A Case of the Pandemic Blues

Enough is enough!  I have noticed a dip in my positivity level each time life stressors interfere (way too many times to count). Can I categorize this new felt loss as the pandemic blues? 

"A mid-summer poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation reported over half of US adults indicated the pandemic has affected their mental health." (Article, Beating the Pandemic Blues)

I count myself as one of those affected by the stresses of pandemic life. Back at the end of February, my husband and I signed a contract to build a new home in Virginia near my little granddaughters. Who knew that COVID-19 would rear its ugly head a few weeks later changing my perspective in so many ways. Yesterday morning I paused to reflect on the happenings of the past nine months, building a home virtually and almost selling my Long Island home five times if you count interested prospective buyers. All of this has left me with weakened resolve but yesterday I found a bit of clarity. 

An incessant all day downpour turned the sky dark while drenching my newly-decorated porch. Fresh poinsettias sat beautifully in pots standing like poised guards waiting for yet another prospective buyer. The rainstorm negated that visit and caused my new plants to become rainsoaked. I ran outside to rescue them. Poor me, I thought. There would be no walks today, no finding small details in nature to bring peace. But then, I decided this outlook would only cause more distress so when I caught an interesting sight from my bedroom window I took a closer look. Nature was sounding off with gusts of wind and a downpour unlike those seen in many weeks. There was a strong windshift and pendulating swings of tree branches. I decided to pause and indulge in a few moments of relaxed self-care, just taking time to watch nature at work. Later, the following digital poem evolved.

I decided that If my poinsettias and decorations could withstand the relentless outbursts of nature during trying times, then I could, too. While my future path many not be a smooth one, I am ready to start thinking about the urgency of self-care: getting hold of my emotions and not letting the howl of pandemic blues deprive me of joy. It is with resolve to move forward that I will keep the following quote front and center.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain." 

-Author Vivian Greene

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It's Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers so I am moving over to join the writing community because writing is one of my happy places.  

 

Focus On Gratitude

This year, Thanksgiving was a day to look beyond the challenges, interruptions, and distractions of our pandemic lives and focus on what mattered. It was a day filled with gratitude for faith, family, and friends but celebrated in an unfamiliar, new normal way. If you were like me, you had a delicious dinner with immediate members of your family, zoomed with grandchildren, and/or relatives, and spoke with others. 

As an added touch, I resurrected a childhood tradition of walking after dinner cleanup time. We stepped outside; I was amazed by the deep jet black sky with a brilliant moon illuminating the street. Gratitude flowed. It was the start of a peaceful family walk. The weather was cooperative for an awe walk., being the most temperate of Thanksgiving nights in a decade. While walking, I recollected the following recent scene at the state park on the outskirts of my neighborhood. The photo taken shares the simple beauty of autumn in late November. With gratitude for nature's beauty I composed the following digital inspiration, image poem.

Even a short walk in the woods can produce a sense of awe when you learn to let go of stress and pay attention to small details. -How to Find Awe in Everyday Things by Sidney Stevens

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The Poetry Sisters offered an interesting challenging, #PoetryPals, for the end of November. 

"The theme is hindsight — pick one of your old poems to revise and/or write a new poem in conversation with it."  

With this in mind, I traveled back in time to last November and 

found the following zeno poem I created.

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Give thanks for fall's seasonal gifts

coloring world

with love,

glee.

November comes

in peace.

See,

wonder, explore.

Find rest.

Be!

©CV, 2019

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For the challenge, I created a zeno poem that connects thoughts from 2019 to 2020 for my Abundant Autumn Gallery. 

Give thanks for fall's abundancy

dispelling fears.

Seek

earthen beauty,

joyful

hope.

Thanksgiving comes

in peace.

Feel

inspired awe.

Center!

Be!

©CV, 2020

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I am grateful for autumn and an unusual Thanksgiving filled with nature inspired awe

to move us beyond the confinements of pandemic living.

Join me for Poetry Friday, hosted by Carol at  Carol's Corner. 

Note:

I will be slowing going through Poetry Friday blogs this weekend since there are multiple scheduled viewings of my Long Island house. I am grateful for this and also very pleased that my Virginia home is completely built and ready for a December closing.

Be Filled With the Beauty of Nature

Imagine a day in early November. Walking trails at the nearby state park overflow with glorious sights and sounds. Colors of autumn vary in cinnamon tones; crispcrunch leaves fill in dark wooded spaces. Strewn across paths, patterned leaves and broken branches artistically placed wait for visitors to tread lightly. Nature's beautifully-crafted, undisturbed spaces alive with natural light. Filtering through cracks between majestic trees a dazzling luster surrounds the woods. We walk in awe, noting a distinct silence. Curving paths continue inviting us to pause, reflect, and let outdoor harmony move inward. 

leaning in silence

autumn's spirit surrounds

silent sacred space

©CV, 2020

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Lately, there has been much talk about influencers. Those who thrived in the before but live in the now, continue to influence others. Without hesitation, autumn has been an influencer in my life, providing a diversion from upside-down issues of this pandemic-filled world. This year more than ever, autumn thrives, offers inspiration in a variety of forms, and affects my mindset in a positive way.

awed by autumn's art

earth-painted masterpieces

inspired beauty

©CV, 2020

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afternoon light falls

on trails adorned in russet 

gratitude sweeps through

©CV, 2020

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autumn sunset inches closer

hovers over a silent lake

brilliantly sharing  a layering of colors

passersby sit reverently

watching earth slowly fill

with evening beauty

©CV, 2020

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This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted at my long-distance writing friend, Linda Baie's blog site, TeacherDance,  this week. She is writing about a wonderful new poetry anthology, Friends and Anemones by authors of The Writer's Loft. I attended the virtual book launch so I am interested in Linda's thoughts.

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The autumn photos and poems are part of the #AbundantAutumn Gallery of Artistic Expressions.

November Peace

November graciously enters autumn with a bit of October's vibrance until winds of change toss leaves about. Days grow shorter. Earth becomes quieter and tree branches expose their limbs gracefully against a darkening sky. Within this unembellished world, many turn their eyes away not seeing the beauty that lies within nature's arms. 

November holds mysteries heard in whispering winds or in piles of crunchable leaves if we listen. Do you see the beauty beyond the chilled breath of sweatherweather afternoons before the onset of dusk? Step into my digital artwork to discover November peace.

 

One chilled, windy day last week, I walked through my neighborhood feeling a reverent silence for the stillness of the approaching night. I captured this scene and subsequently digitized it and wrote a cherita, "a linked poetry form of one-, two-, and three-line stanzas that tells a story. A cherita depends on conciseness and suggestion for its effect." 

It is my hope that you will honor the slowed-down pace of November in gratitude for its blessings, even when it is difficult to see through the darkening clouds and storms of life.

in november

listen in silence to earth

gratitude whispers

©CV, 2020

I join Two Writing Teachers for the Tuesday Slice of Life to share a small moment of a November day.

Inspired by Autumn Morning "Awe Walks"

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. - Aristotle

I hear the call of morning in the woods.

Autumn morning sweeps into daylight.

Breathes in crispcool freshness.

Dialogues whimsically with Nature.

Turns to awaken a weary world.

At ocean's edge, baby gulls test their skills,

Fly into a watchful October sky

And dip into glistening waters

Of diamondsparkle seafoam.

A lone tree bedecked in russet

Lays a blanket of crunchable leaves.

Waiting for schoolyard childrens'

giant leap into autumn majesty.

I wander through Autumn mornings connected in silence with nature. Awestruck with earth's goldleaf colors, I feel the warmth of September-in-November-joy.

©CV, 2020, Long Island, NY

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Intrigued by the appeal of an aubade, a poetic format that appeared on Linda Mitchell's blog as a challenge for her fellow Sunday Swaggers. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary explains this form as a song or poem greeting dawn; a morning love song; a song or poem of lovers parting at dawn. I chose to write my first aubade as a morning love song.

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Lord Bryon sums up an intense love of nature in his poem:

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes,

By the sea and music in its roar:

I love not man less, but nature more.

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Lately, I have spent many days taking awe walks, soaking in the intensity of autumn while trying to make sense of a pandemic upside-down life. Awe walks are simple antidotes for stress. They allow me to shift my attention outward instead of inward leading to a feeling of well-being. Another way for me to achieve a sense of balance (my one word) is to join the Poetry Friday Roundup each week. This week, Robyn Hood Black is hosting, at her website, Life on the Deckle Edge. Robyn's post is full of poetic goodness. As one of the stops on the HOP TO IT Blog Tour of Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong's new poetry anthology, Robyn shares her enthusiasm for the book and her own children's poem published in the anthology. Robyn also provides congratulary remarks for fellow poets' new books .

Finding Our Way

A true sign of strength is resilience and courage in the face of hostility, danger, or any issue that comes our way and either overwhelms or interrupts life. As global citizens, we have been faced with the after-effects of a monstrous virus, COVID-19. It has seeped into our nation and interrupted our lives, thus, changing the course of humanity with a new normal pattern of living.

Families share their home space with their work lives. Children find schooling either online in front of a computer, face-to-face in classrooms equipped with plastic shields and hand sanitizers, or in a hybrid model. Masks are expected to be worn to contain the spread of a disease that holds no boundaries. Yet, in this upheaval of life, a sense of humanity toward each other needs to grow from the center outward. in addition, a reverence for the earth must be rekindled to slow down anxiety-producing feelings of quarantine life. As resilient survivors of a not-expected lifestyle, we need to seek ways to transverse the gnarled paths of life in search of optimism.

Open Your Eyes To See Beyond

In quiet morning light flooding earth,

revisit silent sanctuaries.

Pause in reverance to observe

nature's crispclean gifts of vibrant hues.

Fill your coffers with autumn's treasures

showcased in jeweled, seasonal displays.

Dip your thoughts in peaceful streams of light

as nature paints earth with abundance.

Give gratitude for the artistry.

©CV, 2020

Thank you, Lillian Lake for a peek at Maine's dip-into-nature photo above.

May the colors of autumn wash away the sting of quarantine life and let us find balance in a world of mixed signals. I join Two Writing Teachers and its community of dedicated bloggers who post their slice of life each Tuesday.

Quiet Morning

In the stillness of the night, snow quietly entered to cradle a sleepy neighborhood in a blanket of warmth. Not until early morning did I realize the gift of late autumn snow nature presented. My leaf-strewn neighborhood was transformed into a wonder-filled, peaceful scene. I captured that tranquil image, digitized it with the app, MobileMonet, and created a #haikuforhealing/#haikuforhope.

From this image poem, I designed a music collage with the app, PicPlayPost. The music complemented the scene and let the day start with a sense of contentment to embrace the day giving a nod to my one little word for 2019. You can see the music collage on YouTube or below.

Switching my thoughts back to an amazing Thanksgiving/birthday holiday at Hotel Hershey, I started the holiday season with autumn's glow and good cheer. The experience brought out the child in all of us as we celebrated the beginning of the holiday season with my granddaughter.

May the spirit of the holidays bring hope to all!

Now, I am traveling over to Elizabeth Steinglass' site, the host of Poetry Friday, to enjoy some poetry magic. Liz has an original poem about a short word that is so important. 

Inktober's Digital Magic

When autumn meets my digital brush, 

the screen lights up with colors that suit my mood and noticings. 

Poetry often flows from the wonder of what I see but lately, I have been intrigued by #Inktober's word prompts. While not following each day's prompts as one would expect, I have played with digital tools to create as many #digitalinspirations/#imagepoems as time allowed. My #digipoetry offerings were created using @Buncee, @Fotojetapp, @PicMonkey and showcased at my blog or on Twitter and other social media sites. 

A listing of what I accomplished this month for #Inktober and #Poemtober follows.
Today, I finished the revision of my combined Inktober Day 7 & 15 animated poem, Enchanted Forest, that I created on Buncee here.  The still version is below. 

Inktober Day 17 showcased at my blog post, Apple Picking Memory.
Inktober Day 21 showcased at my blog post, Autumn's Treasure.
Inktober Day 22 showcased at my blog post, Ghosts Night Out.
Inktober Day 27 showcased at my blog post, I 💗New York in Autumn.
Inktober Day 30, showcased at my Buncee dashboard, Halloween Fright Night.
Poemtober digital poems showcased at my Buncee dashboard, Pre-Halloween Poetry Fun and 
Howl Chant.

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You can find these digital inspirations and many more from the at the Abundant Autumn Global Gallery of Artistic Expressions. 

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Now turn your attention to the amazing Tabatha Yeatts, host of Poetry Friday this week. I can't wait to see what poetry goodness she has in store for us.

I 💗New York in Autumn

Autumnal colors rock the runway this season. Color trends as noted by glowsly.com are "a mix  of deep, creamy yellows like Butterscotch and Dark Cheddar, along with soft, nutty browns like Sugar Almond and Hazel." Yesterday, after hours of dark gloomy rain that poured down incessantly, I noticed how beautiful the streets looked with their vibrant colors left on the trees. Streets were strewn with beautifully-colored wet leaves. 

My neighborhood was decorated in autumnal shades that were as brilliant as the clothing lines that are in the stores.  The "it-orange of the season, Orange Tiger" was blazing bright and the trees donned a shade of deep brown like colors on the runway, Rocky Road and Chicory Coffee. Long Island Autumn, trending the colors of the season, is surely dressed to walk the New York City runway.

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The above image poem has been digitized to present a bold colorization of foliage in New York State. It is not a photo of my neighborhood.  It originated as a scene photographed while traveling from Long Island to Central New York, then used for the Inktober 2019 day 27 challenge with the word coat as the prompt. 

Perhaps you will join me in singing along with the I Love New York radio ad song, circa 1977-1980 and understand why I, as a New Yorker, am proud of my state.

Now for another favorite site of mine: Two Writing Teachers that brings us the Slice of Life Tuesday weekly. 

Celebrating An Autumn Week

Autumn celebrated nature's dazzling colors at the beginning of last week.

It was time for our annual, autumn nature walk to explore the wooded areas of Hempstead Lake Park. With my camera and a bag to collect fall artifacts, I prepared to capture the beauty of an autumn day while my husband led the way. 

Dressed in the finest fall fashion, Autumn waited for her applause. Assorted multi-colored leaves were strewn about the ground while the trees were dressed in vibrant colors. A picturesque, russet-colored scene greeted me. 

What if I transformed the scene into digital art?

Inching our way toward sunlight, my husband found a great site for a photo shoot.  It was a stop and stare moment-a  mirrored reflection. Although the trees were not all in high fashion color, they created a lovely backdrop for a quick haiku image poem.

While we were in awe of Autumn's beauty, my daughter was experiencing a similar feeling in the Virginia-Washington, D.C. area. One difference that I noticed was the movement of the water. The Hempstead Lake Park water body was still for the most part while the photo below of Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC appeared to be full of movement. 

Photo below by Devin Hartnett for #AbundantAutumn Gallery.

Energized by 
Autumn's fashion parade, 
I tucked away the memories
to brighten a rainy day.

It's Slice of Life Tuesday so join me at Two Writing Teachers.