Sunday, Sunday and All is Calm

Woke early this morning to continue catching up with the promises I must keep.  So far into this New Year, I'm doing well; enjoying the solitude of winter and having time to think and write and draw.  By the time December 20th, 2013 arrived, I was spent.  I was ready to be put into a box and mailed anywhere but here. Not that I don't love what I do, I do love this one and only life, but enough is enough.  Sometimes work isn't the answer. I think I learned where my watermark is last semester. I accomplished a lot and the work was good work, but the hours were grueling.  I like the peacefulness of now.  My humor, quirky as it is, is finally coming back, and with it, inspiration to write every day. 

I confess I have been having fun on this break.  On emails, I have received notices from journals and competitions, with specific themes, such as: Spring and Lightheartedness.  Oh goodness, I am not in either mood.  Spring means another year of the garden(s) and Lightheartedness seems other worldly because I've been doing white knuckle driving for the past two days. So, I'm not sure if I can conjure up a mind of Spring, not yet. I'm thinking about today.  We have had reports of a lot of snowy owls in the area and I want to see one.  I plan on  going for a long walk along the lake in hopes of finding Hedwig.

Some have seen several stationed on pier pilings at Charlotte Beach and Braddocks Bay. So in an hour or so, I will venture out.

Upcoming Readings:
Just Poets First Reading of the New Year
Barnes & Noble Pittsford
Thursday, January 9, 2014

Bart White (Just Poets' President) reads from his books in progress, Love's Labors and Elegies, followed by open mic.  *** Not to be missed.  White's poems will inspire us all.




Writers & Books
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

PRICE:
Member's Price: $ 3.00
General Public Price: $ 6.00

Genesee Reading Series: Peter Conners & Peter Lovenheim

Hosted by: Wanda Schubmehl

Location: WAB – 740 University Ave.

Peter Lovenheim is a journalist whose articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, New York magazine, and other publications. He teaches writing in the Department of English at Rochester Institute of Technology. He holds a degree in journalism from Boston University and in law from Cornell Law School. In addition to his most recent book, In the Neighborhood, he is author of a previous work of narrative non-fiction, Portrait of a Burger as a Young Calf, a first-hand attempt to understand the food chain. He has written essays and short stories, and is author or co-author of several books for the general reader about mediation and conflict resolution, including Mediate, Don’t Litigate: Strategies for Successful Mediation, with Lisa Guerin, and Becoming a Mediator: Your Guide to Career Opportunities, with Emily Doskow, both from Nolo Press. His book Reading Between the Lines, selected and edited with Rabbi David Katz, is a collection of contemporary stories—modern midrash—based on the Hebrew Bible. He has three children and lives in Rochester, New York.
Peter Conners is author of seven books of nonfiction, poetry, and fiction including his most recent titles, Growing Up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead (Da Capo Press, 2009), White Hand Society: The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary & Allen Ginsberg (City Lights, 2010) and JAMerica: An Oral History of the Jam Band Scene (Da Capo Press, 2013). He is Publisher of the award-winning non-profit literary press BOA Editions.
*** This too not to be missed.  What a great line up for January.

Five Days into the New Year

Photo by K. Iuppa , 2014

We may experience a winter from our past.  So far we have had a lot of snow, cold and Arctic wind.  This is Lake Ontario.  On New Year's day you could see the waves  rising  on the horizon  in sawtooth fashion. Waterspouts closer to shore.  By the second day of January, Ontario had changed drastically-- the ice  is making its way to Canada.

What Are You Doing For New Year's Eve?

Photo by P. Tonery, Post Ice Storm, December 23, 2013.

New Year Weather Report:  It's going to get cold and colder still. In the first days of the New Year, we're going to lose sight of  the thermometer.  Brrrr. 

Merry Christmas to All!

photo by Matt Jepson,  December 2013

Prayer Card for The Winter Solstice

Prayer Card for The Winter Solstice

POETRY PACIFIC: 2 Poems by M. J. Iuppa

POETRY PACIFIC: 2 Poems by M. J. Iuppa

Two winter poems recently posted on Poetry Pacific.  
Special thanks to the editors.

Silent Night . . .

Winter Moon Over Lake
photo by K. Iuppa


Mid-december.  The semester is over. I'm tired but my heart is glad. I went to bed early last night,wanting the sleep of bears.  Woke up around 3:30 a.m., which  has been my customary hour this semester. When the house is quiet, I can accomplish a lot before the day is underway. I have always  liked the privacy of early morning, even when my children were babies.  Those velvety hours alone with them are some of my favorite memories.

We have so much snow.  The orchard has taken on blue light. Silhouettes of deer grazing on fallen apples. They say we're going to have a real winter this year.  Maybe so. It's been needle cold and the wind  has been pressing down, every night for the past week. I listen to our farmhouse inhale & exhale  in its effort to hold its ground.  I often wonder if we will be swallowed up by the wind and taken far, far away.  I have dreams like that, floating  in the space between land and clouds; sometimes floating above clouds. I'm weightless and carefree.  I smile in these dreams.  Last night was a perfect full moon night.  So cold and sparkly.