Life's a beach!
Friends are essential.
Make time for fun
And moments of perfection.

Friends at the beach

Insomnia

This is the poem I wrote a couple of months ago when Insomnia struck once again.


Insomnia

Again I suffer from the inability to sleep.
My feet ache to be busy but my body lags.
My brain is filled with flying thoughts that chase around
as if they have complete control.
I try to remember the sleep of childhood,
interrupted by a dream that hung in my head when morning dawned,
softened by the light of day.
Mid afternoon I could have closed my eyes and passed the time away
lying in my living room, with sun streaming on my face,
but life got in the way.
And now it's midnight.
Morning's only hours away.
That calm relief of sleep
eludes me.

Shasta visits Nana Gladia

Here is an excerpt from the story I'm writing. Shasta visits her Nana Gladia

Shasta knows that she should go straight home but can’t help herself from stopping in to see her Nana Gladia. Gladia’s home is hardly visible from the air since it is nestled cozily among the low branches of the ground spruce. The pathway to Nana’s door is paved with a mixture of green and white sea glass, and along each side grows a profusion of purple and white violets.
Before Shasta even gets to the door she hears her Nana’s voice, “Come in my darling! I had the feeling that you would drop by.”
Shasta enters the compact home, and gives her nana a huge hug. Hugging Nana Gladia is like burying your face in a bouquet of wild flowers.
“Oh Nana, I’ve missed you!” Shasta says.
“And I’ve missed you my darling, so that’s why I concentrated on your sweet face until you walked in my door,” Gladia says and giggles. “Say hello to my little friend.”
“Oh hello, Sunflower,” Shasta says as she pats the baby chipmunk that is curled up in a chair by the fire. Sunflower looks up at her lazily and turns over on her back to have her tummy scratched.
Shasta notices two tiny brown bunnies under the stairs, who twitch their noses as they dream of a meadow of pink clover.
Nana Gladia’s house is never without the presence of one or more small creatures of the woods. She takes in young motherless animals and sometimes tiny birds that have fallen out of their nests, and cares for them until they are able to manage on their own. They treat her place as sort of a drop-in center, and Shasta loves to hear all their stories about life in the West Woods. Gladia even sets out small containers filled with honey to feed the bees and insects that happen to be in the area.
Shasta is amazed once again by the brightness and beauty of her very favorite place. Her Nana has decorated every surface with small pieces of wonderful sea glass. On the walls are patterns and swirls that look like waves of water, dancing in the sunlight and on the floor are amber pathways resembling the red earth. Of course her Papa made all the furniture, but Nana added sea glass before the clay dried, creating a unique mosaic on each table, chair and shelf. The rare blue pieces have been reserved for the fireplace. Even the staircase is adorned with brilliant color.
Shasta always marvels at how her nana is the only one of her family who uses her wings indoors. She watches with glee as Gladia flits around, making tea and bringing out the cakes, then suddenly zips off to polish the glass on the table in the center of the room. She’s never seen any other Minwing do so many things at once! Sometimes Gladia flies so fast, her wings are invisible!
“Where have you been these last days, my darling?” Shasta’s Nana asks as she brings the tea and cakes to the table, “I thought you had forgotten me.”
The sunlight shines through the door and glints off Gladia’s beautiful silver hair.
“I could never forget you, Nana Gladia,” Shasta replies, laughing, “I’ve just been so busy lately, and I really shouldn’t be here today, but I just had to talk to you.”
They sit down together and Gladia pours the steaming tea into shells and offers Shasta a tiny cake from a green glass plate. Shasta can never turn down a cake that Nana has made. They are lighter than air and have a fruity taste that no other Minwing cook in the West Woods has managed to imitate. Shasta carefully adds a drop of honey to the tea and sips it gratefully.
She gets a bit of a start when Nana Gladia leaves her chair and flies off again to the eating area and returns carrying a small shell filled with purple and white violets.
“There, that sets everything off doesn’t it?” she says, as she places them in the middle of the table.

Winter, soon a memory.

I had forgotten what warm air felt like
Until today.
Snow, melting into streams
along the side of the road,
Inviting memories of playing as a child.
When I imagined small pieces of wood
to be boats, floating to the ocean.
I feel the squish of red mud under my boots
And catch the smell of a distant Spring.
My canine companion happy
to be away from the confinements of home.
Upon returning from my walk
I cut the sagging branches
off the Linden's in my yard.
I put them all together
into a pile, to await the sad separation
from the stately trees.
Mother Nature was overzealous
in her stormy pruning.
Then I find a deck chair,
faded with too many summers
and wobbly with it's cheapness.
I sit and turn my pale face
to the sun
And dream of summer.

Tangled Tess

This is my first illustration. It's plasticine! (Feb.26,2010)
This is a poem I wrote last week, inspired by a certain long haired customer. I think that I will try to do illustrations and make it into a children's book.

Tangled Tess

Tess's hair was much too curly,
Full of tangles, so unruly.
Tess's Mom said, "Comb your hair now,
I can hardly see your eyes!"

Tess complained to her Aunt Susie
That her hair was too darned curly.
"I wish I had hair like you do,
Straight and shiny,
Sleek and perfect.
Why is my hair so unruly?"

Her Aunt Susie said, "Don't worry,
I will brush it. It will surely
Calm down and you'll
Look quite pretty."

So Aunt Susie brushed it thoroughly
But it still was too unruly.
Suddenly the brush just vanished
Into Tess's hair!

Tess's Aunt searched quite completely
Through her hair
Then she said bleakly,
"I'm afraid my brush is history,
Never to be found.

After that, nobody dared
To put a brush near Tess's hair.
She let it go and didn't brush it,
It just grew completely wild.

When Mom suggested she have a shower
Tess refused and she did glower,
"It hurts too much
To get the knots out.
It's fine the way it is!

Toast and jam she had for breakfast.
She ate one piece,
One piece vanished.
With a facecloth washed her face
It was gone without a trace.

Tess was finished breakfast early,
Tried to brush her teeth so pearly.
Lost the toothbrush,
Couldn't find it.
It had vanished too!

When she went to catch her school bus,
The driver mistook her for a big bush,
Drove right by and left her standing,
Sadly in her yard.

Poor Tess!

Her mom dropped her off at school then.
When in class she searched for her pen.
Couldn't find it,
Had to borrow
One from her friend Joe.

When it vanished too, she panicked,
Told the teacher that she felt sick,
Headed home and threw a tantrum,
Jumping up and down.

"I hate my hair, it's too unruly!
Why is it so gosh-darned curly?
All I want in this whole world is
To have normal hair.

Her hamster Bud ran round his cage,
He was frightened by her rage.
She took him out,
And in five minutes he had vanished too!

Poor Bud!

"That is it!
I'm going to shave off
All my hair and wear a ball cap,
I can't stand it anymore," she said
While kicking on the floor.

Her mother said , "Now calm down Tess,
I realize your hair's a mess.
I'll buy a straightener for your birthday.
I'm sure that it will work!"

On her birthday Tess awoke,
She'd dreamed it all had been a joke.
She put her hand up to her hair,
And almost lost it too!

Tess agreed to have a bath.
You're so smart, you do the math!
What from her hair did appear?
Aunt Susie's brush,
Some toast and jam,
A toothbrush and
Joe's favorite pen.
Even some of last night's stew,
A pencil sharpener,
A bottle of glue.


And there, swimming on his back
Was Bud,
And he looked quite relaxed.
Tess picked him up
and dried him off.
And put him on the floor.

"Now Tess," her mom said,

"Some new conditioner I'll apply."
'For curly hair' it did imply.
Her hair felt smooth,
More in control,
Which soothed poor Tess's frazzled soul.

Her mom was the one who saved the day.
She straightened Tess's frizz away
And soon her curls , that were unruly,
Turned into hair that hung so smoothly.

Tess's hair was sleek and shiny . . .
For at least a day!