Far too big a word
to contain in three brief lines.
"Friend" flows endlessly.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Friend
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Freeze. Thaw. Freeze and thaw.
Stressed pavement cracks and crumbles.
Potholes ambush cars.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Thaw
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Beans split and sprouts climb
between glass and wet paper,
a childhood wonder.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Seed
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My dad went to Canada to teach high school when I was 3 years old. My own early schooling began in Canada. I could sing "O Canada" before I knew any U.S. anthems. In 1967, I celebrated the Canadian centennial with enthusiasm, singing Bobby Gimby's "Canada" song all over the house. My dad loved Canada, immersed himself in the culture while we lived there, and taught us to love it too. Family circumstances eventually brought us back to the U.S. side, where I have remained. But a chunk of my heart has always been Canadian. Canadians have every right to be outraged and angry! I hope they throw this insult right back in Trump's face!
[#]Canada
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I spent happy formative years of my childhood in Canada. My sister was born there, was a dual citizen, and returned to live there as an adult. Although I've lived my adult life on the U.S. side of the great lakes, my love of Canada has always remained part of me. Right now, I am ashamed of the treatment Canada has received from this corrupt regime in the White House. It hurts to see this beloved neighbor stabbed in the back.
Canada, stand your ground! Remain "the true north, strong and free!"
[#]Canada
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A classic work by W.E.B. Dubois, "The Gift of Black Folk", published in 1924.
From the author's Introduction -
"This essay is an attempt to set forth more clearly than has hitherto been done the effect which the Negro has had upon American life. Its thesis is that despite slavery, war and caste, and despite our present Negro problem, the American Negro is and has been a distinct asset to this country and has brought a contribution without which America could not have been; and that perhaps the essence of our so-called Negro problem is the failure to recognize this fact and to continue to act as though the Negro was what we once imagined and wanted to imagine him—a representative of a subhuman species fitted only for subordination."
Free public domain E-book available from Project Gutenberg -
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66398
Free public domain audiobook available from LibriVox -
https://librivox.org/the-gift-of-black-folk-by-web-du-bois/
[#]BlackHistoryMonth #BookRecommendations
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Batting peeking through
patchwork of scrappy colors.
Dad's quilt, loved to bits.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Quilt
This haiku is about a quilt we made for my dad, which I posted about a few days ago. There's a picture of it here -
https://mindly.social/@CommonSparrow/113909336571565453
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Salt crust gone. Cars gleam.
Hard black snow piles wash away.
Winter drizzle bathes.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Drizzle
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"Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times" by Eyal Press is a book I first read a dozen years ago. I've been thinking about it lately, because its lessons seem more relevant than ever in our present situation.
It's about the willingness of individuals to stand against the tide, to say, "Nope, not going along with this", when confronted with immoral or unethical demands.
What impact can a single person have? How can one person stop an avalanche? This book shows us cases where someone wasn't paralyzed by that question, but did the obviously right thing anyway, under the pressure of surrounding group conformity.
I wrote about this book in more detail at that time, in a book blog I was keeping then. I think I want to re-read it again now, and to recommend it to others.
https://mariasbooks.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/beautiful-souls/
[#]Books #BookRecommendations #Courage
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Nowadays, my quilting projects are little lap quilts, which I can handle well with my arthritic hands. Making them is a pleasant happy activity, putting little pieces together to make a whole pattern. And working with a group of other quilters turns it into a social occasion, which is very good in itself. And to top it off, we know the quilts will be going to people who will enjoy them. Altogether, an activity that boosts my spirits when I'm feeling low!
I started this series of quilting posts to distract me from political news tonight, and it worked! I've been pleasantly reminiscing about quilts all evening, and have cheered myself up a lot!
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[#]Quilting
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The most impressive quilt I ever made was a full-size Double Wedding Ring quilt for my sister's wedding. It was an adventure, because matching all the circlular arcs was challenging. And then quilting it was a whole other adventure. To add to the challenge, it's the largest quilt I ever made, and manipulating all that fabric through my little sewing machine was a hassle of its own. But the result was worth it. I've got to admit, I was proud of this one.
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My sewing machine is the same well-loved machine I've used ever since I was a teenager, a half-century ago. The machine was already 30 years old at that point. It had belonged to my Grandma, a gift from Grandpa in the early years of their marriage, and she happily passed it along to me.
It is a beautiful 1935 Singer Featherweight (picture attached). It works like a dream, despite its age. It has had all its wiring completely overhauled, because the old insulation was flaking off the wires. But otherwise, it's all original. The other members of the quilt group admire it whenever I haul it along to a quilt meeting. I still have the original instruction book and carrying case, too! The handle has broken off the case and been replaced with a rope handle, but that's okay.
It's not an antique to be kept on a shelf, but has been a practical working machine all its life, a useful life which still continues. So I love the machine itself, for its practical usefulness. But I also love its long history. When I use it, I have memories of sewing projects of my youth, and also memories of Grandma, and all of her sewing history before my time, all of which makes it special.
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[#]Sewing
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Today's Haiku prompt also reminded me of a poem which has been the screensaver on my desktop computer for the past few months.It's a meaningful reminder to pause when I start up my computer, and reflect on the poem for a moment before I launch into computer busyness.
The Way It Is
by William Stafford
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
[#]Poetry
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Today's haiku prompt - "thread" - reminded me of this excellent book -
"Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years" by Elizabeth Barber
I first read it nearly 30 years ago, and it has remained in my mind ever since. It's about the earliest history of spinning and weaving in the Bronze Age, and the role women played in developing these arts, and the role these arts played in the lives of women.
What has stayed in my mind all these years is the image of women everywhere with spindles and distaffs always in hand, spinning as they went through their days, spinning as they walked down the road, spinning as they sat beside cooking pots, spinning as they tended children, spinning as they visited and socialized. Spinning and spinning.
No wonder spinning played such a part in cultural memory, from the three Fates spinning the thread of a human life, to Ariadne's ball of thread in the labyrinth, to fairy tales like Rumplestiltskin.
Now that today's poem prompt has reminded me of that book, I think it's going on my reading queue, (after i finish all the books already in line!)
[#]Books #FiberArts
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Twenty thousand years,
spindles twirled in women's hands,
spinning threads of life.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Thread
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One of my lifelines these days is the #DailyHaikuPrompt. I used to write poetry in past years, but have not done so in a long time. This little nudge, each day, saying, "C'mon, just three lines, and you don't even have to come up with a topic", this has got me started writing again. And once started, I am turning to it eagerly, like a thirsty person to cool water. This is a small life-saving thing now, a light in the dark. (Thanks to whoever thinks up the daily prompts!)
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Good deep belly laugh,
out of breath, fall off your chair,
full body workout.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Mirth
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I have a well loved paperback book that was a Christmas gift from my dad fifteen years ago. He has been gone from this life for over seven years now, but I open the cover of the book, and there I still see his familiar handwriting, "Merry Christmas and God Bless from Daddy". I picked up that book this depressing week, because I needed it now.
The book is "An Altar in the World" by Barbara Brown Taylor. It always helps me come back to solid ground, to focus on the small beloved stuff of daily life. When the world is all too much for me, it reminds me to grasp the tangibles that I can rely on.
In the Introduction, she writes:
"Many years ago now, a wise old priest invited me to come speak at his church. ... 'Come tell us what is saving your life now'. ... It was as if he had swept his arm across a dusty table and brushed all the formal china to the ground. I did not have to try to say correct things that were true for everyone. ... All I had to do was figure out what my life depended on. ... My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them."
This question is insisting on my attention this week. "What is saving my life right now?" Where are the daily helpings of good crumbs that keep this sparrow nourished for that day, and then the next day?
I will be looking for those life-saving crumbs now, paying attention to what they might be.
[#]Books
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Anger, sharp-focused,
creates change, where rage, aimless,
finds no remedy.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Rage
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When the lights go out,
we fumble through dark cupboards
searching for candles.
[#]DailyHaikuPrompt - Candle
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