#SoCS: Profound and Pink

She steps out into the morning sun, a growing child of five, taking in the warmth of spring and new beginnings. The child heads to her love, a pink bike that sits in the corner of the yard, the one thing that brings adventure to her life as the tires spin across the grass and gravel. The sun beckons her down the block, across the cracks of sidewalk cement and slowly, across decades, she ages into her real self, theRead more

Back for Now

Here we are Back for now Today Here we are Back for now In a poetic way Life too busy Far from easy Here and there Never Nowhere Here we are Back for now Ready Here we are Back for now Fast and Steady Life still fun On the run Ever exploring Sometimes boring Here I am Back for now Choosing Here I am Back for now Forward moving To write and read In various speeds Workouts again Upright andRead more

#SoCS: The Ring that Takes us Back

Ring, circle, loop, wheel… I’m not sure what it is about the coming of autumn. Memories ring and hang in the air. I have been drawn to the home of my youth on a number of occasions, but autumn always takes me back to the lake. Shadow Lake. Where I used to spend many summer days, tanning with the Coppertone lotion that may have had a sunblock of 5 or a sunburn of 5. I didn’t sunburn as a child,Read more

#SoCS – Filling Frames

“The key to happiness is not to get more, but to enjoy what we have and to fill the empty frame of our lives instead of enlarging it.” ~Albert Szent Gyorgyi~ I like this – a reminder that I have plenty to work with inside my own frame and don’t need to turn an 8×10″ into 20×24. Friday reminded me that I have special people who make up part of my life’s photograph…spending the morning with a friend who IRead more

The Measure of Humanity

In a beloved episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a cyberneticist arrives on the starship Enterprise with the intention of dismantling Data, the android, for scientific discovery and for the goal of creating more androids like him. Data would not survive this, and when he tries to give up his commission as an officer so they cannot order him to submit, Data is told he is not human and cannot make that decision for himself. He is a machine.Read more

Capturing Life

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.“ On Adrian’s Island, Jefferson City, MO, the pieces of the extra-large chessboard travel often, but not too far. There is no escape outside the square. Biking buddy and I returned from a nine-day vacation to Missouri. Our intent was to bike six days on the Katy Trail, but it ended up being only four days and 82.5 miles. The best laid plans… Actually, the heat prevented usRead more

They Died for Life

They did not die so that we could protest A self-centered right to damage others They did not die so that we could protect A lump of metal rather than mothers They did not die to devalue our life The lives of youth, adults, humanity They did not die to cause hatred and strife The divide of nation, insanity They did not die for monetary gain To line their uniform’s pockets with blood They did not die for ego, toRead more

First Monday Gratitude

The first Monday of twenty twenty-two A new beginning, the day of week’s start In which I offer a woke dream to you With sincere thought from Pollyanna heart We live, we breathe with upright conviction Blessings from the mighty hand of a God It is this life that offers addiction To the marvel of a positive nod Gratitude gives us more than one reason Days to see blue skies through ashen-gray clouds Hope builds, aspires to craft a smile’sRead more

Christmas and the Gift

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans–and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused–and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins,Read more

#SoCS: Punk Rock, Piglets and Reality

Mary J’s December List of Opposites: Black – White Up – Down Hungry Cat – Sleepy Human Clean House – Lazy Human Christmas Cookies – Liver Too Many Christmas Cookies – No Such Thing Writing/Blogging – Reading/Napping Exercise – Lazy Human Part II Christmas Carols – Punk Rock No Christmas Carols before Thanksgiving – Really? Friendships and a Social Life – You Need to Come out of your Basement Cooking Everything from Scratch – Lazy Human Prologue Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/TikTok – PointingRead more

We Ask that Life be Kind

“Guide us with your graceTo a place where we’ll be safe.” From “The Prayer,” written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. You may know the original by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, but I’ve been obsessing over the latest recording of “The Prayer” by Pentatonix. It’s on their latest Christmas CD, Evergreen. In this holiday season, whether you find yourself religious or not, celebrate Christmas or not, my wish (and prayer) for you is oneRead more

#SoCS: Soar and Fly

My oh my, how we fly From day of birth through good-bye Decades pass Memories last But, still, we wonder why My oh my, what is this life Is it about husband and wife A child or two Or single in lieu Or perhaps it cuts like a knife My oh my, the days slip away We pray for three seasons to stay Time can be a snake Age can take a break Preferring to go out and play MyRead more