This plant grows like a weed along all the borders of my garden. It has been identified for me at least once, but I can’t remember what it is. If you know, you’ll score points for filling me in on it. The flower is about 2 or 2 1/2 inches wide. Several people below guessed it was a petunia and I was sure they were wrong, but turns out I’m wrong. Its popular name is “Mexican Petunia,” even though they are not closely related.
For Cee’s FOTD
The prompt for the 30th day of NaPoWriMo 2022 was to write a cento–a poem made up from the lines of other poets. In my poem above, the lines are numbered. The sources are given below:
I listed Hilda Morley as a 4 in two places in my poem because although both lines were from the same poem, they were not sequential, but were in different parts of her poem.
Pet Peeve
My children’s new pet terrapin
retreats into his lair again,
anxious to don his disguise
away from queues of curious eyes.
No password does their pet provide
allowing them to see inside
the house he carries on his back,
and so they do not have the knack
to see what all he keeps in there
within his snuggly turtle lair.
He takes in neither guests nor renters.
Not one smarmy salesman enters.
Thus he’s reached the pinnacle
of being curt and cynical,
for we all know very well,
you can’t live life within a shell.
Perhaps we’ll take the turtle back
to trade for pet with purr or quack
that we can walk around the block,
or one that we can teach to talk—
a parrot or a tiny pup,
who when food spills, will lick it up,
who does not own his own chalet
and so is always up for play!
We’ll never again have to stare
into a turtle’s private lair.
We’ve learned our lesson very well.
Eschew the pet who wears a shell.
Prompts today are smarmy, pinnacle, terrapin, queue and password.
The plumeria tree finally bloomed this week and transformed itself from a bare sculpture to a fully leafed-out and flowered bouquet.
For Cee’s FOTD
Kirk and I saw this incredibly well-behaved dog in a restaurant. She sat upright on this chair for an hour and never moved or begged for food. As far as I could see she never blinked. But, she looked exactly like Zoe would look if she were twice her present size. What do you think? When I remarked on her behavior, her human said that she had not been feeling well. She is a rescue and one of 12 dogs he and his partner have. And 54 cats! I now feel less a martyr to my 3 dogs and two cats. The second shot is of Zoe a couple of weeks ago. The first and third are of her doppelganger. Zoe would have been in the middle of my plate in seconds.
Family Links
These are the gifts I was given at birth:
my father’s high cheekbones, my auntie’s wide girth.
Legs that are solid and a brain that is sound,
a head that’s too big and a stomach too round.
From my mother, a funny bone and a fine wit
in sharing my life by writing of it.
A talent for rhyme and a need to be telling
stories original, tight and compelling.
A thirst for travel, squelched in my dad,
allowed me adventures he rarely had.
A love of babies and a wicked humor
that didn’t go wasted in this baby boomer.
I’m forever grateful that I came to be,
thanks to those genes that created me.
With both foibles and talents, I’m not perfect for sure,
but all that I am, I have come to endure.
I’ve lived to an age where I appreciate
all of the gifts that I’ve come to relate.
Here I am, the next link in the family queue,
and what they shared with me, I now share with you.
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is “to write a poem in which you muse on the gifts you received at birth.”
Misnamed
I admit my name seems to lack a certain beauty.
I’ll never be an eponym. Who wants a town named Judy?
It’s clear that my name never makes it into poet talk.
No unfortunate child will be the chip off my old block.
Interlaced with second names —Agatha or Jeanette,
still that silly first name is as basic as you get.
The reception that it gets in lists is surely less than fine.
Somehow I always end up being sent to last in line.
It’s not correct to grumble over names, but all the same,
why give a perfect child such a clearly imperfect name?
Prompts today are interlace, correct, reception, eponym and chip.
Zoe seems to attract friends wherever she goes.
Please enlarge photos by clicking on them.
Since Zoe joined us, it has been nothing but frolic for Morrie, Diego and Zoey. She has certainly spiced up the family, especially since Cousin Kirk thought to bring out the Kong ball on a rope that I had tucked away. They love it and hassle for hours over it. They look and sound fierce but not once has anyone been hurt. It is all play. If Zoe gets too annoying, pulling Morrie’s face hair or constantly harrasing her, Diego simply puts his leg out and pins her down to quiet her down. Morrie never ever snaps at her no matter what she does. Diego disciplines her but never harms her in any way. He pins her down or rolls her over on her back. It is amazing to see how he cares for her and how patient he is. This morning I went out and Morrie was sleeping in his bed, Zoe was sleeping in Diego’s big cushy bed and Diego was sleeping on the cold stone floor!
Zoe has three cushy beds inside, but had gone out to claim Diego’s and he let her.
