Here I am,   sixty-eight. You still ask. Not what my name is, not whether I am from here, nor even how I know those you also know.  No. What matters, what gives you satisfaction is letting me know that you know what I am.  “Are you Chumash?” No, Lady. Deduct a point from your score. Peace and love.  -30- Sharing with Friday Writings  hosted by Poets and Storytellers United.

(1) Let’s see, today, for our main meal the Husband and I ate a melange of five left over dishes from the last two days, or three. Or, four. Garbanzo butternut soup, couscous with chimichurri sauce, sauteed onion and squash, ground turkey   burgers, and roasted red and green peppers. The flavors blended quite well together, surprisingly and with great relief. We ate our portions all up. No leftovers, hurrah! (2) To go along with our meal I concocted an ooh-la-la drink. Passion fruit juice with a jigger of rum. Ooh la la! (3) The Husband and I toasted to the last day of our 25th year of marriage. Tomorrow: Hello 26th!  Clink, clink.   (4) Maybe next year we will be dancing with our friends and family to celebrate our 27th anniversary. I also would like us to throw a party for the septuagenarians among us. We shall see. (5) The last two weeks I’ve been working on my entries for the county fair. That’s some of the craft entries in the photo above.  (6) Yep, that’s a juicer. Good friend L.

The poem I wrote last week settled something deep inside me. It also opened a gate of craziness, a joyful one.  I wrote, I painted, I breathed.  So, today, I’m sharing this post with Art for Fun Friday , hosted by Gillena at Lunch Break  and Friday Writings , hosted by Poets and Storytellers United.    For  Art for Fun Friday : A month or so ago I bought a package of canvasses of different sizes online. I didn’t read the descriptions carefully so disappointment was mine when they were delivered to our door. I thought they would be canvasses stapled to frames. Oh, well. Next time. They were cheap, so I kept them for those times I want to throw caution to the side and let the visual artist in me explore, experiment, enjoy.  Wow, I really said that: artist. It did not come easy to believe. Okay, back to topic. This painting is Exploration #1.  Yesterday, I globbed pastels, crayons, and acrylic makers onto an 8x10 canvas. Yuck. Today, I turned the painting upside down and continued onward,

(1) How hot is it? Well, the Husband is wearing a tank shirt and shorts and walking around the house barefoot. I pretty much do that every day, but not him. (2) It has been seven days of temperatures in the high 90s and triple digits! The iPad won’t charge any further than 80 percent when it’s this hot. If the weather guys are to believed, we’ll feel the last of 100+ degrees today. Knock on wood, cross my fingers. This excessive heat is uncommon for our area. I’m thankful it’s unaccompanied with oppressive humidity. (3) We’ve managed to get by without the the air conditioner or heading to a cooling center. Doing the old-fashioned practice of closing and opening curtains to the sun and staying inside have made it bearable. It also helps that we have a big shady tree in front and a bunch of fruit trees in the back.  (4) We’re one of the few homes that have mature trees on our street. I wouldn’t be surprised if some neighbors wished we’d remove our trees. Earlier this year, a neighbor sen

You could do no wrong  in her eyes,  so I thought. Maybe you thought the same way about me. There was no competition of who was the better.  You were always the first born, the son. Me, the daughter who lived. We were her children. She wanted for us to care for each other to look after each other without asking, without having to try. That’s all.  Where ever you are, may you be living in joy and love. And, peace.   -30- Sharing with Friday Writings , hosted by Poets and Storytellers United .

My latest painting experiment was slathering, scraping, and scratching acrylic colors with a palette knife. Scritch, scritch….scrape, scrape… scratch…scratch…skritch… scrape….I love the sound of painting. I’m sharing with Art for Fun Friday , hosted by Gillena at Lunch Break . ❤️