Spring Lace

A fragment of green lace 

easy to miss 

in a fast walk past

eyes to the ground

never seen 

by passengers on the road

~ this spring harbinger 

as dear as robin red breast.

“Welcome, wild harbinger of spring! 

To this small nook of  earth; 

Feeling and fancy fondly cling,….”

~ Bernard Barton, poet

(1784 - 1849)

A Silly Verse

And elephant rides are also good things to do.

Marmalade march is 

a very odd pair 

marmalade is spread 

on toast you see

while a march is 

marched on two good feet. 

Momentum needs

those two good feet 

with a marmalade prize 

for a delicious treat.

“A wise bear always keeps a marmalade sandwich 

in his hat in case of emergency.”

~ Paddington Bear

Underneath

Underneath it all 

the soft voice of spirit 

conducts a rhythm 

for us to walk to, 

to dance to or 

to be still and 

know that peace is 

as close as our next breath.

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Slow Motion

Tick tock, tick tock 

taps me on the shoulder, 

worms into my ear, 

when shiny distractions

(even dusting the furniture!) 

beckon me towards:

“It Must Be Done”

“Do it, just do it. Don’t let your dreams be dreams.”

~ Shia LaBeouf, 

actor and filmmaker

Book Review: Breathing Underwater by Abbey Lee Nash

Nature walks were not exactly what 17 year old Tess wanted to do. She wanted to win at the National Swim Competition and go on to University on an athletic scholarship. Her swimming had been her life since she was a child. Every summer she was lifeguard at the local pool. She and her best friend Mac looked forward to a great summer and their swim competition. Tess, Mac and another friend Rachel were on same swim team. 

Their summer came to abrupt and very frightening halt at their swim practice. Tess had a seizure in the water and if Rachel hadn’t kept her friend’s head up, Tess would have drowned. Tess does’t remember any of that, only waking up in the hospital to a doctor telling her she probably had epilepsy. There had been no warnings that anything could have been wrong. All she could think about was the Nationals and her scholarship. She wanted to just shake it off and get back in the pool where she could feel the water and her strength. After an appointment with a neurologist, her driver’s license was held and she was told to only swim with certain restrictions. Restrictions that would point out to everyone that something was wrong with her:  A pink bathing cap, swimming on the outside lane that was usually reserved for the slowest swimmers, and a second lifeguard to make sure she was safe. She thought all of it was ridiculous, bent to everyone’s will. Instead of lifeguarding she had to work at the Sugar Shack snack bar. Her parents were of two minds. Her father, a retired football coach just wanted her to get back to training for the Nationals, her mother wanted her daughter to be careful and listen to the doctors. That is until she had a second seizure after going out jogging on her own one morning. That’s when reality was made clear to all of them.

The only benefit was the replacement lifeguard at the pool. Charlie was tall, unruly black hair, with soft green eyes and so good looking. But Tess tried to avoid him at first. But Charlie made sure that she didn’t. They struck up a friendship. Turns out he was also very kind even once he knew about this new diagnosis. He didn’t like the usual parties, went jogging early in the morning and loved pancakes. 

This book is an easy read and is written for the Young Adult readers. Abby Lee Nash was painted a charming and frightening picture of Tess’s life struggling with this life changing diagnosis, the doctor’s visits and tests. In this story, the author has provided the explanations Tess and her family needed about epilepsy, tests and restrictions.

‘I’m a swimmer. I don’t know how to be anything else.”

~ Abbey Lee Nash, Breathing Underwater

Title: Breathing Underwater

Author: Abbey Lee Nash

Copyright: 2024

Publisher: Holiday House (children’s publisher)

Format: Fiction

Type: Young Adult (YA)

ISBN: 978-0-8234-5386-3

Quiet Burst

Energy is not necessary 

to read a book 

to go outside

to be present 

to focus on 

what you love to do

Sparks of energy can come 

from music 

from silence 

from a child’s laugh

energy bubbles up from joy.

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

~ Stephen Chbosky,  The Perks of Being a Wallflower

From a Spark

Motive comes from desire 

without shape or form, 

no rules or guidelines, 

merely belief that something 

be created, 

be accomplished, 

be written 

be hidden

or set aside until 

time or energy is right.

Motive is lit from a spark 

of curiosity 

or comes from a secret place 

that desires the light of day.

“The distance is nothing, when one has a motive.”

~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice