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Sunday, July 20, 2014

A Post a Day July 2014 Number Twenty

Three Facebook pages on writing, a post a day on each for the month of July, combined and posted here as well.

Small Stone, July 2014, Twentieth

(Stop. Listen. What's that sound?)
(Seven Word Sunday)

Sacred Silence: electronics and television turned off.

July Writing Project - A Poem a Day - Day Twenty

Mother cat and kittens - two
Lying atop the porch rail
Grooming as cats are wont to do
Every time without fail
There are new kittens around
They gravitate to house from yard
Enticed by humans, held by sound

(this lazy and to the writer, peaceful, recounting 
of the joy of being owned by cats is 
halted
abruptly
by yet another "free kittens"
Internet plea
joy is now pierced by sadness
three sets of eyes
pleading from the pictures
rob the moment)

This poem shall not be finished




Twentieth Noticing, July 2014

(imperfect ten + seven word Sunday)

{10} connections in person occur better with eye contact by both
{7} people really appreciate being noticed, in general 


Saturday, July 19, 2014

A Post a Day July 2014 Number Nineteen

Three Facebook pages on writing, a post a day on each for the month of July, combined and posted here as well. 

Small Stone, July 2014, Nineteenth

Stop. Listen. What's that sound? (in conjunction with six word Saturday)

rain saturated flowers excess drips pools


July Writing Project - A Poem a Day - Day Nineteen 

As days turn to weeks  
months  
years
I wonder the weight of
worries
sorrows
fears
Have not engulfed
spirit
breath
dreams
The magic of being
flows
sustains
streams
Tribulations are my
lessons
detours
dark
That illuminate the
release
elation
spark
That nugget of the
Divine
Which resides in
Mankind

Nineteenth Noticing, July 2014

imperfect ten

raindrops cling to spider web glistening diamond orbs in sunbeam

Friday, July 18, 2014

A Post a Day July 2014 Number Eighteen

Three Facebook pages on writing, a post a day on each for the month of July, combined and posted here as well.

Small Stone, July 2014, Eighteenth

A stone from the roadside, bone from an animal carcass tossed in the trash, a broken bit of glass - and the dream of what could be. 


July Writing Project - A Poem a Day - Day Eighteen


My spirit longs to soar to heights
before just a dream
To travel to a distant land
discover sights unseen
My body here at home does toil
firm on native soil
Some may think me foolish - naive 
when fantasies I weave
I care not for their view of me
for just a shell they see
The miracle of who we are 
is written on a star
And scatters down like fairy dust
across Earth's fragile crust
'Tis our quest, our lot, in life
when mundane things are rife
To make a choice you know
which seeds to plant and grow
I just opt to add a bit 
of magic and not quit


Eighteenth Noticing, July 2014

we, the human race, are diminished 
by hate daily - I weep


Thursday, July 17, 2014

A Post a Day July 2014 Number Seventeen

Three Facebook pages on writing, a post a day on each for the month of July, combined and posted here as well.

Small Stone, July 2014, Seventeenth

Oh, to be able to sooth away the pain, the sorrow I see and replace it with joy and hope.


July Writing Project - A Poem a Day - Day Seventeen

My mother's eyes
Were once the same blue
As I view the world through
Now they are clouded 
I wonder at times
If her ability to focus has 
Turned inward, as she strains
So often for a word
A name
A special day so long spent
Then joy and relief 
Light her as if from within
And lines of concern 
Ease
As those elusive joys
Are reclaimed


Seventeenth Noticing, July 2014 

We sleep in shifts, because the cats are so ... catlike

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Halfway There

I am sixteen days into my personal poem a day challenge, and have actually written sixteen poems, all of which are on my blog. Now I wonder, when I have 31, what then? Will I have developed a habit of daily writing, which was my goal, or will I gleefully close the book on a difficult task? Noticing the world around me, processing it through my beliefs, ethics, prejudices, preconceptions, then fashioning all those images into a collection of words that hopefully shares what is in my heart and mind at that moment ... this is so much more a chore than I could ever have imagined.

A Post a Day July 2014 Number Sixteen

Three Facebook pages on writing, a post a day on each for the month of July, combined and posted here as well. 

Small Stone, July 2014, Sixteenth

Stop. Listen. What's that Sound? 

The crunch of my shoes on gravel, a bass line to the syncopated chirrup of insects going about their day. 


July Writing Project - A Poem a Day - Day Sixteen

A gift was offered without string attached
One whose intrinsic value was unmatched
The donor did not count effort or cost
When giving it freely nothing was lost

The recipient saw only the result that day
And selfishly not even Thank You! would say
Scheming, you see, and quickly it was sold -
A priceless gift was callously traded for gold 

Day turned to night, and month turned to year
And youthful enthusiasm morphed into fear
Money was squandered - life became hard
Hope soon lost and dreams?  Broken and scarred

Bitter the miser now sits - hungry and cold
No family or friend to lovingly enfold
Ranting and raving - still unwilling to accept
The true cost paid for what was sold and not kept








Sixteenth Noticing, July 2014

A polar vortex (?) has presented us with "fall-like" temperatures for mid-July. *** I wonder at the terminology of weather professionals sometimes. *** Walking to the mailbox to retrieve a lone piece of mail, the only sounds are the crunch of my shoes on the gravel of our drive and the rhythmic chirrup of insects by the creek. Lovely day here on my mountain. 64 F (18 C) Slight breeze, mostly sunny, low humidity. The campaign advertisement  for a politician I have never even heard of does not even rankle.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Tomato Free Sloppy Joes and Homemade Potato Salad

The following is a post I copied and pasted back in January from a friends Facebook feed. I have no idea who the originator of the recipe was - that is the thing about Facebook - things get forwarded and copied so much ... (This is as it was posted, I have not corrected any errors)

Philly Cheese steak Sloppy Joes 1 lb ground beef 1 small sweet onion chopped 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped 1/4 cup steak sauce (like A1) 1 cup beef broth provolone cheese buns Crumble the ground beef into a skillet and add the chopped onion and pepper. Begin to cook, when the beef is about half cooked, add the broth and steak sauce. Cook until all items are done and allow to simmer and cook down/thicken. I used hoggie buns from the bakery. Slice them open and filled 6 with the meat mixture. Then each was topped with a slice of provolone cheese. This was placed under the broiler for 3 minutes.
I  kept going back and looking at the recipe, wondering how it would taste. I save a great many recipes on the computer, and actually prepare very few of them. I make sloppy joes from scratch often, I call it Betty's Barbecue ( That is a tale for another day!) but there are times I do not want a real strong tomato/vinegar presence in my food. I work with a woman named Melissa who recently told me that Lee & Perrins Steak Sauce was her favorite, and that our regional grocery store chain, Food City, had begun to sell it again. I am fond of A-1, but Roger is not enthusiastic, so I thought, why not try the Lee & Perrins, using this recipe?

The beef broth I bought contained 2 cups, so I used two pounds of ground chuck. I like mushrooms, and Food City had sliced baby bellas on special for 99 cents, so I bought a carton. I used a very small amount of green pepper, because I find that too much green pepper in cooked dishes can be overpowering. The steak sauce I bought was labeled "bold", and when I tasted a drop, I found it had a very pleasant hot punch, but not too hot. I did purchase some hoagie rolls and provolone cheese, but tested the final result on toast with a slice of American cheese. It is my understanding that Philly Cheesesteaks traditionally use Cheez Whiz, so the American probably gives a more authentic taste. This is a very loose meat filling, so I would recommend eating it with a fork and knife regardless of your bread or cheese choice. Our accompaniments tonight will be mild banana pepper rings and homemade potato salad. I am also sharing my basic, bare-bones homemade potato salad method - which is short on exact measurements, because that is the way I cook most of the time

So here is my final ingredient list and instructions. 


  • 2 pounds ground chuck
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1/2 cup Lee & Perrins Bold Steak Sauce
  • 8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • 1/2 Vidalia onion, large dice
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced into strips

Heat skillet over medium heat and crumble beef into pan, breaking up with a fork (Oh, I use one of those hard plastic pasta servers to do this step. They work great.) Once the meat has begun to cook, add mushrooms, onion, and pepper. Stir frequently to make sure the meat is in small uniform pieces. Once the meat has released all of the fat and the vegetables have softened, drain the juices and return to the stove. Add the beef broth and steak sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes, this will reduce the broth and thicken the mixture. 


Tomato Free Sloppy Joes



  • 8 to 10 medium redskin potatoes
  • 2 eggs
  • sweet pickle relish
  • 1/2 Vidalia onion, diced
  • about 2 cups mayonnaise
  • one healthy squirt French's yellow mustard
  • about 1 tablespoon sugar
  • salt to taste
  • fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • sweet paprika for garnish

Place whole, unpeeled potatoes and eggs in a saucepan. Cover with water and add about one tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. After about five minutes remove the eggs and set aside to cool. After ten minutes, test the potatoes to see if tender using a paring knife. If the knife easily slides through the potatoes, they are done. Drain the water and set aside to cool. I usually let the potatoes cool for about 20 minutes. While they are cooling, I peel and chop the eggs and dice the onion. Put the mayonnaise, mustard, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add the eggs, onion, and pickle relish. Peel the cooled potatoes and cut into whatever size is your preference. I prefer chunks (or a dice) that are less than 1 inch in size. Add the potatoes to the mixing bowl and stir. At this point, taste test for salt, pepper, and mayonnaise. Adjust to suit your preference. Transfer to a storage/serving bowl and sprinkle with paprika. Chill in refrigerator, or if you are like me, have a bite or two first! You can tell where I sampled by the smear on the left side of the bowl.


Homemade Potato Salad