In following the prompt given by my good friend Morgan of Booknvolume, I have written my very first ever Haiku. The prompt Where Fantasy is More than What it Seems is taken from one of Morgan’s poems (http://booknvolume.com/2014/08/22/where-fantasy-is-more/). Given the prompt and two fantasy images, her followers were charged with writing a poem or short story.
Winter snow princess
Grasps all that is Earthly
In protective arms
Nymph of the blue depths
Whirling about, beauteous
Choreography
I apologize for the recent lack of reviews, but that will be rectified shortly. Meanwhile, I will give you a glimpse into the fun my husband and I had with our oldest son and his family.
Last week we drove to Boston. It was a long, but particularly enjoyable ride. We took I-90, which is a toll road through Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Toll roads are definitely the way to go. There was some semi-truck traffic, but not nearly as many as we encountered on regular interstate highways.
It is always exciting to visit our grandsons (and yes, of course, their parents too), and we always pick up where we left off the last visit, as if no time intervened.
Our first day there we took the train into Boston to meet our son for dinner. While we were waiting, our oldest grandson found a new friend.
My husband and our son at dinner
Another day we walked the freedom trail. It was fascinating. We saw Paul Revere’s grave, house, and the North Church. Faneuil Hall, Boston Common, the Old Statehouse, the USS Constitution, Boston Massacre Site are among some of the fascinating stops on the tour.
In front of the Maclaurin Building on MIT’s Campus
Lunch at the Russell House in Harvard Square
Harvard University’s Memorial Hall
Visit to Newburyport, Massachusetts
Like all visits, time flew by so quickly. We had a wonderful time laughing, talking, and exploring together. It was, as always, difficult to say ‘till next time.’
On the way home, we stopped at Niagara Falls and stayed on the Canadian side of the falls. It was the first time we’d been back in nearly twenty years. The surrounding area has changed tremendously, but the falls remain the same awe-inspiring, powerful, and immensely beautiful spectacle as ever.
The view of Niagara Falls from our hotel room
The free summer writing camp over on kids are writers is a fantastic way to get you children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbor children, and children of friends into the habit of writing daily. A fabulous opportunity!
A lovely sonnet from my friend Morgan over at booknvolume.
Emeraldine Fire in the shadows, pale and cold,
Glistening Enchantment beneath the Canopy of Old,
Disperse thy Mortal Visage within the Verdant foliage,
Enigmatic Harmony of Wisdom sharp and Sage.
Deep in the caverns of Viridian Mystery,
Unfettered from the Bindings of treacherous Reality,
Sings the Jaden Master of Melodious Intent,
Swathed in Leafy hues and Golden Sunlight, poorly spent.
Vast beyond the traces of terrestrial Imagining,
Magnificent in Vision when Upon thy Outstretched Wing,
Burn Immortal Unity into supple Heart and Mind,
That we, derivative Souls, might Live in Harmonious kind.
Yet, Fire Ever Burning in the Emeraldine Abyss,
Potent let thy Provocation be, lest we Wander long Amiss.
~Morgan~
.
.
.
Beautiful Original Artwork by: SpaceWeaver
Today is my blogversary! One year ago today I started this blog. It has been a fantastic year, and I have made so many marvelous blogging friends. Thank you all so much for all your comments, likes, reblogs, but most of all for your friendship. Your support over this first year has meant so much to me.
I remember how nervous I was a year ago as I published my first post. I wondered if anyone would read it. And you came, and your backing has been tremendous. I can’t thank you enough.
You taught me so much about blogging, and made it fun. I’ve learned about some phenomenal books and authors, unfamiliar places, and diverse viewpoints. You’ve come from every state and many countries, from cities and towns to rural areas. Many of you are authors, students, retired, and from every walk of life.
It astonishes me that we talk across the country and around the world as if we were long lost friends. Every one of you has made a positive impact on my life, and I am so grateful for that.
I cannot end this post without thanking my family and friends for visiting my blog, I hope you have enjoyed stopping by and will continue to do so.
I am looking forward to another year and beyond in your company.
I have accepted the A-Z Challenge to write a blog post for each letter of the alphabet during the month of April. Please click here or on the A-Z tab in the menu above.
A – Angels
B – Beaches
C – Cooking
D – Daughters-in-law
E – Exercise
F – Flowers
G – Grandchildren
H – Hubby
I – Ice Cream
J – Jolly Jumper (video)
K – Kentucky
L – Love and Laughter
M – Mother
N – New England
O – Oregon
P – Photo Project
Q – Quiet
R – Riley
S – Surprise
T – Taney
U – Unforgettable
V – Vacations
W – Washington, D.C.
X – X-Box
Y – Yard
Z – Zowie
I love the darling logo for this award! I am so grateful to my friend Stephanie Thomas over at S.J. Thomas Book Blurbs for nominating me for yet another award, The Cracking Chrispmouse Bloggywog Award. Thank you so much Stephanie. I am so very happy you thought of me for this recognition. Hugs to you.
So this award is designed to spread joy, peace, hope and love! So please share the love and check out Stephanie’s blog. You will love it, and you will love Stephanie. She is so bubbly and happy and writes wonderful posts.
The Rules of the Award:
1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 (more or less) other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.
7 Things About Me:
1. I love snow! This winter has been extraordinary with gorgeous snow-scapes just outside the window.
2. My favorite winter food is chili – any kind of chili – so long as it is hot and spicy.
3. Centipedes give me the creeps.
4. Though I’m not one to watch a lot of movies, I love going to ‘kids’ movies.
5. I want a puppy. Puggles are my favorite, but I’m not too particular because all dogs are awesome.
6. I cry when I hear our National Anthem.
7. I can’t resist cookie dough.
My Nominees Are:
If you don’t do awards or have already received this one, please just take it as a symbol of my appreciation of your totally awesome blogs. For all of your hard work and diligence, you are most deserving of this recognition.
Congratulations to everyone!
I’ve been nominated for The Blog of the Year Award 2013 by my good friend, sjthomas30 , author of the outstanding blog S.J.Thomas’s Book Blurbs. Thank you so much for this wonderful and unexpected recognition!
There are so many fabulous blogs on a wide variety of topics that are deserving of recognition. I believe the blogs which I have nominated below are excellent examples of great blogs:
5. Books for a Delicate Eternity
11. True STORIES
13. Daily w(rite)
The instructions for this award are simple:
1-Select the blog(s) you think deserve the Blog of the Year 2013 Award.
2-Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen- there are no minimum or maximum number of blogs required- and ‘present’ the blog(s) with their award.
3-Let the blog(s) that you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the instructions with them- (please don’t alter the instructions or the badges!)
4-Come over and say hello to the originator of the Blog of the Year 2013 Award via this link: http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/blog-awards-2-/blog-of-the-year-2013-award/
5-You can now also join the Blog of the Year Award Facebook Page. Click the link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlogoftheYear
Share your blog posts with an even wider audience.
6-And as a winner of the award- please add a link back to the blog that presented you with this award-and then proudly display the award on your blog- and start collecting stars!
Yes-That’s right-There are stars to collect!
Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once-this award is different!
When you begin you will receive the ’1 star’ award- and every time you are given the award by another blog- you can add another star!
There are a total of 6 stars to collect.
Which means that you can check out your favorite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum of 6 stars! You can either ‘swap’ your badge for the next one each time you are given the award- or even proudly display all six badges if you are lucky enough to be presented with the award 6 times!
You can find all the badges and banners and information you need via this link: ‘Blog of The Year 2013′ Award Badges.
Congratulations to all the nominees! Best of luck to every one!
I had a fabulous time at Books by the Banks in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 12, 2013 (sorry, I’m late with this post). I met some authors I have been following for quite some time and got my copies of their fabulous books signed. I also got to meet a few new authors. The fantastic indie bookstore Joseph Beth Books was there, so I bought some new books. Imagine that!
My husband came along and graciously took photos.
I met my lovely Facebook friends Catherine McKenzie and Allie Larkin. Meeting them was so much fun, and guess what, they met each other in person for the first time that day and were sitting at the same table.
Catherine’s books are fantastic! She has written ARRANGED, SPIN, and FORGOTTEN. Her new book HIDDEN is available now in Canada and will be available on April 1, 2014 in the U.S.
Allie’s books are STAY and WHY CAN’T I BE YOU. Allie has an incredible sense of humor, and this same humor is found throughout her books. You will love them.
Leah Stewart is the author of THE BODY OF A GIRL (which I have not read yet), THE MYTH OF YOU AND ME, HUSBAND AND WIFE, and her most recent, THE HISTORY OF US. I loved each of her books, but possibly my favorite is THE HISTORY OF US, because there were so many Cincinnati references, and having lived most of my life in Cincinnati, I could identify with the locales and, therefore, felt I was part of the story.
I met Maria Semple and though I haven’t read her books yet, I have both THIS ONE IS MINE and WHERE’D YOU GO BERNADETTE in my to-be-read pile. I am positively looking forward to these two books.
Mindy McGinnis was a pleasure to talk with. Every photo of her I have seen shows a beautiful smile, and guess what? Mindy smiles a lot and has a very engaging personality. Though I haven’t read her debut novel NOT A DROP TO DRINK which came out on September 24th, my copy finally arrived. Hooray!
I love children’s books, and I love pugs, so I naturally wanted to meet Janeen Coyle author of A PUG WITH A PLAN. I bought her book at Books by the Banks and couldn’t wait to go home and read it. There will be more about her book in a later post, but I can tell you I’m so glad I stopped by her table.
Sarah Curry Rathel introduced me to her debut novel THERE’S SOMETHNG DIFFERENT ABOUT MY HAIR. This book is the first in a series “to help all children realize, recognize, and respect their most important characteristic – their individuality.” (From Something Different Books webpage). I will be posting more about this delightful book in a later post.
There were several other authors I wanted to meet, but time ran short for me. It was truly an honor for me to have the opportunity to meet these remarkable ladies. Please check out the authors and their excellent books. You’ll be glad you did.
Words, images & collages tossed from a window.
Award-Winning Texas Author
the literary asylum
Writing yesterday, today.
Thoughts on Living Like It Matters
Spirituality & Beautiful Musings
Drift among the scribbles of writer Janet Gogerty
gehadsjourney.wordpress.com
Eco Friendly Living | Books | Hippie Vibes
Writing, Poetry, book reviews, interviews, music reviews, contests, art
THE ARTIST ALOZADE A. IS LOOKING FOR ALL BEAUTY IMAGES IN THE WORLD, FOR YOUR TRIP AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE. AS WELL AS ARTISTIC WORKS, DESIGNS AND HIS IDEAS ON ART
Songwriter Lyricist
The Life in 26 Shades of Black and White
BOOK CHAT 
You must be logged in to post a comment.