Hello blog friends,

I've been traveling these last few days, accompanying my husband on visits with his California kids. Instead of the vast Arizona pastures and distant mountains where we live, there are very busy freeways but also glimpses of the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Quite the contrast!

Willow's prompt for this week's #TankaTuesday is perfect for my travels. She invites us to focus on a memory, and I've many stirring in my heart, and one of them is described below. 

Decades ago, I took three of my children to New Mexico. The boys wanted to whitewater raft down the Rio Grande River and my daughter opted in as well. I planned to watch them from the shore, but they tricked me. Long story short, I stepped into the craft to help my youngest and the raft began moving. 

Initially terrified, I confess to having had a great time. The youngest fell into the rapids but the guide skillfully retrieved him. Otherwise, we emerged wet and happy. BTW, in the photo below, my daughter and I are on the far side of the boat, and my two young sons are by the rear guide. 

My tanka poems reflect on life's river. 

Have a wonderful rest of the week, dear friends. Wherever your river may take you, I hope it includes plenty of laughter. ❤️

Hello, dear blog friends!

With all the noise surrounding us, nature becomes a respite. It doesn't matter where we live. If there's a tree somewhere, we can find peace. And, if we've a four-legged friend, our day can be magical. Don't you agree?

​This week, Melissa Lemay invites folks to write a lai poem for Tanka Tuesday. Never heard of this poetry form? If not, just know it's a first for me so you're not alone.  A lai is a nine-line poem of 552-552-552 syllables and a rhyming scheme of aab-aab-aab.

My contribution tries to capture summer days. I hope you enjoy it. 

I hope you have a wonderful week. I'm excited, because I'll be with four of my sibs this weekend. We always reminisce about our shenanigans on the farm and share stories of our kids and grandkids. Simple pleasures fill the heart, don't they.  ❤️ We all need more of them. 

If you have a couple minutes, here's a short video on how trees communicate with each other - and maybe us. Who knows, perhaps in a couple of years, we will have tree interpreters.  Wouldn't that be fun? 😊

Have a wonderful week, and if you chat with trees, please share....

Hello, dear friends.

I just returned home last night from the East Coast. It feels like I've been traveling forever, but that's just my old bones squawking. I'll be catching up for a while, I suspect. 

Yvette provides this week's Tanka Tuesday prompt, and it's perfect for the season. She invites us to write of something related to a vacation, including a favorite place. Well...growing up in a desert, and now living in the high desert, I have a special love for the ocean. A couple times a year, hubby and I travel to California's coast and bask in the water and salty air. I love every minute of it!

My poem is a simple tanka related to my special vacation site. Hope you like it. 😊

To shift gears a bit, my trip to the beautiful state of Connecticut was a solemn one, even though there was plenty of laughter and family time. I traveled there to help celebrate the life of my beautiful daughter-in-law and be with my kids and grandkids. 

​My son created this video for the Memorial. Just 58 years young, Kathy was an angel to all who knew her.  Kathy Memorial Video | Videos & Movies on Vimeo 

Have a wonderful week, dear friends. Each of us is blessed beyond measure, so let's enjoy those blessings. ❤️