Brave and Bountiful

Always the bravest of flowers,

standing tall midst cheerful daisies, precious buttercups, colourful wildflowers and creeping vines, sunflowers show their joyful faces to the world. They welcome birds and bees to their bountiful centres and when the sun dries their petals and the wind brushes them to burnished curls, their joy is not diminished but made brighter.

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot 

see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”

~ Helen Keller

The Faces of Memory

There is a multitude of stories I tell myself about what, or when, or why or what if, or why not. If I were to answer all of those W’s, it would be as if I were a tree stump. An old one that had been cut down at the edge of some age - maybe five, maybe 18, or all the ages of life. All these ‘voices’ sprouting from within 

me to pass on wisdom, or an old message that still hurts, or a recipe for ginger cookies, or how to measure twice, cut once - 

was that plywood or fabric? And 

then I know I have only attached 

a memory to them with a face 

and so very much meaning.

 

“Memories of our lives, our weeks, and our deeds will continue in others.”

~ Rosa Parks

The Thing about Ice Cream

Tropical Boba

The thing about ice cream is that it has 

a voice. It’s a very quiet voice. Doesn’t 

want to hear about the angel on the right shoulder, or the little red guy with horns 

on the left. The voice of ice cream just ignores them both, so much so that they almost start talking with each other. But not for long, because with that first cold taste of ice cream, they both turn into mush. With the sticky dribble of melting ice cream that escapes the spoon and runs through your fingers, they don’t worry about right or wrong. The little angel and the little red guy with horns have settled in their corners for a nap. The thing about ice cream is that it is good.

“My love for ice cream emerged at an early age - and has never left!”

~ Ginger Rogers

Not Often

 

It’s not often that I am short of words, but tonight they seem to be hiding. I like to think they’re just shy. So I’m not going to force the issue on the wonderful words that make sentences, paragraphs, and stories. Or maybe they are really tired of always being expected to be front and centre, to come when called, to be expected to 

make any author sound brilliant, intellectual and all knowing. So being a caring writer, I’ll let them rest tonight, but I’ll be asking 

for their help again tomorrow!

“A blocked path also offers guidance.”

~ Mason Cooley, writer

A Reminder

In the heat of summer

 a spring bouquet

reminds us of cooler days.

“Despite the forecast, live like it’s spring.”

~ Lily Pulitzer

(1931 ~2013)

A Silent Voice

 Standing still slowly,

believing that movement rises

from beneath the surface

“You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.”

~ Neil Gaiman

Laundry Day

Laundry day should have been yesterday, the day I decreed it should be, like mom on Saturday farm mornings. 

when she rounded up the kids, mostly the girls, to fill the ringer washing machine and big aluminum rinse tubs 

for the first load of laundry. The laundry of five, then six, then seven and more kids. Of course my parents did start off with one, 

then two then three and four. Laundry day was a lot of work 

with a lot of moaning and groaning and laughter, long before 

Pampers and Huggies. It was a time of cloth diapers, safety pins and

rubber pants to keep the little pink bottoms dry. Rinsing out the soft 

baby poo a task no one relished. No wrapping the diaper up and throwing 

it in the outside garbage for #2 and the bathroom garbage for #1. 

My laundry day is no longer filled with the laughter and living 

of a young and growing family. Memories frayed like old clothes

of good, hard working times, with gratitude that I don’t have 

stinky cloth diapers to wash or heavy rinse tubs to fill.

“In the 1960’s, my mother used to rinse cloth dirty diapers in 

the toilet, squeezed the water out and put them in the diaper pail."

~ Author unknown, Facebook quote