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.

Seasoned with Failure

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Seasoned with Failure

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
                                                           –Truman Capote

Is it coincidence that spice is also known as “seasoning?”
The explanation for this fact (according to my reasoning)
is because we need a bit of this, a bit of that
lest our cuisine and also our lives become too flat.
Summer, winter, spring and fall—
no season dominates us all.
And this is why, then, in my view,
a pinch of failure in the brew
sprinkled on at fate’s behest
is what gives success its zest.
If you wish to triumph in the end,
accept some failure in the blend.

 

The prompt today was triumph.  This poem is a rewrite of a poem written 3 years ago.

Euphorbia milii: Flower of the Day, June 11, 2017

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Found this little Crown of Thorns in the back garden of a little restaurant in Ajijic.

For Cee’s Flower Prompt.

Odd (Eye)ball??? Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge, June 10, 2017

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I absolutely love this photo. Whatever Dee is relating to Colleen has turned her cross-eyed.  Lynda, bored, couldn’t care less and has taken solace in her iPhone.  Whoever is lurking to the side could probably fill us in on what is being talked about here.

https://ceenphotography.com/cees-challenges/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge/

Heliconia: Flower of the Day, June 10, 2017

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For Cee’s flower prompt. (Have a look at her flower as well.)

Revelation in Twilight: 19 Studies of the Moon

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Revelation in Twilight

This morning I woke early—an hour before light
obscured my vision of the moon, hanging like a kite
in the night-stained sky, there through my window bars.
suspended high up in a sky devoid of clouds or stars.

Just a minute later, it moved along with me
to float the pool’s surface that only I could see.
Too soon the sun would come, its golden light to douse.
But for now, it followed me as I walked through my house.

Friendly moon to loiter in my company.
It seemed this early morning that both of us were free
to spend a few rare moments quietly alone.
Both of us free-floating in the twilight zone.

(Please click on first photo to enlarge all.)

 

 

 

The prompt today was revelation. All photos by jdb.

Bougainvillea and Friends: Flower of the Day, June 9, 2017

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For Cee’s Flower Prompt.

Big Spender

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Big Spender

If a kiss were legal tender
I know those of either gender
who in the midst of a big bender
would be labeled a big spender.
And though they’re comely, fit and slender,
and may have many a staunch defender,
if I’m looking for a lender,
I’d prefer a less-used vendor.

 

The prompt today is “tender.”

Rococo: Thursday Doors: June 8, 2017

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Rococo is de rigueur in Mexico.  Love this door.

Elocution

Elocution

When I was a child, I had a little lisp,
but now that I am older, my speech is bold and crisp.
I can voice my esses with no teeth pressed to my tongue.
I express myself more clearly than I did when I was young.
“Yes,” I say most clearly when my family asks for dough.
The only problem I have now is how to utter “No!”


I’ve had no electricity for almost 24 hours.  Need to get this up quickly, using my phone as a hotspot and a backup battery that is almost dead.  A day without a computer?  What will I do, folks?

The prompt today is crisp.

Bad Photos of Mama and Papa Wren

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I was finally was able to capture these photos of papa..but no time to focus.  Can you see the jet that just happened to stream by as I was snapping the one shot? Sorry about the poor photos, but I’m hoping someone will tell me if I’m right in identifying them as wrens:

(Click any photo to enlarge all.)

 

To read the poem “Kitchen Nativity” about this bird, his mate and nestlings, go HERE.