Category Archives: Life Lessons

day 218

This little missy had an impromptu bath this evening. Read on for the rest of the story!
Gabby-Pooooo!

Gabby, my dog, rolled in deer shit today
she smiled at me, then pranced through the door
why she did it, who knows, I can’t say
Gabby, my dog, rolled in deer shit today
off to the washtub we went straight away
putrid, green goo, it was hard to ignore
Gabby, my dog, rolled in deer shit today
she smiled at me, then pranced through the door

~kat

The poem tells the story! I didn’t happen to get the before photo. I was too busy corralling Gabby into the washroom. She had done a good job of it. I assumed it was an herbivore (likely a deer) based on the green tinge that needed extra scrubbing once I got the bulk of it cleared away. Gross!!! She’s done this a few times before. I’m sure there is an animal behavior that explains this awful practice. And I am quite sure she does not consider it awful or gross. When she came inside she was quite pleased with herself, a big smile on her face begging for a treat for being a good girl. 

Okay…so, you know me. I had to look it up. Apparently it has to do with scent marking; channeling her inner wolf. This I can relate to. I’m on a similar path myself. Learning to deprogram all the BS that this world imposes on us from the time we’re born to become civilized. Lately I’ve been returning to my roots, entertaining my wilder, intuitive side. I’m remembering who I really am, shedding the labels that the world has used to define me. Thank goodness my journey doesn’t involve rolling in poop! But it does get messy sometimes. Messy is not always a bad thing. 

So…does this revelation count as a glimmer? I’ll take it! It’s a confirmation to me that I am on the right track. 

As for Gabby, she’s definitely a glimmer, all scrubbed and sanitized and cute as ever. If I look close enough I can see her “wolf” side simmering behind those dark eyes of hers. She can smell a skunk passing by outside through insulated walls in the middle of the night. ( I speak from experience! ). It is a reminder to me to listen to that wild side of myself, and to trust my intuition as well.

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨💩💩💩


Poetry form: the Triolet

Elements of the triolet:

A (first line)
B (second line)
a (rhymes with first line)
A (repeat first line)
a (rhymes with first line)
b (rhymes with second line)
A (repeat first line)
B (repeat second line)


day 217

fully nested

the phoebes are nesting once again
a brood to fledge before the fall
the dawn is filled with phoebe calls
“feee-bee! feee-bee!” their sweet refrain
a brood to fledge before the fall
the phoebes are nesting once again

~kat

This evening I noticed a phoebe bird perched atop the nest crafted this past spring. I read that Phoebes actually have more than one brood a season. First to arrive in early spring and last to leave in mid-fall to winter in Central America, this pair of phoebes has been choosing the light fixtures on our house to nest for several years now.  They are hearty, resilient little birds. Over the years we have watched them persist in the face of inclement weather and wind. Their young have not always survived but these little birds rebuild again and again. It is said that they symbolize patience, persistence, and new beginnings.  An inspiration to us all to press on toward our goals even in challenging times! 

I don’t have a photo of this budding brood yet… (posted above is the same nest from earlier this year) but it is certainly a glimmer of hope. What I also have is a tiny clip of the hummingbirds jousting just outside my window while I work. Today started started and ended in glimmers. I hope you too have many days like this as well! 

Much love, peace, and multiple glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


Today’s Poetry Form: the Biolet

The rhyme scheme of the biolet thus can be expressed as ABbaBA (with the capital  letters representing the repeated lines).  Length of each line can vary but works best when it follows an iambic cadence.


day 216

rock-a-bye moon
the stars have run out
of wishes…the fat lady
sang her song, but no one
was listening…the fiddler
had played them to sleep
and a thousand suns faded to black

~kat

It was one on those days. My phone ringing off the hook. Hours talking family members through stuff. I must’ve hung out my “Mom is in” sign in the clouds. It is rare that I get an actual phone call. These days the preferred mode of communication is text. It’s lovely to be needed. Years after they have grown and started lives and families of their own, a simple phone call is a wonderful thing…a voice…not text shorthand and emojis on a screen. Needless to say I launched immediately into mom mode. It’s the little things, isn’t it?

I tend to lean toward chronicling the times we’re living in through poetry, and my writing. That’s why glimmers have become an important detour for me. Today, it was o phone call. And of course Gabby too. She keeps me from going over the edge.

A silly Gabby…As if to say…why so serious mom? Why indeed! She just might be an angel…

Magnetic Poetry Online – Original Kit


day 214

two tanka tango

i had never danced
with such wild abandon
no, i wasn’t drunk
i was mortified…distressed
there was no music playing
it was quite a scene
some gawked in horror, some laughed
at me…spinning round
flailing limbs, tossing my hair
spider web stuck to my face

~kat

I had my eye exam today. The word exam is a misnomer I think. It’s not the sort of thing one studies for. I don’t know that I’ve ever failed. But age is dimming my once sharp vision. Every year my prescription gains a percentage or two. In the world of eye health, higher numbers are not a good thing. But these days we have the technology to keep the lens lightweight and slim. So, it’s not so bad. 

Of course that leads me to my next daunting task…picking out a new pair of glasses. There are hundreds to choose from. Hundreds. And only a few that I can bear the looks of…actually I can barely see them. I take a photo on my phone and then look at myself using my current inadequate glasses. Invariably the one I settle on is the most expensive. But I tell myself, I deserve to treat myself every now and again. And I have good insurance that covers half. It’s a chore. And the fact that I’m saying that makes me sound old…cranky about the extra effort it takes to get along in the world.

I’m chuckling to myself, thinking, it’s come to this now hasn’t it… I am struck by the fact that I am so fortunate to be here. Fortunate to be able to do mundane things, to follow a schedule (if I forget, my animal friends remind me to tend to them at least), to have a job that pays the bills, to have friends and family. 

So, my eyes are going, my joints ache, and my hair is thinning from my head and growing on my chin. But I am alive and relatively healthy. For the time it took to consider all this, to write a silly poem, to collect a photo for today’s glimmer…I almost forgot that the world around me is crumbling. And I realize too, that even if everything ends as we know it, they can’t take away the memory of today. A good day. I’m getting new glasses after all. That first step outside is always a stunner when I look at the trees and see each leaf clear as day. Something to look forward to. That’s how I get through times such as these. Moments count. 

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you.

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


Today’s glimmers are some old favorites. One can never get enough bunny and hummingbird mojo!


day 213 ~ a ReVerse Poem

day 113 ~ a ReVerse Poem

as ignorant blind fools sleep
along the forest edge I went
I refuse to blend into oblivion
Obviously, it’s clear as swamp water
done and kept anonymous
potted plants are not still life

~kat

Well, this week’s ReVerse will make you think. I tell myself that I should not try too hard to make sense of it. After all, it’s just six lines lifted from the poems written over the past 6 days. Six lines. 

To say ‘it’s been a week’ is a loaded statement for sure. It’s been months of unbelievably insane weeks. No need to wait for the left shoe to drop…it’s been raining left shoes. 

That said, hope feels like a very brave thing to do. In those moments in between hopelessness I have glimmers to keep me.  I hope you are able to embrace the glimmers in your life as well. Be assured you are not alone. 

Much love and peace to you…and glimmers, especially glimmers!

~kat

✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨