Category Archives: Random Thoughts and Musings

January 31, 2016

Late

By Kat Myrman
141-01-january-31st-2016

Photo Credit: A Mixed Bag 2011

I was late! It wasn’t entirely my fault. First there was the phone call from Mom. She goes on and on…And then, there was the puppy. He had to pee. And poop, and you know how long that can take. Mortimer likes to peruse the yard…circle here and there….”c’mon Mortie! I gotta go!”

Once I finally got on the road, I hit every red light. “What next?!”

“Oh no, you’ve got to be kidding me! Maybe I’m not meant to get to that interview!” There crossing the road was a momma duck and her brood of ducklings!

I was only five minutes away and I could see flashing lights in the distance. Clearly there had been a serious accident. The traffic was backed up for over a mile.

Suddenly it occurred to me, if I had been on time I might have been right in the middle of that pile-up. At that moment, I counted my blessings…my long-winded chattering Mom, Mortimer, those cute ducklings and even every annoying red light. And I said a prayer for those travelers who were not so fortunate. Sometimes being late isn’t the worst thing that can happen.

kat ~ 31 January 2016
(199 Words)

A story inspired by the photo above by Al Forbes of Sunday Photo Fiction. If you would like to read other stories or enter your own story, click HERE.

43 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Flash Fiction, Life Lessons, Spirituality, Under 300 Words

January 31, 2016

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 31 January 2016

By Kat Myrman

 

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This is Maxwell who has mastered the art of living life to the fullest! 🙂

 

Happy Sunday to you. I have to admit, I didn’t think I’d find the time to write much this week. Work proved to be a bear…with digging out from the snow to hosting out of town guests for hours of meetings, requiring me to schedule, compose notes, cater lunches and dinners, etc, etc. It pays the bills, my day job, but some weeks it can be quite a challenge to keep my head afloat.

Enter this week’s challenges and verse! Wisdom led me to start the week off cooking a warm pot of soup. It sustained me for several days. Then we launched into a variety of lovely poetry and fiction challenges. Past weeks have presented darker prompts that left me no choice but to tell tales of sadness or to pen poetry deep in melancholia. But this week presented sunflowers and words like sleep (ah lovely sleep), tales of celebrations, and triumph. Oh there were a few less uplifting headers, but I managed through these balanced by the incredible upbeat other verses and prose.

I suppose that this week could best be summarized by the word balance. Or if you want to take a really broad view…LIFE. 🙂 Life has ups and downs, celebrations as well as mourning and choices…always choices. We can choose to be happy no matter where we find ourselves on the journey. And there is something to be said as well for allowing ourselves to be wrapped in exquisite sorry…to give ourselves fully to it. It is so cleansing for the soul!

Because the truth is, every moment, the full piercing emotions of each, are fleeting. There is always another chance at happiness, peace, goodness and grief. The trick is not lingering too long. Life is best lived when we are moving. 🙂

Sunday’s Week in Re-Verse – 31 January 2016

And oh my, it was-a mighty good-a!
It was her moment!
as if it’s a thing one finds
They wait in obscurity
To sleep anywhere…
fits of hysteria,
Maybe I’ll just stick with butterflies.
she closed her eyes and imagined him listening.
All tucked in for another night!
Wishing you sunflowers!
Best viewed from afar.
The track doesn’t end at the bottom.
enlightened pilgrims understand
‘Tis heaven on earth…like a soft morning kiss!
Triumph!
Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Whatever makes you happy!

kat ~ 31 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.

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

January 29, 2016

Zenith – Friday’s Word Of The Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

    
Happy Friday! Today’s Word of the Day from Dictionary.com is Zenith! It originates from the Arabic “samt (ar-ra’s)” meaning “path (over one’s head)”

As I often do when working with words, consulting a Thesaurus helps me understand the nuances of a word. Here are a few synonyms for the word Zenith: highest point, high point, crowning point, height, top, acme, peak, pinnacle, apex, apogee, crown, crest, summit, climax, culmination, prime, meridian.

I also recently discovered another cool tool in Google that allows me to produce a word translated into various languages. The word Zenith has a variety of interesting translations…in Italian, there are three words: zenit, apice and culmine; in Spanish, cenit, apogeo, cumbre, cima and auge; and my new favorite language, German, zenit and Gipfelpunkt! Wow! Being afraid of heights I get dizzy just thinking about it!

In its various translations and definitions zenith represents the pinnacle, apex or high point. There’s just one problem. Gravity. What goes up eventually reaches the highest high it can go and then, well you know.

I suppose the trick to surviving the zeniths in one’s life is learning to scale the thrilling climb to the top and ultimate plunge as if riding a roller coaster. The track doesn’t end at the bottom. It curves around, reaches a few more pinnacles, and does a loop de loop before settling slowly to a smooth stop, leaving the rider exhilarated and breathless!

I don’t know if I’ve reached the ultimate zenith in my life, but I think it’s more about the journey up and back down. The dizzying view from the pinnacle only lasts for a second!

Here’s the Haiku!

Reaching one’s zenith…
It’s truly a triumph!
But then it’s downhill!

kat ~ 29 January 2016

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Haiku, Life Lessons, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

January 28, 2016

Death Drop

By Kat Myrman

 

Photo Credit: Kat Myrman 2016

 
Drip drop drip
Icy stalactite
Beautiful
Crystalline
Deadly dagger if disturbed
Best viewed from afar.

~kat – 28 January 2016

A Shadorma in response to Jane Dougherty’s weekly poetry challenge. A Shadorma consists of a six line stanza using the syllable pattern 3/5/3/3/7/5. No rhyme required and you can add as many stanzas as you like. Read others or enter your own HERE.

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Life Lessons, Poetry

January 28, 2016

Even the Sparrows

By Kat Myrman


It’s an odd place to grow sunflowers. Actually, no one really knows how they survive there, with barely a spot of earth to sustain them. But every summer they appear, a hint of green sprouts that soon spread skyward covering the retaining wall.

The birds delight in the sweet seeds, happily fluttering and chattering while nibbling.

People nicknamed this special spot along the greenway Sparrow Way. Some say it reminds them of the bible story that tells how God even provides for the sparrows, so tiny, yet worthy of tender care.

I like to visit this place when I’m facing some impossible situation. And to think. If there is a God somewhere who cares about tiny sparrows, surely there is hope for me.

Wishing you sunflowers!

kat ~ 28 January 2016
(125 Words / Inspirational Fiction)

A little inspiration this week for my friend PJ who hosts this weekly challenge. It’s called Flash Fiction for the Aspiring Writer. Read other stories HERE. 😊

29 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Flash Fiction, Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality, Under 300 Words