End-of-Summer Gifts

As days shorten and the air is filled with milder weather, nature holds on to its sweet summer memories.  Even when the leaves twirl with a lazy, cascading rhythm, "There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart." - Celia Thaxton 

Nature sings its sweet song. 

No goodbyes are uttered as

September enters.

Sweet summer moments

remain forever in

toe-touching shifting sands,

sunlit backyard porches,

and lakeside cottages.

Grateful hearts understand

the passing of the seasons

and do not mourn.

They sing new songs.

©CV, 2019

At the end of summer, my mailman brought another colorful poetry swap gift from Rebecca Herzog. See the colorful poetry card with an original poem from my swap buddy. 

Final Days

Summer meanders lazily

Dipping her toe in the waves

Soaking in the last strong rays of sun

Before exiting the water

And wrapping Autumn's blanket

around her shoulders

©Rebecca Herzog, 2019 

🏖
I am sending the following end-of-summer #digitalinspiration
to all my poetry friends who have been summer gift-givers.
 It will become part of my #EmbraceableSummer Gallery collection.

The above image started as a photo taken by Linda Baie while vacationing with family in Captiva Island. I digitized the original picture and added a poem.

🏖

Yesterday, I received an amazing book from a random drawing at Amy Ludwig Vanderater's Sharing Our Notebook's site. My creative friend, Matt Grundler shared his visual journal there. 

With a grateful heart for my end-of-summer gifts, I am eager to enter the creative zone.

🏖

Now it is time to join the Poetry Friday Party hosted by a wonderful pair of poet friends, Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, publishers of Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud (a must read book for the #BacktoSchool2019 #StartStrong movement).

I am proud to be featured in this book with my poem "Art Class" based on inspiration from Matt Grundler's classroom.

Nudges

Still feeling the positive effects of yoga, I lingered a bit in my car when I pulled into the driveway.  I was engrossed in the action in my garden. The day seemed like a cross between late summer and early autumn. A single bee hovered over one of my front garden plants until others came to the area but they did not disturb the first one. The new visitors were on a mission to independently collect food from other flowers. Then, fluttering in, a lemon-colored butterfly entered the scene opening its wings to announce its entrance.

"By all these lovely tokens September days are here, 

with summer's best of weather and autumn's best of cheer."  - Helen Hunt Jackson  

Seasons announce their transition.

nudging us to notice 

in good faith, in good time

for everything, there is a season.

Do we hear the gentle bend in the wind;

see the cascading leaf upon the pavement?

Seasons announce their transition.

Summer moments linger

under a heavenly sky.

Earth waits for nature to tip its hand-

waves goodbye to summer bees;

whispers hello to abundant autumn. 

©CV, 2019

"For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven."

- Ecclesiastes 3:1

(I lifted part of the scripture verse as an inspirational piece for the double cherita above.)

I need one last nudge to find my flow, make time for the creative spirit to flutter, and settle down to bring the best of summer's inspiration to fruition at the Embraceable Summer Gallery. With faith and patience, this will happen.

Thank you, Ramona Behnke, for hosting Spiritual Journey first Thursday at your blog, Pleasures from the Page, and nudging me to ponder your interesting theme.

Scrumptious! Taste NYC

Today is the day "when summer gathers up her robes of glory, and, like a dream, glides away" (Sarah Helen Whitman). It is also the day to savor summer memories, especially the most recent and memorable Labor Day weekend when we celebrated my son' birthday multiple times. 

This year we filled our memory bank with the tastes of New York City. From street fairs and food kiosks to Little Italy, my husband, son, and I found multi-layered gastronomical delights. The day started with a delightful street fair close to the New York City theater district. It was the first stop on our theater-going adventure that would celebrate my son's birthday. We had a quick appetizer,  empanada of spinach and cheese, at one of the stops before attending the Broadway musical, The Book of Morman, at the Eugene O'Neill theater. 

Next, we traveled to Little Italy that is always a happening-type of place. We found the usual throng of tourists and diners, sightseeing and looking for the just-right restaurant, on Mulberry Street, the main walk-through.  The weather was magnificent and the street was filled with singing, chatting, and people taking photographs. We strolled past many restaurants, checking out menus for a birthday celebration. While we have been going to Little Italy for at least forty years, there are always new places to visit and we found one that appealed to us, Sofia's. 

Steve, a gregarious greeter wearing sunglasses, lured us in with thoughts of homemade pasta, great tastes, and a wonderful birthday surprise. He led us to a linen-lined table in front of the restaurant where we met our fun waiter, Tony, who introduced us to the delights Sofia's had to offer.

Selections of the day were provided by Tony who made the dishes sound wonderful. We decided on wine, prosecco, and Peroni to start the meal with a delicious arugula salad, Arugala al Limone. The salad had fennel, shaved pecorino, and a delicious lemon dressing. The mountain-like presentation was a picture worth taking.  We were delighted with the freshly-baked and tasty bread that accompanied the salad.

Portions were plentiful. Entree selections were chosen with great care and had great flavor. Scrumptious!

Vitello Saltimbocca

Vitello alla Parmigiana

Francese

How do you end a meal so that your taste buds remember all the flavors of a great meal?

With delicious Cappucino 

Italian desserts: warm chocolate souffle

Tiramisu gelato with expresso

Ricotta cheescake

We ended the appetizing dining experience with a round of happy birthday and wishes on returning with friends for a fall meal.

A Slice of Life!

Taste New York

The season of summer is nature's gift.  

Summer has passed by quickly. While I am still trying to slow it down, I recognize that seasonal change is part of nature's cycle of wonder. Come along with me on my travels to different parts of New York State where I found delicious farm-to-table products this summer.

Farm-fresh regional market,

visual feast of locally-grown produce

in summertime hues*

colorful, luscious, ripe

a fresh farm-to-table delight-
"Stop by, shop, sample."

Honey from the bee farm, crusty bread, and luscious fruit

encourage instant smiles from eager buyers.
"What else shall we purchase?"

Leaving the site
with bags of farm-to-table delight,
we dream of a sweet summer picnic.
©CV, 2019

*Note: Upon rereading Irene Latham's delightful book, Fresh Delicious Poems from the Farmer's Market, I crafted a double cherita about my visit to the Central New York Regional Market in Syracuse, NY. I used Irene's children's poem, Farmer's Market,  and the line, "in summertime hues", to create a new poem. Thank you, Irene, for the bountiful goodness of Fresh Delicious.

 

After visiting family in Syracuse and Rome, NY, my husband and I traveled to Cooperstown. We found a charming cider mill with another amazing assortment of regional foods.


Regional foods, summer's bounty,

carefully stacked on shelves and in baskets
ready for sampling.

Homemade salsa, sharp cheese, sweet cider, apple wine
Taste-New York-treats,
fill my cart for an end-of-summer barbecue.
©CV, 2019


Fly Creek Cider Mill

Look what my friend, @Math912Teacher, from Oswego sent me:


*Photos are included in the #EmbraceableSummer Gallery collection.

************

I am looking forward to visiting my poet friend, Kat Apel, who is hosting Poetry Friday from Australia who is featuring two Aussie verse novels and picture book news. Join me here to link up with the Roundup. 

PLEASE NOTE:

1. There is a Poetry Friday Calendar Change for the last week in September and the first week of October. Cherieee Weichel at Library Matters has graciously agreed to swap hosting dates with me based on a family commitment I have. New Calendar: September 27 2019 here at Beyond LiteracyLink and October 4, 2019 at Library Matters.
2. I am collecting offerings for my summer gallery collection that is being stored under the Twitter hastag, #EmbraceableSummer. Please offer any travel/nature photos, image poems, inspirational quotes, artwork, or summer playlist titles at the hashtag and at my handle, @cvarsalona.

Slowing Down Summer

Are you gearing up for the start of school with a positive attitude? Or are you like the 6th grader at the beach who is trying to read her required book for the first day of school - rushing in at the end to complete the task?

The summer is moving on at such a fast pace that I want to slow it down, savor the last days of summertime, and wind-up some projects I started. I feel a sigh of relief each time I finish something that has been on my mind. But then, there are the nagging thoughts surfacing. How do I capture the last days of summer?  I can't get enough of summer! Are you like that?

- It's time to continue to enjoy ocean walks, beautiful sunsets, and scenic trails. -

 

Enjoy your last summer days before Labor Day.

Capture them in photos.

I will continue to embrace the summer spirit and hope you do, too. 

 🏖

You can find more relaxing photos in my #EmbraceableSummer Gallery collection at Twitter.

The gallery will be unveiled in the near future. If interested, you can send me a digital of the way you are embracing the last summer days.

It's Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers.

#DearOneLBH

This week the Poetry Friday community is celebrating the life of Lee Bennett Hopkins at Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's The Poem Farm. I am happy to join the celebration for Lee Bennett Hopkins. Lee has been our poetry champion, a grand anthologist, and talented poet throughout the years and will remain so in years to come.

I offer my humble septercet poem written for a poet extraordinaire who entered my life years ago when I was a young teacher.

poet extraordinaire
anthology creator
grower of poem gardens

you filled many children's minds
with imaginative thoughts,
leaving your heart-print on lives

we honor your legacy
as a beloved writer
who made space for poetry
©CVarsalona, 2019

*****

Last year, Robyn Hood Black held a Poetry Friday celebration for Lee's birthday at her blog site. I created an invitation to the party and the short poem below.

To Lee,
You have been the consummate poetry champion.

↓

poetry passer
pens crafted thoughts on pages-
master word packer
©CVarsalona, 2018

******

Jone MacCulloch suggested finding a line from one of Lee Bennett Hopkins' poems and writing a new poem based on the line chosen. I am using Lee's opening line from a poem in his anthology, I Am the Book, and answering my question, "How should we promote the back-to-school hashtag, #StartStrong, for elementary school children?"

It's poem o'clock
school starts strong-
sing-song
up-down
verb-noun
poems belong!

Ready to rock
to the beat-
read-write
ring-sing
song-ding
Poetry's our treat!
©CV, 2019

******

When should we highlight poetry in the curriculum? As Lee said in I Am the Book:
It's poem o'clock.
Time for a rhyme -
tick-tock
ding-dong
bing-bong
or chime.
Poems are
wistful
wish-filled
sublime-
Come.
Unlock a minute
for
poetry time.

******

This afternoon, I added my #ditty #poemsong for Michelle H. Barnes' August Ditty of the Month. It was written for my granddaughter and is about waking up in the morning. You can read my poem below but please check out the ditty video I created here.

sweet darling

behind clouds of gray

comes the sun

welcoming

you to greet another day

peek-a-boo hello

©CV, 2019

Expressing Myself Artistically

Have you ever created a ditty, a short simple poem that turns into a song?  I did in response to Jesse Anna Bornemann's invitation at Michelle H. Barnes TLD Ditty Challenge:

Find a Beatles song.

Write down as many words from the song as you can. 

Compose a poem that uses at least three words from your list. 

Don't tell the name of the song that inspired your poem.

 

Backstory:
While visiting my granddaughter this past week, I was inspired to write a poem for her about waking up in the morning. After choosing a Beatles song, I investigated new poetic forms and found the shadorma. It is defined by Writer's Digest as a 6-line syllabic poem of 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines. You can see how it is broken into 6 lines below.

sweet darling
behind clouds of gray
comes the sun
welcoming
you to greet another day 
peek-a-boo hello
©CV, 2019

For fun, since my granddaughter enjoys music, I turned the poem into a ditty song using the app, Ditty by Zya. It is amazing how technology can assist a not musically-gifted writer to express herself artistically in another dimension. Below is my ditty poem song video.

Last step: I added my poem song with blog address to the padlet,  Today's Little Ditty Song Lyric Poems. The next time I visit my granddaughter we will have a poem song to hear and the video to watch.

Visiting

Anticipation Mounts: 
Two months have passed since I last saw my 2-year-old granddaughter face-to-face. While there have been countless photos and videos to keep us in touch there is no better experience than being in your grandchild's presence.

Traveling from Long Island to Virginia:
Traveling the long stretch from the sandy shores of Long Island to the lush greenery of Reston's quiet trails and calm lakes was filled with a variety of sights and weather. The early morning started out slightly foggy, enough so that my usual majestic view of the lady of the harbor was interrupted. Then, there was slowed-down traffic that reminded me of New York City, bumper-to-bumper driving. To add to the traveling experience, a huge downpour had the wipers going full blast, much like a late-summer Florida day. 

Arrival:
Upon reaching our destination, I found the neighborhood quiet. The sun was bright and the weather humid. I sat patiently on the back porch swing waiting for my family to return home from their paddleboarding fun. From afar, I heard my daughter's voice. I rushed to the edge of the property to see my little girl with her Daddy and their paddleboard in tow. What a joyful beginning to a long summer weekend!

I am ready for another day of creating lasting summer memories with Sierra and my family. Tonight we celebrate my son's birthday.

It's  Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers so I am heading there to offer my slice of life. 

Recalling Spring

My wonder pal, Christie Wyman, is hosting Poetry Friday at Wondering and Wondering this week. She invited members of the community to write a poem with a tree-related theme. Studying her photo below, I recall a long-ago spring afternoon filled with wistful wondering.

Photo of Fairyland Pond by Christie Wyman

Tucked away in the corners of my mind,

a long-forgotten memory surfaces.

Glints 

of sunshine

shine through trees

inviting me to breathe in

the freshness of springtime air.

I wander through lush countryside

wistfully wondering, finding the right angle

behind a camera lens. I seek nature's beauty

and notice majestic trees solemnly standing guard.

Their limbs lightly lift in the gentle breeze, gathering
my thoughts that race before me, in contrast to a slow pace.

Farmlands laden with red barns stretch out for miles. Wildflowers
growing abundantly wait for picking.  A solitary bench becomes an
ageless photo.

Time does pass.

Memories fade

like ink on
parchment

but nature
remains as
a constant.

©CVarsalona, 2019

In searching for poetry on trees, I found Joyce Kilmer, Trees, an all-time favorite, and a video of Nelson Eddy putting the poem to song. You can access that here.

Digitized photo of upstate New York in springtime

Christie's photo and mine will brighten the walls of the Splendid Spring Gallery collection that waits to be unveiled.

The Traveler

Summer is the season for families to embrace the spirit of adventure as they travel to familiar and/or faraway places.  Travel allows all to relax, rejuvenate, and savor the beauty of the world.  Over one hundred years ago, poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."   I'd like to think that our journeys will allow us to savor all our life living moments.

On the road of life, we are the travelers.

The above photo, sent to me by Al Dhalla, invited me to write about peacefulness and the importance of being present.  The image poem is part of the #EmbraceableSummer Gallery collection. 

*****

*****
In open spaces

of late summer,

sunrise quietly dawns.

Yogis solemnly salute nature's majesty.
as nature silently paints a fiery sky

above the shifting sands.

Tranquility settles in.

Quietude achieved.

©CVarsalona, 2019

May your day open with peace and end in love.

*****

Today is Tuesday Slice of Life at Two Writing Teachers.  Join me.

Sunday Afternoon Travel

One of my favorite words is quietude.  Finding tranquility in a world full of to do lists, city noise, and political and social unrest is difficult so I always question. "How can I disconnect from dissonance to find peace?"  For me, writing poetry is one way and yoga is another.

Last week, Heidi Mordhorst host of Poetry Friday presented a new poetry format, the definito.  Heidi created free verse poems of 8-12 lines, aimed at readers 8-12 years old. As she noted, a definito highlights wordplay as it demonstrates the meaning of a less common word, which always ends the poem. 

Quietude is not often used in conversations or in writing so I decided to write a poem that illustrates its meaning.  The wording in places may be . Recalling a recent mini-trip to Central New York, I recreated the scene in my mind and then, wrote, trying to explain how both my husband and I felt when riding through many small towns in Central New York. While this poem has gone through many revisions, I believe that it is ready for critique.

Inching away from the din
and distractibility of city life,

we traveled off-beaten routes.

Miles of green fields, as soft as velvet,

stretched before us in hushed silence.

As we  slowly traveled toward our destination,
a glistening wrap-around lake, historic hotel, 
and immense veranda beckoned, luring us closer.

In stillness, we sat on ageless Adirondack rockers,

staring into the calmness of an August afternoon.

With eyes quietly closed, life slowly passed on by.

In quietude, we enjoyed the placidity of the lake. 
©CV, 2019, Central New York

https://www.otesaga.com

Tranquil countryside charm set the tone for peaceful wandering.

©CV, 2019, Fly Creek Cider Mill

©CV, 2019, Fly Creek Cider Mill

Summer travels

down quiet country roads

opens eyes to nature's wonders

and serene settings:

a quaint cider mill tucked away

from the bustle of commotion and

a duck family peacefully meandering,

unphased by watchful crowds,

present a tranquil picture of 

countryside afternoons 

wrapped in quietude.

©CV, 2019, Fly Creek Cider Mill

I now feel comfortable offering my definitos to Poetry Friday for the roundup. Molly Hogan is this week's host. She is an active member of Heidi Mordhorst's critique group who created several definitos last week. You can see her work at Nix the Comfort Zone.

My travel photos and poetry will be included in the #EmbraceableSummer Gallery collection. If interested, please send your summer travel photos and image poems to the hashtags, #EmbraceableSummer and @cvarsalona.

Summer Travels

Slowly, we traveled far from the white sands of Long Island beaches leaving behind the congregation of plovers that sweep across the ocean on a daily basis.  As we traveled over country roads, we noticed different aspects of small-town America in Central New York State.  Like little children on a new adventure, we explored areas of interest strikingly different than the rush of the waves and the energy of the ocean.

leaving shorelines
meandering through New York-

summer glistens

While attending a state education conference, my husband and I decided to take long country rides exploring areas we had never traveled in Central New York.

I am sharing these Tuesday thoughts, my slice of life, with Two Writing Teachers.

The above digitized photo/image poem of a Central New York site will be featured

in the Embraceable Summer Gallery collection.