Friends Forever

"The dead never grieve. Their comfort, our strife." - from poems by my sister Tamara

The recent photo (above) was taken at Kwomais Point Park in Ocean Park. It's a place of contemplation where, beneath changing skies, one can muse about days gone by. 

My siblings were considerably older and busy with their lives so I filled time with picture books and imaginings in my early pre-school years until a girl across the way became my dearest friend. We invented games and shared clothes; strangers thought we were twins. We spend every possible moment together until suddenly she no long wanted to play. I never understood why and I cried for days. It seemed a little piece of me broke off due to the shock. I still don't know how closeness can turn so cold. This now grown woman, wherever she is, likely had/has no idea of her impact on me. But perhaps I've done similar to another. We rarely consider the magnitude of our power, I thought, prompted by the Poets and Storytellers United suggestion to "write about someone who made an impression on you as a child (for good or ill)".

   

Over the years I've had other dear friends, mostly human but a few pets as well. Some more enduring than others. Now I'm older I've seen some pass away. I try not to dwell on sad endings but rather the spectrum of snapshot moments that comprise differing lives and relationships. They'll be ghostly clouds in my head until I, too, drift away.

   

Above are old photos of me with two of our family pets, Bubbles (left) and Oliver (right). In times of stress and joy, they brought comfort to our home.

   

Beneath the umbrella (above) is my longtime much-loved friend, Kay, who recently passed away. We encouraged one another for decades prior to blogging. Her site still lives on. You might enjoy visiting it at: An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

Family Day With Pets & Poetry

President's Day in the US is Family Day in Canada. School was out and many went walking with kids and pets. An eagerness for Spring was in the Crescent Beach air. 

While we dream of shedding coats, trees dream of leaves to dress up their branches.

Benches lured passersby to pause and breathe in the coastal scenery but few stopped.

Many families include pets and mine was no exception. Skippy was one of my earliest. I wrote about him when I was a child. Even then I couldn't resist a good rhyme. 

I have a dog his name is Skippy

He's really cute and sometimes frisky

Curly hair is what he's got

Bark he does but not a lot

He likes to follow me each day

Mostly when I go to play

I love my Skippy indeed I do

This I know he loves me too

The Poets and Storytellers United prompt "through discipline comes freedom” didn't result in a poem but merely the thought that it is often uncomfortable and requires discipline to learn new skills. But once achieved, they can provide certain freedoms. Learning words provides greater freedom of expression, learning to drive provides freedom of travel, learning musical notes provides freedom to play an instrument, learning to listen frees the mind of prejudices and leads to better understanding. Indeed, it is clear that there are endless freedoms to gain through discipline.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

Hush-Hush & Confidential

Every house has built-in secrets.

Even clouds and the heavens have stories they keep to themselves.

Just as trees whisper secrets to the leaves, we whisper confidences to one another.

Secrets are guarded by scruples but the mind is a locked box that can be picked.

All creatures have hidden lives and although some things are best left private, it's no secret that male seahorses uniquely give birth and only about five in one-thousand offspring survive. Encountering a live seahorse is harder than keeping a secret.

Although a high ratio of secrets are spilled, many go to the grave, even the darkest ones that needed some light. The Poets and Storytellers United prompt "telling secrets" gave me lots to ponder on my recent walk. How good are any of us at keeping them?

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

If I Were A Cloud

The Poets and Storytellers United prompt "silver linings", symbolizing optimism, reminded me of hopefulness not so fanciful as in youth. More resilient and perhaps "realistic", my silver lining is not broken but a bit less shiny nowadays.

The top and next two photos below were taken last year I think at around this time.

This is what the sky looked like in a large puddle after the rain.

   

And since we are speaking of silver linings, the upcoming movie An Optimist's Guide to the Planet focuses on human-made clouds and more to combat climate change. The brief trailer (below) could give even the ardent pessimist a reason to smile.

     

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, and SKYWATCH. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT