Applied Conversation

I know I’m not the 

only one to tell the 

timer “I’m coming!” 

while hurrying to push 

the off button. There 

must be others who 

speak sharply or kindly 

to the tea kettle’s insistent 

whistle. “I’m coming!” 

Of course there is the 

little musical chime 

from the fridge that gently 

reminds me that the door is ajar.

And I’m confident that there are 

conversations with the characters 

on the TV…can’t do that in a 

theatre where even the munching 

of popcorn disturbs some people. 

Conversations with my appliances 

amuse me. But they only reply with the

‘bells and whistles’ of our technology. 

I have yet to get Siri or Alexis 

involved in this domestic chatter 

but I’m sure that will be soon enough. 

“There is no such thing as conversations. It is an illusion. 

There are intersecting monologues, that is all.”

~ Rebecca West, author

(1892 - 1983)

Hard Knocks

When age comes upon us 

as more than a number, 

when our youth has passed, 

our adulting years, 

when we come to the years 

when we were supposed to

become wise we find that 

wisdom is nothing more than 

lessons from 

the School of Hard Knocks

through the years that have 

slipped by and through us. 

“If you can learn from hard knocks, you can also learn from soft touches.”

~ Carolyn Kenmore, from Daily Peace, 

National Geographic Society, 2015

For Tomorrow and Beyond

 

Soft silence fills my home

as day becomes the night; 

afternoon laughter and caring 

with friends are sweet memories 

for tomorrow and beyond.

“As long as there is friendship, today is beautiful.”

~ Billie Joel 

A Delicious Research Project

 

I really wanted to eat a ginger cookie, 

but had none. It was time to put my sourdough starter to work ~

Sourdough Ginger Molasses Cookies

Delicious

Soft 

Now the only problem will be 

my poor self control when it 

comes to cookies, especially of 

the ginger/molasses sort. 

(I may be a distant relative of the Cookie Monster! )

Next project will be

Sourdough biscuits

“C is for cookie that’s good enough for me.”

~ Cookie Monster Sesame Street

Sourdough cookie recipe from: homesteadandchill.com

Sourdough biscuit recipe from: littlespoonfarm.com

Night Shadows

 

Night is that shadow 

without a moon; 

the sun has slipped 

over the horizon

to lands I cannot see. 

Even the sounds of 

the night are changed. 

Bird song is muted, 

Wind whispers around 

corners and down streets. 

Traffic avoids the rush 

and splash of the day.

Curtains pulled against 

the cold soften sounds

outside and in. The creaks 

of the building settling 

for the night tells me 

that I’m not the only 

one showing my age,

“It was the possibility of darkness that made the day seem so bright.”

~ Stephen King, novelist

No Rush, No Order

There is no rush to healing, 

no order. What is healing!? 

is it a switch on the wall 

or inside my body that I, 

or someone, should turn on 

so that my crooked self is 

straight, so it fits my clothes, 

or so the teeny, tiny spot 

in my brain is fixed, but 

it is in my power to be 

respectful of the body and brain I have, 

and care for me the way I am today. 

When I need help, 

when my courage fails,

others are always there

 to steady me. Yet healing 

is always in my hands 

~ each minute of day 

at sunrise and sunset

and in the dark of night.

“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only 

when we touch them with compassion.”

~ Buddha

A Morning Hymn

I like Sundays.

In old memories. 

attitudes shifted for 

that Sunday moment. 

A feeling of more 

air to breathe. 

I’ve not been 

in a church

for many years, 

but the silence is 

a morning hymn.

I like Sundays.

“In the midst of the storm, your life boat appears. A psalm, 

a hymn, a word…calming the fiercest winds of the soul.”

~ Roderick l. Evans, author