you, I wish you a marvelous week!

I know I’ve mentioned my guilty pleasure of listening to AI written/narrated stories before, mostly I find them pretty funny. The better ones come out of the SF/F channels and the werewolf/lycan ones. I strongly suspect there is some human intervention there. True, they are pretty formulaic, but there’s nothing wrong with that. There are stories of romance, revenge, the Mafia, were’s, dragons—something for everyone. Just do not leave a comment on any of them.

What I’m wondering is, since I write poetry, and the occasional short story, why don’t I record them, and put them up on my YouTube channel? Well, ok, I know the reason—my voice is old, and it sounds old, I’d have to find someone to record them for me. 

And, I know some of you, dear readers, are also writers. Why don’t you record some of your stories and put them up on YouTube? Monetize your channel and get paid something???!!!

Speaking of AI, and the fact that the stories can’t follow a timeline, have you noticed the White House staff also can’t follow a time line, or perform simple arithmetic? (yeah, numbers phobe that I am, even I figured that one out!) Staff came out and said that our Orange Pustule has just had his 6th month physical. Except he’s having them at four month intervals, according to John Iadarola on “The Damage Report,” the OP has been averaging a physical (and cognitive test?) every 123 days. That’s four months, not six.

I’ve had a couple of poems published in the June issue of Quill & Parchment, in case you’re ready for a poem or two ;-).

Walking the Plains of Sandpiper Hill is an ekphrastic and Springtime Fancies is from the line, then the bees came, and must be used in the poem, which is why it’s in italics in the poem. If you are one of my writing readers, I suggest you check out Quill & Parchment and if it looks like a fit for some of your work, consider submitting to them. They also print short stories now and then.

Yes, the geese and ducks, and the great blue heron, are walking on the water. No, it is not miraculous. The photo was taken 28 Jan 26, the pond is frozen. June is getting hot. I thought we could use a cool photo, yes?

Now that nail-less toe is happily healing, I hope to get back to my exercises this week, and to work on Thomas’s book/s. I’m currently thinking three of poetry and one of short stories. And also get back to my writing.

Just Call Me “Alice’s Rabbit”—I’m Late, I’m Late…

1 Reply

So, where was I last week? I was right here, at home, wading in the pool of self-pity and requested pain. No, I’m not a masochist. Honest. Trust me. Several years ago, I had a couple of toenails removed, supposedly the toes were treated so the nails wouldn’t grow back. They grew back, and they were vengeful. It took time, but I reached the point of finality, and discussed possible solutions with my podiatrist about the one causing the most pain. (NOT the one who removed the original toenail!) Anyhow, Favorite Podiatrist said I had about three options, I could have the nail removed and take a chance the replacement nail would be better behaved, I could have it removed and treated to not grow back, or, and the one he really recommended, was I could have it removed and treated so it wouldn’t grow back. (I think he worked at the Ford company while in medical school? You can have any color car you want as long as you want black) I chose the last option. A week ago this past Friday, Favorite Podiatrist removed the nail and treated the nail bed with acid to keep it from growing back. 

No pain, other than the needle with numbing juice going in, and that wasn’t much pain. Even when the juice wore off, I didn’t need so much as an aspirin, until the next morning when I had to soak it in Epsom salts, and re-bandage it. Pain!!! for about an hour. Self-pity for the morning. Rinse, repeat, and I didn’t feel like doing much of anything but listen to my Samurai Music on YouTube, funny AI stories on YouTube, and work on Thomas’s poetry.

I think I have 3 solid books of his poetry. Probably will self-publish once I have them together, well, starting with the first. I’ll get more royalty that way, and I’m dividing the royalty between his three sons. They certainly won’t get rich but maybe buy a coffee now and then on their Dad. 😉 I sent a couple of nice checks off to ALS Association and End of Life Washington the other day, from the sale of Saying Goodbye to Thomas. I kicked in a bit, too. 

Just for grins, I went to ABEbooks.com a couple days ago. I could find NO used copies of Saying Goodbye to Thomas! Lots of new ones offered, but no used ones. That tells me that people who are buying the book are pleased with it, and not trading it in at their local used book store. In other words, it’s a good book (pun not intended, but now that I see it…;-). 

Speaking of books

I have read three chapbooks in the last couple of weeks.

GAZA Poetry by Errol Young

This is not an easy book to read, and I am fairly sure, from what Young wrote in Author’s Note 02, not an easy one to write. His first poem, “Too Many” says it all. It begins, “I cannot be silent.” and ends, “Read them if you must. / Ignore them if you will. / I cannot.”

No, this is not an easy book to read, but the poems are well-written, which is not easy to do when the subject matter is so atrocious. Buy the book, read the book, become educated by the book.

GAZA Poetry by Errol Young, 25 pages of poetry, available in print from bookshop.org, and other places. $10.00

The Future Deserves a Nervous Breakdown by Sherry Fraser

Ever read a book, and by the time you’re finished reading it, thinking thoughts along the line of, “I’d really like to meet this person, share a cuppa, or a margarita, with the author?” Yep, that’s me. I didn’t know I not only need a nervous breakdown, but that I deserve one. Wow!

“A Tree Moves from Brooklyn” had me smiling and chuckling, “American Aristocrat” had me LOLing.  

Fraser has a delightfully wicked sense of humor, which appeals to me no end. I’m not sure, but with all the LOLing I had by the time I finished the book, I may have had that nervous breakdown.

I dog-ear the bottom corner of pages of poetry that I really love. I usually have a few pages dog-eared by the time I’m finished. In this case, I think at least 50% of the pages are dog-eared, including a few that are double-dog-eared. The rest are merely very good 😉

The Future Deserves a Nervous Breakdown by Sherry Fraser

Available from the author, Sherry Fraser at sherryyoga@gmail.com for $25.00 incl s/h 

Saudade, A Collection of Poems on Love, Loss, and Change Between Cultures by A. J. Blanco

I have recently discovered the Saudade (sowDAHdjee), a Portuguese poem of deep longing for something or someone absent, often with a sense of sadness or nostalgia.  (Wikipedia) I bought a small book of 21 Saudade by A. J. Blanco. Blanco is also new to Saudade, and the Portuguese language introduced by her husband, a Brasilian, to add to the Spanish and English she already knew. 

Saudade, A Collection of Poems on Love, Loss, and Change Between Cultures by A. J. Blanco is available from Bookshop.org for $10.99 +s/h.

Please know I appreciate you, I love you, and I wish you a fantastical week!!!

Found this smiling guy when I was down in Florida. What a flirt! Alas, I couldn’t hang around…

Happy Mother’s Day

Leave a reply

okay, I’m a day late, live with it 😉

Here is the origin of this day. I think it’s worth the reading, and if anyone has a way to send the message, or at least the link to Mother Melania back in DC, feel free to do so. Extra points if you can send it to her in her native language. Use the link if the image disappears: https://elainemichele.com/portfolio/mothers-day-card-proclamation/

My week’s excitement included a drive south 179 miles with my gal pal, Mary, to see our friend Judith for couple days. Very boring drive down and back (best kind of a drive!), and a mahvelous visit with our friend. She’s moved into a retirement home, and we ate with her in the resident restaurant which was actually pretty good food, and it was ordered off a menu. 

The home she’s in is very nice, the apartments are large, the staff is very friendly, and the restaurant is open from 7:30am to 7:00pm, the residents can go in any time and order any meal, or just go to the salad bar, which looked very good!

Judith took us on a walk to a nearby park where we sat and enjoyed the morning. Then we walked back to the apartment and met many of her new friends. They’re all retired, friendly, and had great senses of humor. We also sat outside in the gazebo by the pond in the courtyard and caught up on 10-12 year’s worth of gossip and watched the new baby ducklings. 

Alas, the time was too short, but we hope to make the trip again—without waiting another 10-12 years.

Mama and her babies between the gazebo and the pond.

This week’s favorite AI quote from Karma Files:
“No sense in explaining quantum physics to a hamster.”

I love you. I appreciate you. Have a marvelous 7-day!