Wordless Wednesday – Puppies Brighten Up My Day

My Cane Corso Puppy Xeno

Divination

I’m getting into this whole poetry thing.  I wrote this poem a few years ago after taking a tour of a Yoruba Art exhibition in Louisville Kentucky.  I felt inspired. I hope this inspired your day.

Divination

Your round surface is worn from years of prophecy,

although the center is intact. Prepared to

celebrate the governing forces.

 

Carefully, the Yoruba ceremony begins with a

sacred interpretation. What will be revealed?

I pray. 

Wisdom, guidance, consequences 

or perhaps despair.

Watching the stones shift back and forth.

Shivering with fear and regret

I pray.

 O, spirit of my ancestors and messenger

of the gods. Creator of land, earth and man

have mercy as your eyes look upon my soul.

What is Your Central Theme?

I just spent a LOVELY afternoon with people that I have known my entire life; whom I consider family. Which got me to thinking about how the family structure can be such a peculiar dynamic. My grandparents would consider family to be those that we share a DNA bond. Nowadays family has such a different meaning. For me, I consider family to be those that I love and trust; people who have been significant in my life regardless of the fact that we don’t have any relation or share a genetic code. I also I find myself spending a lot of time working with the topic of family within my writing.

I’m currently working on revising a short story that I have been working on for quite sometime. I really need to move forward and send the thing out to a few literary journals for publication – but that would take another blog post to discuss the issue about publication. At any rate, the main focus of the piece involves a woman who is trying to work through her own purpose and identity. The narrator of the story is a seven year old girl. I’m not sure why I went with having the story told from this perspective but I like having the naïve narrator demonstrate a silent strength that we – as adults forget we possess.

I’ve also used vernacular as a central component of the character. It’s taken me a while to begin to understand my central theme as a writer and I think I’ve found it; family, vernacular, and identity. This is really starting to sound much like my own personal life. But I guess as a writer – we all write from our personal experiences one time or another.

How have you worked to find your voice as a writer? What is your central theme as a writer?

Chicken Fever

The older I get the more I appreciate nature, farming, gardening and sustainable foods.   My hubby and I have participated in community gardens for many years.  We enjoy growing and harvesting fresh vegetables.

This year we are stepping up our effort.  A new ordinance was passed a few weeks ago that allows residents in the city to raise hens.  There is a lot of work to get the permit approved. I will need written permission from my neighbors (I’m not thrilled about this, after all its MY property) and build a coop that meets specific code standards.

I’ve been doing a lot of research and networking with the local group Cream City Hens.  I still have a lot to learn but I’m SO excited. Building the coop and raising the baby chicks is next on the agenda.

Earlier this week, I called a few friends to share my good news.  Unfortunately, they were not at all excited.  In fact, one friend even suggested that I leave animals and farming to people that actually live on farms; hens are not for city dwellers.

Nevertheless, I’m moving forward with raising hens; my chicken fever is here to stay.

Tell me what you think about urban farming and raising hens?

Kitchen Makeover – Part II

I’m back – Sorry it’s taken so long to post. No I didn’t get buried in the rubble but it certainly felt like it, with the Memorial Day Holiday and the kitchen makeover I was completely wiped out.

The kitchen makeover is coming along pretty good.  As I predicted, I embarked on major a project that would take more than four days.

We are almost there, the cabinet doors are being affixed as I write this post and we should have the new light fixtures by the end of the week.

I have some before and after pictures, I will post them very soon.