Sweet Summer Life

Remembering the
sand between toes,
lazy days of
glorious blue
washing the beach-
Remembering the
circling gulls, 
dipping & dancing
back and forth-
Remembering the
lulling noise of 
foaming waves,
crashing and
splashing against shore-



Long Island's summer
drifts on by,
under warming sun,
waiting to transition
to season's ending goodby.
©CV, 2016

Listen to The Summer of My Life video 

featuring the beauty and peace of the beach.

This week, I am collecting offerings for my newest digital, global gallery, Summerscapes. There are many options that can be found in the invitation here.

Please visit Penny Parker Klostermann's blog here for the Poetry Friday Roundup where Penny's clever poem, Poets and Cowboys.

Savoring Summer Days

They're here! The lazy, hazy days of August wrap themselves around fond memories of my summerscape moments. 

Summer on My Mind

I taste the salt on my lips, 

turbulent seawaters' seasoning. 

I feel the sun beating on my arms, 

peeling splotches of sun-beaten skin.

I hear laughter in the waves and

Seagulls dancing before their 

Descent upon discarded food.

I notice and watch days pass,
Filling my heart with summer.
In the quiet moments
Of sunset, I savor

Time before the next memory 
Is built.

                              ©CVarsalona, 2016

On the dog days of August, I celebrate a winding-down mode with back to school in sight. I leave you to your own daydreaming mood, as you sift through your summerscape moments. If inclined, please share them with a global audience. The invitation can be accessed here. 

I "Celebrate This Week" with Ruth Ayres each weekend. Please visit the site here to find out how each writer has celebrated the positives of his/her week. 

Beaching in the Atlantic Waters

July in Long Island always has had its heated days but this summer it seems to have been hotter than usual. 

What's a family to do when the heat reaches a record high? 

We go "beaching" because the cooling Atlantic Ocean waves are always ready to greet us for summerscapes moments. 

Take a stroll with me, #digipoetry style, 

to my favorite summerscape site, the beach.

Gentle reminder that I am collecting #imagepoems, digital creations, inspirational quotes, music, and photos for the digital, global gallery, #Summerscapes, I am designing. August 31, 2016 is the deadline. I hope that additional Poetry Friday friends will participate. 

Please visit my colleague, Julieanne Harmatz, at To Read, To Write, To Be for the Poetry Friday Round-up. Be sure to wish her a happy birthday.

Summerscape Moments

Finding your summerscape moment is 

mind, body, and soul work! Dig deep!

Read more about summerscape moments here.

What is your summerscape moment?

You are invited to create it digitally for my global gallery, Summerscapes. If you have not seen the invitation, you can access it here. The deadline for submission is August 31st.

Please visit the Poetry Friday Round-up where my colleague, Tara Smith, is hosting at A Teaching Life. While you are at her farmhouse, you can read "Summer's Elegy".

Poem Swap 2016

Summertime is our time to follow our passion, recharge, and relax. Poem swapping is one activity that I have been involved with for two summers now. There is an element of creativity and anticipation each time a swap approaches. Swappers send an original poem to a person in the writing community via Tabatha Yeatts, the originator of the Summer Poem Swap.  Poem swapping allows me to be taken back to a quieter time in America when postcard writing was the norm.

Poem Swap #1 was sent to me by a writing colleague, Jone MacCulloch early this summer. After Jone visited Yellowstone National Park she sent me another surprise. Inside the package was a postcard that read: "I got  home from this gorgeous place. Felt inspired to create little journals to tend to poetry swappers. Enjoy." Thank you, Jone, for the inspirational quote and petite notebook beside the summer postcard poem that can be found here.

An intriguing POEM SWAP #5 package arrived on July 20, 2016 from my poet friend, Keri Lewis. I sent this tweet back to her with a hug. 

While I am tempted to open the package, I tweeted this to Keri, "I'll play by the rules, Keri, until August 22nd."

Then, Poem Swap #3's package arrived before I left for a beautiful "summerscape" weekend celebrating a family friend's wedding at the Jersey Shore. My Twitter friend and poet, Linda Baie, filled the envelope with many pieces to read. It was like Christmas in July this month. Linda wrote a beautiful summer poem using the Etheree poetic format. The Etheree consists of 10 lines of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 syllables.

Whose POV?

When

Flowers

Cry to be

Celebrated-

Pink, cerise, orange,

Spring cycles summer bright;

Rainbow-swathed gardens invite

Bees, butterflies, ladybirds, worms

To add their part to this growing crowd.

Boastful humans write poems of their feat.

©Linda Baie, 2016

Beside the poem, Linda sent me a precious, little book that is over 100 years old (see above).The book celebrates poetry, florals, life, nature, and faith. As Linda said, it reminded her of my galleries (the invitation to #Summerscapes can be accessed here). I thank Linda today for her thoughtful collection of poetry that she sent me. Little did she know that I have a collection of books dating back to the Victorian era that I purchased from one family's collection along with a beautifully carved, rosewood couch from the 1850's. 

When I returned from the Jersey Shore, I sent off my Poem Swap #3 to my colleague, friend, and writer, Margaret Simon. It was a humble attempt at a riddle poem inspired by the intense heat. After that, I found a poetry prompt on Margaret's Instagram site that intrigued me, so I composed this while thinking about my journey into digital writing.

Reflection in Pink

journey to restful

pleasures deep in the forest-

which way to turn

©CV, 2016

Now please join my friend Margaret Simon who is hosting Poetry Friday this week at Reflections on the Teche.

Invitation to Summerscapes

Summertime is your indulgence time:

Relax, Reflect, Renew Your Life!

Plan a special summerscape-

a mini-cation.

Allow your mind, body, and spirit 

to connect with your inner self.

Be inspired to capture 

the joyous moments of summer

and share them digitally with the world.

During the summer when the heat reaches a high, I travel to one of the south shore beaches of Long Island. There the roar of the waves and the breathing in of the salt air, allow my mind to drift. The sand tickles my toes. I feel the call to relax and the to do moments drift away as the breeze lulls me to a dozing state. At these times, I find my "summerscape" moments. At other times, I can plan a mini-cation to a new site close by and capture the beauty of nature in summertime settings. 

Join me this summer to find special mini-cation places to recharge. It does not have to be a vacation spot far away. You know the places where you can go so your mind drifts and you relax. Be inspired to find your summerscape. Capture it with your camera, create a digital expression, and add your inspired creation to my newest global gallery of artistic expressions, Summerscapes.

Please peruse last summer's invitation and the gallery, Summer Splashings, for a sampling of the digital gallery concept before creating your summerscape moment.

What Do You Need to Do?

• Be creative. Capture your favorite summerscape moment through an original photo or drawing. You can also choose a free image from morguefile.com, pixabay.com, or photosforclass.com. 
• Write an accompanying poem for an image poem/digipoetry or a poetic expression for a digital inspiration.
• Superimpose your words on the image using a photo editing tool, like PicMonkey or Canva.
• Sign the digital composition with your name and location.
• Post your digital expression in jpeg form (450 pixels is the best size) using the following hashtags on Twitter: #Summerscapes and @cvarsalona.
• Send your jpeg offering to @cvarsalona at gmail with the subject heading, Summerscapes. 

Other Creative Options You Can Submit: 

• A short video with a poem using iMovie or Animoto
• An audio reading of your poem
• A collage of your favorite summerscape sites
• An original inspirational quote or one from a poet or philosopher about summertime or summer relaxation
• Original photo or artwork (any format) of summer

NOTE: All submissions must have your name and locale at the bottom.

Deadline for Submission: August 31, 2016

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WANTED: Student Voice (#stuvoice) for Summerscapes Gallery

Please encourage your summer program class or children to engage in this 

creative writing/artistic project to showcase their talents and amplify their voices.

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This invitation integrates the arts, technology and literacy to allow voice to be amplified across the globe and bring awareness of the beauty of the earth. 

Enjoy the experience of finding your summerscape adventure and be inspired to share it with a global audience.

Today is Poetry Friday so please stroll over to Books 4 Learning 

to read posts by my writing colleagues.

Slowing Down

Fireflies, summer's magical fairies, are flitting to and fro on humid, summer evenings here on Long Island. I notice their quick bursts of lights blinking in the darkness reminding me of children in search of wonder. Like the children catching fireflies, I search for wonder and notice that is all around me. 

For the first Poem Swap created by Tabitha Yeatts, Jone MacCulloch shares some of her creative spirit with me as she reminds me that summer is a time to slow down. I am definitely in the mood for that, especially since my house has been a revolving door of service repair people and contractors.

Thank you, Jone, for the poetry postcard that combines your artistic talents and graces my desk area. Your words provide me with much to ponder during the hot, humid summer of 2016.

Poetic voice is present in nature, the seasons, and within our hearts. I wait for each evening that the fireflies light up the darkness.

For all my poetry friends, I thank you for continuing to inspire me to wonder. Spring's Seeds Gallery has been released. You can access it here. I am already envisioning my new seasonal venture, Summerscapes, and hope you join me in search of relaxing summer moments to slow down time. 

Now, it is time to visit my poet friend, Mary Lee Hahn at a Year of Reading to catch up on all of the Poetry Friday postings. Please join me.