Category Archives: Uncategorized

Help!!! I need wonderful UPBEAT books to read.

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Every book I have downloaded from Audible lately has turned into a depressing, problem-filled chore to read.  You might understand why I am already depressed by reality–be it the present state of the nation or almost weekly notices of the deaths of friends past or present–– and badly in need of an entertaining and upbeat book.  Does anyone have suggestions? I like character-driven well-written books that do not just present problem after problem after problem. Even my favorite authors seem to have fallen into this pattern lately. If you don’t believe me, try reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperfield. 

I need escape, not tales of war, Inquisitions, enslavement, child abuse, mass murders, cruelty toward animals, spousal abuse, molestation, death, poverty, colonial cruelty or illness. This is a true list of themes in the last few dozens of books I’ve read. No matter what I think they are going to be about, they end up being about one or more of these themes!  I NEED HELP!!!!  I NEED ESCAPE!!!! No Harlequin-type romance, Apocalypse tales, war stories, mysteries, detective stories or science fiction fantasy, please. I need escape. Engaging, well-written books that display intelligence and sense of humor. This may be too much to ask, given my recent experiences in ordering books. Yes, I’m turning into my mother. I don’t want to hear anything that will make me feel bad!  I will be forever indebted to those of you who seek to assist me in my search. oxoxo Judy

Morning Brunch, for FOTD Nov 16, 2024

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This photo was actually taken by my neighbor David Bershad,  peeking over my wall to capture this wonderful shot of a grasshopper on my favorite hibiscus. As you can see, it has taken a few bites out of the flower.

Hoping for a miracle for Cee!!! xoxo

For Cee’s FOTD

Fine Fabric for SOCS, Nov 16, 2024

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Bob in “the” sarong, Bali, mid-1990’s jdbphoto

Fine Fabric

The fabric of my batik blouse seems to have grown too thin
as though what keeps the world out suddenly wants in.
A small tear on the shoulder and a long rend on the hem—
At first I wondered what it was that could be causing them.
Its fabric was durable— a fine hand-dyed sarong
spotted in the market and purchased for a song.
Young travelers in Bali, we had watched them being made—
as they traced the delicate patterns, we stood there in the shade.

And then I remembered it was nineteen seventy three
forty-four years ago that I brought it home with me
still smelling from the wax used as a resist for the dye.
The palm trees and the gamelan, the ocean and the sky
are memories wrapped up in that sarong I purchased there.
I used for a wrap–around, a towel for my hair,
a curtain and a picnic blanket, bedspread and a shawl,
a tablecloth and blanket—it served for one and all
as we traveled with our backpacks, on foot and boats and plane
then I took it with me when I went back home again.

Twenty-some years later, with my husband now along
I returned to Bali and brought my old sarong.
We found another like it—one for me and one for Bob.
Whenever clothes were called for, those sarongs did the job.
For years since then, I’ve used them for tablecloth or shawl,
for coverups around the pool, a curtain for the hall.
I had a caftan made of one. Now on another shore,
I wear it nearly every day and this is how it tore.

The woven equipale chair with tiny nails within it
reaches out for fabric every time  I go to sit.
It gets my lovely caftan. and another favorite, too.
I know I shouldn’t sit in them, and yet I often do.
These memories are torn from us. It’s no good to resist.
All the parts of those gone days retreating in the mist.
Its fragile fabric wears away in spite of all our care.
It will not last forever. One day it won’t be there.
Later, I will  join it through the tears life’s made in me.
All things are made or born to this inevitability.

 (Click on first photo below to enlarge all and read captions.)

For SOCS the prompt is: blanket.

Fibbing Friday for Nov 15, 2024

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For Fibbing Friday, the challenging words to lie about are:

1.  What is a decibel? Mr. Arnaz’s wife,  Lucille Ball
2.  What is an imbecile? Answer to the question, “What you be doing on April Fool’s Day?”
3.  What is meant by an ‘impasse’? An admission by someone who is obviously out of date in their clothing choice.
4.  What is a monogram? One’s one surviving mother of one’s mom or dad.
5.  What is smorf? The sound an aardvark with a cold makes.
6.  What is a precedent? The leader of our country.
7.  What is anaglypta ? A nag is usually mainly lip ta her husband.
8.  What is a skewbald? Someone as hairless as a cue ball.
9.  What are kitten heels? The backs of kitten feet, obviously!!!
10. What is a pascal? A demand made by your father.

(I found Lucille Ball’s photo on several websites without attribution.)

For Cee and Chris, FOTD Nov 14, 2024

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Thinking of you both each time I post a flower!!!

For FOTD

Precursors to the Super Moon, Nov 14, 2024

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Click on photos to enlarge.

Just in case it is overcast tomorrow, I took these photos of tonight’s moon from the swimming pool. Kinda chilly, but the hot tub was warm!  Doggies encircled me but didn’t join me!!!

Puffed Corn, for RDP Thursday: Kernel

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Puffed Corn

His ego is most copious, but alas, also fragile,
for his imagination is something less than agile.
He’s much given to adages that were coined by another:
prolific writers of the past, his preacher or his brother.
He’s not really a plagiarist. He just forgets the fact
that although he might perform it, he didn’t write the act!
His words, puffed up and pompous, are lacking in much worth.
They seem to lack a kernel, though provided with much girth.
For all that they sound pretty—refined to a high gloss,
instead of rarest metal, alas, they’re merely dross.
In short, although they’re polished ’til they sparkle, glitter, gleam,
they ramble on without restraint, sadly lacking a theme.

For RDP Thursday: Kernel

Mexican Trumpet Vine FOTD Nov 13, 2024

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For Cee’s FOTD

“Tree-hugger” for dVerse Poets, Nov 13, 2024

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            Tree-hugger.                 
Today my eyes teared over
as they bulldozed the tree
in the undeveloped lot next door.
It had to be cut. 
A house was being built there and
aside from the trash it dropped,
it blocked the view.
“I’ll tell you what,” Kazem had said,
“I’ll dig it up and plant it in your yard.”
But I didn’t want the mess of it, either.
I wanted the tree next door
where I could see it 
without  dealing 
with the fluff in my pool,
the pods falling off.
That tree was a resting place for  birds,
which I said goodbye to
along with the tree.
Then, while I was at it,
I said goodbye to my cat
who had drowned in the pool
a week before.
Goodbye to my husband
who had hoped to see that tree
and the view around it
every day of the rest of his life.
Goodbye to my mother,
who passed onto me
her love of trees.
Goodbye
to all loved creatures 
recently gone.
The tree was gone in a minute,
along with dry bushes, weeds.
The backhoe scraped the soil over
Coke cans, agua bottles,
plastic flowerpots and chips wrappers–
the detritus from houses on each side,
as well as evidence of years of workers
who sat in the shade of the lot for lunch.
For a year or two
of privacy lost, calm shattered,
peace surrendered,
I’d get new neighbors,   
perhaps a friend.
Clouds of dust billowed
over my newly painted wall.
They’d plant new trees, 
the builder promised,
as he bulldozed all.

–Judy D-B

For dVerse Poets Pub, photo by Aaron Burden
To see the prompt, go HERE. The prompt quote was:
—whose hearts are mountains, roots are trees,
it’s they shall cry hello to the spring.
–e.e. cummings

30 Decibels for The Three Things Challenge, M877

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30 Decibels

An upbeat singer has this choice
to bellow or to curb his voice.
Lower decibels are favored
so the music may be savored

The words for the Three Things Challenge are: UPBEAT LOWER BELLOW