Yolanda’s daughter Yoli made me this whimsical planter with succulent in it for Mother’s Day. Thank you, sweet girl!!!! I had to display it in front of this painting given to me for my birthday two years ago by my friend Glenda, and the wooden frog wanted in on the photo as well. Happy Mother’s day to all mothers and to all of the childless who are lucky enough to have friends and family willing to share their children with you. oxoxoxo
My mother, whose maiden name was Eunice Lydia King, went by the name of “Pat” Dykstra for all of her married life. She died at the age of 91 in 2001, which means she would have been 109 this year. She kept her youthful sense of humor, her keen wit and her independence for her entire life. I thank her for all of the meals cooked, white blouses pressed, animals trained, constant support, laughter, for creating such a beautiful and secure home and for instilling within me a love of books and rhyme. I would give anything to be able to spend this Mother’s Day with her, floating in the pool and drinking frozen daiquiris, which if I recall correctly, she called “Daktaris!”
Too Many Cooks
(The Food Critic Invades the Kitchen)
In the guise of gourmand, I fear that you laid waste
to my soup’s exquisite balance after one swift reckless taste.
You lifted up the salt shaker and ruined my day’s work
by heavily over-salting my consommé, you jerk!
Then you made it cloudy by adding a fair dollop
of sour cream that sat there like a tumor or a polyp.
The soup base that I’d toiled over for many an hour,
you squeezed a bit of lime into, transforming sweet to sour.
So in the end when you pronounced the verdict on my soup,
rating it as less than gourmet food and more like goop,
you neglected to take credit for your efforts at its ruin.
Now I rue the day my lovely soup chanced to meet your spoon!!
Prompt words today are gourmand, base, guise and cloudy. Links are below:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/05/11/rdp-saturday-gourmand/
https://fivedotoh.com/2019/05/11/fowc-with-fandango-base/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2019/05/11/your-daily-word-prompt-guise-may-11-2019/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2019/05/11/cloudy/
Luxury
I am alive.
Loud morning birds
give testimony to the fact,
and I have started again to write this book
after a lapse of one year.
I sing to celebrate
two miracles,
my backup chorus
fading out behind me
as I warble
my extreme pleasure
in being chosen
to participate
in this wonderful world
and in having the luxury
to write
about
it.
Premeditated
I’ve got you in my crosshairs, you can’t escape my aim.
In fact it’s very obvious I’ll wound or kill or maim.
Do you see my lifted eyebrow? Is my message coming through?
It should not be ambiguous what’s happening to you.
I really have it in for you. It’s true I mean to bite you.
You’re fully in my power, so there’ll be no need to fight you.
There’s no other fate in store for you. No other choice to make.
After twenty-one days of dieting, I’m having me some cake!!!!
The prompt words are crosshairs, ambiguous, obvious and eyebrow:
https://fivedotoh.com/2019/05/10/fowc-with-fandango-crosshairs/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/your-daily-word-prompt-ambiguous-may-10-2019/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/obvious/
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/rdp-friday-eyebrow/
What did the eyeball say to the brow? “Hey, brow, you got me covered??”
(Get it? Brow= Bro? Sorry, just couldn’t resist. I know, really rally bad. I’ll do another.)
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/rdp-friday-eyebrow/
Almost everyone I know is on an overload of extreme distress and frustration over the direction our world seems to be taking. In between these almost unbelievable events, we hear news of extreme self-sacrifice and wonderful loving acts, but it is hard to keep them in mind when every week there is a new mass shooting or selfish act of greed as a few of those in power seek to gather all of the world’s resources for themselves while overlooking both the destruction of the environment and the needs of those with less power to gain even a small share of the bounty.
In my estimation, the best words of advice on how to cope with these times have been given by Thich Nhat Hanh. The crux of what he has to say is contained in this one simple statement which I would like to both start and end with. That simple statement is:
“We need to be aware of the suffering, but retain our clarity, calmness and strength so we can help transform the situation.”
Here are some further thoughts by Thich Nhat Hanh that if we could keep them in mind and live by them as well, might serve to pull us closer together from the extreme divide we seem to be facing each other over for the past few years. All words in italics are direct quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh.
“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”
“When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.” (This I find to be the hardest one of all, and therefore the one I need to work hardest on.)
“Our own life has to be our message.”
“We have to learn to live our life as a human being deeply. We need to live each breath deeply so that we have peace, joy and freedom as we breathe.”
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”
“If we are not happy, if we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.”
“The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.”
“It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available—more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don’t have to run into the future in order to get more.”
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
“While you are walking, smile and be in the here and now, and you will transform that place into paradise.”
“Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.”
And finally, again, his statement that I find to be the most central to our coping at this time:
“We need to be aware of the suffering, but retain our clarity, calmness and strength so we can help transform the situation.”
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 