Category Archives: Essays

January 21, 2016

Echoes of my Neighborhood

By Kat Myrman

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Happy Thursday! And another installment of Echoes of my Neighborhood in response to the challenge from my friend Jacqueline of the blog, a cooking pot and twisted tales.

I have worked in Admin for my entire career (decades…though I won’t mention how many!) and for the most part my working space has been located in a dark corner cubicle…or in an office with no windows. During the winter seasons it was not uncommon for me to spend an entire day never seeing sunlight, because I would leave before sunrise and return home after sunset. I have always packed my lunch as well, so I would often eat in front of my computer screen while catching up on emails or the news of the day.

So you can imagine my delight to now have a window seat of the Blue Ridge Mountains each day. My current office setting is still a cubicle (in that I am partitioned from other staff members by temporary walls), but an entire WALL of glass flanks my left! Floor to ceiling windows! I love, love, love my new digs! (well actually not new, new…been here for almost 4 years now). It doesn’t matter to me if the sun is shining or if it is raining or snowing. I don’t even care anymore that in the winter I still leave at dawn and return home after dusk. At any time during the day I can glance to my left and see that there is a beautiful world out there with trees and clouds and a sky. It has made a huge difference in my life resulting in less stress. I suppose after decades of dedicated pecking at keyboards and answering phones I have earned this esteemed spot. 🙂 At any rate, I am quite happy in my little corner of the world and happy too, to share it with you! 🙂

35 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Random Thoughts and Musings

January 17, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse ~ 17 January 2016

By Kat Myrman

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It’s Sunday, and time to lift a thought or two from each post of this past week. What an interesting week it was!

Several photo fiction challenges took rather dark turns. Overcast settings, abandoned places. Something in the air…or maybe the water? The word prompts were slightly more upbeat, but I was already on a downward spiral, so it’s understandable that my own dark side reared its head, taking out a few unsuspecting ice crystals along the way. So sorry you had to witness that! 😜

Unsolved cases, happy rescues, wrongs righted, criminals thwarted… thingifications (not to be confused with thingamajigs or thingamabobs) – hey, it’s a word. Someone on the internet said so! And remembering to breath while the moon keeps secrets to herself amidst big foot sightings. I do hope you’re breathing right now…I am feeling a bit breathless after all that!

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It does seem a bit strange looking back this week. I feel a tad bit like Alice (of wonderland fame). But all is well. And it’s all good. For someone who loves words and writing them, it was a very good week indeed!

On an administrative note, I decided to tweak this series’ title to “Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse” …a combination of two words “review/repeat” and “verse”. This weekly series has been and continues to be a work in progress after all.

So there you have it. And here it is, my look back, line by line, at the week that was.

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse ~ 17 January 2016

He never played hide and seek again.
Fire and ice collide at dawn.
Hope springs eternal
if not for the rain.
mystified wide-eyed dreamers
you hope for admiration…
Old moon growing dark
Between once upon
“Yeah yeah, well here’s what ya’ came for.”
Welcome to my world!
“Are you okay ma’am?”
is a utopian myth
imagining him human
A reckless notion
‘oft uttered by “tools”
in a world filled with suffering, how tragic.
He was old school.

~ kat

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate.

 

12 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Week in Review

January 10, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Verse – 10 January 2016

By Kat Myrman

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Happy Sunday! Time to look back at the previous week in verse to see where I’ve been as I get ready for the coming week. I love the theme of this week. Looking back at the week that was, I must admit I was exhausted by the time Friday rolled around. Work was a stressful task-master. And my nights, as a result, were fitful bouts of restlessness. But to look at the verses below, one would think life is my oyster…no worries…it’s all good. WHAT?! How did I manage to write so many lovely positive things when my mind felt like it was spinning out of control?

And then it hit me. I am a generally positive, optimistic person. Circumstances and the appearance of things can’t change that. The words that flew out of my heart and mind represent the real me. And perhaps the me that kept me from completely losing it in the midst of such a crazy week. When people ask me why I write, this is IT in a nutshell. Writing gives me balance, keeps me sane and provides an occasional intervention by reminding me who I am. Writing is soul-speak. With that, I give you this week in verse. It makes me smile. Hope it makes you smile too. Have a great week!

Sunday’s Week in Verse – 10 January 2016

Pursuit of bliss is all the rage
Anything MAGIC has to be good, right?
So the wheels started turning…
Banana Bread 🙂
Seeing is too much pressure!
Is not a destination a continuum?
We hang our hope on this one thing
So go out there and find it
Looking forward to a great 2016!
Her heart skipped a beat.
They deserved to be happy.
Echoes of my Neighborhood
Punctuated by sweet giggles
He was a pretty good listener
Cheesecake, just a taste!
I can tell you it’s the dinky-di.

~kat

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate. 

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Week in Review

January 4, 2016

New Glasses

By Kat Myrman
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I love getting new glasses. I picked mine up the other day, assuring the clerk that I would be okay wearing them right out of the store, rather than easing into them as she suggested.

“Just pack up my old glasses. I’ll wear these home.” I said. With a raised eyebrow and an accommodating smile she packed up the old glasses and sent me on my way.

I would be fine. I had just read the friggin’ bottom line of smaller than fine print text on the “Try Out Your New Glasses” laminated card. These glasses were AWESOME!

What a rush it was the see the world for the first time, again, through a new set of specs. There were actually pebbles in the pavement…oh…hello there. It was a little closer than I remembered. I’ll get used to that. Watch your step Kat. The curb was taller too. Don’t look down. Just don’t look…down. Oooops. There’s the car. Needs a wash. I’ll have to get to that this weekend.

But oh…the sky and clouds! They looked so clear. And the trees. What leaves that were left…there were LEAVES on the trees. The street signs had words on them. And the yellow line was actually a yellow LINE not a smudge that I imagined an impressionistic public works worker painted on a binge.

Some would say, don’t drive until you are adjusted to your new glasses. But considering that I couldn’t see the signs or the road before, I think that’s a bit backwards.

I made it home. Did you have any doubt? Couldn’t wait to sit with a cup of tea, relax and read a book or the paper without squinting.

But my dream of utopia was quickly dashed.

Wow! look at the dust on the piano. And on the side tables…the mantle…the television screen…the peace lily plant…the cloth furniture. And the slingers! Slinger is code for slobber – a term used by the crazy owners of English Mastiffs who are masters at slinging slimy slobbers in the most interesting places…like there, on the framed photo of Aunt June…right there on the edge of her mouth…GAG! There’s a ring around the tub…and rust stains in the bowl. Bug remnants on the windows and goo on the countertops.

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Master Slinger, Maxwell Robert, demonstrating his impressive looped slobber slinging skills. One shake of his head and…

After the initial shock, I regained my equilibrium, dug my old glasses out of my purse, and settled down with a cup of tea and that book. Don’t mind my squinting. I manage just fine squinting. Seeing is too much pressure!

kat ~ 4 January 2016

27 Comments | posted in Essays, Humor, Random Thoughts and Musings

January 3, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Verse – 3 January 2016

By Kat Myrman

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Happy 2016! This week’s review is balanced on the cusp of the past and the future…2015 and 2016…out with the old and in with the new! I found myself feeling ever mindful of the present moment. To pause, to breathe and to savor the bliss and happiness to be found in the messiness of life. What a ride! Fasten your seat belts kiddos! Here we go! 🙂

Sunday’s Week in Verse – 3 January 2016

It’s all vanity
Live a life of much less stress
fading petals left there hanging.
Now, I’m not so sure…
like tender kisses
find bliss.
I’m so happy for you…
I think you’re gonna want to see this!
Forget your plans and silly lists
Did you know that is a thing?!
I think I’ll call it “Purple Haze!”
Free souls will spill out.
Jars of savory, sweet spice
The best containers…
life, precious, messy life, is so worth living!

kat ~ 3 January 2016

If you’re new to this blog, a bit of background to explain the verse above. It is a line from each poem or prose from the previous week. Lifted and placed in the order written. A snapshot review of the week. It helps me to prepare for the upcoming week with a clean slate. 

15 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Week in Review