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Lucky???

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Lucky Duck riding the wild turkey off to a new adventure!

Lucky???

The first person I talked to today was myself, awakening from a dream and answering aloud whatever question the person in the dream had asked.  So, I’m going to reblog a poem of my own that I wrote three months ago.  When I look back at even something I wrote last week, I barely remember it; so perhaps this will feel fresh to you as well, even if you read it before:

“You’re So Lucky!”

 Too often those described as lucky
are actually only plucky.
It’s the decisions that they make
that make their lives a piece of cake.

If they have a cushy job,
far above the teeming mob,
it is because they chose to go
to college, so they made it so.

Or if they traveled after school,
when others said they were a fool,
and tell of their adventures young,
some people tend to come unstrung

and say they wish they’d had the chance
to participate in life’s wild dance
when they had the energy,
but, you know, traveling’s not free.

The truth is that most anybody
can go to college if they study
or travel anywhere they wish.
Life’s feast is a communal dish.

There is work that you can do
from Broken Hill to Timbuktu
if you are willing to do the tasks–
whatever the situation asks.

It’s true that there are places where
life is not equitable or fair–
places where a woman’s lot
keeps her chained to stove and cot,

or places where sheer poverty
limits all that you can be.
Yet  many who bemoan their fate
simply needed to leave their gate

and take the chance to see the world–
allow their lives to be unfurled.
But, lacking courage, they remained
in the place that fate ordained

was their lot in life and so
just maintained the status quo.
Many are happy where they are
and have no wish to roam afar,

but for those who moan and fuss,
saying all the luck’s with us
who have chosen to live in paradise
(and say it more than once or twice,)

I just want to say once more,
“Here is your suitcase, there’s the door.”
Luck is more often made than won,
and is, I fear, too quickly done.

So even if you’re old and gray,
do what you want to do today.
If you feel caught in the muck,
break free from it and make your luck!

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/the-luckiest-people/

Midnight Magnolia: Flower of the Day 11-27-15

Midnight Magnolia

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http://ceenphotography.com/2015/11/27/flower-of-the-day-november-20-2015-how-does-your-garden-grow/

So How Was the Food?

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Photo by John Schussler–plate by Judy and guests!

Need I say more?  Everything was delicious, as was the company.  My oldest guests were 92 and 94 and just got married (to each other) last week!  They live a block away from me!!!  They went to Texas to get married and said they didn’t charge them for the license.

How To Keep Warm in an Avalanche

How to Keep Warm in an Avalanche

To be buried while I’m still alive? One of my greatest fears—
tons of snow muffling my screams and freezing all my tears.
If I knew rescue was coming and had sufficient air,
how would I keep from panicking in this wintry lair?

Perhaps I’d think of old loves, from sixth grade up to now.
Every silent signal. Every declared vow.
The first boy who “chose” me—the pleasure that was new
of knowing I’d been noticed by a boy or two.

Unsure and not quite ready, those crushes quickly passed
as they moved on to other girls that I considered fast.
I lived up to the adage “sweet sixteen and never been kissed”
and started to be sorry for what I knew I’d missed.

By seventeen, I found out and luckily my first
was all that I had hoped for—like slaking a long thirst.
I remember all of that initial long embrace.
His heartbeat next to mine, his fingers on my face.

The dizziness, the giddiness. I couldn’t walk quite straight.
All that was wrong with that first kiss was that it came too late.
Though there have been other lovers, I must admit to this.
Never did another compete with that first kiss.

Then I’d think back to others, up to the present day,
making mental lists and then remembering what I may.
Cowboy, lawyer, carpenter, railroad man and teacher,
but no accountant, coach or doctor, bank robber or preacher.

Bartenders, salesmen, bass players and once a Green Bay Packer
would join this list of loves, but ne’er a lazy man or slacker.
I’d think and think, remembering names without the written word.
A tourist guide, two salesmen and a computer nerd.

And after a long night of this, kept warm by memories,
they’d find me curled up in a ball, my arms around my knees,
covered in a blanket of fine-sifted powdery snow,
caught fast in dreams of those who kept me warm so long ago.

(Yes, a reprint from almost exactly a year ago, but there is stuffing to make and a turkey to bake so give me a break for Thanksgiving’s sake!)

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/teach-your-bloggers-well/

Poinsettia: Flower of the Day 11/26/15

Poinsettia

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http://ceenphotography.com/2015/11/26/flower-of-the-day-november-26-2015-peony/

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!
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I think I like decorating for a dinner party as much as the party itself!  Here are the goofy decs for my party–bar on the patio not yet set up as there is supposed to be a tropical storm hitting at 3 a.m.  Let’s hope it stages a Patricia!  The turkeys on the backs of the cow are a takeoff of cattle egrets that pick ticks off the backs of cows and also pick through their manure for edibles…My little Thanksgiving weird humor.  Nineteen now expected for Thanksgiving comida…All will share by bringing a side dish–all of the usuals.  Hope you have a happy day.  Judy

Before and After

Before and After

(First shots of the almost-completed Doggie Domain!!!!  Two months in the making, soon to be painted, skylighted and sliding-glass-and screen-doored, but finished enough for habitation.  Inaugural night!!!)

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And After:

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What is wrong with this picture?  Well, Diego is in Frida’s bed and Morrie is in Diego’s bed (and cage) and Frida is outside, waiting to be let in to sleep in her bed in the guest bathroom!!! They all stubbornly refused to readjust themselves until mom got tough.  Kids today don’t appreciate what we go through for them!!!!  But, it’s wonderful not to trip over their cages in the hall and not to have to remove Frida’s bed to my room every time company comes. ( And not to wake up in the middle of the night wheezing because I’m allergic to her.)  Poor babies.  Wish they could all sleep with mom, but fear mom wouldn’t be around long if they did.

Morrie Takes off and Brings the Road Home with Him!!!!

Morrie Takes off and Brings the Road Home with Him!!!!

It’s true.  When Pepe came to give me my massage today, he opened the door and all three dogs ran out!  After two months of never escaping when the construction guys were in and out dozens of times a day, suddenly they asserted themselves and were long gone–not a whisper of a tailfeather was in view in any direction by the time I got out in the street to call for them.  I didn’t know whether to fear that they’d gone up the mountain or to be glad.  No cars up there and fewer dogs than in the streets.  So, nothing to be done. I decided to leave them alone ’til they came home, wagging their tails behind them.  An hour and a half later, that’s what they did.  The first two to enter were fine, but this is what I saw when Morrie entered!

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First thing he did was make right for the water bowl.

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A one-and-a-half-hour run in the mountains sure makes a Laird thirsty!!!

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I couldn’t help but notice the splint-like accumulation on his leg.

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not to mention the sizeable limb of some sticky weed, complete with tiny tenacious bristles all over it and flower abloom.

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Oh yes, those little decorations all over his head were sticky as well, and had no desire to be shed.

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Contrast Morrie to his brother’s pristine coat!

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The “limb” looked like a sunbather using Morrie’s coat to  attract the sun’s rays–a sort of solar hothouse!

Ah, Morrie.  Always a new thrill.  I got the limb off, in pieces, before he took off to tussle with Diego.  When I fed them, I got a few more pieces removed, then noticed that some scraped off as Diego and Morrie rolled and growled and wrestled and did their usual hi-jinx.  I went back to party preparations.  (Pictures to follow.)

I have neglected to say that the doggie domain is almost finished. Today they primed the walls and they reflect so much light into the hall now that I’m tempted to leave the walls white.  Dare I?  It looks beautiful, even in the chalky transluscent white of the primer.  I put the fridge in and the two cages with beds inside and Frida’s bed which almost entirely take up all the floor room.  I left the outside door to it open and a half hour ago, heard noises and went in to find Diego in Frida’s bed and Morrie in Diego’s bed in Diego’s cage! I couldn’t persuade them to switch back to their own bunks, so we’ll see what happens when Frida comes in. No lights connected, so I can’t take a picture!  Perhaps I’ll try with flash.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Tomorrow before the guests come, I plan to put Diego in the doggie domain, Morrie (and his bed) in the little dog run outside the spare bedroom and Frida in the garage with her bed while the guests are here.  One guest asked if she could bring her dog and I said I thought there would be pandemonium enough with my three.

 

 

Beyond Forgiveness

                                                              Beyond Forgiveness
Version 5

The Prompt: Do you hold grudges or forgive and forget quickly?

With 18 people coming for lunch tomorrow, can you forgive me once again for sending you to an earlier poem I wrote on this same subject?  Go HERE to see my response!!!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/i-cant-stay-mad-at-you/

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/i-cant-stay-mad-at-you/

One Word Photo Challenge: Aperture

One Word Photo Challenge: Aperture

Aperture: an opening, hole, or gap. “The bell ropes passed through apertures in the ceiling.” Synonyms: opening, hole, gap, slit, slot, vent, crevice, chink, crack, interstice, orifice, foramen

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To see other “takes” on this prompt, see: http://jennifernicholewells.com/2015/11/24/one-word-photo-challenge-aperture/