HOLIDAYS and GRATITUDE #62 and #63

ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING

70 Poems for 70 Days 

 is a collection of poetry I wrote as a birthday present to myself and gifted in book format to 70 of my friends and family members. Over a period of 70 Sundays, I am submitting the poems in the order of composition, along with a short comment about the poem’s style or theme,
often including a complementary photograph.

With linked poetry, a form of Japanese Renshi poetry,

the last lines of one poem are used to form the title of the next poem,

then the next poem shifts to a different topic.

I hope you find a few entries that bring a smile to your face or a long buried memory to the surface of your consciousness. Poetry is like that, whether you are the reader or the author.

62

Now The Pie

 

Holidays bring family close together

with birthdays a favorite, for the cake.

Chocolate is the choice most every time.

 

The 4th means potlucks and fireworks

displays in the park, on the island,

or near the shore. With watermelon

chilling in the cooler for dessert.

 

Thanksgiving’s feast means

now the pie takes center stage, topped

with vanilla ice or fresh whipped cream.

 

Christmas is a winter solstice celebration

most anticipated every year. The sacred

offering of bread and wine consumed with

wrongs forgiven and gratitude expressed.

 

 

*****     *****     *****

 

 

63

With Gratitude

 Geckos on my lanai bring

good luck into

my home.

With gratitude

I watch their

high-speed sprints.

 

 Birds on the high wires

chirp me awake

the sun our silent clock

Their downy feathers

floating on trade winds

demonstrate a ballerina’s grace.

 

Nature delivers peace

at morning’s start,

lightening my cares.

Sipping caffeine black,

the pain subsides

leaving only re-occurring thoughts.

 

 

Ah, the unparalleled pleasure of sipping morning coffee on the lanai before the weight of the day demands your full attention. Still not fully awake, unmindful of opinions pressing down with unrelenting force, obligations stacked for later consideration, and disorderly expectations of unruly humanity. 

 

Soon, the geckos scurry for cover,

the birds' chirps become more frantic,

and the sun's golden rays appear to tarnish

 

Back to a world of reality. 

 

 

*****     *****     *****

 

 

A to Z Theme Reveal Blogfest

For this year's challenge, my theme is The Fun in Writing. Each of my 26 posts for April is aimed at illustrating fun parts of an author's day. A writer doesn't only write. Creating a story or an essay requires research, revision, editing, and lots and lots of coffee and chocolate. For me, the chocolate part keeps me going like an energizer hare...


Luv this colorful bunny crafted by close friend, Kristen.
The multi-hued hare energizes me!

 

 (...although, between hair touch-ups, a more appropriate analogy might be old grey mare!)

 

Yes, I know this doesn't look like a mare, and it's not grey,

but you have to admit, he is really, really cute!

 

You may have noticed the predominance of the color brown in this post.

That's because my mind is always thinking:

 

CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!

 

In one word, my theme is FUN.

What is your theme for April, in one word?

 

Just leave one word below, and I'll visit your site to check out your theme plans.

 

 



Potting Soil and Mason Jars

Today I purchased an 8-quart bag of all-purpose potting soil enriched with fertilizer and a dozen
pint-sized, covered mason jars. I also purchased a nice little self-watering window box planter. 

What do I have in mind for these items? 

 

 

I plan to learn how to grow herbs. Specifically, cilantro, mint, basil, and -- well, I’ll begin with those. My long-term plan is to get healthier than coffee and diet cola allow. Of course, being pragmatic, I don’t intend to wait until those green leafy things start to pop out of the soil. There are plenty of Farmer’s Markets around for me to frequent until then. 

My goal is to produce an eclectic variety of flavored water for my personal consumption. Along with the health benefits of drinking lots of water, there is the fun of planning, preparing, and relaxing on the lanai with a colorfully garnished, ice-cold glass of water that is eye appealing, mouth tingling, and thirst quenching.

Stay tuned for my progress reports, personal-experience tips on making flavored water, and some healthy benefits of drinking the stuff! Refreshed from drinking all that healthy water, the quality of my novel writing will benefit also. Right?

 

 

Choosing Between Coffee and Chocolate

Is it fair to ask you to choose between two simple and relatives inexpensive caffeine pleasures, coffee and chocolate? I didn’t think so.

While reading the morning newspaper on Kindle, I enjoy two cups of freshly brewed coffee, usually 10% Kona but this week 100% Molokai dark roast. For me, beginning the day slowly is sort of a pleasant, guilt-free ritual. For years, I awoke to a clanging alarm clock, rushed through breakfast and morning tasks, then traveled to my place of work, whether across town, miles down the highway, or merely a few short blocks' walk. It was the choice I made when I was sixteen years old and continued to make for decades. Now that I can stay home and compile stories at my own pace, another choice freely made, I appreciate the more relaxed lifestyle.

Recently, I attended an informal talk given at the Duty-Free Shop in Waikiki by an author and coffee aficionado. Shawn Steiman earned his doctorate in Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Hawai‘i. One of his comments, something to the effect that coffee opens the mind and clarifies thinking, stuck with me. Could this reasoning apply to my writing? It was an idea worth some thought.

It isn’t necessary for me to have a clear idea of what I want to express when I first transform my thoughts into written words, I reasoned. But once the thoughts are on paper, I need to convert those ideas into a comprehensible format for others to easily understand. The mystery within a novel should not remain a mystery after the reader finishes the story. If I understood Shawn correctly, a cup of coffee, once consumed, should open my mind and give me the ability to clarify important details.

Yes, I know, the writing process still requires that I bring all the tools with me to the coffee table.

Shawn’s book, The Hawai‘i Coffee Book - A Gourmet’s Guide from Kona to
Kaua‘i also peaked my interest in coffee production and the diverse varieties

of coffees grown here in the islands. Some are even described as having a “chocolate character” so there really is no need to choose between coffee and chocolate. You can have your chocolate, and drink it too.

Knowing your brain needs stimulation to function properly, and assuming you have eaten all your vegetables, could you make a choice between that cuppa joe and a chunk of Belgian chocolate?

Click on the link below to check out Shawn Steiman's book:
The Hawai’i Coffee Book