It’s our first Free Verse Friday. Yay! This month’s theme is “Beginnings”.
I started writing my poem during Beth Kempton’s “Winter Writing Sanctuary”. This was a free 10 day writing “retreat”. I liked it so much, that I ordered a couple of Kempton’s books including “The Way of the Fearless Writer”, which has yet to arrive.
Here’s the picture to accompany my poem:
Several rewrites later, this is the poem I came up with:
Eye popping sunset Cues the demise of a day Darkness rises, night’s born Is the sun glum that day ends? Or does the sun celebrate the beginning of the night?
In future rewrites I may add more description, but for now I am happy with the beginning of a new poem.
How about you? Did you write a poem? Feel free to post one in the comments or link to your blog with your poem in the comments.
Don’t forget to head to Bev’s blog to read her poem.
See you next month for a poem written on the theme of “Winter”.
Shoe’s Seeds and Stories @Copyright 2023 Linda Schueler
Introducing our new challenge this year…Free Verse Fridays. You may remember that last year my writing partner Bev and I did “Our Own Backyard” as our 2022 challenge. This year we are changing focus, and we are going to be doing a poetry challenge once a month. Yay! Did you want to play along? We’d love to have you. If so, these are the parameters. Pick a picture related to the theme for the month. Then write a free verse poem related to the picture and the theme. Then on the first Friday of the month, post your picture and poem on your blog. The themes for the first three months are as follows: January—Beginnings February—Winter March—Green Leave a comment on one of our blogs, linking to your blog. If you don’t have a blog, then feel free to put the picture and the poem in the comments. I’m going to give you a preview of two pictures I am considering using for the first poem, which I will post on Friday. Now I’ll need to actually write the poem on the theme of “Beginnings”. Stay tuned.
I’ll meet you here next week, and I hope to see a poem from you too!
Shoe’s Seeds and Stories @Copyright 2022 Linda Schueler
I had decided to document the Linden tree in my backyard. This fall the colours on the trees have been stunning! Apparently the reason they look so vibrant is because we had cold temperatures with no frost.
Whatever the reason, my Linden tree is looking particularly pretty in yellow this fall.
Lots of leaves to rake up!
The oak tree on the right doesn’t drop leaves in the fall.
That wraps up this challenge. Thank you to all who visited my backyard virtually.
Shoe’s Seeds and Stories @Copyright 2022 Linda Schueler
Welcome to part 3 of the “Our Own Backyard” challenge, in which my friend Bev and I will share pictures of our backyards during the seasons.
Same City 2 Friends 2 Yards 2 Views
The idea is to document a part of our backyards every season for a year. I had decided to document our European Linden tree and how it changes throughout the seasons.
I was disappointed this year, because there were no flowers on my Linden tree. It’s one of my favourite times of the year, as the bees buzz loudly, visiting the heavenly smelling Linden flowers, also called lime flowers.
It’s not unusual that Linden trees don’t flower every year. However, it’s been a tough year, as we did have the driest June in 15 years, and I wonder how much of an impact that has had.
The tree does look impressive this time of the year.
I have been visiting my tree lately, sitting underneath it. The view from underneath is really cool.
I just finished reading Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s book called “Rooted” in which she has a chapter dedicated to trees. Haupt suggests visiting the same tree every day for a season or a year or a life. Well I haven’t been able to do that, but I am making a conscious effort to spend more time sitting underneath my Linden tree.
I highly recommend Haupt’s book. My favourite quote from the chapter on trees: “Might the trees, if writing their own poem, look at us with pity, instead of the other way around? So uprooted, meandering, separate, skimming the soil’s surface, shielding ourselves from the night, our heavy limbs unresponsive to light wind. Lacking in fragrance, unvisited by birds, nothing nesting in our hair…” (pg. 176)
Head on over to Bev’s post to see how much her gardens have changed. I particularly like her coneflowers.
What’s it look like in your corner of the world?
Shoe’s Seeds & Stories @Copyright 2022 Linda Schueler
Welcome to part 2 of the “Our Own Backyard” challenge, in which my friend Bev and I will share pictures of our backyards during the seasons.
Same City 2 Friends 2 Yards 2 Views
The idea is to document a part of our backyards every season for a year. I had decided to document our European Linden tree and how it changes throughout the seasons. Looking at it yesterday though, I noticed that there has been almost no change in the three months since I first posted.
True, there is less snow on the tree. And there are some daffodils in the background.Some budding is happening.
This has been a tough spring. It’s been cold with lots of late snowfall. I feel bad for some of my spring flowers, which have not been thriving.
I had meant to concentrate on my Linden tree in this challenge, but as there has not been much change, I am going to post some pictures from other changes happening in the backyard.
The violets have been prolific this year.I always love how eye popping my forsythia is.
So change is happening, just slower with my Linden tree. I’m excited to see how much different my Linden tree will be in three months from now.
Head on over to Bev’s post to see how much her gardens have changed.
What’s it look like in your corner of the world?
Shoe’s Seeds & Stories @Copyright 2022 Linda Schueler
Admittedly summer always throws me off schedule. I forgot that last year in the midst of the “summer that wasn’t” due to the restrictions of Covid-19, our planned trip to Germany had to be cancelled and there was little to do until we discovered the beach in August, where we went once a week, which at least provided a mini respite from the sameness of it all.
The upside of that summer was that I was much more productive, or at least that’s how I remember it. This summer though, I seem to have fallen into the natural summer rhythm of spontaneity verging on chaos.
We managed to have a one week socially distanced family cabin vacation up in the Muskokas. Bliss: swimming, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, even one session of archery. Not only that, but I was able to read like I haven’t read in a long time on rainy days. Alas, I lost that momentum when I returned home, due to a series of unexpected visits. Not that I am complaining, but the dizzying speed of reentry change sometimes has my head spinning.
Now on to how I did with my revamped resolutions.
Read 24 books this year for the Mount TBR 2021 challenge.
I read “The Global Forest: 40 Ways Trees Can Save Us” by Diana Beresford-Kroeger. See the next category for a description.
Read 12 nature related books this year to enhance my horticultural therapy study.
“The Global Forest: 40 Ways Trees Can Save Us” by Diana Beresford-Kroeger.
I don’t think that the title is accurate—more like “40 Ways Trees Play a Part in Our Lives” or something similar—but certainly the book is bursting with fascinating tree facts and stories. I read the book in short bursts, two chapters a day, following the pattern I used in the 100 day challenge. It works!
Quote:
“…most trees are not naturally solitary. They are community dwellers. The community for the tree is the forest. Inside the forest all mother trees get the greatest protection possible.”
“The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature” by Sue Stuart-Smith
I read this as part of a book study with one of my critique partners. Well researched and well written, the book is a delight to read. So many benefits of gardening and nature including even the use of them in trenches during WWI. Who knew?
Quote:
“It is one thing for gardens to provide respite from war but quite another to create them in the very midst of it. Yet this is what happened during the long, drawn-out fighting on the Western Front. Pretty flowers may seem trivial when shells are dropping all around, but in that landscape of utmost devastation, the beauty of nature especially of flowers, provided a psychological lifeline in a way that nothing else could.”
I see parallels to this in these Covid-19 times, with there being an uptick in interest in gardening.
Read 12 books that are either memoir, poetry, or soul books.
“H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald
I tried to read this before, but I never did finish it despite its luscious language. This time I took it slowly, reading about 5 chapters per week and then discussing them with my book club partner, and I am really glad that I did it that way. I think the book is meant to be savoured, lingering over the descriptions.
After her father passes away, Macdonald trains a goshawk. She intersperses her experiences with that of T.H. White, who also wrote a book about training a goshawk.
So much to love in this book, but I’ll leave you with this quote:
“Of all the lessons I’ve learned in my months with Mabel this is the greatest of all: that there is a world of things out there—rocks and trees and stones and grass and all the things that crawl and run and fly. They are all things in themselves, but we make them sensible to us by giving them meanings that shore up our own views of the world. In my time with Mabel I’ve learned how you feel more human once you have known, even in your own imagination, what it is like to be not.”
Work on my writing 15 minutes a day.
I didn’t do it every day, but I did work on my writing here and there. I did a lot of planning for my novel I am working on too.
Read related literature to my writing. (I need to figure out an actual number.)
-a doctor who treats eating disorders uses her own experience in having to wear plus sized clothes due to Covid weight gain to talk about the damage the fashion industry is doing
-intersperses personal experience with general experience
Overall, I enjoyed both, but nothing stood out for me.
Analyze what I like about two picture books per month.
These are the two that I analyzed:
“Wanted! Criminals of the Animal Kingdom” by Heather Tekavec; illustrated by Susan Batori
-I love the structure of this very humorous picture book; it makes it memorable. (Wanted for; criminal activity; rap sheet; FYI)
-Good beginning: “Creatures all over the world are turning to a life of crime, chaos and corruption.”
-Everybody gets a cool, catchy name: Ms. Jagged Jaws, Copy Cat, Big Bad Mama
“Ocean Speaks” by Jess Keating; illustrated by Katie Hickey
What I like about it:
-First page grabs you right away: “The beach was a blanket of squishy, soft sand, and Marie wanted to feel it under her feet.”
-Length of sentences:
“Shoes off.
Socks off.”
-Great comparisons:
“The ocean stretched out before her, like a big blue mystery.”
“The waves were talking to her, whooshing up to her toes and sighing away again.”
-The power of threes: “forests and farmhouses, boulders and bird calls, wheat fields and waterfalls”
-Plenty of alliteration: “plotting every point on paper”
Submit one story to a contest per season.
I have already done this.
Attend one writing webinar per month. (flexible)
Not done
Work on one lesson of a writing course per month. (flexible)
As a challenge from the library, I signed up for a course at LinkedIn Learning. It turned out to be facilitated by the writer of one of my favourite craft books, which is “Wired for Story”. Sweet!
Attend a writing group session per week. (flexible)
I met most weeks, but not every week.
Blog at least twice a month.
Not done.
Weekly treasure:
Doesn’t our campfire look like a starry sky?
Challenges:
HaikuForTwo
I wrote two.
100 day challenge:
Read two chapters of a book a day.
Done
How’s your summer been going? Do you feel like it’s been more like a “normal” summer? I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment.
Is it the end of February? Already? Where does the time go?
I traditionally struggle with February, but this year the month felt somehow easier to bear, although it was not without its challenges including a couple of tumbles on the ice resulting in some swelling…Ouch! That’s not like me at all. I usually am steady on my feet on ice…Anyway, perhaps it was a signal to slow down and pay attention more, which I have been trying to do, but I guess I needed to be reminded. A painful reminder indeed. Why couldn’t a sticky note with this message have come fluttering down, landing gently on my forehead instead? Hmmm, this might be the plot of a new story. Messages from the sky!
Anyway, without further adieu, here’s my monthly wrap up.
-Read 24 books for the Mount TBR 2021 challenge.
I finished one book for this challenge—a book written by my uncle called “Africa Revisited”—so that puts me a bit behind, but I am reading a few other books from my TBR list. I am sure that I will catch up soon. Click here to read about the book.
-Read 12 nature related books to enhance my horticultural therapy study.
I have the book for this month’s CHTA book club, which I have skimmed but not finished. Some more catch up to do.
-Read 12 books that are either memoir, poetry, or soul books.
Success! I read one memoir this month.
“this is not the end of me” by Dakshana Bascaramurty
Bascaramurty documented friend Layton Reid’s dying and then eventual death of cancer. It’s refreshing to see more chapters of how his family is doing after his death.
Favourite quotes:
“would you like to learn the secret to taking on life’s most brutal obstacles?
here it is.
there is no secret. just keep moving, dummy. that’s it.”
and
“for better or worse there are days that just suck the good out of you. your spirit, your strength and your hope. and then there are days when the universe seems to rally around your cause when all prospects seem lost at that particular moment.”
“The world needs compassionate people to lead, work, parent and contribute. I want to teach my kids that they don’t need to sell themselves short in life, but they have to be decent people. Being aggressive or yelling at people may sometimes provide short-term results, but such strategies do little to build long-term trust and loyalty. That’s as true in the corporate world as it was in kindergarten.
I desire to be heard, and I want my kids to be heard, but not at the expense of resorting to cruel tactics. I’m not suggesting that women bend to the whims of assertive men by placating with false niceties, because that won’t resolve anything. But I do think a cultural shift needs to occur, and I’m hoping a more kindness-forward approach, and not flexing to take up space, could benefit everyone involved.”
“I also wonder if I have the courage to continue to expose myself in such a naked way. Is courage even the right word, or is it self-serving selfishness? I’m not thinking of the reader I’ve never met, but about my family, friends and colleagues. How will they feel when they read this? Will they feel guilty or mad I haven’t shared my feelings with them? Will they think I’m weak? I don’t want them to feel any of this.
There’s a lot of mental-health stories written after the fact. When someone’s standing at the top, looking down at the abyss they crawled out of. I find this helpful and inspiring. There’s far less written about being in that abyss. What it’s like to be in darkness. To be surrounded by people, yet feel alone. Perhaps it’s because it’s so painful bringing that emotion to the front. It’s easier to keep it inside and let it simmer. Or maybe I just haven’t bothered to look.”
“It’s about balance. If I freak out and make a huge deal out of a teen sleeping in until 1 p.m. on a Saturday, or spend all our driving time harping about that friend I don’t like or every meal becomes an inquisition over vegetable consumption, I’m raising the stakes AGAINST myself.”
-Read 5 picture books per month
Completed!
My favourite:
“The Boy and the Gorilla” by Jackie Azua Kramer; illustrated by Cindy Derby
After his mother dies, a boy talks through his grief with an imaginary gorilla, which helps him connect to his father.
-Submit one story to a contest per season.
I’m on fire in this category! I submitted to two contests. Although I didn’t win or place in either one, I now have a couple of stories I can play with.
I attended three, making up for the lack of webinars I attended last month.
“A Conversation with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer” hosted by UBC
So many fantastic takeaways from this webinar with the author of “Braiding Sweetgrass”, but my favourite is the response to what an educated person is:
“An educated person knows what their gifts are and how to put them into the world.”
“The Power of Hope: Using Psychological Theory to Help Our Hearts…and Our Writing” (WriteonCon)
diy MFA: My #1 Go-To Writing Technique
-Work on one lesson of a writing course per month.
I did not do that, although last month I did several.
-Attend a writing group session per week.
Done!
–Blog at least twice a month.
Done!
-Weekly treasure:
The tree I sat on while I watched my husband and daughter tobogganing
Challenges:
NF Fest
I read all the posts, but I did not complete enough challenges to qualify for prizes. It’s not the point anyway. The posts are excellent, and I learned a lot.
100 days
100 days to work on a project of your choosing
I have been reading two pages a day of my German novel, and I am surprised and pleased at how much easier tackling a novel that you find intimidating is that way.
HaikuForTwo
I have done one haiku for this challenge.
New challenge:
30 Words
This is a challenge that has been revived. I’ve not posted my first one yet, but stay tuned…coming soon.
I also realize that if my guiding word for this year is Nurture, I need to set some goals to do that. You would think that would be an easy thing to do, but I don’t even notice I’m not doing it. Thus the message from the ice…
I hope that you have had a good February. Now we turn to March and thoughts of spring. Already I can hear the birds singing in the morning again. Bliss.
Shoe's Seeds & Stories 