Letter to Spring

Dear Spring,

I love you dearly

but your sunshine is merely

an in and out treat.

I request your time to meet.

Blooms ask for more buds

but not deluged with chance floods.

Perhaps, Chill can retreat

and Warmth add sweet heat.

Respectfully longing,

without prolonging, 

I send you greetings

for a chance meeting.

With Regards,

    -Help Wanted-

A Springtime Lover

This letter to Spring was written on Monday morning.  Perhaps, Spring listened to my requests because the sun appeared in the afternoon. 

I am joining Two Writing Teachers for the Tuesday Slice of Life 

Winter Cold

The weather on Long Island has been fluctuating so rapidly that I need to find humor in the current deep freeze. Last night, we went to dinner and the theater on the north shore of Long Island. The short walk from the car felt like we needed face masks to survive. Clearly, winter is making its mark this January and enjoying the way everyone is responding.

During this past month, Long Island had gray days of what I call Rainuary weather. The sun appeared on and off. Temperatures ranged from mild to bitter cold and with that the sinus pressure in my head built up. As with the past Januarys, a sinus infection may be in store for me so it is time to make light of the extremely cold weather. I was watching the Kelly and Ryan Show yesterday that featured a Minnesota weatherman depicting what a -24 degree day is like. I think you will find humor in this reporting from St. Paul. Reflecting on the comedic reporting, I need to stop thinking that our record chill of the teens is so terrible.

Since the winter weather is what it is, I have turned my thoughts to find beauty in what I see in nature. 

Below is a piece of digital art and a septercet I penned.

I am joining the Poetry Friday Round Up at Tabatha Yeatts' blog, The Opposite of Indifference, as I am eager to read what my colleagues are offering today.

Gray-Day Pondering

#InstaPoetry #MoPoetry2019

While friends and family indulge in cotton-ball countrysides filled with billowy snow, Long Island is wrapped in gray days ranging from frigid to not-so-cold temperatures. Nonetheless, there is a hushed, quiet beauty settling in.

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Incessant. swishing noises tap against window panes as morning tries to wake a sleepy neighborhood.  Flecks of rain bubble up in blotchy patterns and one bird calls out. Another gray-day appears with resounding noise announcing the continuance of stormy weather. 

Rainuary
pitter-pattering,

slick splattering

gutters filling
weather chilling

gray-day pondering
weathermen floundering-
morning mist
winter-kissed-
January
commentary
©CVarsalona, 2019
#InstaPoetry #MoPoetry2019

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While the weather may be unusual for January, my New Year has been brightened with an incoming shower of good wishes from fellow poetry friends, Michelle Kogan and Diane Mayr who sent me poetry postcards. It is always nice to receive mail from the mailman and these treats were special deliveries of poetic goodness.

Michelle posted the following image poem for MLK Day. I decided to showcase it at Monday night's #NYEDChat. The discussion centered on "Service Projects for Students and Teachers", a fitting title to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

I also extend my thanks to other Poetry Friday friends for their incoming contributions to my winter gallery, Winter's Embrace.

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The Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by a favorite education friend of mine, Tara Smith, who recently retired and moved to live in upstate New York on a beautiful farm. 

Invitation to Create Winter Digitals

The news flashes across the screen. Winter storms are attracting a great deal of attention but it is not expected that my little corner of the world will turn into a winter wonderland this weekend. I will rely on others to capture the beauty of the season. In the meantime, I imagine the sights and sounds of neighborhood after soft crystals twirl and dance in pixie-like fashion before gently folding into the earth as layered blankets.

Still wondering, I decided to transform original photos, the one above by Abdiel Ibarra from Unsplash and the image of the barren trees below that I that took during a past winter season. While layering and experimenting with digital tools, I created pieces of whimsical digital art that welcome winter into my thoughts.

I invite you to create alongside me for a seasonal gallery of artistic expressions.

Observe nature this winter. Capture the sights and sounds of the season through nature photography, family fun photos, image poems, #InstaPoetry, #haikuforhope poems, inspirational quotes, drawings, musical compositions, or any other creative digital format. 

Reminders:

• All students and adults in and outside the Long Island, New York region are invited to reflect upon the winter season. 
• Sign each digital that should be no larger than 450 pixels with your name and location so you may receive proper accreditation.
• Offerings will be collected at my digital repository, #WinteringFun, on Twitter (@cvarsalona) and at my cvarsalona gmail account. You can also find me on Instagram as cvarsalona and FaceBook as Carol Varsalona.

I invite you to have fun capturing different perspectives of winter with your family and friends for my winter global gallery of artistic expressions.  The deadline for submissions is March 18, 2019.

Embrace the winter challenge! Be creative and expressive!

The title of this year's winter gallery is under consideration. I have looked at many different themes starting with Wintering Fun but the one that keeps spinning in front of me is Winter's Embrace. What do you think? 

Below are the tiles of the previous winter galleries that you can view on my blog site, Beyond LiteracyLink. 

Enjoy being creative and sharing your work globally.

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Are you wondering when the Abundant Autumn Gallery will be unveiled?  I am still in the designing phase because of multiple technical issues, so stay tuned. 

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The Poetry Friday'Roundup is hosted this week by Tricia Stohr-Hunt at her blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect. Tricia is honoring the memory of a great contemporary poet, Mary Oliver who has passed on. 

In tribute to Mary Oliver's amazing talent to weave words together to create a vivid visual and provide a deeper look into nature and life, I offer an excerpt from her poem,  "First Snow".

Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;
and though the questions
that have assailed us all day
remain — not a single
answer has been found —

~Mary Oliver~

excerpted from American Primitive

Carol Varsalona: National Milk Day | Wonder Ground

Carol Varsalona: National Milk Day | Wonder Ground