SOL 10/31: Seattle Getaway

Day1: Smooth plane ride bodes well for my first trip back to Seattle after moving to NC

Day 2: Covid exposure 

Day 3: Friend and I visit Island Books, Terra Bella, & her local library where I score a copy of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (928 holds on 206 copies) from the Ready Reads shelf!

Day 4: Power outage at friend's place (and she's not there), but reachable by phone with sure knowledge of location of two flashlights 

Day 5: Return ride to friend's place forgets me after Sunday morning service. No worries, my host comes to the rescue! 

Tomorrow will be better, right?

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

SOL 9/31: Why I Slice

1. To enjoy friends from all over the world

2. To expand my world view

3. To uncover new poets, authors, books, music, podcasts, and so much more

4. To explore my favorite passions: books, bookstores, libraries, grand kids, cookies, cats, poetry, ... (to name a few)

5. To expose myself to the passions of other people

6. To connect with the world of education

7. To laugh more

8. To be inspired in my writing journey 

9. To bond with online friends

This is my first draft list (I may have tweaked a verb or two), in the order that I thought of them. There are many more reasons why I participate in this community, but I limited myself to nine in honor of this ninth day of March. Heartfelt gratitude to each of you, my fellow slicers! 

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

SOL 8/31 and Poetry Friday: Celebrating Friends

I had fun creating a ten-line poem, one syllable per line ascending to ten syllables to capture yesterday's Three Rees (Three Retirees) gathering. The Three Rees are composed of three friends who used to work together in our middle school and vowed to stay friends. Once all three of us retired, we made sure to gather often. We even had pandemic gatherings outside and once in a covered parking garage during inclement winter weather so we could safely distance from each other. 

After my move to North Carolina, we've stayed in touch via frequent phone and Zoom calls. Yesterday's in-person gathering was delightful! There's nothing quite as soul-sustaining as hugging and chatting in-person.

The 

three Rees

together

again after

seven months apart,

meet friend's grand niece, Iris.

Two-and-a-half-year old charms, 

excites, entertains our trio.

Next stop - lunch, laughter, chitter-chatter,

joyful scrapbook moments, treasured friendship.

 

Glad to offer up this etheree as my slice of life and my contribution to Poetry Friday. The poetry form, Etheree, consists of 10 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 syllables. Etheree can also be reversed and written 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life. 

Happy to let this post do dual duty for Slice of Life and Poetry Friday. I've been an infrequent visitor to Poetry Friday lately. Laura Purdie Salas is hosting our round-up of poetic goodness this week. Check out her post where she shares her newest book, Oskar's Journey, and its transformation from prose to rhyme. 

SOL 7/31 and SJT: Gathering Goodness

I'm hosting our Spiritual Journey Thursday this week. My OLW for 2024 is gather. I chose gathering goodness as my theme for this month's SJT post

I gather goodness when I allow myself to revel in the beauty of the natural world. Here are just a few photos I've taken recently that remind me that God is good and the world in which we live speaks of that goodness.

Early springtime in North Carolina (pics taken in February)

I especially enjoyed 5 inches of snow while visiting Utah since we haven't had any snow this winter in North Carolina. It's a beautiful way to clothe our world in white!

Spending time with family and friends is another way to gather goodness. My Utah visit included time with these grands.

 

 Here are the grand boys who live near us in North Carolina 

with their mom (our daughter), Sara.

I attended the Roots Tech conference in Salt Lake City where I 

marinated in the goodness of family history and genealogical research 

and enjoyed meeting other attendees.

 

 

 

I managed to connect with three different friends while attending Roots Tech. 

Life is good, especially when shared with a friend.

These two photos were taken from the plane on Wednesday. More snaps of God's glorious world. Mount Rainier and Mercer Island, where I used to live. This is my first visit back since our move last summer. 

I like to listen to inspiring podcasts. Here are a few favorites: 

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Magnify

The Next Right Thing 

I'm currently reading Good Enough:40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. According to my schedule, I should be on Chapter 22 today. Instead, I'm on Chapter 19. That's okay! 

If I don't finish the book by Easter, I count my ongoing effort as good enough.

I'm embracing imperfection and moving forward 

although my pace may be somewhat slower than I had planned.

 

How do you gather goodness? 

 

It's Spiritual Journey Thursday, an open gathering for bloggers who write monthly about our spiritual journeys. I am hosting this month with the theme of Gathering Goodness SJT friends, click here to add your link.

SOL 6/31: Haiku for a Small Delight

Sometimes it's the little things that kick-start your day and lead to delight. 

Ample restroom stall

accommodates bags AND me

with room to spare. Bliss! 

 

Kudos to the Salt Lake airport for this early morning buzz. And when I landed in Seattle, a smaller accommodation, but at least the door opened outward. I like looking for things that make me happy!

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

SOL 5/31: Sunday Humor from a Six-Year-Old

We arrive for Sunday dinner at Grandma Barb's (my daughter-in-law's mom) with plenty of time for the grands to play and for the adults to visit while finishing dinner preparations. 

A certain seven-year-old is frustrated because he doesn't have his gloves and wants to play outside with the neighbor boy in the snow. He's supposed to always put his gloves in his coat pockets so they will be there when needed. He sulks outside the front door, refusing to come in., 

Some time later the six-year-old neighbor boy shows up with gloves for our pouting seven-year-old. All the adults praise the child with some variation of, "Wasn't that kind of him to share his gloves so you could play in the snow?"

Aforementioned six-year-old neighbor child replies, "I had no choice because my mom said I had to." 

Four adults struggle to keep straight faces. I reach for my phone to record his comment delivered with deadpan honesty and no indication whatsoever that what he said might be humorous.

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

 

SOL 4/31: Kitchen Helpers Extraordinaire!

Snapshot in time:

 

 

Grand baking helpers

measure, stir, combine 

dry with liquids,

sprinkle chocolate treasures.

Helping Grandma bake

their favorite bread -

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip!

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.