30 Poems in 30 Days

It's that time again - April is National Poetry Month, and I'm doing 30 poems in 30 days! Here is my poetry blog, which I started last year with the same challenge:

http://butterfliesofpossibility.blogspot.com/2012/04/1-apr-12-new-month-of-poetry.html

Also, remember to check out my MaXIMIze blog (link in previous post) as well!

This Week in Life - 1 May 11

Wow, it's hard to believe it is already May Day - Beltane - a sure sign that summer is on it's way. Although we are not complaining about the weather this year, we're really not (she says as she looks to the heavens) - we need the water after all!

I was successful (I think...waiting on word from the daughter) in finding a dress for her wedding in November. I'll post pics AFTER the event. Here are some of the losers of the year though, to tide you over! Oh, yeah, and I figured out the self-timer on my camera in order to take those pics, BTW...yeay for me!!




And wow - I really did write over 30 poems during the month of April - National Poetry Month, as evidenced on my other blog, titled Butterflies of Possibility after a writing prompt I picked up around the time we found out my first grandchild (a boy, Benjamin, now three years old and very adorable and fun to take to the zoo etc.) was expected!








Our latest excursion was to Effie Yeaw Nature Center at Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael, CA. Saw turkeys, does and a buck during our walk, as well as some butterflies and acorn woodpeckers. Autumn Rose, my 18-month old granddaughter was fascinated by the kestrel in the Center, and the trees and oak leaves littering the paths. She hasn't quite got the hang of talking yet, but man, she loved Rocky the resident kestrel!

I finally figured out, sort of, how to get things where I want them to be in the blog - pics et al. Okay, now off to make ham, cheese, and spinach crepes for dinner, with a mustard vinaigrette - yum!

17 Apr 11 Post

Last week, I was beseeching the members of Congress to do their job and pass a budget for this fiscal year - well they did so. Now, I'm waiting for the news that the President has signed said budget - really a Continuing Resolution that funds the government through 30 September 2011.

So, is it business as usual come tomorrow, or are we still on pins and needles here? But for the want of a signature...sigh...

On to the rest of life.

The picture above was taken at Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn CA, and was the impetus (along with the hike I took) for my poetry offering yesterday on my poetry blog. I've managed to write a poem a day for 16 days so far this month, which happens to be National Poetry Month!

I've written free verse, sapphic verse, tankas, haikus and senyrus. I feel most drawn to the 5/7/5 tempo of the haiku and senyru, but also the 5/7/5/7/7 tempo of the tanka. I'll see what other traditional styles I can fit in over the next 14 offerings.

And, like several weeks recently, the hike is the only exercise I've gotten around to this week. Am likely to pay for it with stiff calves for the next few days!

Next week, however, I am looking forward to a My Girlfriends Garden event in Roseville - the second session of Creative to the Core: Peeling Back the Layers - on Thursday!

And, I have a job interview on Wednesday for a potential promotion. Wish me luck! The job would be very challenging, but I feel that I am up for it!

4 Apr 11 - Poetry Month

This week has been busy, yet not. Four days of day job work, one day of grocery shopping and grandchildren, and one day of bicycling and enjoying Nature and music. And today - a day of languid stillness.

Also this week, we saw the beginning of a new month, April, which is also National Poetry Month. As I stated in my last blog, I've started a new blog dedicated to poetry and the art thereof. Here is the link for today's poem - Savoring the Stillness.

And, I'll share a quote and a couple of pictures I've run across/taken this week:

"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up." ~Pearl Buck

The two cabins are along the route of Party Pardee, the bike ride I went on yesterday. I love my iPhone! ; )

The time spent with my grandchildren was at Fairytale Town and the Sacramento Zoo - it was a beautiful day, the weather had been clear enough that all the attractions were dry, and the carousel was running at the Zoo! Somehow the last time we were at the Zoo, we missed a whole row of animals, even though we walked around the grounds three times that day!

As for the nus and bolts of the exercise/writing/et al this week...

The only real exercise was the nearly 29 miles I rode yesterday for the Party Pardee, which starts at Charles Howard Park in Ione, CA and winds around near Lake Camanche and Lake Pardee in Amador County. No gym, no trainer, and no yoga. : (

I've managed the Daily Pages, even when I've totally spaced them in the AM. The languidness and stillness of the day came to me as I was writing the ones for today.

I also attended a really cool session of My Girlfriends Garden in Roseville this week - this group is doing a program called "Creative to the Core; Peeling Back the Layers" over the next six months or so.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next week!

National Poetry Month 2011

I've started a new blog - Butterflies of Possibility - just for National Poetry Month. At least to start with.

My challenge to myself: Write poetry and/or poetry-related items everyday for a month.

The first one came easy this morning...we'll see how the month progresses!