Appreciating the Grandgirls

It is a joy to have little granddaughters. Their smiles pop up on my computer daily and in their online Google Photo albums but the best is when the little girls stay for a weekend. Oh, the fun we have is incomparable. During this year of gratitude, my one word appreciate fills my heart. People often ask why I moved to Virginia. My first response is always, "To be near our granddaughters". It is the same response I hear from many people in our community. 

“A granddaughter is a treasure whose worth you cannot measure except by the love in your heart.” -unknown author

Our weekend was filled with firsts, golden memories, and fun.

adventures

special times

together

such a treat

to watch them

enjoy life

radiant

smiles, giggles-

sweet childhood

©CVarsalona, 2022

🍦

outdoor fun

movie, treats,

stargazing

indoor fun

at the pool

splash, kick, swim

extra treat

breakfast and

watching goats

©CVarsalona, 2022

(The above poems use the tricube poetic form.)

Then, off they go with their parents and what do the grandparents do after that hearty breakfast?  We take a long nap because it is non-stop movement when the little girls visit.  But it is so much fun to be around our granddaughters. 

🍦

Oh, I did not mention the ice cream treats, not only for the little girls but for the adults. We all enjoy ice cream in the summer, even if it melts more quickly.

🍦

It's time for Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers, a meeting place for a world of reflective writers. I appreciate this community of eduwriters.

during the March writing challenge

Nearing the End of NPM22

I am completely amazed at how fast this month passed. While recovering from my first cataract surgery. I learned to have a deeper appreciation of my one word, appreciate, the combination of medicine and faith. Perseverance stepped in during the journey and my muse visited often as I wrote poetry and read others' work. The healing process was long; I often fell asleep while growing new ideas and/or visiting poetry friends' blog sites. Responses to comments left at my blog or on other blogs were in a very slow mode but I made it through the month with these personal projects and more poetry:

• Proudly posted my Day 9 line in the Progressive Poem and passed the baton to my poet friend, Linda Baie.
• Introduced my NPM22 project, the creation of a Poetryliscious Gallery and a padlet to house a variety of artistic expressions, image poems, photographs, and inspired writing. Thank you to Poetry Friday friends, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Molly Hogan, Denise Krebs, and Carol Labezztta for offering their work. Others, are in contact but have not placed their work on the padlet. You can see their nature photos and/or image poems on my Poetryliscious Gallery padlet. 
• Organized the artistic expressions offered for my Winter's Embrace Gallery that hopefully will be unveiled while winter still holds court in springtime.
• Wrote my annual Earth Day blog post with poetry and a digital graphic as my focus. 

Thank you, Laura Robb for tweeting the above quote sent to me via Twitter.

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This week in between naps, I wrote drafts of metaphor poems for Taylor Mali's Metaphor Dice Contest and anthology and the Poetry Sisters monthly challenge. I will share my samples, labeled #PoetryPals, as soon as I put the finishing touches on them. 

I, also, created an image poem for Margaret Simon's This Photo Wants To Be A Poem. 

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Thank you Jone Rush MacCulloch for providing a "gathering place for poets and lovers of poetry" this week at the Poetry Friday Round Up. Join me at Jone's blog to read about her good news where she shares works she created.

#SOL22 March Musings Day 14: A Day in Six-Word Memoirs

Have you ever thought of your life as a series of six-word memoirs. "A Day in Six-Word Memoirs" is an interesting format being used as a writing prompt on Two Writing Teachers. I am not sure who shared the format but I thought it was a good way to reflect on a day. (If you know who offered this format, please let me know.)

MARCH 14TH

day overstuffed with a to-do list

NOW

scurrying around to finish another task

APPRECIATE

late-night writing when all is quiet

MUST

tired of thinking, prepare for surgery

POSITIVITY

new lens, new view on life

      ©CV2022 

March 14th is now. Tackle the must-do tasks of each day with faith and positivity.

Appreciate life!

YOUR TURN

Can you write your day in a six-word memoir? Find the positives of any one-day mixed in with the must-dos.

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for this daily meeting place to connect with a community of reflective writers. 

Journey On With Heart - SJT

Feeling overwhelmed and somewhat unbalanced by a series of too many clustered events, the time is right to explore a burning question from Linda Mitchell, this month's Spiritual Journey Thursday host. Where is your heart on this spiritual journey we are all on? Pondering this question can unlock not straightforward, rather winding path that starts with my one word, appreciate. 

In order to unravel my thoughts, I backtrack to years ago when I let my Endless To-Do List drift into the abyss. It was too heavy a load to carry daily. In the aftermath, I decided to try to simplify my printed notepaper but life kept interrupting and the list became cumbersome once again. Now, clustered events climb on the backs of each other to make a rather messy-looking calendar. Sleep habits are disturbed and deadlines need to be extended. I question myself. How can I appreciate life if I don't have time to slow down? Ah Ha! Positivity rises!

So where is my heart on my spiritual journey? I need to balance my personal, family, and professional lives. Yes, this is true. I need to slow down-another truth. Then, there is the medical issue of cataract surgery. Obviously, I need to have cataracts removed. There still is a small window of time between now and the first operation in March. 

Journey on, I say without buts or negatives. So where do I start? Just because it is winter does not mean that I cannot cultivate a garden or appreciate the shifting landscapes.  

Several Ways to Energize the Heart:

• Strengthen the physical aspects by continued exercise, eating healthy, relax before sleep time
• Continue feeding my soul with inspiration (reading and writing poetry)
• Believe in Psalm 37:4: take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart
• Build a garden of love

Author of Quote Unknown

Psalm 37:4

Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

💕💗💞

My heart desires blessings for these little grandgirls so they can grow

with love, faith, and hope for a peaceful world and brighter future.

💕💗💞

"To all of the grandmothers who make the world more gentle, more tolerant, and more safe for our children: Never doubt your importance.- Mary-Lou Rosengren

Ponder Linda's question: 

Where is your heart on this spiritual journey we are all on?

I have more thinking to do to make my spiritual walk a peaceful one this year

despite life's interruptions.

It's time to visit the Spiritual Journey Thursday community at Linda Mitchell's blog here.

Appreciate OLW: Winter Thoughts

      Welcome to the First Poetry Friday of 2022!        

 “Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental     journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”     -Attributed to John Boswell 

Happy New Year to my fellow poets, authors, friends, and guests!

This is the week when my one little word is revealed every year. There were a series of experiences that helped me choose my one word that was officially posted iyesterday. You can find out more information at my post,  Connecting with My One Little Word - SJT 2020, here. I chose appreciate as my one little word but more importantly, I think it chose me too. One line from a TEDx talk by Mike Robbins helped me recognize the importance of my one word as a healing word. "Appreciation is an important element in effectively dealing with the stress of challenges and uncertainty that so many of us are facing these days." Appreciate revolves around the concept of positivity so as I walk through each day, I am ready to find items or events that are small, ordinary, or big to bring a measure of joy into life.

I am ready to appreciate more of life this year. For today's appreciation thought I want to send warm greetings to the Poetry Friday community who have become more than a virtual grouping of writers, authors, and poets. You are all closely knit as a cohesive group of supportive friends. I value your friendship, your critiques, and your encouragement. Enjoy your walk through winter this year and if you are so inclined, send me an image poem, drawing, quote, song, playlist, or any other artistic expression to share the beauty of winter for a new poetic gallery to send around the globe. 

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.-John Burroughs

May the crispness of winter fill your soul. Thank you for sharing your posts tonight and tomorrow. I am sorry that this posting comes late. My gathering with my family came later than expected. Now that the little grandgirls have finally stopped talking and closed their eyes for the night, I will post this blog. Click on Mr. Linky below. Thank you for joining my Welcome to 2022 with the Poetry Friday Community. 

v

Connecting with My One Little Word - SJT 2022

As the glow from Christmas lights retire and the new year is blanketed in winter magic. I reflect on my previous one words. Openness, listen, believe, joy, hope, embrace, and balance were great guides on my journey from 2014 to 2020. Since last year was a transition time for the family. I chose the word begin. It honored my pathway to a new life in Virginia. This year, I desire to find one word that recognizes a need for wellness, peace, and quiet. It should be a word that awakens my spirit and opens channels of joy for the gift of life. 

As I write this post in concert with my fellow Spiritual Journey Thursday community, I  ponder words I gathered for this month's topic, One Little Word. Our host, Margaret Gibson, chose this prompt to start the new year with a powerful word that guides our journeys. I realize that my one word does not appear readily as it has in the past. What I start with is a full page of words on my desk, a recent dream that ends with appreciating life, and a short piece by Mike Robbins with a burning question that pops out at me.

But what if we took the time not only to appreciate but also acknowledge the simple things in our lives all the time in an authentic way?

I experience an aha moment! My one word appears:-APPRECIATE the small, simple, and ordinary aspects of life in an authentic way. I listen to Mike Robbins' TEDx video, The Power of Appreciation. One line speaks to me. "Appreciation is also an important element in effectively dealing with the stress of challenges and uncertainty that so many of us are facing these days." 

With my new one word, I commit to pause and appreciate the small, simple, and ordinary aspects of life. I hope to awaken my spirit to see life through a clearer lens this year, focus on the positives of each situation, and be filled with the spirit of abounding joy for the gifts of life, family, faith, and friends.

one word tip-toes

through winter's quiet hush

new year greetings

©CV, 2022

 "Life is full of delightful treasures if we take a moment to appreciate them." - Oprah Winfrey

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I am grateful that my one word, appreciate, is my guide this year. I plan on finding the ahhh moments as Oprah says. Join me at Poetry Friday this week. I am hosting this week at my blog with extended thoughts on my one word.