V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #82: whisper

February 3, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m right behind you! The voice is whisper-scratchy, low and menacing. I can see you! I whisper back, giving my voice a threatening tone. The teacher strikes continue here and I am filling in for working parents. Granddaughter #1 and I are playing a game in which we think of normal sentences that are scary […]

Don’t Mind Her, She’s a Regular.

February 2, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

So lost in conversation, my friend and I didn’t notice the time. The other patrons in the restaurant had long gone and the owners were cleaning up, ready to close. “Oh my goodness!” my friend said, gathering her coat and purse. “I guess they want us to leave.” We continued our conversation out the door […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #81: regulars

January 27, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

The sound of oversized boots dragging across wooden floors announced that it was 2:40 p.m. Shuffles, as we called her, would arrive each day, walk to the back of the store where the cash desk was situated, touch three things, and then turn around and slump on to her next stop. She had a mop […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #80: habit

January 20, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Be careful of the habits you make,” my father used to lecture, cigarette in one hand, whiskey in the other. “They will either make of you a slave or a master.” Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about, and I hated that his sermons were always: “Do what I say, not […]

Subtract Expectations, Open to Possibility

January 19, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

The snow has been falling all day, filling in the roads behind the plow’s efforts. I am a bit of wreck as I write this. Tomorrow, I am planning a surprise party for Ric’s 70th birthday. The hall is booked, and I’ve delegated all the pieces, but the guest list is shrinking as people are […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #79 – subtraction

January 13, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

I adopted my father’s rage at a young age, and learned to wrestle with the best of them, typically boys, ’cause Father said never hit a girl. Most days, I’d return from school with debris in matted hair and torn stockings. Mother would shake her head, muttering: “No one will ever love you.” I heard: […]

Decisive Action

January 12, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

Life presents challenges and I stumble to keep up. Chronic illness continues to form the backdrop of my life, so it becomes the baseline for any actions I take. Ric and I made a commitment to our health and our community this year, and that means that I have been more physically active than usual. […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #78: action

January 6, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Rumination is one of my fortes. I get something stuck in my head and it will spin there nonstop if I let it, even disrupting sleep. It happened recently with one of our daughters. I took something she did personally, and blew it out of proportion, convincing myself that there was no hope for our […]

Time For Pause

December 22, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

The current struggle: keeping up with holiday festivities, fighting a stubborn cold, and caring for grandchildren, has taken its toll. I am behind in reading posts, and feeling overwhelmed by social media. Time for a pause. I will be scaling back activities till the season has passed and I’ve regained a semblance of normalcy. Not […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #77: pause

December 16, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

As the world bustles, and we rush to meet deadlines, check off to-do lists, and fulfill those party invites, find a moment to pause, look, and listen. Share a photograph, thought, or inspiration. To participate, just create a post and then link back to this one, or drop a comment or link in the comment […]

Ukraine

Planted seeds for prosperity –images of children frolickingthe delight of yellow horizonstradition setting our fields ablaze Till greed came knocking –brother turning on brother Rhetoric and lies shrapnelshattering our dreams Only the deer frolic nowunwitting participants inthis unprovoked slaughterland mines defiling landscapes But seeds are not lost,nor are the legacy of generationswhose soil has known […]

Winter, Please

(Image my own)

Sing Along

Dove’s mournful cryspotlights Nature’s calling –Let us find a harmonic notesing along for conservation,for preservation, for a strongtomorrow – find our voicesand join the chorus. (Image my own)