Summer Swap Surprise

As an aficionado of antiquing and turn-of-the-20th-century traditions, I enjoy corresponding with friends from far away as people often did in the early 1900s.  While I do not engage in this ritual as often in the past because of the digital age, I find it to be an important one.  

When Tabatha Yeatts started the Summer Poetry Swap, I became a fan.  Swapping poetry with faraway friends deepens my relationships and brings joy.  I was delighted with the news of my swapees when Tabatha notified me.  My first poetry swap was for Donna Smith, my bold, Maine to Pennsylvania motorcyclist friend.  One piece of the visual journal that I created for her is below.

Next, I was fortunate to be on the receiving end of the Summer Poetry Swap. I was  surprised when Ruth Hersey, a friend residing in Haiti, notified me to be on the lookout for something in the mail. I shared Ruth's bountiful garden of blossoms and poem at last week's Poetry Friday post.

At the end of last week, I was surprised again.  I not only created a swap for Linda Baie in Denver, but I received a package from her.  Linda called us swapees and that term has stuck with me.  Below is the collection of poetic offerings that LInda gathered together for a remarkable swap. 

I am sure that you will agree that this is a beautiful collection of keepsakes!  Upon opening the package, I found a gorgeously-designed photo haiku card from Robyn Hood Black's Etsy collection with a personal note that made me smile.  There was an adorable pocket for the handcrafted card and the original poem Linda created.  This pocket will be my traveling companion during professional development workshops when I share the power of poetry with teachers. 

Linda's Opposing View poem that she wrote is one to ponder. Just the other night, while at an oudoor concert, I was wishing that summer nights would continue to linger longer.  Do you see the little umbrella that accompanied the card?  It is a reminder of the bright, scattered umbrellas that line the shores of Long Island beaches each summer. 

The journal Linda sent has delicate faded flowered pages to write upon. I am not sure that she knew I always have loved pressed flowers.  When I first looked at the beautiful journal, I thought that since I am such a messy writer with scraps and snippets of thoughts and crossed-out words all over I would not want to destroy the treasured gift.  Then, I thought I could make the journal my special Sierra notebook for all the poems I write for my granddaughter.  "In every moment there clings the sweetness of a faded flower."  What an endearing thought to remind me of nature in all its stages of seasonal delight. 

Also included in the package was a poetry book, When We Were Very, Very Young by A.A. Milne, that will become my Grandma read aloud.  As I browsed through the pages, I found a poem, "Sand-Between-the-Toes,"  that reminds me of summers on Long Island.  Tonight, as we traveled to a new beach on the north shore of Long Island before the theater, my family and I found a coarser type of sand that filled my sandals with a gritty mix. I laughed as I tried to discard the sand that lodged between my toes.  

What Linda Baie offered in her swap will entertain me throughout the summer and into the year.  Summer has a special spot in my heart as Linda knows.  Her swap was handpicked and handcrafted to make my summer days brighter.  

Linda plans on sharing what I sent her in a future Poetry Friday post. 

I have one more swap to engage in and I have been already been collecting ideas.  Stay tuned for that reveal.  In the meantime, if you have poetic offerings for my #EmbraceableSummer Gallery collection, please send them my way to share all the ways to embrace the summer season. 

 🏖  🏖 🏖

The Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted this week by my friend Margaret Simon at her blogsite, Reflections on the Teche.   While cleaning out her parents' home and helping them transition to a retirement home, she found some items that sparked the creation of a poem that has depth, meaning, and a beautiful image in its closing line. 

Being in the Creativity Zone

Being in the creativity zone is such a wonder-filled experience!  Sparks fly; mind races; thoughts pass by in streams of bright-colored digital inspirations.  When I start creating, I am lost in time, transfixed until I suddenly look up. "Oops! I am almost late for ..."  

The zone is in a wonder space, a creativity playground. It is not a fancy place. Unlike a child's playground, any spot will do that has a place to write, create, and revise. Digital tools, a computer, and iPhone are necessities in my wonder space. In addition, fancy paper, colored pens, and a glue gun are tucked into my literacy toolbox for any spontaneous DIY projects. I shared my wonder space with grad student teachers last week at my ELA Summer Institute. With a bit of passionate prompting, they entered the zone to create their digital designs and digipoetry. You can see what they created while in the zone here.

Giving and receiving is part of the creative process. Beside designing summer poetry swaps for Donna Smith and Linda Baie, I have been inspired to create digipoetry while observing nature. A couple of days ago my family took a quick jaunt to the beach. Our stay was short for the afternoon heat was rising and we noticed a dramatic difference in the sky. From gloriously bright to cloudy gray, it changed its look and sent us off trudging through the sand back to the car.

For the Embraceable Summer Gallery collection

Being in the zone, means that there are other poet colleagues there as well, creating in their wonder spaces.  A couple of weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised by an email from Ruth Hersey.  A postcard arrived but it was not from Haiti.  Ruth was visiting family in Kentucky where she was visiting family and decided to create a summer poetry swap for me as part of the exchange started by Tabatha Yeatts. On the back of a serene picture postcard, James Archambeault's KENTUCKY, Ruth wrote the following poem. 

Spring to Summer 2019

Where Carol lives,

the seasons how up

one after another,

each beautiful in its own way.

She collects snippets of each

to fill a gallery.

Where I live

the seasons don't change much;

each month is hot and sunny

with alternating mud and dust.

I collect snippets of tropical blooms

for my own gallery.

This year I'm visiting my parents,

waiting for summer

in a world more like hers;

each morning is chilly and damp

and you can almost hear the grass growing.

I take pictures of all different flowers

from the ones at home,

snippets to fill a gallery

both Carol and I

could love.

©Ruth Hersey, 2019

Ruth's Garden of Blooms and Poem

will grace my Spring Splendor Gallery collection.

Today, I am joining the Poetry Friday Roundup at Carol Wilcox's blog site, Carol's Corner.  For those who have puppy love, you will love to see 8-week-old Rooney and the poem she wrote about him.