Two Weeks to Rainbows and Unicorns

Just two weeks from today You will have your way With rainbows and a white unicorn It’s a time to fill our hearts And play a positive part In a world that can be horribly torn We announce with glee Stories that set us free From the darkness of the night Humanity’s love Kindness from above Truth that brings us light Share your compassion bold With the sunshine you hold In the link you will share with us It shallRead more

Poor Little Kitten

Who has lost their mitten? Was it a child or poor little kitten? I have no clue, but it is written, One little paw or one small hand may be frost-bitten. And neither shall have their pie. Meow…sigh…no pie. This post is in response to the Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Against the Odds. What are the odds that one lone mitten would be hanging off the branch of a tree? That it would be lost? Or that it wouldRead more

Shadowing of Spring?

Over at No Facilities this morning, Dan gave his readers the duality of a Florida sunset from a business trip and this past week’s snowpocalypse in the Northeast. The only good thing about the snow photos was pretty girl Maddie, the queen of her backyard mountain. Given a choice, I imagine Dan would prefer to be back in Florida where there are no snowblowers to be found and the weather is a tad bit warmer. A reply to my comments,Read more

Re-Purposed in a Pot

Weekly Photo Challenge: “Show us something that you’ve recycled or repurposed, or an object for which you’ve discovered a clever new use.” Who would have guessed that a metal glass jar ring would end up in an aloe vera plant? Normally, such an object would serve to hold a metal lid tight to a jar filled with succulent Georgia peaches, red-ripe garden tomatoes, or crunchy bread-and-butter pickles. Instead, this ring was used to hold up a section of the plantRead more

Name of the Game

Hanging on the office wall, reflections and all… For this week’s photo challenge of NAME, I chose to take this photo as “my team” prepares for an NFL play-off game at home, on Sunday. Readers and followers of MJM know that I am a life-long Green Bay Packer fan and generally love the sport of football, both pro and college. I attended games annually (once a year with the girls) at Lambeau Field for a good chunk of Brett Favre’sRead more

Midwest Resilience

“No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That’s the only way to keep the roads clear.” ~Greg Kincaid~ And so it is in the Midwest of the U.S. Living in Wisconsin all of my life, I’ve experienced many days of plowing ahead in my vehicle or following the path of a plow.  The white stuff is a fact of life. Here it can snow anywhere from October to April and, on rare occasion, in May. IRead more

Sweet Anticipation

Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation. What are you waiting for? I’m waiting for the last four Pecan Sandies to cool before dousing them with powdered sugar. Anticipating any minute now… I’m waiting to finish the last batch of Pecan Sandies before moving onto Gingerbread. Anticipating a favorite holiday cookie… I’m waiting for the last of the Gingerbread to bake so that I can apply the eggnog frosting. Yes, you heard right. Eggnog frosting. Anticipating a few Mmmmmmmm’s… I’m waiting for the CinnamonRead more

The Trail’s Horizon

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.  ~Christopher McCandless~ For this week’s Daily Post photo challenge, Krista encourages us to think ahead to new horizons and New Year’s resolutions. I don’t usually make resolutions on January 1st, because they tend to fall away by February or March and then I’m simply bummed andRead more

Breathing in Memories

I’ve desired to do this since early spring. It took me until October to comply, to get in the car and go. Something was pulling me toward home – the home of my birth and early existence. It is the home that I eventually wanted to escape out of small-town boredom. It is the home that I rarely visit, but is within a 35-minute drive. It is the home of special places, friends and family. I had to go andRead more

Home of the Sun Worshipper

Weekly Photo Challenge: This week, show us where your heart is. It’s very interesting that The Daily Post chose the topic of “local” this week and especially today. I took Friday off from work and have spent most of it in my hometown of Waupaca – reliving my youth, finding roots and doing a little local shopping. The picture for this challenge was taken at the beach on Shadow Lake, where I spent the majority of Wisconsin summers growing up, overRead more

Morning Quest

Weekly Photo Challenge: “What are you in search of? Capture a quest with your camera.” (Apologies to my Facebook friends. You’ve seen this already. It’s Tuesday old and the fog has since lifted.) Ever since the Town of Grand Chute finished a walk/bike trail last fall, it’s been my quest to ride it to work in the morning during nice weather. I was only able to use the trail once last fall before the weather turned cold and the morningsRead more

Midwestern Frame

Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame From Wikipedia: Uff da is often used in the Upper Midwest as a term for sensory overload. It can be used as an expression of surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, relief and sometimes dismay. For many, Uff da is an all-purpose expression with a variety of nuances, and covering a variety of situations. The expression has lost its original connotation, and it is increasingly difficult to specify in exact terms what it means in any given usage. Within Scandinavian-AmericanRead more