2011 Project 365 – Week Seven

Note: If you're looking for the Poetry Bus, click here.

Well for heaven’s sake – there are even more pictures this week. For such a gray time of year we certainly do find plenty of things to photograph.

Note: No Tax Time Pig this week - again. Apparently he really likes his coat of many colors, so no new picture. I sure hope he dresses up for Valentine’s Day!

Sunday, February 6^th      

Just some bird pictures. I never used to be so interested in birds until we moved to our house. It’s just so much fun to see what kinds come around. Dr. M took these pictures.

Monday, February 7^th  

Look! I took another picture of a sheep on a hay roll. I wonder how they decide who gets to go up there?

Dr. M took this snowy picture on his way home. Brr!

Tuesday, February 8^th

Dr. M took these pictures – more birds, and some snowy scenery.

This is the State of the Bug picture for the week. I am showing relief that I finally vacuumed & mopped.

Wednesday, February 9^th

Hmm – I’m sensing a theme – bird pictures and scenery. Here Mr. Cardinal and his Mrs. are dining with some very fat sparrows? I’m not sure what these are…

The geese are on the move again…

The name on this barn is Green Acres. Seems like there’s a disconnect there!

Thursday, February 10^th     

I had to snap this picture on my way out of the house Thursday morning – 0.2 degrees outside. Rude! The house was 62.3 degrees with 54% humidity.

Friday, February 11^th

Lots of pictures today. A sunrise on Dr. M’s way to work.

Ducks!

Yes, the furniture is still there :)

I went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner with some friends. AS got the deep fried macaroni & cheese.

Saturday, February 12^th

Today Dr. M & I went to have lunch with a friend. We met at a pub called The Old Bag of Nails. It was pretty good. But of course I didn’t take a picture of E or of the pub or our food. These are pictures on our way home. This house is one of the ones on the Underground Railroad in Mechanicsburg – the safe room was in the attic.

I just loved the sign & the snowy vista.

I took this picture of a pheasant in flight – there were two of them walking across the road, but we startled them.

And, lastly, a picture of a soft drink named after Dr. M! He’s so special. I guess no one would buy a drink named after The Bug, would they?

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

The Poetry Bus is on the Move...

[Note: To see the prompts & other passengers, go here. Highway Patrol officers go here.]

Did everyone read TFE's lovely biography of me? I'm apparently a shrimp these days (as if being 5'4" isn't shrimpy enough!). Ah well, at least Dr. M is quite tall enough for the both of us until science figures out how to restore me to my correct height.

So here is my effort for Monday's bus. Is it dangerous for the driver to be writing poetry too? You be the judge, but please keep in mind that I was in a very silly mood when I wrote this. I chose the middle picture prompt.

It’s kind of like -

a fish out of water -

a Yankee down South -

a frozen word from

a warm heart.

Your icy phrase

banishes me to the

cornfield until

spring.

I poke my head

around your

study door

and whisper with

great drama,

“Is it spring yet?”



Thankful Thursday

If you're looking for the Poetry Bus Prompt - it's here.

If it’s Thursday it must be time to count my blessings. And you should count yours too – we can go back to complaining tomorrow. And you know I will – death, taxes, the Bug complaining about something – it’s a sure thing.

• So, this week I’m thankful that at my weigh in yesterday I was inexplicably down 2.4 pounds. Woot! I’d like to make this journey a little more of a sure thing than something I’m leaving to serendipity – so some prayers in that area would be appreciated.
• I’m thankful for sheep (so there Ellen!). It’s not dark now when I drive by the farm on my way home & it’s so much fun to see what they’re up to. I got a fairly good picture of one of them standing on a hay roll.
• I’m thankful that Dr. M fiddled with the furnace until it sounds healthy again. It was working but we were afraid it might be in its death throes.
• I’m thankful that no one expects me to sing the National Anthem anywhere at any time. I know you enjoy doing it Daddy, but I’m pretty sure I want nothing to do with such an enterprise.
• I’m thankful that Dr. M surprised me with Anglican Prayer beads last week (thanks for giving him the idea Jayne!). I’ve been using them every night and they are definitely helping me be a little more focused (& let’s face it – AWAKE) during prayer. I’ve been using some of the suggested prayers on the card they included, but I want to write my own. If I ever actually do that I’ll certainly share them here.

OK, your turn – what are you thankful for this week? Remember to check out Greg’s blog to check out other folks’ thanksgivings.

The Bug is Driving the Bus

Here we go again! I'm behind the wheel & being dangerous in the curves - but I promise that you'll all arrive safely. Really!

It's Valentine's Day (or it will be on Monday - stop being so technical!), but you don't have to write any love sonnets or Conversation Heart verses. Unless you want to - go for it if that's what's on your mind. I'm listing three different picture prompts below which should hopefully stir some creative juices. I'm sorry that it's on the heels of last week's picture prompt, but not sorry enough to change it.

1. Our neighbors took this picture of the driveway across the street last week. What do you think is going on here? Make up a story about it!

2. Dr. M took this picture of furniture in the cornfield. Now that seemed extra odd to me. I supposed that perhaps a frigid tête-à-tête was going on. What do you think?

3. A closeup of the chair - I'm not sure why this icy furniture has grabbed my attention, but I would love to see what you have to say about it.

After you post your poem come back here & let me know & I'll post the link on this post. Good luck!

Here are our most excellent passengers:

Jeanne Iris

Me!

Swiss

Jeanne Iris again (don't miss it!)

Doctor FTSE

NanU

120 Socks

Karen

TotalFeckingEejit

Cad

Muse Swings

Enchanted Oak

Niahm

Peter Goulding

Crazy Field Mouse

Emerging Writer

Domestic Oub
Jinksy
Titus

South of Freedom

South of Freedom

There are no footprints
in the snow this night.
Some nights
a candle shines
in the window
calling in the voice
of Lady Liberty
(this was before she
was iron and copper)
“Shh – be quiet!
Creep around back –
there’s a blanket
in the basement
and a little bread.”
A little bread.

But tonight the
window is dark
and there will be
no blanket
and no bread
and I can hear
the dogs
in the distance.

This is a Magpie Tale and a One Shot Wednesday. Please follow the links to read other tales.

Monday Miscellany

In church yesterday I was looking across the choir loft at one of my Facebook friends (hey Kim!) who has been posting Black History Month quotes. Yesterday’s was from Bill Cosby: It isn't a matter of black is beautiful as much as it is white is not all that's beautiful. I think Kim is a beautiful woman (inside & out, actually) and I just really don’t understand why a person with her coloring would ever not be considered beautiful. I looked down at my hands and they were all pinkish looking & I wondered why this skin color was always considered preferable. Apparently the people who care about beauty weren’t in charge.

Lots of stuff to discuss about the Superbowl. Yay Packers! I’m not really a Packers fan, but maybe I will be now. I could use some fair weather. I missed the Star Spangled Banner – apparently it was butchered? But I did hear the little patriotic message read by Michael Douglas, comparing the Superbowl to World War II, JFK & MLK. I was fairly stunned – although I should know by now that the lengths we’ll go to promote this brutal sport are pretty outrageous. I enjoyed a lot of the commercials (LOVE the Detroit one), but others just made me go, “huh?” So really, a normal night of TV viewing. Except that the commercials on the History Channel are getting OLD. I do not want Magic Jack, I do not want it History Channel!

So I drove to work in the snow today. It wasn’t too bad, and apparently it’s supposed be clear (and extra cold) for the rest of the week. Of course, I at long last went through the car wash yesterday. Just couldn’t take it anymore. And, really, if I wait until the weather is clear then it might not happen until spring (probably not the best idea to wash the car when it’s clear, but the high is 20).

This is as much miscellany as I can manage today – I really do have other things to do besides blog. Really!

Have a great day!

The Poetry Bus - The Bug is All Wet

TotalFeckingEejit is driving his own bus this week! He had a fairly simple prompt:

Something a little different this week. There is a new website of Photography and writing HERE called Photograph Prose- 'The virtual collision of photographers and writers.' I saw it on Nuala Ní Chonchúirs blog HERE and put 3 photos in and a bit of prose, which they took, real quick and painless. So painless that I want you to visit the site have a look at the pics and words already exhibited then visit the 'UP exhibit' (clickable along the top of the page) and choose a picture to inspire some words.

After writing our poem we could upload it to the site, but Niamh stole my picture! Heh. I found the one I wanted to write about (taken by our fearless leader, no less) but I had to think about it too long & when I went back she’d already written a poem about it. Very funny. So, anyway, to see the picture that inspired the poem below, go here and read her poem, Alone at Last.

[Update: TFE sent me the picture so I could post it here - thanks TFE!]

My poem, in addition to being inspired by TFE’s photo, was inspired by Reya’s post The Great Turning. At the end of the post she had a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, and the last verse grabbed my attention:

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I've been circling for thousands of years
and I still don't know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

--Rainer Maria Rilke

There is power in the distance.

Does it harness the hot wind

of my failed argument?

There is no peace in this sea.

I shall sit and explain

it to you again.

Will it make more sense

now that the tide

has receded?

I am not a storm

or an ocean

or even a calm sky.

I am a catfish pond,

murky and sustaining.

And that’s all you

really need to know.

Remember to go back to TFE’s post to read what other bus passengers have written.

2011 Project 365 – Week Six

Twenty-three pictures this week. We just couldn’t help ourselves. And I didn’t even include all the ones I wanted to! Of course, most of them were just more snow & ice pictures so you should be glad I left them out.

Note: No Tax Time Pig this week. Apparently he really likes his coat of many colors, so no new picture. FYI for new readers: The first time I took a picture of the pig he had an ice pack on his head & was holding a sign that said “Tax Time” – thus his name was born.

Sunday, January 30^th      

I was pretty pleased with my solution to the dilemma of drying the tub I keep my cereal in. The dish drain was full so I improvised with my Pampered Chef baking stone holder.

Dr. M took a picture of the Kalanchoe plant that lives in our kitchen – we were so tickled to see the blooms.

Monday, January 31^st  

Dr. M took these pictures on his way home from school. Looks kind of cold, doesn’t it?

Tuesday, February 1^st

This is the State of the Bug picture for the week. I was showing off something wrong – hmmm, this picture doesn’t quite get it…

Well, this one doesn’t really show it either…

Here we go! Yes, my bangs looked like this all day. I kept forgetting about them because I’m not regularly looking at myself.

Dr. M captured some more icy pictures.

And here are those poor beleaguered indignant icy penguins.

Wednesday, February 2^nd

Female cardinal at the feeder.

We got a little more snow later that day.

Thursday, February 3^rd      

Thursday was beautiful. And still really cold, as you can tell from these pictures.

Does anyone know why the furniture was abandoned in the corn field? Some frigid tête-à-tête going on?

Love the buffalo!

Friday, February 4^th

We very nearly forgot to take a picture today. So here’s one that I’d been planning to take on just such an occasion. The top of the bookshelf in our bedroom has become a seasonal repository – we’ve got Halloween & Christmas stuff up there. Plus some glassware we got from Dr. M’s mom years ago. And one of Dr. M’s paintings (my personal favorite). It makes us smile when we look at it.

Saturday, February 5^th

It wouldn’t be a Project 365 post without a squirrel, would it? Boy the squirrels really love the sunflower seeds that the birds knock out of the feeder.

  

Yes, it’s snowing again. Sigh.

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

Weekly Wordzzle

Look, I'm doing this early for a change! After you've read my offerings you should go to Raven's site to see what other folks wrote this week.

Words for the mini: caustic, cloudy skies, ballet, cell phone, covert

Bella could actually feel cloudy skies overtaking her good mood. A caustic remark on the tip of her tongue, she glared at the young man talking loudly on his cell phone. Young people today were so rude. And he wasn’t the only one – casting covert glances around the bus Bella saw that almost everyone was on a device of some sort. Listening to God Knows What with those little ear phones. Typing frantically with their thumbs. Reading those books that aren’t books on those rectangular gadgets. Living in today’s world was a delicate dance between all that she knew & loved and what she needed to learn to survive. And she had never danced very well. Except for that brief moment when she was a young girl. Love was a ballet in her memory and she the prima ballerina. She wondered what had become of her young man – and that young girl, for that matter. Sigh.

Word for the 10-word challenge: sugar cookies, muscles, drama, chimes, heating vent, paprika, runes, envelope, candle holder, stubborn

She had worked very hard that day, and in the kitchen no less! Ordinarily recipes might as well be runes to her, so, flushed from her efforts (or the heating vent she’d forgotten to shut off) the Bug was very pleased to present Dr. M with the fruits of her labor that evening – a romantic Valentine’s Day meal. There was a candle in their one Poppies on Blue candle holder & she’d actually dug out their tablecloth. She’d made baked chicken, green beans, & mashed potatoes & gravy. The gravy was from an envelope, but it wasn’t too lumpy – unlike the mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are just stubborn in her opinion. For dessert there were from scratch sugar cookies with red sprinkles. She presented them to him with much drama.

After taking a bite, he said slowly, “These are…interesting.” “Just interesting?” the Bug asked, warning chimes going off in her head. “Yes, interesting,” he affirmed.

Cautiously, she took a bite. Hmm – interesting. “These aren’t red sprinkles, are they?” she asked. “No, they’re not,” he said. “it’s paprika, isn’t it?” she asked. Muscles quivering as he tried to hold in his laughter, Dr. M replied that he did believe that’s what was on the cookies. She inquired about whether they would taste better if she renamed them Sweet & Spicy Cookies and he determined that a new name would definitely help in marketing them – to other people.

Thankful Thursday

It’s time to be thankful! Well, you know, actually I’m thankful most days (except for those really whiny ones). But this is the day I tell you about it. Aren’t you excited?

• I’m thankful that we never lost power during the recent storm, and that we didn’t even get inconvenienced that much. Although Dr. M was prepared for practically any eventuality. This is why I keep him around :)
• I’m thankful that my strategy of designating an audio book as an “exercise-only” book is really working. I look forward to hopping on my Gazelle each evening to see what Anita Blake is up to. I’m hoping to increase my workout times to make the book go faster – see, I’m motivated!
• I’m thankful that I can already tell a tiny difference in my stamina after working out for about a week. I’ve been taking the stairs more at work & I’m breathing a lot easier at the top than I used to. Now, my hip hurting is another matter, but I know that exercise ultimately helps arthritis so I plan to not be discouraged by any extra pain.
• I’m thankful that Dr. M & I have discovered a way to save a good bit of money each year on our cell phone plans. I’m not getting a smart phone, but I like my little flip phone just fine.
• I’m thankful for stock options to help cover unexpected expenses (ooh – didn’t that sound all Captain of Industry! Trust me, this is small potatoes.)
• I’m thankful for a new spirituality which Dr. M introduced to our household (more on this later).

Okay! That’s enough thankfulness from me today. What are you thankful for? Or, for what are you thankful. Whichever.

Please go check out Greg's blog to see other thanksgivings. (Although he's crazy today talking about it's almost spring when it was 11 degrees when I left my house this morning. Heh. Oops - that didn't sound very thankful!)

Broken Pavement

Broken Pavement

I caught my foot

and stumbled forward.

You reached out

just too late

and down I went.

Down I went into

that basement room

where I sit huddled

in misery

gazing into mirrors.

Gazing into mirrors

and listening to

That voice (who’s voice?).

Stupid ugly

unloved clumsy girl.

The unloved clumsy girl

from the basement

wants to cry but holds

those tears.

Cups them in her hands.

In her hands she cups

the sorrow and lifts

her body from that

broken pavement

and smiles at you.

This is a Magpie and a One Shot Wednesday poem. Please go to those sites to check out other fabulous poems & stories!