Last year I wrote (and shared poems):
My father was a veteran and history teacher. This year, I am growing a new interest in history. There are so many ways to learn. Prayers for peace . . .
I have continued to learn more about history. There are so many stories to honor and respect. My parents had “big picture faith.”
Saturday morning. Before sunrise – about 6:30 AM here. I am grateful that Karl bought groceries yesterday. And I am reflecting upon the year. As I have mentioned, my father was a veteran and then a history teacher. This year, I have spent much more time learning about history. There are many ways to learn – one story at a time, a chapter in history, art created during that time, a memorial service, and the letters someone wrote that were later published. Sometimes I listen to a science or history program, and I know I am barely beginning to understand. I often say, if I learn 10%, I know more than before. And as a writer, I like to hear and learn vocabulary from different fields of work.
Memoirs and letters by artists are also an encouraging way to learn about creativity over time. And when I look at dates on books and music CDs, there can also be years between creative works. Or an artist can record a song again, with the wisdom of an older voice. And I also learned, that if we cannot do one thing, there will be something else. I have been in the hospital two times since we moved here: 1993/early 1994 and 2018. That is a long time between visits. In 2018, I saw that when I could not post, or post very much, others were reading/viewing what was already here. New poems for many – many people in the world! I am so very grateful.
This year, I bought White Bird – Anthology Of Favorites by Judy Collins. My copy is from Amazon. And as I have written, I am learning from Joni Mitchell’s work with her archives.
I have seen how artists also work very hard at health, so they can keep working. Health first.
Floral Heart Bouquet is courtesy of Reusable Art.
Short poems from over the seasons and years:
harvested fields
plowed in hope
of Spring
remembrance
Deep calleth unto deep *
filling my heart with hope
greater than my mind
The first line is from Psalm 42 (KJV).
cold
yet from this ground
daffodils will grow
again
small snowdrops
continue to bloom
remembrance
(Spring 2021)
My father was a veteran and history teacher. This year, I am growing a new interest in history. There are so many ways to learn.
Veterans Day 2021
Prayers for peace . . .
This week, I wrote three new poems at Poems From Psalms And Nature. The theme is “Grateful Today.”
with art we can keep
what may seem lost
create with faith
the best we can
gifts to receive
and then let go
only for a time
garden perennials
plants and flowers
through the seasons
how welcome the snowdrops
in Spring – daffodils, tulips
and primroses
Summer in our yard
offers daylilies, hosta, goldenrod
hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees
chrysanthemums, coneflowers,
and asters – how wonderful
to grow so well when so much
is past for the year
Karl and I sponsor a child with Compassion International. He is four years old and lives with his family in Mexico. We received a form to write a Christmas letter, to add to our gift online. This week we wrote a short note, to say Merry Christmas to the child and his family. Translation takes time, and then the delivery of letters.
We also correspond through email at Compassion International. We have worked with them for years, and have also sponsored children in Kenya and Peru. It is also possible to help without being a sponsor. Their commitment is to make sure every child in their program receives a Christmas gift, whether or not they have a sponsor.
I am also thinking a lot about veterans, including my father and others in our families.
I watch the news, and think of my parents, and the history they lived through. My father taught history, and my mother taught English composition and literature. Both volunteered after they retired. I am constantly learning more about history, as more stories are told and heard. Books written. Through literature, we can also understand more. There are novels and books of poetry on my shelves written from places I am not likely to visit.
My parents had “big picture faith” and majored in unconditional love. I was 29 years old when my father died, and 50 when my mother died. My brother’s passing was last year. We shall meet again.
And I am grateful for our blogs. I have learned of art online and books by contemporary authors and artists. This is a good way to grow.
This week we donated old clothes to the Good As New Resale Shop in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin.
Last year, we enjoyed giving copies of Quiet Christmas Poetry to Little Free Libraries in the general area. There is a Little Free Library site.
far from perfect
and in need of grace
we found our way
to unconditional love
old paintings
words from my parents
still encourage me
beautiful with
and without flowers
vase from my mother
Images: AntiqueClipart.com
As Karl and I walked yesterday, we remembered neighbors who lived here when we bought our home a long time ago. What an honor to have met them. So often, when I read an obituary, there is a story of service and sacrifice. Their humility and kindness. My father was like that too. Veterans who lived to return home. And others who worked and served here. One of my uncles worked on the railroad. My mother was a teacher.
Everyone is needed and important.
And I remember this old poem.
ancient lilacs
cover the graves
Memorial Day
Published in SMILE (edited/published by Joyce M. Johnson); and Humoresque (for the United Amateur Press Association of America, edited/published by Jean Calkins).
And reprinted here first on May 26, 2010.
Poems From Oostburg, Wisconsin 