Thankful Thursday Thoughts on nature and Las Vegas

On Thankful Thursday
I contemplate gratitude,
as I listen to traffic.

My front door is open so I can hear the traffic on the expressway echoing through the neighborhood. It's the sounds of modern civilization that come through my front door. Sounds that indicate a bustling and thriving city. I wonder how well human beings thrive when not in touch with the natural world.

Where are nature's sounds?
Sometimes I hear singing birds,
Cooing of pigeons.

Las Vegas a city spread across a desert valley in the Rocky Mountains. In the suburbs citizens can look out their front doors to see green grass, trees, or desert landscaping. In urban area apartment buildings we look out our front doors to see concrete, blacktop, and important palm, pine, or olive trees. Where is the joy of walking through an old forest? Not in the city of Las Vegas.

Tourist see the strip
they seldom leave the city
visit the suburbs.

Tourist and locals who remain in the city see very little of the natural world. There are places in and around Las Vegas that people can visit for a glimpse the beauty of nature. I wonder how many tourist visit Mount Charleston, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, or Las Vegas Springs Preserve. I wonder how many tourist think to go outside of the Casino Corridor to see what mother nature offers. I wonder how many locals have visit mother natures tourist attractions.

Cloudy Monday

Beautiful morning
clouds cover the December's sky
Reveals patch of blue.

Success Saturday: At the End of a Successful Writing Week.

It's Saturday, September 5, 2015, with three more full weeks in September. This week I successfully wrote one story, five poems and learned a new poetry form. The new form is called SciFaiku, which uses the haiku form with a science fiction theme. To learn more about this form see The SciFaiku Manifesto.

Andy the Android
Practiced The Robotic Laws
There are three in all.

That is the third SciFaiku poem I've written this week. I like this form, not because it easy to write, but because it helps me focus on only the necessities of the poem. I know the poem I've written here isn't my best SciFaiku, but with practice I'll get better.

Saturday Afternoon Haiku

Windy Saturday
Dark clouds are hiding the sun
Will it rain today?

Tuesday's Tip: Early Morning Writing Necessities

A cup of coffee
brewed fresh after the long night
and sipped while waiting for dawn

I go into the kitchen to pour myself my fresh cup of coffee for the day. I open the blinds and look out into the partly cloudy morning. I pour coffee into my favorite unwashed cup and then go to the front door. I stand at my front door looking into my neighborhood and listening to the noises of people and animals waking up.

I sip my coffee
contemplate the beauty of dawn
give thanks for another day

In order to meet today's writing goal, I have to begin my day early. Sometimes I begin at 1:00 or 2:00 am. Sometimes I overs sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 am. Sometimes I write for a hour or so after I wake up and then I go back to sleep. Sometimes I write before my first cup of coffee, but most of the time I write while sipping my coffee. I'm not fully awake until I've drink at least one cup of strong black coffee.

Coffee ambrosia
wakes up my mind and my muse
precious gift of God

Thursday Thoughts on the Passing of Spring

Morning advances
the birds have stopped their singing
and the day heats up.

It's Thursday morning about 8:00 am. I'm sitting at my computer staring out the open door into a bright and cloudless May day. There is not wind to cool off the rising desert heat. The wind doesn't help much on hot summer days, but during the spring and fall it helps cool Las Vegas.

Summer is coming
triple digit temperatures:
I need more coffee.

I just checked the temperature on one of the local news websites. According to the meteorologist the temperature at 7:56 am was 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature is supposed to get up to about 96 degrees today, which means I will have to turn the cool air on sometime this afternoon.

Birds fly to their nest
returning home from hunting
another warm day.

Sunday, June 21, is the Summer Solstice. My sister and I are supposed to be moving into a two-bedroom apartment sometime in June. I'm not looking forward to moving in triple digit temperatures which are supposed to arrive this week end or early next week. However, it really doesn't matter whether I'm looking forward to moving or not (I've never liked moving any time of year) I will move because it's the best thing to do.

Wednesday Word: Tomatoes

Beautiful red fruit
Adorn dark green vines waiting
For me to eat them

This morning, I went to pick up some food at one of the food banks here in Las Vegas. One of the things they gave me was tomatoes still on the vine. When I came home I took some chicken out of the freezer and made soup. This afternoon, for my lunch I ate a piece of chicken with a couple of tomatoes. I love to eat tomatoes right off the vine, when I was a child one of the items my grandparents grew were tomatoes. When the fruit was ripe we would pick them, cut them up, put a little salt and pepper on them, and eat them that way. I also like fresh tomatoes in salad.

An editable fruit
tomatoes go with lettuce
in my green salad.

When I was growing up, I thought that tomatoes were a vegetable rather then a fruit. Maybe it was because my mother and my grandmother always put tomatoes in our salads. When I went grocery shopping with my grandparents we always found the tomatoes with vegetable rather then with the fruit. The only problem I have today when I eat uncooked tomatoes is the desire to put salt on them, which I am attempting to resist. I have taken the excess salt out of my diet as a results I do not purchase salt when I go to the store. I try to use other spices or use chips to put in soup when I eat it.

Wednesday Word: Wind

The wind blows litter
west on Sunrise Avenue
partly cloudy sky.

I heard a noise, looked out my front door. and saw the wind blowing litter up the street. It calmed a little now only the limbs of the pine, olive, and palm trees are blowing. The wind and the clouds mean a cool afternoon. At least, I hope it means a cool afternoon. I have not turned the cool air on today which is a blessing. The less I have to turn on the air the lower the power bill.

Sudden gust of wind
partially clears the litter
for a little while.

Sudden gusts of wind does not help my allergies. In fact it raises issues with the pollen from the olive trees growing along this street. It would not make any difference where I lived in Las Vegas because there would still be olive trees.

Tuesday's Tip: Open the Front Door

Are you having a problem with Writer's Block? I suggest opening your front door (if your door faces the street) to see what is going on outside. There is not much going on outside my door today. Once in a while a car drives the wrong way down the one-way street in front of my apartment. From where I sit, I can see the shadow of the palm tree planted to the left of my front door. I can hear the birds singing in the pine tree across the street. At least, I think that is the tree containing the sparrow's nest. I suppose the sparrow could be nesting in one of the palm trees across the street.

The neighborhood trees
palm, pine, olive, and oak grow
along Sunrise Avenue.

I just saw a car driving the right way (which is going east) along Sunrise. This is not a rare occurrence because I figure about seven cars out of ten drive in the right direction when they drive on my street. Since I have never counted the number of cars driving up or down this street, I am not sure how many go the right way. I very seldom drive either way along Sunrise because I park my car in the back of the building.

On this one-way street
cars drivers ignore traffic laws
and drive the wrong way.

I park in back of my apartment building because the parking places in front are across the street. It is easily for me to walk back and forth to my car then it is to step up and down on the curbs. The cubs are high, or at least they seem high when I use them. If I walk to the back then I do not have to step upon or down on a curb. Also by parking in back I can take the trash out when I go to the car so that I do not have to make a special trip on the days I have to leave my apartment.

Form Friday: What is my favorite poetry form?

What is my favorite poetry form? I do not have one. I write a lot of free verse, senryu, and haiku, but that does not mean they are my favorites. Even though I have not written very many prose poems, II enjoy reviewing them. Today I reviewed a beautiful story written in prose poetry form about an elderly woman on her deathbed. The poem, which was written in line phased form, had the rhythm of natural speech and used internal rhyme to emphasize the theme and subject. I usually write prose poems in paragraph form; however, after reading this poem I think I will attempt a prose poem in line phased form.

whispers from my soul
reverberates through my mind
creates poetry

What types of poetry forms do I like when I write? I like haibun poetry, which is a combination of prose and line phased poetry. I like to use haibun because it pushes me to write short descriptive paragraph, which helps when writing short stories. Haibun is difficult to write because it requires me to include other types of short poetry forms. I usually use senryu and haiku, but not always. Sometimes I include short free verse poems in my haibun entries.

Sunday Speculations: Speculations on a Windy Sunday

Sneeze causing wind blows
Through the Las Vegas valley
A windchill factor

Don't you just love spring? The wind blowing through olive and other pollen producing trees causes you to sneeze. The birds don't seem to mind because the sing in their nest as the wind blows the boughs of the trees. People wear different types of clothes when the wind of spring blows because sometimes it is could and chills them to the bone. Sometimes it doesn't raises goosebumps and sometimes it is warm without a noticeable windchill factor.

Walked to the alley
Took the trash to the dumpster
The wind breaker helped

On windy days it's better to take the trash to the dumpster in the afternoon because all you need is a windbreaker to keep your arms warm. The problem with spring and the wind is that you don't know whether to dress for winter, spring, or summer. This means you have to keep one warm hoodie and a windbreaker out so that you are dressed properly. In addition, always wear an undershirt under the hoodie incase you have to remove the hoodie. A light blouse will do under the windbreaker, but you need a t-shirt under the hoodie.

Form Friday: Two Tercet Poetry Forms I Often Use

Tercets are three line poetry forms or stanzas. There are several different types of these three line forms. Two of the types I use frequently are Japanese forms called haiku and senryu. These two forms are composed of seventeen syllables traditionally written in line phase as 5-7-5 with each form having a different subject. The subject of a senryu is human beings or culture. The subject of a haiku is nature.

Good Friday Coffee:
A Senryu

Good Friday coffee
It is a two carafe day
A day for writing

Good Friday Wind:
A Haiku

Pine boughs sway at dawn
The wind carries morning's scent
Sparrows laying eggs

Form Friday: I Write Haibun

I write haibun
prose combined with poetry
precise expressions

I write haibun! Sometimes I combine prose paragraphs with haiku or senryu because the syllable counts require precise words. At other time I combine the paragraphs with short, three or four line, free verse poems. My haibun blog entries are continually evolving because I experiment with the form.

I write haibun!
I listen to birds singing
on Sunrise Avenue
and I write.

I like the haibun form because it is versatile. I can use it with any subject and with any short poetry form. I can describe an early Las Vegas morning or a trip across the city. It is especially good when I want to sit with my front door open while I am writing. I can write a short paragraph, glance out my front door, and then write a poem

Early morning sky
Black transformed to powder blue
A rooster crows

Haibun is also good after meditation or prayer. When I write haibun I feel as if I am writing a meditation. A paragraph is inhaling a breath and the poem is exhaling the breath. Perhaps this is why I enjoy writing this poetry form.

Paragraph inhaled
Poem exhaled
Focusing on the words and lines
Counting breathes

Thursday Thoughts: Writing on Thursday Morning in Late Winter 2015

It is still winter. Spring does not officially arrive until Friday, March 20, at 22:45 UTC (3:45 PM PDT). The temperature feels like spring and people in my neighborhood are wearing light sweaters or long sleeved shirts because of the slight spring chill in the air. It looks as if today will be a beautiful and pleasant day.

A charcoal gray cat
Wanders through the neighborhood
Going home to sleep

I have to door open on this cool early spring morning. Beautiful whitish clouds decorate the pale blue sky. The sun cast weak shadows through the clouds. It is not too cold and it is not too hot. It is a nice day in Las Vegas.

Birds nest in pine trees
Songs of gratitude greet dawn
Children walk to school

It is easy to write on this third Thursday morning in March 2015 because the neighborhood is quiet and serene. The sun ascends into the mostly cloudy sky casting weak shadows across Sunrise Avenue. Children walk past my apartment on their way to school. Adults walk past on their way to the bus stop on Eastern Avenue. A school bus drives past transporting its load of enthusiastic children to their morning classes.

Spring celebrations
The vernal equinox
Followed by Naw-Ruz
Followed by Easter

Success Saturday: What Successes Have I Experienced Between March 8 to March 14?

As I sit here sipping a Ginger Ale and listening to spiritual music, I ask myself "What writing successes have I experienced this week?" First, I wrote a romantic story called Lady's Night at the Greasy Fork. Second, I accomplished or exceeded my word count goal six days out of seven. Third, I accomplished my review goal seven days out of seven. Today I discovered that I can write better if I listen to music.

Pigeons at the curb
Pecking on the black asphalt
Look for scattered crumbs

I lean back in my chair, look out my open door and watch the birds or people walking past my apartment. It is a beautiful late winter day with a gentle breeze blowing through the limbs of the trees. Pigeons hop-walk along the curb while pecking for crumbs or water in the street. The shadow of a larger bird passes over, but the pigeons do not appear frightened. These are city birds, who normally do not have to worry about hawks swooping down and taking one of them for its lunch or supper. The only thing the birds on Sunrise Avenue have to worry about is the well fed neighborhood cats or a car speeding the wrong way down the street.

Beautiful weekend
Blue sky, scattered clouds, slight wind,
And mild temperatures.

I still have a Minute poem to write for an activity on writing.com. The deadline is on Sunday, March 15. I attempted to write it during the week, but could not get beyond the first line. I will finish it or rather start a new one tonight. Sometimes writing a form poem can be difficult; however, it is rewarding. I decided to change the approach of the Minute poem and make it a spiritual poem.

Wednesday Word: Winter

Freezing temperatures
I shiver under layers
Of sweat shirts, sweaters.

This morning it is cold in Las Vegas. It is now about 9:20 am, the temperature at 8:56 am was 49 degrees predicted to raise to 50 degrees by 10:00 am. Sometime today, the temperature is supposed to get as high as 61 degrees. I am wearing a sweater, a sweat shirt, and a pair of slacks, which should keep me warm. I am not warm. My arms are cold. My legs are cold. Worst of all, despite the fact that I am wearing shoes and socks, my feet are cold. The only part of me that is not cold is my head and my ears.

The arctic express
blowing through Las Vegas
drives locals indoors.

Spring is still sixteen long and cold days away. I am complaining about the cold. Last summer, when it was so hot, I said I would never complain about the cold. I know I shouldn't have said that, but I said it in triple digit temperatures when the thought of double digit temperatures seemed like a distant dream. I am so cold that triple digit temperatures sound nice. Of course, when summer comes with its 115 or 120 degree temperatures I will wish for 45 or 50 degree temperatures.

Cold penetrates the
marrow of my bones and chills
internal organs.

I really should be thankful for the winter temperatures and the wind chill factor because they both inspire poetry, rants, and short stories. Winter, like the other three seasons, is inspiring. The temperatures inspire creative ways of keeping warm or cool. They inspire creativity in all areas of life because you always have unreasonable power bills draining your finances. If I could afford it I would run the central air unite twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year; however, I am on a fixed income and cannot afford high power bills.

Form Friday: I Write both Haibun Haiku and Haibun Senryu

Haibun, haiku, and senryu are all Japanese poetry form. A traditional haiku is a three-line seventeen syllable verse with nature theme, while a traditional senryu has the same number of lines and syllable as a haiku, but its theme is about some aspect of human beings. Haibun combines prose with poetry; it usually begins with prose and ends with a haiku.

Cold rain is falling
Birds are shivering in their nests
Wind in the palm trees

I write haibun that incorporates both haiku and senryu in a single entry. Sometimes I write haibun entries with haiku, sometimes with senryu, and sometimes I include both haiku and senryu in the haibun entry.

Music echoing
Through the thin apartment walls
The neighbors are home

Wednesday Word: Sunset

It is past sunset here in Las Vegas. I listen to the evening noises echoing from next door or from the street outside my house. This evening I hear children laughing, shouting, playing, and making other types of joyful noises. The days are growing longer and the nights shorter. This means daylight savings time, spring flowers, and birds singing.

Late winter sunset
the mountains embraced by light
city never sleeps.

It is after sunset in Las Vegas, I feel the late winter chill penetrate my body and send shivers up my spine. It is not cold, but my aged body feel the chill. My fingers ache and my knees hurt. I get up, put on another sweater and then sit back down at the computer. I stare at what I have written and I smile. I smile because I know that the winter will soon pass. I know that spring will come at last.

The late winter chill
brings back memories of childhood
and hot chocolate.

I do not drink hot chocolate any more because the milk and the chocolate contain too much potassium. Sometimes after sunset I make hot water so t hat I can drink a cup of English black tea. I do not put sugar in my tea; however, sometimes I put peppermint candy canes in the tea and watch the candy cane melt. This morning, when I went after some food, I received some candy canes so tomorrow evening I will make hot tea and have a candy cane with it.

Writing on a Rainy Afternoon in Las Vegas

A rainy Sunday
Clouds conceal desert blue sky
Asphalt  street shining

It is Sunday afternoon, the rain descends in gentle drops soaking the dry desert ground. It has rained all day without stopping. At least that is how it seems to me. I have trash to take to alley, but it is too wet to  walk there and back. I will wait until Monday morning to take the trash to the dumpsters in the alley.

A hot cup of  tea
warms my body calms my mind
sleepy afternoon

Hot black English tea on a rainy afternoon is a relaxing way to contemplate my next word. I have worries, but this is not the time to state them or focus on them. I glance at the time wondering if it  is time to take my afternoon medication. I took that pill about 6:30 pm yesterday, so I think I will wait until then to take it today.

I fill my pill box
medication schedule
for every weekday

On The Last Friday in December 2014

On the last Friday in December 2014 I did not get back to the house until around 2:00 pm. I enjoyed myself. I got a haircut. I drover all over Las Vegas or at least it seemed I did. I got to take a nap while I was waiting for my sister to pick up her meds at Walgreen's.

I sat in the truck
and dozed in the truck's warm cab
instead of writing.

On the Last Friday in December 2014 I wonder what the coming year will bring. I know it will bring joy. I know it will bring sadness. I do not know the circumstances that will cause either emotion. I also suspect the New Year will bring new worries and fears. I have to trust in God that everything will turn out for the best even if it does not turn out the way I think it should.

Look at the New Year
with joy, faith, and gratitude
place my trust in God.