Summering on the Spiritual Journey

The art of summering is captured in the wonder of morning light, the darkness of a starry night, and the awe-inspiring beauty of nature. Poet Wallace Stevens stated, "The summer night is like a perfection of thought." I agree! 

My love for summer dates back to my early childhood when I summered with my Nonnie. Each week was full of small excursions such as walking to the library and church, running around the multiple flower beds and vegetable gardens, and pinning laundry on a rope as the breeze flipped and flopped our wash. Each activity was an uncomplicated, valuable memory of summertime. 

As an adult, the art of summering lifts my spirits. I wander through nature, finding ordinary items to dazzle me. Even a tiny dandelion, as simple as it is, brings joy. Now that June is here, with its kingdom of beautifully selected skies, beds of colorful flowers, and my magnolia trees, I can slow down with a more mindful approach. 

Yesterday, sunlight opened the day. I felt the pangs of loss more so than before, so I decided to go on my first walk in months. I breathed in June's fragrance of fresh-cut grass and hint of lilac and lavender. I listened to the sounds of birds and the swish-swash of the water pond. I paused for a short time, just to stare at the majesty of this summer-like environment. Knowing that June is "busting out all over, I need to renew my one word commitment to enjoy life.

"It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside."  - Maud Hart Lovelace 

Three reading women in a summer landscape by Johan Krouthen, 1908

So what is summering to me? It is savoring stilled golden moments (as seen above in the artwork), time to enjoy the sounds of nature and the ebb and flow of the ocean, and inhale the scent of flowers. It is also a time to relax, barbecue, and enjoy life with family and friends. 

Ecclesiastes 11: 7-8 reminds me to delight in the light of day, while acknowledging the limitations of life. (AI) On my spiritual journey, there will be stumbling and confusion but hope shall help me find a new path as summer blossoms unfold.

I wake from sleep

stumble to see the light

alone with thoughts

I feel confused

what was once is no longer

yet life moves on

seasons change

the sounds and sights

of June usher in renewal

©CVarsalona, June 2025

Thank you to book lover and writer, Ramona Behnke, for leading our Spiritual Journey community this June with the theme of Summering.

Since time is precious, I am also offering my blog post for Poetry Friday. Thank you to nature poet, author, and photographer, Buffy Silverman, for hosting today's Poetry Friday Roundup. She is reviewing two books: Flurry, Float, and Fly! by Laura Purdie Salas and Wonder Why by Lisa Varchol Perron. You will also see there are many other poets who are sharing their poetic goodness.

New Month, New Challenges

March is here once again. The ground hog's prediction for spring to come early is definitely coming true in Northern Virginia. The cherry blossom peak time for showcasing the white and pink bouquet of colors starts on March 23rd. Of course, this doesn't quite connect with our community's Potomac cruise to see the cherry blossoms on April 4th. So we won't see what nature offers in prime time but I will have a chance to take photos and enjoy the beauty of a lazy cruise ride and lunch. 

As I said last Tuesday in my Sneak Peek blog post, "It's time to take a peek at what will be during March's slice of life spree." But before I do that, I pause to step back to 2015 when I signed up for the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge. I am sure that you will get the picture of what happened during March back then. Yes, it was heavily snowing on Long Island, NY where I used to live. 

Story to Be Told - 2016

2015

One goal this March will be to look into the past while being in the present. Photos and digital designs will inspire me to write heartnotes to nature, family, and friends. In case, you missed my ramblings about heartnotes click here. In my sneak peek post, the last stanza of my poem stated that I would be ready to share my theme today. Heartnotes it is! There will be small deliveries from my heart to my readership each day that I write.  You will find memes, nature photos, digital designs, and perhaps more family photos. All will be wrapped in poetry as a prelude to National Poetry Month in April. 

What is a heartnote?  See the above package and imagine this.

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Fly across an indigo sky with me this March in search of mystical beauty or take a nature walk as I snap photos. Whatever delight there is outdoors this month, I desire to capture it. This past month, I spent most of my time indoors recuperating from a respiratory/sinus infection that does not want to remove itself from me. Perhaps, you will create your own heartnote and send it to me to showcase. We'll see what nature and life will offer. My notebook is ready.

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Now, it is time to kiss the stars goodnight. I thank Laura Shovan for her fun 12th Annual February Poetry Project that she hosted. While I did not feel up to writing each day, I added several new drafts to my notebook. The game was on and all the players brought their best game plan in the form of a poem to Facebook. You probably guessed that the theme was about games. Each day, prompts were posted by different poets, and poems were created by each member. On my day of posting a prompt, I shared this. "Your mission today, should you choose to play, has to do with childhood playtime. Think back to the era when you were a child." I had fun that day reading all the poems that were written. 

Here is one poem that I never had a chance to unveil. It was based on a memory of a college friend who did travel to Woodstock and The Who's famous hit song, The Pinball Wizard. I found out that The Who were at  Woodstock singing in 1969. Years later, I saw the Tommy rock musical on Broadway with friends. This is what I created about The Who at Woodstock.

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I am celebrating the beginning of the March Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge and the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by my dear, long-distance friend, Linda Baie. Linda is sharing her acrostic poem, "Choice". Click here to read her acrostic poem that features questions for us to ponder. Then hop over to the Two Writing Teachers' community website for opening posts from around the globe. 

I look forward to reading blog posts throughout the weekend. 

-Carol Varsalona, 10-year Slicer, Poet

Happy March 2024!

Just "Be" in Spring's Presence

Nature is always inviting you to see her beauty and power.

She is attracting you with her dance, song, and love.

- Author, Debasish Mridha

With the art of storytellers, Springsation poets paint a tranquil museum-like walk through the early part of the Spring season. If you travel to the Springsations Gallery of Artistic Expressions Vol. 2. Padlet you will see a showcase of springtime artistry. As you move mindfully through the gallery breathe, rejoice, and "be" centered in the serenity of spring. Pause, gaze, and let nature mystify you with her endless color palettes, dazzling landscape, and poetic goodness.

         Spring photos were captured by  Diane Anderson, Ramona Behnke, Leigh Anne Eck, 

           Bob Hamera, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Linda Mitchell, Lou Piccolo, Carol Varsalona

                           

After you take a gallery walk through Springsations Gallery of Artistic Expressions Vol. 2. Padlet, read the Cento, collage poem, below. It was created by lifting lines from each of the image poems written by an amazing group of poets who grace the Gallery. 

~Just BE In Spring's Presence~

Open your senses to Earth's beauty.

Follow a flower's fluttered edges.

Her morning song,

Spring's first act,

mounts translucent music

and envelops me in marvelment

as hummingbirds fly on high.

Spring Scoop:

Mother Sun hovers.

Dandelion fluff launches skyward.

A bee crawls inside while

daffodils lift their thirsty heads.

Spring's new beginnings 

flutter in hearts,

vaporizing, 

peering up into the heavens.

Behold the cycle of life.

 From wayward, wind-caught seedlings,

sunshine buds whisper.

Bare branches banish winter

and announce spring forsythias.

Muddy browns retreat.

Fresh white is in sight.

Trails wind through.

Planes embroider

white criss-cross stitches.

Be present in these movements.

Springsations echo,

awakening splendor.

Reflect on Nature's blessings,

her magic in small moments.

Spread hope, kindness, and love

that our world needs!

Open May's door,

cracked just enough,

to give those caught in Spring

a glimpse of Summer green.

©CVarsalona, designer/poet, with Springsations Poets, 2023

Diane Anderson

Linda Baie

Ramona Behnke

Rose Cappelli

Leigh Anne Eck

Matt F. Esenwine

Margaret G. Simon

Bob Hamera

Devin Hartnett

Jane Heitman Healy

Carol Labuzzetta

Irene Latham

Michelle Kogan

Melanie Korach

Denise Krebs

Jone Rush MacCulloch

Bridget Magee

Faige Meller

Linda Mitchell

Janet Nestor

Elizabeth Neubauer

Lou Piccola

Laura Purdie Salas

Janice Scully

Kiesha Shepard

Donna Smith

Sandie Vaisnoras

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Nature will continue to showcase her beauty this month of May in song, dance, poetry, and photos. If inclined you can add more image poems or other artistic expressions to the Springsations Gallery Padlet. I hope you enjoyed the unveiling of the Springsations Gallery. I applaud all the poets who joined me to praise the beauty of Spring.

Please take a peek at Springsations Gallery Vol. 1. You may see one of your artistic expressions in that gallery from 2017. Thank you for perusing both galleries.

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For more poetic goodness, please visit this week's Poetry Friday's host, Janice Scully, at her blog, Salt City Verse. She is reviewing books by two of my favorite children's book writers, Laura Purdie Salas and Charles Ghigna. She also has a poem about the weather that has been changing quite a bit this spring. Janice also is one of the Springsations poets.

by Linda Baie

Firework Magic

There is a magical effect to fireworks shooting into an indigo sky on a warm summer night. I imagine most people have witnessed this on the Fourth of July but let me relive my experience. A soft glow settles over the lake as it prepares for the festivities of an exploding night show. 

Pontoon boats and kayaks circle the lake as the night sky surrounds. With a gentle tug, party lanterns float into the air skyward prior to fireworks exploding with multicolored sensations.  

Excited hoots and applause from viewers follow with each burst of shooting light as a crescent moon nods with delight. Sparkling patterns burst into the darkness from one end of the lake to the other. The brilliance of multicolored patterns emerges.

As darkness covers the sky, sparkly lights go off with a boom, creating a dramatic contrast.

The star of the nighttime show debuts with a puff cloud of brilliant circles of billowy sparkles.

dazzling fireworks

dart into evening sky

pop, whizz, sizzle

like popcorn kernels bursting

showstopper entertainment

©CV, 2022

I hope everyone spent a relaxing day with family and friends on the Fourth of July as I did.

It's Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers and I am grateful for this international meeting of writing friends.

Embracing Winter Sunsets

 “Anne came dancing home in the purple winter twilight across the snowy places.” - LM Montgomery

Moving from Long Island to New York has been a shift in setting and an interesting experience. In Long Island, I was awed by the ocean but here, in my Virginia community, the woods in front of my house look serene when nightfall comes. Sunsets are remarkable paintings of beautiful, muted scenes or fiery, colored markings in the sky. 

Other areas of the country share the glow of winter sunsets, too. 

Oregon coast in winter- Rita Wirtz

Pink clouds hover.

Provide a backdrop

For bare winter limbs.

Serenity surrounds life.

-Faige Miller, Los Angeles

𝍂

purple winter sunset serenity

blissful

tranquil

filled

with

blissful

beauty

awakening

senses

blissful

winter sunset-purple serenity

©CVarsalona, 2022, skinny poem

𝍂

I appreciate the pause in life each week where I can slice my thoughts with Two Writing Teachers.

The Art of Summering Mini-Gallery: Goodbye to Summer

After traveling to Central New York and admiring the beautifully painted autumn landscapes, I returned to a humid Long Island and asked, "Is it really time to say goodbye to summer?" The truth of the matter is as Oscar Wilde said, "And all at once, summer collapsed into fall." With that being said, I wish to send summer off in style now that "The Art of Summering" Gallery of Artistic Expressions has officially been unveiled on the following social media platforms: Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram. 

In the introduction to the gallery, I wrote: "While the official end of the summer season drew to a close, my mind still drifts back to the pristine beach where a gentle breeze brings relief from the persistent heat. I hear the roar of the foaming waves singing their summer song, and savor those cherished memories."

To preserve the memories of summer and allow voice to rise, I would like to take you on a mini-gallery walk of The Art of Summering to see the many shades of summer from Poetry Friday poets' perspectives. There are 10 stops on the global tour so without further delay, let's begin. I have selected one digital artistic expression for each stop. 

First Stop - A Virtual Journey 

Travel Photos

"Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." - Ibn Battuta

Second Stop - Sunrises and Sunsets Around the Globe

"There are sunrises and sunsets every single day, and they're absolutely free. 

Don't miss so many of them." 

-Jo Walton Winter

Third Stop - Animals of Summer

"Again and again, the cicada's untiring cry pierced the sultry summer air like a needle at work on thick cotton cloth." - Yukio Mishmima, Runaway Horses: The Sea of Fertility, 2

Fourth Stop - Summer Art

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

-Thomas Merton

Fifth Stop - Children's Corner

sweet summer life

lives in the spirit

of the child

©CV, 2018

Sixth Stop - Digital Art

Seventh Stop - Summer Florals

"Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature." - Gerard De Nerval

Eighth Stop - Music

"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. 
You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body."
The above quote by Oliver Wendall Holmes was offered by Tabatha Yeatts. 

Click HERE to enjoy the "The Art of Summering" playlist of 29 songs that I gathered on YouTube.

Ninth Stop - Summer's Alluring Call

Tenth Stop - Time to Say Goodbye to Summer

"Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance." - Yoko Ono

I've traveled different paths each season, 

held onto treasured moments, lingering

in their memories, for they have been

nourishment for my soul. 

©CV, 2017 

Moving On to Yet Another Season

The Art of Summering video, created by Carol Varsalona, can be accessed here.

Contributors to The Art of Summering Gallery
@HolisticSailor	Cuffe, Laurence	Howard, Spiri	Nesdoly, Violet	Wong, Janet
@Teach4spclneeds	Day, Suzi	Hughes, Justine	Nestor, Janet	Wyman, Christie
Alba, Cheryl	Di Stefano, Carl	Hughes, Stephan	Norden, Sharon	Yeatts, Tabatha
Alaska Tracy	Finley, Todd	Hutmacher, Kimberly	Pollard, David	Yun, Jackie
Ajmani, Kumud	Flowers, Lisa L.	Jago, Carol	Quinn, Chris	Zabala, Maria
Akke, Terje	Flynn, Catherine	Kelley, Steve	Salas, Laura Purdie
Alyssa H.	Foley, Kevin	Kogan, Michelle	Shepard, Kiesha
Atkins, Jeannine	Forrest Esenwine, Matt	Kristensen, Kent	Silverman, Buffy
Apel, Kat	Gross, Teresa	Lake, Lillian	Simon, Margaret
Baie, Linda	Guidoccio, Joanne	Latham, Irene	Smith, Donna
Barnes, Michelle H.	Hancock, Patty	MacCulloch, Jone	Steinglass, Elizabeth
Behnke, Ramona	Harsham, Brenda	Macken, JoAnn Early	Tamez, Eugenia
Bigi, Jessica	Hartnett, Devin	Mayr, Diane	Thomas, Kathleen
Boynton, Sandra	Hersey, Ruth	McGriff, Kay	Tilton, Valerie
Bradbury, Shawn	Herzog, John & Rebecca	Meller, Faige	Timparano, Laura Hill
Burtsfield, Dani	Hodgson, Kevin	Mitchell, Linda	Vardell, Sylvia
Cator, Leia	Hogan, Jennifer	Moran, Pam	Varsalona, Carol
Chow, Janet	Hogan, Molly	Mr. Terborg	Weston, Mark E. Ph.D
Coombs, Katie	Howard, Mary, Dr.	Murphy, Sally	Wirtz, Rita

YOUNG POETS (#StuVoice)

Leonie Bennett's Students

Brannon

Callie E.

Camila

Leticia Citizen's Students

Karter

Morgan

Neeve-#WymansWonders' Kinder

Olivia Van Ledtje (@thelivbits)

May the fond memories of summertime, fill your soul, and increase your vitality to find the abundance of autumn! May you continue to notice, observe the living world around you, wonder, and savor each life living moment. -Carol

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This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is at the blog site of my friend, poet Laura Purdie Salas. Laura is excited about J. Patrick Lewis' newest anthology, the poetry of US, that holds four of her poems. Today, she shares a gorgeous image poem that she created for the new anthology.