Monthly Archives: November 2018

Love in the Era of Match.com

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What the whippoorwill attracted.

Love in the Era of Match.com

What care I if the whippoorwill
should flay the night insistently?
He may have the whole night to kill
researching where his love may be,
but I have only ink and quill
to call out to my true love’s heart.
If I don’t get it in the post,
this love affair will never start!
Delayed too long, I will be toast.
He will have found some other tart!

 

What I attracted. 

 

The dVerse Poets prompt is to write a Quintain poem on the subject of sexuality and desire . I’ve chosen to write a Spanish Quintain, or “Quintilla,” which consists of two quintain stanzas of iambic tetrameter with the ababa rhyme scheme. Here is the link if you want to play along or read the work of other poets who wrote to this theme: 

Black Friday

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Black Friday

Overwhelmed by shopping, I stay sealed up in my house.
When it comes to competition, I’m as timid as a mouse.
The melody of shopping ads swirl around my head,
but it’s a dubious offering. I’d rather stay in bed.

First stores opened at 9 a.m., then opened up at 6.
Shoppers camped outside all night to have the choicest picks.
When Kohl’s, Macy’s and Best Buy decided to open earlier,
Full of turkey, deprived of sleep, the crowds got even surlier.

Midnight is no time, my friend, to be out and shopping.
After feasting all Thanksgiving day, it’s time for rest and stopping.
Instead, the minute the bird’s picked clean,
they start the “Holiday” machine.

Shoppers trip over display elves
to get to fully-laden shelves.
Christmas trees drop balls and sway,
unequal to this shopping fray.

In a season meant to swell the heart,
good bargains may be ripped apart
by buyers intent on competing—
herds of sheep milling and bleating.

On Thursday, we give thanks for all
we’ve been given, then have the gall
at midnight, to swarm out the door
to hit the mall and buy some more!

You can hear the fuss and roar
the minute you approach each store.
Shoving, elbowing and gripping.
You can hear the garments ripping!

But I remember days of yore
long before the blood and gore,
when Christmas “giving” was more laid back—
a doll for Jill, a train for Jack

purchased from Sear’s catalogue,
or “Monkey Wards.” Perhaps a dog
or kitten in a wiggling box.
Perfume for Mom. For Dad? Some sox.

And it was done. No buying fury.
No fuss or bother, strain or hurry.
“Good will to men” the Christmas reason
before big stores usurped the season!

Steve Cutts has made a wonderful animated film that perfect illustrates this poem.  You can see it HERE.

The prompt words today were shop, melody, dubious and overwhelm.  Somehow they seemed to want to come together to produce this poem. Here are the links. Tell us what they say to you!

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/rdp-friday-shop/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/11/23/fowc-with-fandango-melody/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/dubious/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/your-daily-word-prompt-overwhelm-November-23-2018/

Hibiscus

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One of the things I gave thanks for today was this gorgeous new hibiscus growing right outside my kitchen door.  You can see its size in comparison to my hand. It will enlarge if you click on it:

IMG_5584

 

See Cee’s beautiful peace lily HERE.

Mexican Thanksgiving

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Be sure at the very least to click on the photo of Sandy in the turquoise shirt to see the bonus view in the mirror.

Matt wants to know what we are going to do with all the leftover turkey. In past years, I’ve used it to make turkey and dressing and cranberry sandwiches. Yum. When we were young, we made them on my mom’s rolls–made extra large for this express purpose. This year, however, I went to a restaurant with five friends. The meal was the traditional turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, but the salad and desserts were works of art. The dessert was pumpkin pie, a pumpkin swirl cake and a pumpkin puree with raspberry sauce. Followed by an amaretto foamy iced drink that was to die for. Love the photo of Sandy that somehow captured all of our reactions in the mirror.  That was good fortune, not planned.

For Daily Inkling.

On the Wing

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On the Wing

Please click on the first photo to enlarge and see more detail in the photos. The terrain we were flying over was fascinating.

 

I was fascinated with the Mexican scenery below the plane for the last hour of our flight into Guadalajara.  We flew over hundreds of dormant volcanoes, one with three craters. The lovely shape of the Volaris plane’s wings made an interesting addition. You’ll see more of these photos in color later!

 

 

For Cee’s black and white challenge on public transportation.

Luck

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Luck

I am grateful for my life,
fluid and oblong
and gold.

I keep looking
for the reason why,

when it might have been static
and gray
with jagged edges.

The prompt words today are grateful, fluid, oblong and gold.  Here are the links, in case you want to play along and use one or more for motivation! As usual, I’ve used all four.

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/11/22/rdp-thursday-grateful/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/11/22/fowc-with-fandango-fluid/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/11/22/oblong/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/11/22/your-daily-word-prompt-gold-November-22-2018/

Incredible Bamboo Bikes from Ghana

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When Bob and I lived in the redwood forests of CA, we planted a bamboo forest under the redwoods and used the four varieties of bamboo in the creation of Bob’s sculpture as well as our lamps. I even used the small twigs from the black bamboo to make earrings and brooches. I’m delighted that these enterprising entrepreneurs in Ghana have found such novel uses for it and are giving jobs to 40 locals as well. Click on the URL below to see the video.

https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/dangote-afrocentric-bamboo

Turkey Talk

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jdb photo, 2017


Turkey Talk

All day long, I gobble gobble.
Strut my stuff over the cobble
proud and straight, without a wobble,
until a man comes with a hobble.
I’d tell the rest if I were able,
Instead, I’m laid out on your table!

Want to hear some more turkey talk? Go HERE.

 

Matt’s prompt today was “Turkey Talk.”

Heliconia closeup: FOTD, NOV 22, 2018

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For Cee’s FOTD challenge

Kittens in Unusual Places

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Has Anyone Seen the Cat?

(Enlarge photos by clicking on first one.)

Lulu teaching Annie how to climb the screen door.

 

For Cee’s Fun Foto: Funny.