Out of the corner of my eye

Daily writing practice prompt for Thursday, June 18, 2009 was “Out of the corner of my eye.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch the day pass. I sit at my computer writing, working as the sky changes from predawn white to morning blue.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as the day passes and the sky changes from evening blue to midnight black.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the postal carrier come up to the door and drop the mail through the slot.

Out of the corner of my eye, ...

NOTE: This piece looks like its going to be a prose poem. I haven't written a prose poem in sometime, so it's about time for me to write another.

Panicking Gets a Writer Nowhere

Panicking gets a writer nowhere, actually as the cliché goes "It gets you nowhere fast." I panicked last night, I thought the central air unit was not working. The temperature got up to 90 degrees and the unit did not appear to cool the house down. I called the company we use for air conditioner problems and turned the air off.

The air appears to work now, anyway it is cooling the house down. Of course, the air has not gone off since I turned it back on. I think that is because it has not reached the preset temperature. The repair person is not coming out today, so if there is a problem we will have to wait until tomorrow to get it fixed.

Yesterday, was the hottest day of the year (so far) in Las Vegas. I can tell right now that our power bill is going to be high this summer. I am not sure how much electricity we can stop using to help keep the bill down. We no longer have a working dryer, so we are hanging the cloths outside to dry. We are washing only two loads a day and we are not using the dishwasher. We may not use the dishwasher this summer. We are moving from the old fashion light bulbs to the long lasting bulbs.

I may end up getting another area fan and turn the thermostat up a little higher. However, since I work on line and write I need to have the computer on during the day. Turning the thermostat up higher will not help the computer. I am not sure what my mother and I will do this summer, but we are going to have to figure out a way to keep the power bill within affordable range.

I am just going to have to stop panicking when something appears to go wrong with the air. I think I will get another area fan. My mother and I are senior citizens, she is 88 and I am 62, there must be some type of help with the power bill or in weatherizing the house.

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Writing Memories: Just an ordinary pair of shoes

Daily writing practice prompt for Sunday, June 21, 2009 is “Write about a pair of shoes.”

They were just an ordinary old pair of shoes my grandfather's clodhoppers. However, for me at the age of five or six, they were magical. They were my grandfather's work shoes and he wore them five days a week. He put them on each weekday morning and took them off eight hours later when he got off work.

Grandpa Newland worked at a zinc smelter in Blackwell, Oklahoma. Every morning he would get up, make a pot of coffee, get ready for work, and eat breakfast. Grandma always packed him a lunch and put it in a metal lunch box. Every morning Grandpa would put on his clodhoppers and go to work.

Every afternoon he would come home and remove his clodhoppers. He placed them just inside the kitchen door and put on another pair of shoes, which he wore around the house. Grandpa only had three pairs of shoes. He had a Sunday pair of shoes, which he wore to church and on other social occasions. He had the clodhoppers, which he wore to work, and the pair he wore around the house.

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Summer writing excursions

I read about a writer who fought writers' block by going to different places to write. This writer, I can't remember the writer's name, would take a pen and note book with her (I think it was a woman). She went to parks, dinners, coffee shops and libraries to write when writers' block struck. It didn't matter if she had a deadline when writers' block attacked, she would put the present project aside for a few minutes or an hour and focus on the descriptions she was penning.

In the notebook, she would describe, in detail, the setting, a person or an event that was occurring. Then she would return home and continue with whichever writing project the episode of writers' block had interrupted. When she returned to the project, she was refreshed and ready to continue working.

This summer I'm going to take some writing excursions. This will help me with my writing and it will get my mother out of the house. I will take my pen and paper journal with me, when Mom and I go on our little outings and describe the setting, a person or an object in my surroundings. Mom will get out of the house and I will have descriptions of real setting to put into my stories.

It was Sunday

Daily writing practice prompt for Thursday, June 25, 2009 was “It was Sunday, the time it happened.”

It was Sunday, the time it happened. Sunday on a 4th of July weekend and we were at Lake Carl Blackwell. Three carloads of relatives camping out at Lake Carl Blackwell, waiting for night when we could set off the fireworks, my brothers, sister and I were in the water, wearing life vest, floatation devices, because Grandpa insisted that we wear them.

Grandpa was in the water as well. He always kept an eye on us when we went swimming, even though each child had a life vest on, Grandpa watched us. He was our living guardian angle and this time it was a good thing he was there.

The life vest my brother was wearing got water logged. Grandpa saw that Tom, my youngest brother, was in trouble, so he immediately pulled him from the water. Tom was all right and Grandpa bought him a new life vest.

NOTE: This is one of three events, which happened at Lake Carl Blackwell. The three events happened over a three-year time span. After the last event, we never went back to Lake Carl Blackwell. I put the events in a poem and now I am working on a short essay with the events, I still need to work on the descriptions.

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Pennies from Heaven

Daily writing practice prompt for Sunday, June 28, 2009 is “Write about small change.”

I have a pill bottle labeled Pennies from Heaven in which I put my small change. The only change in the bottle now is pennies. About once a week, I remove the pennies from my change purse and put them in the bottle. I also put pennies and other small change that I find in the bottle. I usually remove any nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars or dollars that are in the bottle and put them in my purse.

I keep only pennies in this pill bottle. I am not sure what I plan on doing with the pennies when the bottle is full. Right now my options are to deposit the pennies in the bank or give them to charity. I will decide what to do with them when the bottle is full. In the mean time, my pill bottle labeled Pennies from Heaven is setting by my computer waiting for another deposit.

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A Beautiful Summer Day

It's a beautiful summer day, not too hot and not windy. The sky is decorated with a few fluffy white clouds and I have laundry on the line. I enjoy hanging out cloths on days like this. The cloths dry quickly, which means I can get two or three load done.

There are disadvantages to hanging cloths on the line. The main disadvantage is wrinkles; you have to iron the cloths after you bring them in the house. I have to get a new iron because the old one doesn't work properly. It's a steam iron anyway and my mother doesn't care for steam irons. Actually, my mother is the one that irons the cloths, she enjoys it and it gives her something to do.

I haven't written a poem about my mother ironing cloths. Ironing cloths is a good subject for a poem. A poem about my mother ironing cloths would be a good addition to the group of poems I have about my family.

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I saw a Mourning dove today

I saw a mourning dove today; he was walking on top of my garage roof. Now the pine tree is gone, it is easy to see birds or cats walking on the roof of the garage. I have not see a cat walking on that roof in a while, but there is a neighborhood cat that jumps onto the roof from the stone walls between my yard and the neighbor yards.

The cat that walks on the roof is too well fed to endanger any bird in the neighborhood. I am not sure she would know what to do with a bird if she accidentally caught one. It would be an accident if she did catch a bird. To begin with, she does not even attempt to chase them when she does see birds walking on the ground in front of her.

I have not included that cat in a story or poem. This is unusual because I usually include every cat I have ever had or encountered in a poem. I think it is about time I included her, she is a beautiful cat mostly black with a few orange and white spots decorating her fur. That is why I think the cat is a female. Cats with more then one color in their fur are usually female and yellow cats are usually male.

Veterans Memorial Highway

I went to Searchlight, Nevada, today. I drove my sister's truck back to Searchlight, someone else drove my car there and I drove back. A section of the highway (I think it is Interstate 95) before reaching Searchlight that is designated Veterans Memorial Highway.

Each section of that stretch of highway is dedicated to the veterans of a different war. The highway is dedicated to the veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gull War. I did not have a camera with me or I would have stopped and taken pictures of the signs.

The drive to Searchlight, which is about an hour or so from Las Vegas, is interesting. It is a pleasant drive with mountains and desert plants. There is a solar power plant and a road called Grandpas Road. To get to Searchlight you take 95 toward Boulder City, but make a right on at the Searchlight, Needles exit.

Write about a letter.

Daily Writing Practice prompt for Monday, June 22, 2009: Write about a letter.

I think I'll write about the letter I never received. I'm 62 years old and I have never received a love letter. Not only have I never received a love letter, but when I was in Junior High (Middle School) and High School I never received a love note.

I'm not sure whether I missed anything or not. The truth is that I'm not sure how I would respond to a love letter or a love note. I think it's better to let someone know how you feel about them through actions rather then the written word. I know that doesn't sound like a writer, but that's how I feel.

Telling someone face-to-face that you care is one thing; however, writing a letter is completely different. If I'm going to tell someone how I feel, I would rather write it in a poem then in a letter. As I was saying, I've never received a love letter. I've been in love or at least I thought I was in love, but I never received a love letter.

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My Father like jelly on his hot cakes

I remember watching my father eat hot cakes,
it was on a Sunday morning
right before he sit me on his lap
to read the Comics to me.

Daddy always read the Comics to me
on Sunday morning,
he would put me on his lap after breakfast,
Mom would pour him a cup of coffee
and he would read the comics to me.

I remember watching Daddy put jelly on his hot cakes;
he spread the jelly
(I think it was apple jelly)
on each hot cake
one at a time
restacking the hot cakes as he went.

After spreading the jelly
and putting the stack back together
he would cut the cakes,
he would eat them slowly
chewing carefully.

An irritating few days

The last few days were irritating, I think because I wasn't feeling good. However, I'm feeling better today. I'm not sure why I was feeling bad, not exactly ill, and I'm not sure why I'm feeling better.

I started a poem yesterday, which I wanted to post to this blog. I haven't finished the poem yet, but I'm going to put the part of it I have in this entry.

Write about an island.
Daily writing practice prompt for Tuesday, June 16, 2009 was “Write about an island.”

Earth is an island
floating in the light
rotating from day to night

Earth is an island
revolving through time.

I'm going to have to finish the poem just not today. The problem is that I can't seem to find a rhyme for island or time that doesn't sound forced. That's the problem with writing rhymed poetry, sometimes finding a rhyming word that sounds as if it is natural to the poem is difficult.

I put my refrigerator together

I put my refrigerator together, actually I put the shelves in it that were taken out when it was transported to my house. Putting them in was not as complicated as it sounds. True, I have a couple of small racks that I need to figure out where they go; however, since I do not seem to need them today, I will worry about those at another time.

I am happy with the new (to me) fridge because it does not run 24/7, it keeps leftover cold and it freezes ice cubes. The refrigerator is used, so the ice maker and water dispenser do not work, but that is fine with me. When I eventually get a new refrigerator it will not have an ice maker or water dispenser.

My requirements in a refrigerator are simple. I want a fridge that does not run 24/7, the doors must close and food kept cold. It is also nice to have a fridge that I can use in a short story or poem, when I describe a refrigerator in a story I like to have the real object to describe.

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The Year My Mother Turned 86

There are parts of that year I remember distinctly,

sitting in the waiting room

on March 19, 2007

while my mother was in surgery

when the doctor performed the bowl resection

and driving from my house to

University Medical Center everyday

for the next several weeks.



Other parts of the year are in a fog

concealed beneath the stress

which accompanied the hospital,

the rehabilitation

and recovery.



I know I wrote poetry

and made blog entries,

but I don't remember them

any more then I remember paying bills

or putting gas in the car.

As Fathers’ Day Approaches

As Fathers' Day approaches memories of my father and of my father figure return. Usually a person's father figure and father are the same man, but not in my case. My father figure was my Grandpa Newland, my mother's father.

My parents were divorced when I was in grade school, so I do have some memories of my father. After my parent's divorce, my grandfather stepped into the place of my father. I have pleasant memories of both my father and grandfather. I also have several photos with my grandfather and father in them. I will post some of those photos over the next few days.

Fathers' Day is when I miss both my father and grandfather the most. As Fathers' Day approaches, those memories come back and I like to write about the pleasant time I had with both; therefore I will share some of those memories in my blogs.

Write about a dinner party

Daily Practice writing prompt for Sunday, June 14, 2009 is “Write about a dinner party”.

I have found a way to include the oak dining room table in a story. The table I remember was huge, all right, I was a child and everything seemed big to me. My memories of the table include sitting on my father's lap as he read the Sunday comics. Of course, using the table as the center of a dinner party means I cannot use that memory.

I remember my grandparents coming to Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's dinner. I cannot remember which dinner they we guest in the house. It was probably Christmas or New Year because we usually went to their house on Thanksgiving. I do remember fried chicken and black-eyed peas, so it may have been a New Year's dinner. We always ate black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.

The table was oak, round and big; however, I have to have more of a description then that. If the table is the center of the dinner party, I must give a more detailed description then just oak, round and big. I think I will try a focused free write exercise to describe the table.

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Items from my childhood I want to write about

I want to write about numerous items I remember from my childhood that I want to write about and include in stories or poems. Some of the items were plants and other were pieces of furniture. I am not sure why I remember these items.

One of the plants, I remember, grew in the back of our house in Blackwell, Oklahoma. I think the plant was a Rose of Sharon, but I'm not precisely sure. I remember that every spring it had beautiful red or scarlet flowers and grew close to the house near the fuse box. I thought that flowering shrub or tree was the most beautiful plant in the world.

I also want to include the large round oak dining room table in a story. I remember the table set in the combination kitchen-dining room and that eight people could set comfortably around it. Growing up, I thought that all kitchens and dining rooms, except those in the TV shows, were combined. My grandparents had a combined kitchen-dining room as well. Actually, I do not remember knowing anyone who did not have a kitchen-dining room combination when I was a child.

Those are just two of the items I want to include in stories. The first step to including them is to write a detailed description of each. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of either item, so I am going to rely on my memory to write the description.

I want a round oak dining room table like the one in my childhood home

I enjoy rustic furniture perhaps because it brings back memories of my childhood. I want a huge round oak dining room table like the one my childhood home. If money were no object, I would buy a table like that and put in in my dining room.

I wish I had a picture of that table now. I remember the table was big enough to seat eight people. I can still see the dishes of mashed potatoes, gravy, fried chicken, biscuits, and black-eyed peas setting in the center of the table.

I remember the stain used enhanced the natural wood of the table. The table set in the combined kitchen-dining room in the house where I spent the first fourteen or fifteen years of my life. I want a table like that in my own dining room.

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Responding to a writer's prompt

Several different website have writers' prompts. These are single words that the writer responds to by writing whatever comes to mind for five or ten minutes. It is a good idea to have some type of timer to sit so that you can write without looking at the clock.

The writer can write anything in response to the prompt. I prefer to write in a Word document, but a pen and pencil journal works just as well. When responding to the prompt do not worry about spelling or grammar that is what rewriting is for, the prompt is to get the creative juices flowing and generate story or poem ideas.

Prompts are great ways to come up with flash fiction stories. They are also good for finding story ideas and slices of life pieces. After responding to the prompt let the writing sit for an hour or more before going back to rewrite.

I am ready to post some stuff on freecycle

I took some time to clean out the freecycle folder in my yahoo account this morning and now I am ready to post a bunch of stuff. I still have to make a list of the items I want to post, I guess the first place I should start is the garage.

There is stuff in the garage books and a box of small dishes that I want to give away. I will post that stuff on Las Vegas freecycle and if I have no takers within seven days, then I will take the books to one of the libraries and the dishes to St. Vincents dinning room.

I am tired of having stuff that I do not use taking up space in my garage and in my spare room. The stuff I can give away, I will give away and the stuff I cannot give away I will toss. I am energized to get this done and the garage cleaned out. After that, I have to have the garage door fixed so I can close it. However, getting the garage and the spare room cleaned out is the first order of business.

My Internet connection is yo-yoing this morning

Life is full of all sorts of interesting tests and difficulties. This morning my Internet connection is yo-yoing. It cuts of suddenly and without warning when I am attempting to work. For the past two or three days, the connection has slowed significantly in the afternoon. I thought doing most of my work in the morning would get something accomplished. However, this morning the connection is yo-yoing.

I am going to complete this entry and then get off. I have to get ready to take the car to the mechanic this morning anyway. I will take something with me to read or to work on while I am there. I have no idea how long it will take the mechanic to do the work.

I am not even sure if I will get back on-line before evening today. Perhaps, focusing on something else beside work on-line and blog entries is a good idea today. I can come back to work with a fresh outlook.

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My internet connection slows down in the afternoon

I don't know what the problem is, but my Internet connection has begun slowing down in the afternoon. I'm not doing anything different, I still use tabbed browsing so I can access two different website at simultaneously.

All right, so part of the problem may be the tabbed browsing. I've used tabbed browsing for over a year and I think I've gotten the hang of it. I wait until one website is loaded before attempting to load the other. Of course, a phone line connection can be ditsy. Still if I'm careful and patient tabbed browsing doesn't slow the process down very much.

Anther interesting thing, is that it takes me a couple of attempts to save a blog entry draft. This is something new because usually the draft is saved automatically and I don't have to do anything except type. I think the problem is the phone line or the traffic on the phone line. I'm just going to have to live with it for a while because getting DSL or cable modem is out for now.

Writing is interest, but it's stressful when the internet connection slows down. Oh well, life is full of interesting little tests and difficulties. Eventually, the connection will speed up; in the mean time, I'm just going to have to deal with it or make blog entries early in the morning or late in the evening. I have other writing projects to take up the time while I'm waiting on the connection.

Of course, a slow connection ties up the phone lines longer, but I can't get off until the blog entry is posted or I've finished researching an item. Maybe I'll get a cell phone, then I won't have to worry about tying up the phone line.

My air conditioner is fixed but my browser is acting up

Life is full of little surprises. Some of those surprises are happy like receiving the gift you ask for on your birthday. Other surprises are irritating and stressful like stepping on a nail that goes through the sole of your shoe.



Lately, life's little surprise have been irritating and stressful. The air conditioning went out and I had to wait seven days before I could get it fixed. The air is working it was fixed yesterday. I am planning to have my car fixed Monday (at least that is my plan today). My browser is now acting up.



I am having trouble saving drafts of this blog entry, eventually the draft is saved, but only after three or four attempts. My browser is also slow, slow a molasses in January. Sometimes it has difficulty finding the website I want to look at. Well, the spell checker finally worked, so I think the problem is the slow speed of my browser.



If you let the little irratations get to you they will drive you up the wall. The best way to handle the irratations is through prayer. If they start getting to you, then save the draft and say a prayer or meditate; just get away from the irratation for a bit.

The Nurse’s guide to good living

Scrubs The Nurse's Guide to Good Living is a wonderful and interesting website. Summer is here and everyone is looking for health, beauty, fashion and inspiration tips. This website is a good place to find this information and more. The first items that catch your eye on this site are mind, health, beauty, style, work, love, money, and news & entertainment.

It is summer and every body wants to look younger. The article on this site that caught my attention concerned waking up looking younger. This article is under the title beauty and it gave five tips on ways to wake up in the morning looking younger. The tip that caught my eye was the third tip the article contained. It suggested a person go to sleep on his or her back. The reason for this is that sleeping on your side or your stomach can cause wrinkles.

Other tips included in the article concerned removing make-up before you go to bed. Always use moisture because as you grow older your skin becomes dry and this causes wrinkles. In addition, it said to pluck stray hairs at night because the redness goes away by morning. Another tip was to brush your lips, pat them dry and use a lip treatment.

The First Thankful Thursday in June

It's the first thankful Thursday in June. I haven't begun my gratitude list yet. I haven't been up very long. For the past few days, I've had to limit my time on the computer and on-line to the coolest part of the day. Therefore, most of my writing is accomplished off line and then recopied into my journals. The one exception are my blog entries.

Because I can't stay on-line very long I'm behind on several things. Friday, June 5, begins a new 19-day period of achievement. I have a lot to catch up and I suspect it may take me longer then 19 days to catch up. However, I'm going to attempt catch up on as much as I can between Friday, June 5, and Tuesday, June 23.

I can't sleep at night, so I'm going to stay up and write. I may as well be doing something constructive. I don't think I get to sleep until close to midnight, I don't know why I can't sleep. However, I do suspect it may be genetic because my grandmother had trouble sleeping and my mother has the same problem. I haven't asked my brothers or my sister, if they have problems sleeping; perhaps I should.

Writing on Hump Day

This week's hill was a struggle to get up. I like the idea of calling Wednesday hump day because it makes sense Every week is a new climb through interesting terrain. This week the climb was warmer then normal, but it was interesting. I'm getting the air fixed tomorrow.

I'm not sure what else to write about hump day. In my neighborhood it's trash day. The garbage trucks will be coming through about 7:00 AM. I don't have to worry about getting the trash out this morning because it was taken to the curb last night.

The rest of the week looks like it's all down hill; however, one never knows if the descent will be easy or difficult. I know it will be busy because I have writing and other work to catch up when I can get back on line for more then just a few hours is the cool of the morning.

I hope everyone has a cool day.

Recipe for Hob Stew

Beef or chick broth
canned or leftover meat
canned, frozen or fresh carrots
canned, frozen or fresh tomatoes (diced)
canned, frozen or fresh peas
canned, frozen or fresh green beans
pasta of some type
package of seasoning mix

Since I make this in a slow cooker, I'm going to discuss using one of these instead of any other type of cookware.

Pour the broth in a slow cooker and add water if you think there isn't enough broth to cook the pasta. Using this recipe you don't drain the pasta after it's cooked. Add a package of seasoning to the broth in the slow cooker. It doesn't matter what type of seasonings you use, so whatever package of seasoning mix you have is all right.

Bring the broth, seasoning mixture to a boil or at least hot enough to start cooking the pasta. You have to realize that I'm sometime very impatient when it comes to cooking in a slow cooker, so if the water looks and taste hot enough then I put in the pasta. Stir the pasta at appropriate intervals to prevent it from sticking together. You don't want your pasta stuck together or to the bottom of the slow cooker when making Hobo Stew.

After the pasta is done, then you can add the meat. I suggest breaking up or cutting up the meat into bite sized portions. Let the meat, pasta mixture become hot and then add the veggies. I normally use a mixture of canned, frozen or leftover fresh vegetables. Put uncooked fresh veggies in first and let them cook until they are almost done (this is according to your own idea of what a cooked veggie looks like). Next add any frozen veggies you are putting in the cooker. After the stuff in the cooker becomes hot, then you can add the canned veggies.

When this is cooked to your taste, then turn the slow cooker off or down to simmer. Since this is summer and I am planning to eat the Hobo Stew cold I turn the cooker off. Hobo Stew can be eaten either hot or cold.

I made Hobo Stew yesterday using chicken broth; beef stew seasoning, frozen green beans, canned beef, tomatoes, carrots and peas. I will eat the Stew cold over the next couple of days, the reason for this is that my central air is out and I want something cold to eat rather then something hot.

Doing most of my writing with pen and paper

The capacitor in the central air unit is out. It's been out since Thursday afternoon, the money won't be in the bank to fix it until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. I'm doing most of my writing in long hand using a pen and paper. Normally, I write on the computer; however, it gets too hot to have the computer on without central air.

True it cooler in the house then it is outside, but it's still too hot for the computer. Therefore, I'm doing most of my composing off the computer until I can get the central air unit fixed. Actually, being without the unit is interesting. I'm writing and I'm getting housework accomplished. In fact, as soon as I finish all the blog entries, I have a floor to mop.

I've got plenty of water and I can take breaks if I get too hot doing housework. The only problem is that I'm going to be behind on several goals. One of those is the daily word count, you see, a person can't write as many words in long hand as he or she can by typing at a computer. It's going to push me to achieve the goals I've set by the end of June. I think I can make up most of those with a bit of work and pushing myself.

In addition, to pushing myself I'm going to have to set a work schedule. I've attempted work schedules before, but I haven't had the motivation to keep them going. However, now I am motivated because I feel the urgency to get it done. I know that isn't a reason, but it's the only explanation I have right now.