With the exception of the first shot, which is a back view of a shoe display at the feria, these are all shots of feet taken at the writer’s group that meets twice a month at the Nueva Posada in Ajijic. Faces and bodies have been removed to protect the innocent. Sorry for the pun. in the title. Can’t help myself.
I don’t know if you’ll see this or not, Cee, but I just need to keep sending you flowers!!!
This hibiscus bush just started blooming profusely..These are only a few of the blooms that showed up on this morning, as though they wanted to present you with a bouquet!!!!
For Cee’s FOTD
Click on photos to enlarge.
These three photos have been hanging around on my desktop for three days or so and seem to want to be seen, so here they are!!!
For Cellpic Sunday
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
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
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.
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.)
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!!!
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 