Real Toads, for Open Link Monday

Although my health is definitely somewhat improved, I don't have a lot to offer for Open Link Monday except, once again, my contribution for this week to Madeleine Kane's Limerick-off.

*

When I was involved in a feud

with hubby about our dog’s food

I said cucumber

makes her eyes umber

and he said my reasoning’s skewed.

*

For other, more creative, poems by members and friends of the online writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, please click HERE.

For Real Toads, we try the Sijo poetic form

For this weekend's Sunday Mini Challenge at the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Kerry introduces the poetic form Sijo (pronounced see-szo), the Korean cousin of the Haiku and the Tanka.

Traditionally, Kerry tells us, Sijo is written in three lines and is based on a syllable count of 14 - 16 per line, but the basis of the rhythm (and the secret art of writing the poem) is the use of 6 short phrases with a break at the mid-point of each line.

Content:
Line 1: Introduction to situation or problem
Line 2: Development of situation (turn)
Line 3: Strong conclusion often with a twist

Some leeway is allowed within the structure but the end result should be between 44 and 46 syllables, she says.

Kerry provides us with several beautiful photos by Jaime Clark as inspiration—an embarrassment of riches, I must say. Here is my choice, and my Sijo.

©  Jaime Clark photo

Mussels have few emotions, close family ties are enough,

But incoming invaders are unfortunate when their feet,

Ripped open by sharp mussel shells, are shredded, don’t heal quickly.

Succinctly yours: greedy

Photo courtesy of Pat and Jerry for Succinctly Yours participants.

It looked so innocent, a face made of shells, rocks, and sea glass, but it was a greedy thing, luring tide-walkers to add their finds to it.

When a new photo appears each week on the blog Grandma's Goulash, microfiction fans are invited to write a short story about it: either 140 words, or 140 characters including spaces and punctuation. My submission, above, is 140 characters, and includes the optional word of the week, which Grandma's daughter Calico supplies before seeing the photo. There are no extra points for using the word. In fact, there are no points at all, but it is great fun.

Succinctly Yours
hosted by Grandma's Goulash
Thanks, Grandma, and thanks, Calico!

Thursday Theme Song...take me out of...?

mlb.com photo

Take me out of the ballgame?

Take me away from the crowd?

But I want peanuts and crackerjack.

I don't care, I've gotta get back...

Oh, it's root root root for the O-man!

Vizquel played his last game tonight

It was one, two, three times the crowd

Stood and cheered for Omar's last fight!

Longtime major league shortstop and future Hall of Famer, 45-year-old Omar Vizquel played his last year, and his last game, with our team, the Toronto Blue Jays.

In honor of his many years in baseball, Omar was asked to throw out the first pitch for his final game, and the crowd cheered. They cheered again when he got a base hit, when he made a great catch, and when he left the game in the 9th inning. One fan's sign said "Omarvelous Career"!

We're sure all Jays fans, like us, are thrilled to have had Omar with us during what turned out to be a difficult year for the team. Seeing him was a highlight reel in itself. We're looking forward to seeing if his future includes coaching or managing, or both (in that order).

Posted for Hootin' Anni's musical meme

Thursday Theme Song

Real Toads: a 'short' challenge from MZ

At my favorite website, the online writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Mama Zen asks us to write a poem telling a story, with conflict, in thirty words or less. She is the champion of the short-but-meaningful poem, is our MZ. Her economy of language is legend, at least in the writing circles where I hang out. Fortunately (for my husband, anyway) I have laryngitis and can't talk, so what better time to accept a little writing challenge?

Public domain photo from ec.europa.eu

I battle it.

it battles me

from deep within.

I use soft tissues

and antihistamines.

it uses wracking coughs

threatening shattered ribs.

now I use antibiotics,

hoping it’s not viral.

Public domain drawing from catherineryanhoward.com

Open Link Monday: a limerick-off limerick

As many of you know, I've been ill. I've also been working on an important project, between sniffles and snuffles and snizzles and all. But I did come up with something for Madeleine Kane's Limerick-Off, and that, in turn, gave me something to post for Open Link Monday at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.
This limerick has a title, and, in addition to being titled, it is all very, very true. Sorry story of my life for the past couple of weeks.
Sigh.
*
Aurora Deplora

A lady displayed her dismay,
dismayed by a lack of display
by the lights of the north
when they did not come forth,
til she left, and they showed up next day.

Real Toads: magical mystery of Poe

For Fireblossom Friday at the online writers' place Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, we're asked to make Poe proud by writing a poem about magic.

I don't know much about magic. However, I know a little bit about Edgar Allan Poe, perhaps not enough to make him proud, but given the restraints under which I write today (ill health; being away from home and dog) I've done my best, Edgar.

edgar allan poe, y’know,

wrote The Raven, never mo’

 

but for a very real fear-gusher

he wrote The Fall of the House of Usher.

 

I saw it once on a movie screen

scariest thing I’d ever yet  seen

(and I a most susceptible teen)

it magically made my blue eyes green

 

so I have sworn off ever more

movies classified as horror

Poe, by the way, was the first American to try to make a living by writing, but not before giving other careers a try. He suffered under restraints far worse than Golden-Retriever-withdrawal, I might add.

For Real Toads: Ella's fashion challenge

My friend Ella, a self-described Ninja Stylist (I love that idea, it terrifies me, but I love it) quoted Coco Chanel to the online writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads and challenged us to write a poem on one of the many aspects of fashion as we see it.
"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." Coco Chanel
(Do check out Ella's explanation of Ninja Stylist on the Real Toads page.)
*
It's been a while since I've felt up to posting anything, for Real Toads, or for one of my favorite memes, but just this evening I've started to feel a tiny bit better. I could venture the suggestion that Diet Coke cures colds, but I've had this cold for a week, so I suspect that instead it might just be running its course. I hope.
Ella's challenge made me think of something I did quite a few years ago, by way of a fashion statement of my own. Of course, everybody and his/her dog has done it since, and I don't feel I'm any sort of a trendsetter, but it was an adventure at the time.

*

when I was really no longer young

(but younger then than now)

my hair had started to gather some grey

and I wanted it changed somehow.

one day as my stylist cut my hair

I noticed

different colored dyes

all arrayed before my eyes

and asked her to dye my grey bits

graple.

what fun I had for a couple of weeks

with my brown hair violet-streaked

a whole lot better than grey or white!

I realized then that I might

be able to wear only

my purple clothes

and purple shoes,

with purple hose.

I had a friend take a photo of me

and I was all excited to see

how it looked, because by then

I'd had it all dyed brown again,

only to find out, when it was too late

the

photo

was

not

in

color.

 

Camera Critters, Weekend Reflections

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET...

I don't know how Judy at Squirrel Queen does it, but she is forever getting wonderful squirrel closeups, and I can't take a squirrel photo for the life of me. They always run in terror when they see ferocious old me. But there is a squirrel (a black one, look very carefully) and there are some nice reflections, too, in these photos I attempted in Calgary last Monday.

Posted for
Camera Critters, hosted by Misty Dawn
and
Weekend Reflections, hosted by James in California

Kay Davies photos, September, 2012

Succinctly yours: deluge

Every week, a photo is posted on the Grandma's Goulash blog, for the challenge called "Succinctly Yours" wherein Grandma asks us to use the photo as inspiration for a short story of 140 words or a short-short story of 140 characters including spaces and punctuation. Without seeing the photo, Grandma's daughter chooses the optional word of the week, which we can use, or not, as we like. This week's word is deluge.

Photo by Pat and Jerry

Here is my submission of 136 characters, including spaces, punctuation, and the word of the week.

All was peaceful on the beach until, suddenly, clouds rolled in and opened up, dropping a deluge of pelicans on swimmers and sunbathers.

 

Posted for
Succinctly Yours

ABC Wednesday: J is for Journey

This is my husband's car, a red Chevy Malibu. The car directly in front of it is my red Chevy Malibu, which I'm very used to driving. I`m less familiar with the newer car (his) but it gets twice the gas mileage mine does, so, of course, we use it for long trips. One of the journeys he undertakes on a regular basis is the 9-hour drive to Fort McMurray, Alberta. I volunteered to accompany him, as co-pilot, on his ``Fort Mac`` journey this month, because his recent surgery (planned preventative surgery, not an emergency) has left him a trifle weaker than he used to be, so he tires more readily, and I`d like to have him come home in one piece. Even I`m not quite as relaxed with his car as I am with mine, I still think two drivers are better than one. I`m sure you agree. We`re spending tonight in Edmonton, heading northeast to the oil sands tomorrow.

Posted for
ABC Wednesday
now brought to us under the skillful direction of Roger O. Green. Thanks, Rog!

Pet Pride: lookin' good in a blue sweater

Kay Davies photo, September 2012

It isn't easy to get Lindy to sit still in the kitchen, but it is easy to get her to stand still in the entryway so I can put her "sweater" on her when she comes in wet. She doesn't mind it at all, and it is faster than a towel, wicking the wetness away so we don't have to scrub at her with a towel to dry her off. 
  
Lindy and I were shopping together at Petland in Calgary while her daddy was in the hospital across the street, and I couldn't resist buying this in spite of the sticker shock. It's worth it, because it actually takes two adults to dry one dog, and the FurDry* saves me a lot of pain in my back when Lindy's daddy can't help me. And she looks so cute in it!
  
Posted for
Pet Pride
hosted by Lindy's pal Bozo and his family in Mumbai, India, at their Pets Forever blog.
Lindy says: "Hi, Bozo, I think I like this blue color, don't you? At first I thought of brown, to match my eyes, but my mom liked the blue, and I agree it is very slimming."

* unsolicited testimonial

Succinctly yours: harvest

Over at the Grandma's Goulash blog, Grandma herself posts a picture (this one from http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/06/30/france-in-the-year-2000-1899-1910/) and asks us to write a short story of 140 words or a short-short story of 140 characters including spaces and punctuation, based on the picture.
There aren't any bonus points (because there aren't any points at all) for using the word of the week, which this week is "harvest" chosen by Grandma's daughter before she saw the picture, but I like to try to fit it in.
Of course, I never read anyone else's submission before I post mine. That just isn't the done thing, don't you know? But I'm wondering if Anthony had "my" idea before I had it. Meanwhile, do take a moment to check out the website where Grandma found the picture. It's very interesting.
  
Here is my succinct submission of 138 characters including spaces, punctuation, and a derivation of the word of the week.
  
They imagined children in the year 2000 would learn from books harvested into a hopper and sent to headphones. Scanners and eBooks, maybe?
  
Posted for
Succinctly Yours
at Grandma's Goulash

For Real Toads...a firefly? Not I.

Kerry and Kenia, serious poets in the online writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, both keep "firefly jars"...receptacles full of inspirational and/or inspired thoughts they wish to keep for future poetry.
Any inspiration I might have (beyond "time for lunch!") is more likely to be written on envelopes, discount coupons, shreds of paper or, if I can find one, a post-it.
The Sunday challenge this week is for us to post our versions of firefly jars. I guess I'm more a lady bug than I firefly. I can fly, but I don't do it often.

© Kerry O’Connor 

© Kenia Cris

© Kay Davies

I was a poet when I was young
ridden with angst and sturm und drang
  

words used to fly through my mind

words of the serious kind

change the world

feed the poor

 

have an occasion? I had a rhyme

of the seriously celebratory kind

 
poets speak
of birds
and trees
and flowers
when Spring comes
not I —
I love a rock

© Kay Davies

Not Bailey's own blog, but he's the star

©  Maria Davies photo

This is Bailey, my brother and sister-in-law's Siberian Forest Cat (well, kitten). Their truck and fifth-wheel trailer are all fixed up for Bailey to travel with them. Now my brother and his wife have joined Bailey's Auntie Kay in blogland, and I'm sure he'll be the star of their blog. He is a Camera Critter who loves traveling, and who does it in grand style.

Posted for
Camera Critters
hosted by Misty Dawn. Thanks, Misty!

A Word with Laurie...bottleneck

One of the most unusual challenges I've met up with at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads writing group is today's word provided by poet Laurie Kolp. Bottleneck. Whodathunkit? Not I. But it could be fun.

The photo above is of "bottleneck gourds" and was provided by Laurie as one of a series of inspirational photographs to help us write a bottleneck poem. They look like butternut squashes whose growth was impeded by wide, tight rubber bands, don't they? Poor things.
However, the Wikimedia photo below inspired me to write a haiku based, I must admit, on ancient personal experience.

much fun with bottles

often leads to too much fun

starting with necking

Thursday Theme Song...they're gone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxuOavb_Vy8

Gone fishin'

There's a sign upon your door 

Gone fishin'

You ain't workin' anymore 

There's your hoe
out in the sun 

Where you left a row
half done 

You claim that
hoein' ain't no fun 

You ain't got no ambition 

Gone fishin' by a 
shady wady pool 

I'm wishin' I could
be that kind of fool 

I'd say no more work for mine

On my door I'd hang a sign 

Gone fishin'
instead of just a-wishin' 

Gone fishin'

There's a sign
upon your door 

Gone fishin'

You ain't workin' 
anymore

Cows need milkin’ 
in the barn

But you just don’t 
give a darn

You ain’t got no ambition

Gone fishin'

Got your hound dog 
by your side

Gone fishin'

Fleas are bitin' 
at his hide

Folks won’t find us now 
because

Mr. Satch and Mr. Croz

We gone fishin’ 
instead of just a-wishin’

YouTube video of Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, posted by Ruthflying

Songwriters: Nick Kenny and Charles Kenny

Photos by my intrepid photographer Richard Schear, at a B&B in Cold Lake, Alberta, Oct. 2, 2010

Posted for Hootin' Anni's musical meme

Thursday Theme Song

For Real Toads: the most admirable Jane

a sense of humor

a sense of self

a lack of shyness

above all else

had my heroine Jane

she wrote early,

and well for her age,

volumes of story

and characters

with tongue, perhaps,

in cheek even then

  

Jane matured

and made the name Austen

a subject of some debate

in Englande Olde

“irony, realism and satire”

agreed critics years later

and the satire

was, I think, the best

  

decades later

another parson’s poet daughters

hid behind assumed names

Currer,

Ellis, 

and Acton Bell

  

but when their books came out

did their own names adorn them?

Charlotte, 

Emily,

and Anne Bronte?

  

do you suppose they thought

even for a moment

of Jane Austen

who came before

to pave the way for women who wrote

instead of playing the pianoforte?

  

probably not, but I'd like to think they did

© Kay L. Davies, 2012

How fortunate we are that we needn't resort to subterfuge in order to get out written work out there. I can't imagine being a writer in the England of Jane Austen or, although it was a little later, the England of the Bronte sisters. It was extremely difficult for female writers to be taken seriously in the 1700s and early to mid 1800s.

This is posted in response to Isadora Gruye's challenge to members and contributors at the online writers' group, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.

Thanks, Izy. It took me a while to get a handle on this, but I enjoyed trying. I'm the kind of Jane Austen fan who reads Pride and Prejudice every couple of years, just to laugh aloud, every time.

Pictures of books from Wikipedia

Happiness IS...the letter I, ABC Wednesday

With the word "happiness" in there because I missed last week, and also the week before, when my husband had surgery. He's fine now. I'm still tired. :-)

But, first, the letter I means one of my favorite places in cyberspace: Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, an online writers' group which has taught me "I ain't the poet I useta was" but, if I keep trying, I might get past doggerel and into the "write" headspace for expressing myself in poetry again.

And now, for the letter I, happiness IS...

IT IS wild birds and wild animals near our southeastern Alberta home.

Photos by Kay. L. Davies and Richard Schear

IT IS our favorite tame animal with her favorite toy.

IT IS visiting my old friends and old haunts in
Vancouver, BC.

IT IS children completely absorbed in making art.

IT IS our new kitchen.

IT IS my brother's new cat.

Posted for

ABC Wednesday

Mrs. Nesbitt's alphabetical meme

now under the aegis of Roger O. Green.

Thanks, Denise. Thanks Roger and the team.

A big branch, right where Lindy likes to nap

Winds of 50 kilometers per hour knocked a long branch off one of the big trees in our back yard Monday. We're so glad Lindy wasn't there at the time, because she likes to lie down right where it fell, between the Mountain Ash and the tall poplar.

Kay Davies photos, September 10, 2012 

The poplars are at least three times the height of the house, therefore close to 100 feet tall, with many long branches hanging down. I took this shot from a distance of about 45 feet, and couldn't begin to get their full height in the photo. (That's a storage shed seen behind the poplar, and the entrance door to the garage can be seen in the top photo, but the house doesn't really show here.)

Posted for
Our World Tuesday