NaPoWriMo--DAY ELEVEN

NaPoWriMo PROMPT: Write a poem in which one or more flowers take on specific meanings.

Late Bloomers

I like coneflowers. 

Oh, sure, daffodils and crocus 

Relieve the dreary grays of winter. 

Primrose, lavender, rosemary, myrtle, lily. 

Daisy, violets, pansies 

Inspired Burns, Keats and Shelley. 

Everybody loves a rose. 

Their colors cheer, their perfumes soothe.

But coneflowers wait 

‘Til others fade in summer heat. 

Bringing smiles when they’re needed, 

They stand for strength, endurance, healing. 

Their pink petals catch the sunrise 

And persevere until sundown for days. 

Like pioneers of the prairies 

They survive and persist. 

And there in their center

A little hedgehog

Curls up for a nap.

(illustration is one of my watercolors.  See more here.)

April is National Poetry Month

NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April.

I've done this challenge before in 2015 and 2017. I published a few of my 2015 efforts and the whole 30 that I wrote with illustrations in 2017. Creating and publishing every day was time consuming and I decided I was too busy to try in 2020. At least I thought I was too busy a few weeks ago. But things change (sarcastic laugh). So come back in April and see what happens. I'll publish the prompts and my efforts but don't look for pictures every day.  Until then, here is one of my poems from March 2010.

MARCH

Rotten snow rusts.

Gardens and forests still sleep.

Wind’s iron fingers smear shadows.

We ache inside

Homesick for spring.

Hope you are all well and staying safe. Best wishes to you and your families.

National Poetry Writing Month website

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

I guess there is no one to blame

We're leaving ground

Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown.--Europe

Less than three days until the path of totality of Eclipse America passes over our town. I still can’t help wonder if it isn’t over-hyped fake news.

But there are big preparations for an invasion of apocalyptic magnitude here anyway. Reports from Yellowstone Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming are that hoards are arriving and backing up traffic for miles.

Here, not yet. 

No one has to stand in line for early morning donuts, made fresh daily.

Local businesses are extending hours and some which are usually closed on Sunday will open their doors to provide for the anticipated crowds of shoppers.

This probably has nothing to do with a solar eclipse but there are appearances of painted rocks in random places around town. Just a fun way to occupy those who have extra time on their hands in the summer.

The city decided months ago on an upgrade to Center Street and Main. They’ve replaced water lines, widened sidewalks and plan to put in new trees. "We are hoping the revitalization will attract more foot traffic and businesses," the mayor said. I think the plan was to have the construction crews out and the street paved by Eclipse Day.

They’re going to have to put in some overtime to make that deadline.

However, other construction and paving projects are finished and look great. Our own destroyed street is not included in that group.

The flowers which are placed on Main Street every year are at their peak.

This photo is added because I just liked the shadows cast by early morning sun.

Another non-eclipse photo. This one is of the big antique steam tractor in one of our parks. It’s a monument to the pioneer farmers who broke up the fertile ground covered with sagebrush, planted wheat and potatoes, and make this valley prosper.

These signs are everywhere.  All first responders are on high alert.

In our newest park the Vendor Village is gearing up for a weekend of business. Visitors and locals will have plenty of opportunity to shop in the perfect summer weather. Partly cloudy is the forecast for Eclipse Day. Hoping the only shadows from the sky cast on that morning will be from the moon.

PORCH ROCKERS--another version of a favorite subject

I've already painted and sold three other versions of this setting.  The location is our front porch where we enjoy spending long evenings watching the sky go from blue to pinks to deep violet.  Late summer is that time when all the hard work in the garden is paying off and it's finally time to enjoy the fruits of our labors.  The street in front of our house is narrow and is often used by runners, young families pushing strollers and friendly neighbors out for a walk.

I used reference photos I already had on file to create a composition, and then a full sized 11x14 inch sketch which I transferred to heavy watercolor paper.  Then I stapled the paper to gator board and masked out the areas I wanted to remain white.

After gently wetting down the whole thing I floated primary colors over the scene and let it dry.

I added another layer of colors after masking out another section and let it dry again.

Then I got so involved in my work that I forgot to take more photos.  So this is the final which I've put up for sale at Watercolors by Leenie.  I like this one a lot.  It will be hard to let it go, but I guess I can always make more.

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--Day Twenty Nine

A photo a day for thirty days.

Cashing in on the investment I made last fall in tulip bulbs.

The May sun--whom 

all things imitate-- 

that glues small leaves to 

the wooden trees 

shone from the sky 

through bluegauze clouds 

upon the ground. 

Under the leafy trees 

where the suburban streets 

lay crossed, 

with houses on each corner, 

tangled shadows had begun 

to join 

the roadway and the lawns. 

With excellent precision 

the tulip bed 

inside the iron fence 

upreared its gaudy 

yellow, white and red, 

rimmed round with grass, 

reposedly. 

William Carlos Williams

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--Day Seventeen

A photo a day for 30 days

Enter This Deserted House

But please walk softly as you do.
Frogs dwell here and crickets too.

Ain't no ceiling, only blue.

Birds dwell here and sunbeams too.

 Floors are flowers - take a few

Ferns grow here and daisies too.

 Whoosh, swoosh - too-whit, too-woo

Bats dwell here and hoot owls too.

 Ha-ha-ha, hee-hee, hoo-hoooo,

Gnomes dwell here and goblins too.

And my child, I thought you knew
I dwell here... and so do you.

Shel Silverstein

POPGRASS MUSIC?

Do you recognize the long jointed grasses behind Hamish in this photo?  Saying joint and grass in the same sentence may bring to mind something else, but I’m referring to what is called joint grass, pop grass, horse tail, and it goes by several other names.

 Pop grass grows in sections than can be easily pulled apart.

 With a little doing, the fresh, young pieces can be made into whistles.

Choose sections that are still juicy and the exposed ends are very pale green.

The bottom of each piece has a closed-off end that needs to be removed to form an open pipe.

 Different pieces can make different sounds but don’t expect mellifluous piping notes.  What comes out sounds more like a duck quack.

To get a sound out of a piece, the light colored end needs to be flattened so it will vibrate like an oboe reed.

 This can be easily done by pinching the end between your fingers.

 Place this flattened end in your mouth a little past the lips.  Flatten your lips around the reed and blow gently.

 As you can see the soft ends start to split up after a little use.  Blowing more than one at a time gives a nice truck or train horn sound.  Okay, maybe nice is not the right adjective, but it’s still fun unless you have to listen to a bunch of kids enjoying their new noise-makers.

 Hamish and other Forest Gnomes use them to call their duck friends.

 With a little effort, pop-grass bands can entertain a whole bunch of campers for quite a while.

HAMISH AND WILDFLOWERS 5 Yellow, Blue, Red

We sometimes forget nature can provide a wonderful variety of beauty without human assistance.  Outside our trailer home here at camp we have a whole garden of wildflowers with new ones blossoming almost every week with no effort on our part.

 This morning Hamish had Butter and Eggs for breakfast.  (As a review, Hamish is a Forest Gnome.  The habits and activities of gnomes are well documented in the best seller, Gnomes, by Huygen and Povrtvliet. Forest Gnomes are about six inches high.  Their hats add another three inches to their stature.)

 Butter and Eggs are cheerful yellow and white wild flowers which appear to be similar to garden snap dragons.  They grow from eight to two feet tall and bloom from July to September along highways and hillsides.

 Hamish is showing off a blue flower here called Monkshood.

Monkshood is found from Montana to British Columbia near springs and creeks.

These lovely flowers, and especially the roots, are seriously poisonous to livestock and have occasionally caused death to humans.

 It is easy to see by the shape why it they are named after the hoods worn by monks.

 We drove down the canyon to find a red flower.  Hamish said he gets car sick so he didn’t go along.

 This beauty is called Indian Paintbrush, or, to be more politically correct, Paintbrush, for obvious reasons.

 Sometimes they can be found in large patches in meadows.  In the late afternoon the whole place can look like it’s on fire.

 There was another reason why we went down the road to Robison Creek.  The place had been recommended by the beautician at the local beauty shop to be good place to find huckleberries.

 We found plenty of huckleberry bushes but the berries were small and far between.

An infestation of tent caterpillars and a hot June had done their damage.

 The ripe ones we found were tasty but not enough to fill a cup much less to make a pie or jam.  Maybe next year.

HAMISH AND WILDFLOWERS 4

I don’t bother to plant and care for flowers around our travel-trailer home near camp.  It seems every week there is some new flower blooming naturally nearby.

 By the fence in the area cleared for parking cars is a handsome patch of Fireweed. 

 This plant is called Fireweed because it crops up in burned areas after a forest fire.  It also grows in other disturbed areas, covering the scar and providing forage for grazers.

Hamish came along to demonstrate that Fireweed is usually big and tall enough to support the weight of a friendly gnome.

 Also growing tall and wild everywhere right now are stands of Goldenrod.  It is notorious for causing hay fever but the leaves were used by Native Americans to help heal their wounds and also the saddle sores on horses.

 Another yellow flower in bloom in open areas, and especially in dry soil, is the Wooly Yellow Daisy.

 This plant is covered with wooly hairs which help prevent evaporation of water from the leaves.

 Also flowering in dry areas is Wild Blue Flax.  Their seeds have a high oil content and can be roasted, dried or cooked with other foods.

 Linen is made from flax fibers.  In earlier times flax fiber was used to make cordage, rope and fishing line.

Linseed oil from flax seed is used in paint, printers’ ink and varnish.  This may explain why I saw this flower cultivated and growing thick in fields on the way to camp.

Acres of Blue Flax make for a scenic photo with an azure sky and the silhouette of the Grand Teton Mountains filling in the background.

 Along with our garden of wild flowers we have noisy busy neighbors.  This catbird sent out a chorus of “meows” from high above.

 And squirrels cuss at us from the trees when they don’t have their mouth full of pinecones.