Homer Odyssey – Two Haikus
Posted on July 5, 2013 2 Comments
Haiku 3 – Moab Fourth
Ephemeral lights
rainbow brilliant expansions
hypnotic fireworks
I managed to smile after surviving five lane highway driving from Provo, Utah, through Salt Lake City to Ogden, Utah where the mountains create a beautiful backdrop. I’ve avoided freeway driving during my short driving experience but this trip is placing me on several freeways. I’m happy that when I reach my destination I will not have to live the freeway lifestyle.
Haiku 4 – Freeway Driving
Speeding vehicles
rush through life on automatic
precious moments missed.
Homer Odyssey – Arches National Park – Haiku #2
Posted on July 4, 2013 12 Comments
Wind and time sculpt rock
towers and arches sublime
sing silent anthems.
We observed July 4th by celebrating one of this country’s natural treasures, Arches National Park, just outside of Moab. These are just a few of the beautiful structures we saw.
Odyssey to Homer, Alaska – Haiku 1 – Moab
Posted on July 3, 2013 9 Comments
Heat seeps into pores
walk beneath Moab’s towers
tasty food beckons.
Moab, Utah is a tourist town and we’re staying here for two days. These photos capture a little of the feel of the town. As for tasty food, I had a portobello mushroom M.O.A.B. (Mother of all burritos) at Miguel’s Baja Grill. And I finally experienced the velvet taste of mole sauce covering the huge burrito.
The Constancy of Change – Haiku
Posted on June 30, 2013 8 Comments
The Pain of Packing.
Tears well with moving. Loved space melts to memory. Adventure awaits.
For the past two weeks I have been consumed with packing, the photos speak 1,000 words. This is the biggest move of our lives and has required that we literally give up a lot of stuff. In many ways, moving is a little like dying. We’re giving up things we’ve grown attached to, leaving a home we loved, leaving people we’ll never see again.
We’re going into a new and unexplored land. Fortunately, though, we have heard from people who live in Homer, we’ve seen pictures of it, so we can look forward to this new home. On Monday, the movers arrive and pack up everything. On Tuesday, we leave the center of the Universe, Hopiland, and begin our 16 day journey to the cosmic hamlet by the sea, Homer, AK. I look forward to sharing this adventure with you.
A Poem – Sleep
Posted on June 23, 2013 8 Comments
On full moon nights, for some strange reason, I often feel very tired. Or maybe this time, a week of packing books and moving stuff for a garage sale has left every bone in my body weak and exhausted. So, the following poem is quite appropriate for today.
SLEEP
Sleep is my lover.
He embraces me
with warm darkness.
The hush of
his quiet breath
over my mouth
devours desires
in surreal dreams.
Moving to Alaska’s Cosmic Hamlet by the Sea
Posted on June 16, 2013 19 Comments
Yesterday morning, as I did my yoga, I felt a stab of sadness and loss because we are leaving our spacious three bedroom home in the “center of the universe” Hopiland, to begin a new life in Homer, Alaska, the cosmic hamlet by the sea. Also known as the “end of the road” because the Sterling Highway literally ends when it hits the sea on Homer’s Spit, the second longest spit in the world. According to wikianswers, “A spit is a landform made by the deposit of (commonly) sand by the movement of tides. One end is attached to the mainland and the other is out in open water.”
And why are we moving to Alaska? The community hospital there wants me to join their team as an OB/Med-Surg nurse. I will be doing exactly the same work I did at the Hopi Health Care Center.
Now we are packing, a very arduous process for two writers, a visual artist, and a storyteller to pare down 15 years of living together creating art and stories, collecting dolls, buying clothes. But, moving to Alaska is a very expensive journey, so we have to let go of a lot of stuff.
We’re also driving over 2,000 miles. We’ll be leaving Polacca, AZ on July 3rd taking a leisurly drive stopping in Moab and Heber City, Utah; Twin Falls, Idaho; Baker City, Oregon; and Yakima, Wahington. In Bellingham, Washington, on July 12th we’ll catch the Alaska Ferry for a 2 ½ day, three night ride to Haine Alaska, with our car on board. Then we drive about 200 miles through the edge of Canada’s Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska for another 700 miles or so to Homer.
You can actually see the Spit in live time by clicking onto this link – http://hallobay.com/Web_Cam.htm and see what it looks like now compared to the photo above.
Poetic Musings
Posted on June 9, 2013 12 Comments
Yesterday, nostalgia overcame me as I culled through my letters file, going back to the late eighties. I see how time has flown and wonder why we who used to share so much, so seldom speak or write today. Is it true that time is speeding up or that technology and distance make friends become acquaintances?
Of friends and family
and passing time
moments shared
line by line
letters written
days gone by
trips trials
treasured and told
words on paper
valued more
than gold.
But, on the other hand –
A new energy
pushes me forward
like the morning sun
rising over the mountains.
Cannot be stopped.
This surging tide of motion
propels me like
an arrow
straight into the heart
of creativity.
Free Write Friday – The Seed
Posted on June 7, 2013 19 Comments
It’s been a few weeks since I had the time to participate in Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday. Below is the prompt and the short story that just came to me immediately. Enjoy.
You’re young. You are standing in front of a shop window watching something on the black and white television inside. A woman grabs your hand and runs down the street, pulling you along…
The Seed
Mama always let me stand outside and look at all of the TVs when she went to the appliance store. Usually, I could see all of my favorite cartoons, or maybe Superman. But, today they all had the same thing on them and I couldn’t understand it. There was the high school my big brother went to and soldiers with guns stood all around it. I didn’t have to go to school today because I had to go to the dentist. Then Mama had to go to the store before she took me back to school. She came rushing out of the store and grabbed my hand.
“Mama, why are there soldiers standing outside the high school? Did someone invade?” I felt smart using that big word Mike explained to me just yesterday.
“Boy, come on and hurry up, we got to get home before trouble starts.”
She practically dragged me across the street, she was running so fast.
Of course, that night, it was the dinner conversation, about the Negro kids who tried to get into the high school. And that was when the seeds of my career in Civil Rights law began.
Change Coming – and a Poem
Posted on June 2, 2013 9 Comments
I’ve been writing this blog from the Hopi nation for almost two years. I began sharing my oral stories and have evolved into sharing my creative writing, which seems to attract more followers. But, the winds of change have been blowing daily in Hopiland for over a month and they have blown into my life. Once again my husband, Brian, and I will soon be off to another great adventure. Look to receiving more details soon.
For today, I’m sharing a short poem, based on a photograph I saw, as I’ve never been to Egypt. This was published in an issue of Poetry Iowa several years ago.
Sunset on the River Nile
Gold fades into orange-ebony shades
Night descends gently as mother’s hand
pulling a quilt over naked chests.
Centuries of dreams repose in liquid arms
where tears fall dry as salt on silent sands.
What is Happenning in Istanbul?
Posted on June 1, 2013 1 Comment
I got this blog from La Vie Et La Danse. I was shocked and saddened to read it and think others should be aware of what is happening in Turkey.
Skywalker Storyteller Works 