The Last Saturday in July 2016

Instead of making a Success Saturday entry, I'm going to list the things I have  to do in August 2016. I'm not listing them in any particular order that way I can change the priority when necessary.  

August Writing 

 

1. Edit Scavengers 
2. Story #21 of 44 
3. Submission for I Write in August, September, and October 
4. Story #22 of 44 
5. Submission to Project Write World 
6. Story #23 of 44 
7. Entry for Virtual Camping in Europe 

That's all I'm planning to write in August. I might do some other writing, but only if I finish  the weekly entries and have time left from the planned editing or writing. I'm looking forward to August because it's the season of monsoonal moisture in the Las Vegas area and that always inspires me. 

 

Creative Saturday

It is Saturday afternoon about 1:19 PM, I just finished responding to a blog prompt on writing.com. This morning I posted a short poem on Facebook and now I have to either do three more reviews on writing.com or write a poem for a poetry challenge that ends today. Since April 15 I have written one poem each day for this challenge. It has been a creative fifteen days, at least I think it has been fifteen days. I'm not going to take the time to count to determine whether it was fourteen or fifteen day. I do not have time for that because today is the first day of a two day review raid on writing.com and I am looking to finish reviewing at least nineteen items before the end of the day.

Looking for Writing Ideas on Saturday Morning

This was an interesting and stressful week. I got behind on my writing project and then I got caught up. Today I have a story and a poem to write. The problem is I have no idea where to start either of them. How do I remedy this? I started by taking two bags of trash to the alley, which did not seem to help.

I then brewing another carafe of coffee, but this time I brewed hazel nut coffee. That helped a little. I composed two lines, unfortunately they do not have enough syllables for an English sonnet. This is the issues I have encountered with this sonnet all week. I can think of wonderful lines without enough syllables. Since I do not intend to let these two lines go to waste, I am posting them in this entry.

I inhale the fragrance of morning
The bold aroma of hazel nuts

It is so frustrating. Anyone who does not write form poetry does not know how frustrating it is to have an idea for a poem while being unable to compose lines with the proper syllable length. Yes I know I could write a free verso poem using those line; however, the prompt I am following calls for a sonnet that needs a specific number of syllable in each line. Since I cannot let myself get behind again this week, I will move on to the story. Perhaps if I just open a document and start writing words will come to me.

Thoughts on Saturday Afternoon

It's Saturday afternoon
I have so much to write,
but my muse has taken flight.

My muse has flown to parts unknown,
so I think I need to get away from home;
I think I need to take a rest
away from the internet.

I think I need to get out of the house
because the only rhyme I can think of is mouse.

There is no mouse in my house
and I don't have a spouse.

Tomorrow is Sunday
so I'll take a day of rest
and spend the day on a spiritual quest.

These are my thoughts
this Saturday afternoon;
I'm going to post is poem
and hope that it makes someone laugh.

My goal is to write a poem a day;
I'm going to post this
because I've accomplished my goal today.

Saturday Morning

Lazy Saturday
Another cup of coffee
A second breakfast

It feels like a lazy Saturday. I know I have more to do then just wash the dishes, but I don't want to do anything except write and eat. Fortunately, I can't eat by the computer until I get some equipment moved around. In the mean time I think I will check to see if I have any trash bags so that I can fill one to take to the trash on Sunday morning.

Busy Saturday
Finish washing the dishes
Wait for them to dry

I take the trash out between 6:30 and 7:00 am because it is cooler then. This morning when I took out the trash I only encountered one person. Perhaps tomorrow I will take it out closer to 7:30 to see if there are more people up and moving about. I enjoy talking to people when I am out, but the person I met this morning did not want to talk. I think he was going to work.
 

Saturday Afternoon Haiku

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

Success Saturday: May 30, 2015

This week I experienced the following success events:

01. I completed one 700 plus word romance story and submitted to writing.com contest.

02. I completed one love poem written from the point of view of my grandmother to my grandfather. I submitted it to a writing.com contest.

03. I participated in and finished a weekend challenge on writing.com.

04. I survived the last week in May 2015 without running out of coffee.

05. I survived the month of May 2015 with $10.00 in cash in my purse. This is enough to purchase gas if I should go somewhere this weekend.

06. I woke up early enough every morning to witness the sun rise over Sunrise Mountain.

07. I did not fall asleep at my computer and drool on my key board this month.

08. I posted at least one Facebook status update everyday.

09. I accomplished my daily review goal on writing.com everyday.

10. I went to my doctor's office for my blood tests before I completely ran out of my prescription medication.

Sunday Speculations: A Weird Encounter in the Supermarket on Saturday

I have a weird encounter in the supermarket on Saturday morning. I left my apartment between 9:00 and 9:30 am to go to the bank and deposit a check I had received on Friday. I went to the bank, deposited the check (I cannot use my cellphone to deposit checks), and then went to the supermarket, which is located a couple of blocks east of my bank. As I was walking through the aisle looking for croutons and other stuff, a woman stopped me. She ask me if I was on Medicaid, when I said yes she gave me her card, which was for home care and told me to call her with my Medicaid number so that she could see if I was eligible for home care services.

I am 68 years old with osteoarthritis in both knees. As a results of the osteoarthritis I sometimes walk like a zombie. This does not mean that I am incapable of walking short or long distances nor does it mean I am ready for home care. It means that I am much more careful and slower when I walk. I suspect the gal is running a can to get the Medicaid and/or Medicare numbers of the elderly. I am not going to call her and, even if I did need home care, I would not call the number without investigating her or her home care agency.

Saturday afternoon: A Poem

Saturday afternoon
and the living is not easy
there is a chill in the air.

Saturday afternoon
the sunsets early in late autumn
temperatures drop,
I check the blankets
wondering if they will be
warm enough to keep out
night's chill.

Saturday afternoon
I have enough soup left
to eat on Sunday;
I need to go to the store
on Monday.

Brainstorming Saturday: What shall I write?

I have two items to write. The first, a short story of 1,000 words or less, is the climax of a group of twelve other short stories or the beginning of a novel. I have the prompt words: star, sun, moon, planet, air, earth, water, fire, zenith, phase, cardinal, fixed, mutable, degree, nadir, symbol, rule, retrograde, cusp, and zodiac. I need to finish this sometime today or tomorrow because the deadline is July 28, which is Monday.

The second. is a poem of 40 lines or less. The deadline is August 16 and the prompt words are heart, spiteful, deceive, pierce, twisted, revenge, plunge, and evil. The working title I have planned is The Spiteful Heart, which I think is going to be a bitter love poem. I could be wrong about that because the poem may change by the time I finish it.

I just got an idea for the working title of the short story. I will call it Judgment in Capricorn because it  will solve a problem raised in one of the earlier stories. I still have a couple more problems top take care of in that series of short stories, but the issue that arose in the town of Capricorn is the most important. Of course, when I get into the story the characters may have different ideas. I will begin the story later tonight after I have swept the bathroom floor.

Thing I will Miss about this house and neighborhood when I move

When I move I will miss...

1. ...the sound of the neighbor's Harley as he rides it to work in the morning;

2. ...the song of the nightingale nesting in the neighbor's oak tree;

3. ...the sound of the neighbor's little dog barking when he is disturbed by something;

4. ...looking out the kitchen window and watching the neighbor's cat sunning itself on the stones of the patio.

5. ...the golden cast that dawn gives to the bark of the pine tree in the front yard;

6. ...rolling the trashcan to the curb on Wednesday and Saturday mornings;

7. ...the beauty of the neighbor's oak tree in autumn;

8. ...looking out my window and watching the neighbor's children walk to school;

9. ...the weird noises that the appliances in the house make;

10. ...the silence that seems to settle in the house each evening around 7:00 pm.

A Bright and Beautiful Saturday in Las Vegas

The sun is shining
on the naked limbs
of the neighbors’ oak trees
and on the dying pine
in my front yard.

It’s a bright
and beautiful Saturday afternoon
in Las Vegas;
a good time to walk
in the late winter sunshine.

It’s a good time
to be happy and celebrate
the optional
of a fresh New Year.

It’s a good time to laugh,
a good time to sing,
a good time to do anything
except sit in the house
and cry.

This afternoon I want to cry and I know why I want to cry. I’m tired of wanting and waiting, but I’m not sure what to do other then wait for the call. I’m waiting for news that my name is at the top of a waiting list and an apartment is ready for me to move in.

Perhaps I’m being too impatient, but I think I’ve been patient long enough. It’s a New Year. I want a new place to live. I want to feel (even if it isn’t true) that I have a little control over my life. I don’t know what to do except write, throw or give stuff away.

It’s a beautiful Saturday in Las Vegas
and I feel
as if I’m floating
in limbo.

All Day in the Kitchen

I spent all day in the kitchen
cooking my fingers to the bone
and what thanks to I get
especially since I am alone.

Now I know how my Grandma Mary felt when she cooked all day on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. I spent all morning cooking chicken leg quarters and then I spent the afternoon cooking green pepper and potatoes for soup. Now all I have to do is mix the soup ingredients together in the electric skilled and I will have green pepper and potato chicken soup.

I'm going to put all the soup making in the refrigerator until Friday or Saturday because I think I need to purchase an onion and some carrots to go in the soup. I have to go out in the morning for gas and some other things, so I'll stop at the grocery store on the way home and pick up the onions, carrots, etc. to finish the chicken soup. Then I can have hot soup this weekend to go with my cucumber salad and chocolate pudding or chocolate cake desert.

Saturday Review: Writing during the first week of December 2013

The first week of December has been interesting, hectic, and cold chilly. When I listened to the news this morning (which I normally don't do on Saturday) the meteorologist predict a slight chance of snow in the Las Vegas valley. It looks cloudy, gray, chilly, and damp outside, but I won't know for sure until I get up the nerve to go out and see  if I received a newspaper today.

a cloudy morning
foretells a chilly gray day
pain in my fingers

Because of the chill, the joints of my fingers hurt when I'm not using the keyboard. I think the exercise helps the pain the the joints, so I will attempt to work at the computer most of the day. I have to write at least 2,000 words today because I need to achieve that goal at least three days out of seven and I  have achieved it only twice this week.

post nanowrimo
accomplishing the word count
becomes difficult

I have written seven poems this week, with six of them being Christmas poems. The last poem I wrote was a tribute to Nelson Mandela and I am planning a commemorative poem about Pearl Harbor. I am working on a form poem I began yesterday and a short story I started a couple of days ago. Those items will keep my writing and thinking today, which will not give me any time to worry.

A Lazy Saturday Afternoon

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon
and the only thing
I want to do is write.

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon,
a breeze
is blowing
through oak and olive trees.

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon,
the clouds are moving
slowly to the east,
as patches of blue sky
appears between patches
of white and gray.

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon,
a good time to write
free verse or haiku.

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon
in Las Vegas:

clouds hide the bright sun
the wind blows the limbs of trees
olive, oak, and pine.

Sneezing Day Four

Sneezing episodes - Day Four

The sneezing start off innocently,
Three sneezes on Thursday,
Six sneezes on Friday,
Nine sneezes on Saturday,
Twelve sneezes on Sunday.

Why am I sneezing?
The weather is not freezing!
Am I allergic to dust?
Is it the wind gust?

Do I have a summer cold?
I threw out my old pillow yesterday
I am still sneezing today.

Could I be allergic to August?

Saturday Morning Writing Distractions

I encounter a multitude of distractions on Saturday morning. I think the reason is the location of my computers. One of them sits on a desk that allows me to look directly out of my living room window without difficulty. All I have to do is turn my head to the left and I am looking out the window.

The position of the desk also lets me catch movement out of the corner of my left eye. I catch a movement, I look out the window, and action until I realize I am supposed to be writing and not watching what is going on in my neighborhood.

This morning, traffic is heavier the normal. I think it is because a truck stopped in front of a house across the street. When the truck stopped, a girl run out of another house across the street with a white bag in her hand, she handed the bag to the driver and then a few minutes later the driver handed it back to her.

After he handed the bag back, she continued to stand beside the truck while they talked. Because half the street is blocked, the cars have a narrow one-way passage to go either east or west. They finally finished talking and she took the bag into the house with her.

This is one of the more unusual distractions, which I encounter on Saturday because I catch ever movement out of the corner of my left eye. The usual distractions are neighbors driving past, garbage trucks making their pick up, and people walking their dogs. Despite the distractions, I think I am going to miss this neighborhood when I move.

Free verse Saturday: The Broken Coffee Mug

The favorite coffee mug is broken!

Is there some meaning
to this tragedy?

I tried to place the mug
on a wooden T.V. stand,
missed
and the mug dropped to the floor.

The handle shattered,
but the body
remained intact.

I carried the mug
to the garage
and  carefully
put it in
the blue recyclable bin.

I better post this before I fall asleep

I woke up at 12:55 A.M. on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 ill. I spent Wednesday at home and consumed only beef broth and water. On Thursday, I felt a little bitter and was capable of driving, so I went out and picked up some stuff, but did not go to the supermarket because I did not feel like stopping at two different places. On Friday, I went to the I went to the supermarket because I had to pick up a few things for the weekend.  I believe I did post a couple of items on writing.com between bouts of sleep or the dry heaves. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I also got my mother up and ready for the C.N.A. to give her a bath.

On Friday and Saturday, I was capable of eating chicken noodle soup and drink milk. On Saturday, I did two loads of clothes and made more post on writing.com. I also spent a couple of hours dozing on the couch Saturday afternoon. Despite a bad cough, I am feeling better today; all though I would like to take a short nap this afternoon, which I may do after I post this. Since Monday is October 1, I need to balance the September books and pay some bills online; so I will remain home all day. I still do not have the energy I had before I got sick, but it is slowly returning.

Saturday Writing in Las Vegas on June 23, 2012

Weariness sets in

My mind is not focusing

And my thoughts scatter

I am so tired I cannot seem to think. I stare at a blank document and wonder what I wanted to write. I want to take a nap, but it is Saturday and Mom is home, so lying down for a nap is out of the question. Perhaps, if I just start writing something will come to me.

Outside a blue sky

A walk is not possible

Watch television

The weather in Las Vegas is hot and the sky is clear. It is too hot to take a walk because the temperatures will reach triple digits today and I cannot take Mom out. The temperature in the house is about 79 degrees, which is tolerable for both Mom and me.

I would like to take a walk, at least down to the corner and back, but I cannot leave Mom in the house alone. Right now, she is watching television or dozing. Mom watches little T.V. and then dozes a little. I got her out of the wheelchair a couple of times this morning, but she cannot walk very well even with the walker.

Maybe food will help

It might give me energy

Might help my focus