Life Living Moments

What is summer without mini-trips to explore nature? During summer months, families enjoy special times. A walk in the sunflower fields, a ferry trip across the Potamac River, and toes dipping in the sand were some of the wonderful memories of summer 2017 I experienced with my own family. I have captured those and invite you to join me as I create my summer gallery of artistic expression, titled Sunkissed Summer. 

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“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the field has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” 

The above quote from 19th Century Italian actress, Eleanor Duse, provides such a positive statement that I decided to use it as a prompt for my thoughts.

If the sun upon flowers in field fills you with joy,

if an oil painting hanging in a museum has power to move you, 

if noticing nature lets your heart rejoice,

your mind wonder,

and your thoughts lifted,

you shall experience "life living" moments

that positively affect your relationships.

©CV, 2017

 

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If you visit "Summerscapes", you will find other life living moments. 

You can access last summer's global gallery of artistic expressions here.

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You can find many more poetry treasures at the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by our Louisiana host, Margaret Simon, 
at "Reflections on The Teche". Sending birthday wishes to her. 

Note: The term, "life living" moments, was captured from the following tweet from NCFL, National Center for Families Learning.

Sunkissed Summer Invitation

"Summertime and the livin' is easy."

-Porgy and Bess

summer kissed 

sand and seaside with sunshine-

serenity settled

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Summer's lazy days fill our lives with tranquility.

Summertime provides fun time to explore the outdoor and enjoy life with family and friends.

Michelle Kogan

Summertime is our time to slow down, relax, and recharge.

Join me as I create a collection of memories this summer this summer at Sunkissed Summer Gallery.

Be inspired to capture the joyous moments of summer in your locale or in your travels. 

Share them digitally with the world at #SunkissedSummer on Twitter. 

Unleash Your Creativity as exemplified by 

some Poetry Friday contributors above.

Are You Ready to:

• Capture a sunkissed summer memory through an artistic lens with 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 FotoJet, PicMonkey, Canva.
• Sign the digital composition with your name and location.
• Post your digital creation in jpeg form (450 pixels is the best size for this gallery).
• Upload your digital inspiration to Twitter using the hashtags and handle: #SummerkissedSummer and @cvarsalona. 
• Send your jpeg offering to @cvarsalona at gmail with the subject heading, Summerkissed Summer. 

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 summerkissed sites
• An original inspirational quote or one from a poet or philosopher about summertime or summer relaxation
• A song or instrumental composition to add a dimension of music to the gallery
• Original photo or artwork of summer (in any format)

Ramona Behnke

Deadline for Submission: August 28, 2017

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Wanted: Student Voice to grace Sunkissed Summer 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. 

Thank You to:

Joy Acey
Ramona Behnke
Brenda Harsham
Michelle Kogan
Irene Latham
Jone MacCulloch
Margaret Simon

for being

early contributors to the  Sunkissed Summer Gallery. 

I hope you enjoyed the mini-sampler of what is to come at the end of the summer season.



You can view last summer's Summerscapes Gallery here. 

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted by Katie at her site, The Logonauts. 

Finding Fall Quest

Now that the season has changed, I have been contemplating a new direction that will lead me to wonder more while I wander through fall? But first, I am seeking fall in his glory, ablaze with color, so I can capture the season. All I found so far are yellow-tinged leaves that drifted down and carpeted my sidewalks after two days of storms. 

I remember past autumns and am looking forward to similar scenes from friends around the globe. The following is from Autumn's Palette Gallery that you can view here.

Has fall dropped its calling card with fire-red and umber colors in your community? Are the squirrels scampering around looking for acorns to store? If so, perhaps you will join me on a finding fall quest that brings a sense of wonder that nature offers each day.

Now that the first leaves have touched the ground in my neighborhood, I am inspired by feelings of wonderlust, the urge to move from my daily routines in search of new directions and adventures inspired by the colors of nature. My thoughts drift from home to winding hiking trails, peaked mountains, abundant apple orchards, colorful pumpkin patches, and sumptuous vineyards where autumn offers a variety of memory-making day or short stay trips.

I'm ready to wander, wonder, and enjoy the fall season? 

Are you? 

Consider taking an autumnventure with me as I embrace the wonderlust spirit and find fall. I'm ready to find the majesty of autumn as it continues to boldly make its appearance. I hope you join me in my finding fall quest.

I openly invite my Slice of Life friends to capture fall in their locale or on the minications and join me in coloring the world with autumn's joy. 

Please visit Two Writing Teachers here for Slice of Life Tuesday.

Some slicers have graciously offered their digital inspirations to previous galleries I have created. You may recognize some names among the writers who graced Summerscapes. I applaud their efforts.

October Greetings

Dear Mother Nature,

October snuck up me this year. Being caught up in designing my Summerscapes Gallery and still enjoying the feel of summer seemed a priority until I realized that all of a sudden Columbus Day Weekend was here. Perhaps it seems odd to you that I would still be celebrating the summer season while other parts of the northeast are greeting autumn. Truth has it that I was having a difficult time saying goodby to Long Island's beautiful summer season. Because the weather has been so temperate lately, I forgot the heated days of July and August, the mosquitos that were pesky, and the lawn turning a brownish shade with the lack of rain. But those details paled in comparison to the walks on the beach listening to the waves roar. With each entry I added to the Summerscapes Gallery I seemed to linger in summer a little bit more. Can you begrudge me this small delight? 

Recently, I caught glimpses of your fall fashion sense with a few different colored leaves making their appearance. Now with my summer gallery unveiled, I decided it was time to coax you, Mother Nature, into waving your magical wand and transforming my neighborhood into a tapestry of color. Afterall, October is here now and I want to celebrate the beginning signs of autumn on Long Island. Since you have not debuted your autumnal dance of leaves I am shifting my focus to creating a fall-like ambiance both inside and outside my home. 

While designing a new seasonal look, I try to imagine how you will grace the earth with color this fall. After several hours spent transforming my home, both indoors and outdoors, into a setting fit to announce your debut, fashionista that you are, I am pleased.

Nature's runway show begins-

October dresses in gold hues,

the grand diva that she is.

Fashionistas line leafed paths

Parading in regal style

as Autumn takes center stage.

Leafed in fall's majestic train,

Autumn whispers to the wind.

Color guards stand in salute.

©CVarsalona, 2016

Mother Nature, I hope you will take the time to create a vivid setting, as you have in the past, and showcase autumn ablaze in glory. Until we meet again, I thank you for listening to my October greetings and inspiring me to create. 

Humbly,

Your Admirer

NOTE:

I had fun celebrating the transition into fall this week after unveiling my summer gallery, Summerscapes that you can access here. To honor all the voices that contributed to the gallery, I ask that you take a small portion of your time to peruse it. Besides that please visit Ruth Ayres's site here to read how other bloggers are celebrating their week.

Visiting Summerscapes Gallery

Yesterday, #WorldTeachersDay not only honored the world's educators but marked the unveiling of my Summerscapes Gallery with connected voices from around the globe. It was fitting to use this day to launch an inspired gallery of voices showcasing the power of poetry and nature as an inspirer of thought. 

As a committed advocate of #poetrylove, I believe that poetry is a dynamic and rich form of expression. I create my poetry galleries to be universal connectors of emotions and feelings with "voice" as a powerful channel into the world. Each creative expression in the galleries gives credence to the beauty of language and the rich intent of the message. 

It is my hope that this Summerscape Gallery, along with the other galleries, will be used as mentor texts for students studying the art of poetry as a means to notice and wonder more about life, explore their feelings, and collaborate with peers to create expressive offerings.

It is the challenge of the world's teachers, as guides and coaches, to actively engage students in passion-filled classrooms of joyful learning, where voice is honored and becomes evidence of the synthesis of learning. Teachers provide students with choice that lead them toward inquiry paths where creativity is promoted and fluidity of ideas developed. Creative, mini-laboratories of poetic thought, open students' eyes to notice life with intensity. From small moment encounters with nature, words can easily be spun from organic thoughts into beautiful tapestries to be shared publicly.

The strength of global voice is evident in this Summerscapes Gallery. Over 60 voices contributed to showcase savored summer moments. Approximately one-third of this group are Poetry Friday friends who joined me in offering #digipoetry, artistic expressions, and nature photography. If you believe in the magic of summerscape moments as inspirational times to be savored, then you will understand that summertime's sweet summer life has not closed with the appearance of the Fall Equinox. It is living here in the halls of the gallery, greeting those who hear its call. 

Through a variety of digital tools, this #digital #inspiration/ #imagepoem/piece of #digipoetry has been created as an example of what can be seen in the galleries I design. Digital tools are enticers to excite learners of all ages to engage in  the "play" aspect of creation.

I invite you to join me in future endeavors to promote the positivity of poetry. 

For now, please join Poetry Friday: Poetry Camp edition. My poetry friend and contributor to my galleries, Violet Nesdoly, is the host this week.  In her post, you can hear a recap of a marvelous learning opportunities many of the Poetry Friday friends experienced last weekend. You can access Violet's blog here. 

Unveiling Summerscapes Gallery

Summertime is nature's invitation to 
Relax, Reflect, Recharge!

Welcome to Summerscapes

2016 Summer Gallery of Artistic Expressions

Summertime's sweet summer life has not closed its pages 
with the appearance of the Fall Equinox.  
It is living here in the halls of this gallery,
greeting those who hear its call.

Enjoy the visual display and lyrical words that lift from the page.

Hampton Bays, Long Island

Before wandering through the gallery, pause-reflect-recall your own joyful minications this summer, whether they were with family, friends, or solo. Then, step into this showcase to be swayed by the virtual summer breeze and music offered to place you in a summertime frame of mind. 

With the thought that summertime living is easy, stroll through the gallery listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing the blues. 

I open the doors to Summerscapes 

for your viewing pleasure.

Please take a leisurely gallery walk.

Are you ready to dip your toes into summer,

 to breathe the fresh sea air,

climb the endless mountains,

and watch a summer sunset?

Be swept away by the sights and sounds of summer that are offered as a global tribute to writer's voice and the free spirit of summertime. Each piece in the gallery is a unique expression of the writer's or photographer's noticings of the world. Join me to relax, reflect, renew, and recharge life.

Please accept this invitation 

to celebrate summer 

with its vibrant florals. 

 Celebrate summer's sea breeze that cools the heat!

Linda Baie, Captiva Island

Celebrate summer's sparkling firework displays!

Celebrate summer evening light shows!

DeAnn Pettinelli, Central New York

Linda Baie, Captiva Island

Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne.
~Barry Cornwall

Celebrate morning sunrise to fill your heart with joy!



Celebrate the memories of traveling from from East Coast to West Coast and back via video. 

Traveling is filled with special moments!

Andrea Sanchez, Kauai, Hawaii

Sean Mitchell, Toronto

Linda Baie, Captiva Island, Florida

Are you a beach person who enjoys the salt air?

The Summer of 42 reminds us of beach days.

 Perhaps you love the cool water of a lake.



Or maybe you enjoy listening to the calming sound
 of a bubbling brook captured here by Faige.

A flowing waterfall produces a peaceful sound, as well.

There are mountains to climb in the summer.

There are places to relax

and summer gardens to fill with a rainbow of colors.

Linda Baie, Colorado

Terje Akke, Estonia

Violet Nesdoly, British Columbia

Fred Harwood, British Columbia

Summer is family time.

“Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, laughed in the sun, 

and kissed the lovely grass."~ Rupert Brooke

Playground fun in Victorian era submitted by Diane Mayr

Summer is vacation time.

Heather Stillufusen

Vicky Giouroukakis, Prague, Czech Republic 

Vicky Giouroukakis, Crete, Greece

 Summer is also a great time to seek inspiration 
and imagine the possibilities.
Meeno Rami

“summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. for those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year. you can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. summer just opens the door and lets you out.” ― Deb Caletti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

Terje Akke, Estonia

Summer vacation provides extra time to communicate with friends near and far. Consider bringing back the art of letter writing with summertime postcard poetry.

While J. Patrick Lewis and I do not correspond via poetry postcards, we communicate through email regarding poetry love. Pat graciously sent me the poem below for Summerscapes from his collection. Below is my digitized version of Pat's poem, Summer Fun, first published in 1995.

Flashback to a bit of nostalgia

with a clip from the Harold Lloyd 1928 silent film "Speedy" 

Do you recognize Babe Ruth as one of the stars? 

Students often reflect on their joyful summer days.

Kelsey, Indiana - submitted by Leigh Anne Eck

Naomi M., Indiana - submitted by Leigh Anne Eck

Jacob, Louisiana - submitted by Margaret Simon

Olivia #LivBit, New York City

Do you long for the return of endless summer days?

A child smiles often in summertime.

Libraries and bookstores are filled with those 

who enjoy leisure reading in the summer. 

Inspired by nature, writers capture life and write.

This gallery is a celebration of digital media.

It integrates the arts, technology, and literacy to allow voice to be amplified across the globe and bring awareness of the beauty of the earth during the season of summer. 

Listen to a musical composition, Open Strings, created by Kevin Hodgson for the gallery here.

You can also read  the poem, Happy Toes 
by Sally Murphy, here. 

 

Pause a bit in a summerscape moment to relax.

Click this link: vine.co/v/5e6VDweweJ0

Daydreaming often occurs in summer or is it reflection time?

Spiri Howard, Colorado

While the Fall Equinox officially closes summer,

 I continue to celebrate what summer offered.

Do you do the same?

Here in September's arms, we can still feel summer's breath.

Memories are recalled. 

“I love how summer just wraps it’s arms around you like a warm blanket.” 
― Kellie Elmore




Now, like a soft dew-drop kiss, the gallery bids summer 
good by as its passes the baton to autumn.

and a new school year.

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Gallery visitors, thank you for joining me on this gallery walk. Please share a response in the blog's comment section or at the following social media sites: Twitter, using #Summerscapes and @cvarsalona when you comment, Facebook, or Pinterest. This gesture of collegiality and community spirit recognizing the efforts of the gallery contributors listed below is appreciated. 

This community of reflective writers continues to grow since the first unveiling of a gallery of artistic expressions in March 2014 with Reflect With Me: Bringing a Community of Writers Together to Celebrate Life & Teaching. 

You can visit the following galleries that spread #poetrylove by clicking on each title below.

2014
Reflect With Me: Bring a Community of Writers Together to Celebrate Life & Teaching
April Awakenings
Summer Serenity
Finding Fall
2015
Winter Whisperings
Spring's Symphony
Summer Splashings
Autumn's Palette
2016
Winter Wanderings
Spring's Seeds

Thank you for visiting the gallery. 

Carol