End of the Spring Semester! Here Comes the Sun!

Scopello, Sicily  May 2018 Photo by Meghan Rose Tonery

These are the cats that own the town of Scopello. Someone  would cook huge pots of pasta for them. See the one standing on two legs, eating his dinner.

This year we will be going to Galway and Silgo, Ireland. Another island culture.Can't wait to see the Burren with its wild orchids.

The Spring semester is over. It went by so quickly.  I worked constantly.  Now its time to recharge the battery and reflect on the year thus far. 

Looking forward to getting things in order now.  Set some summer goals besides maintaining the garden.  It's been a cold spring.  This past week, the weather alternated rain, then sun, then rain, then sun.  It's raining now. Yesterday, after attending St.John Fisher's graduation, Peter and I decided to do some errands.  We found a chicken house on the side of the road (in really good shape) and drove up
to the homeowner to see if he was selling it or giving it away.  Our good luck. Free!  So we stopped everything and figured out a way to drive the chicken house back to our house, which wasn't far away.  This little excursion could have been a total disaster. The chicken house in splinters in the middle of the road. Another hand of good luck, and we were able to make it back to our house without an incident.  Soon this will be a happy chicken house!

Recent publications:
 
https://the-otolith.blogspot.com/2019/02/mj-iuppa.html
Lyric essay and Poem.


https://eunoiareview.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/end-of-winter/
Poem

https://poppyroadreview.blogspot.com/search/label/M.J.%20Iuppa

Poem

https://amethystmagazine.org/?s=iuppa
Poem

I am grateful to all the editors who  have supported my writing, and have given me the opportunity to reach so many writers and readers worldwide.   It's been such a gift.

 
During poetry month, I only wrote a fistful of poems, not 30, as so many accomplish every year.
I only went to a couple of readings.  My energy is slowly coming back, so I am hoping I will have more get up and go through the summer months.

I have a lot to do now.  Time to switch gears and focus on things that are within reach.

Happy Mother's  Day!

Happy Fourth of July!

A beautiful sunny day, what more could we ask for? Happy Fourth of July!

Later today, family will be coming over.  We're BBQ-ing a homegrown Turkey, making potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, fruit salad, pasta salad, preseco with cranberry and peach mocktails "Bellini"
and general good cheer!


Gardens

We have been slogging our way in the gardens.  Hoeing has been a challenging exercise, but we're getting it done.

A large pumpkin plant has suddenly emerged in the yard, near a spot where we fed our turkeys last year, and they ate a lot of squash, zucchini, pumpkin.  In  the North garden, a lot of goddess given squash family plants have sprung up, and  instead of planting them in East garden, I have made an 'Isle of Green,' arranging these squash, cucumber, zucchini varieties in a heart shape around the large pumpkin plant. It looks quite pretty, and so far, everything has adjusted to the move.

Writing

 June went too quickly, and here it is the beginning of July. I have been diligent in keeping my morning hours. Writing for a couple of solid hours every day, mostly 100 word stories, in hopes of finishing the collection this summer.  I have been  fortune to have many of these micro stories picked up for publication in Otoliths, 100 word story, Jellyfish Review, Dime Show Review, Eunoia Review, Scarlet Leaf Review, Synaeresis Arts +Poetry, and others.

This past weekend, I finish a 3230 word story called "She Was a Good Listener." 

I have been enjoying myself, occupying these different landscapes and social interactions and characters' mindsets. Why they do what they do seems to be my motivation.  My fiction  is beady-eyed, I think.  It takes a hard look at characters behaving badly; yet, there is room to have empathy for them and their lives and how they think day to day to come up with a solution.