Author Archives: lifelessons

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About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

Hibiscus: FOTD Aug 8, 2019

What’s better than yesterday’s hibiscus?

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The same hibiscus after a rain!

 

For Cee’s FOTD.

Hibiscus: Flower of the Day, Aug 7

 

IMG_4037For Cee’s FOTD

We Have Met the Enemy, and It Is Us

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We Have Met the Enemy, and It Is Us

Three years of fear and loathing? The world has turned surreal.
News programs sanctify our fear, our horrors the real deal.
A man once enigmatic tweets himself too clearly.
Those truths that we held evident and came to hold most dearly
were fictions in our history books. Our empire’s like the others––
built upon the backs and bones of those we call our brothers.
Who is guilty of these sins? We all are, one by one
for watching TV movies and not the smoking gun.
Our leaders, all fine actors, draw their princely wages
While madmen fire on schools, it’s children we put in cages.
America, unite as one and see the truth about you.
See what the whole world now sees that causes them to doubt you.
If you hold religion as your reason to support
this man who isn’t really all that he might purport,
what religion really is, please take the time to see:
“What you do to the least of my children, you have done to me.”
Whatever else might profit you, this is the bottom line.
God’s children aren’t all born within the borders you define.
“Give me your tired and weary, your yearning to be free.”
Must we scrape these words off the statue of Liberty?
Open your eyes. We are no longer saviors of all.
Perhaps we never were. We turn our backs and build a wall.

 

Prompt words today are fear, surreal, sanctify, enigmatic and program.

This Resonates With Me, Too

For some reason I only just saw this blog Forgottenman published yesterday. Too many irons in the fire, but this man says what a lot of us have been thinking and he says it so well. Have a look:

Color Your World: Blue-green

(Click on any photo to enlarge all.)

For Color Your World Blue-Green

Unlikely Pairing

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Unlikely Pairing

One ungainly orphan elephant, wandering and uncertain
of where his journey’s leading him, comes upon a curtain
of mist that rises from the plain, shimmering, evanescent.
The stars now muted overhead, the moon a fuzzy crescent.
He splits the curtain, comes upon a lone and lost impala
split off from the herd during some wild stampeding gala.
They form a duo and plod on, each looking for a herd.
Such an unlikely couple. Impossibly absurd.
And yet they struck a certain chord, each one with the other.
She was the sister that he lacked, and he her missing brother.
One thing led to another. She fit him like a glove,
and before they knew it, the two were fast in love.
When the baby came, it looked a bit like a nyala,
a bit like a rhinoceros––an elephantiala!!

Prompts today are intent, orphan, elephant (good grief) and evanescent. Add this one, too: curtain.

Copa de Oro, Night Owls

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This was actually taken at night. They were under a really strong solar security light and so still thought it was day.

For Cee’s FOTD

Spotted Sepia

Click on photos to enlarge.

 

For: https://weeklyprompts.com/2019/08/03/photo-challenge-sepia/

San Juan Cosala Kids Art Camp

https://issuu.com/lakechapalasociety/docs/conecciones_agosto_2019_digitalI forgot to post photos of some of the kids enjoying the many activities at art camp two weeks ago. I taught earring and bracelet-making and egg-carton flower making. Useful skills in life. Here they are. Better late than never.

Click on any photo to enlarge all.

 


Go HERE to see an article I wrote about Operation Feed, the volunteer organization that sponsored this camp. The article is on pages 26 and 27, but when you slide the bar to get to the page, it will say it is 28. Miracles of the media.

Noontime Nap: Bird of the Day

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For Granny’s prompt