The groundhog may have forecasted an early Spring but Winter is having the final word!!!
Category Archives: Random Thoughts and Musings
Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 14 February 2016
Photo Credit: Kat Myrman 2014
Happy Valentine’s Day Sunday! If I may wax poetic, this week’s ReVerse is rather poetic…poetic in its melancholic musings, sentimental walks down lanes of memories wrapped in chocolate and flowers. Did I plan this? Most certainly not! It is a game the Muse plays with me. How very clever of her, don’t you think?
Not to worry, the week wasn’t all sappy and sweet. There were hints of poetic justice as well. Enter the scoundrels…the handsome blind date (or was he just a rude stalker!), politicians (no comment…), time…if time was a scoundrel (I have no doubt that our modern electronic clocks have an evil plan to drive us all crazy!), scary nature (requiring a safety net of creature comforts for those brave souls who venture off the grid), the corporate scoundrel…jerk! creep! *#%%%*#!!!!! (forgive me…too soon), and finally Jack Frost (well, he was certainly implied. Soon to sweep the blush from the daffodils.) As exciting as all this has been…what do I do? I take photographs!
I’m going to digress for a bit…but I promise to bring it home…trust me.
The greatest technology of the 21st Century for me is the phone camera! A few decades ago, I did labor in the bowels of my amber-lit basement, elbow deep in smelly chemicals developing my own photographs. Editing required cutting and pasting (really!…cutting with scissors and pasting with glue), re-photographing and developing. All things being digital has opened up a whole new world to us all.
But here’s the thing…yes, there is a thing…
My last story this week reminded me of a lost art that needs a revisit…letter writing. Lovely handwritten notes on pretty paper penned by one’s favorite pen (for me it is a fountain pen loaded with cerulean blue ink). I even read last week that schools are considering dropping cursive writing lessons from their curriculum! A very sad turn of events indeed!
And so as I look forward to next week, I’m planning to pen a few letters to those friends who do not frequent social media…and maybe even a few who are digitally savvy. I have become woefully out of touch with them. What better day for inspiration than today, Valentine’s Day! Join me if you’d like. If there is one thing I’ve learned in life it is this, those who love you don’t want your chocolates or flowers…they want your words…<3
Sunday’s Week in ReVerse ~ 14 February 2016
A treasured timepiece,
here or hereafter.
sweet dreams to all you dreamers.
They are forever etched on my heart
She always reserved room for chocolate.
He knew she was lying.
fair blooms in waiting.
you certainly cannot win
abstaining from all pleasure
take a moment to breathe
proving their own lack.
She had the last laugh.
to appear able
a luddite’s nightmare!
But not without a backpack of creature comforts.
He took credit for her work.
So I took a photograph for you.
~ 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.
Tree Nymph
Photo Credit: Kat Myrman 2016
I am obsessed with this tree! This is an image from a different vantage point. It actually looks like there are two branch antlers on her head. She just may be a tree nymph, which explains my obsession. I pass by her every day on my drive home and I can’t look away!
From the Theoi Greek Mythology Website:
THE NYMPHAI (or Nymphs) were female spirits of the natural world, minor goddesses of the forests, rivers, springs, meadows, mountains and seas. They were responsible for the crafting of nature’s wild beauty, from the arrangement and growth of the plants, flowers and trees, to the nurture of wild birds and animals, and the formation of rocky caverns, springs, wetlands and brooks.
Nymphs were also companions of the gods. Dionysos had his wild-eyed Mainades and Bakkhai, Artemis was accompanied by a band of huntress nymphs, Hekate by the dark Lampades nymphs of the underworld. Poseidon‘s court was attended by Nereides and sea nymphs, and the Olympian court by nymph handmaidens.
Other nymphs were nurses of the gods, including the Idaian nymphs that nursed the god Zeus, and the Nysian nymphs who cared for Dionysos.
Tree Nymph
Oaken Nymph
fair blushing Dryad
clinging there
evergreen
dance with us on frostbit earth
sing to us of spring!
kat ~ 13 February 2016
Still Life in February
PHOTO PROMPT © The Reclining Gentleman
Dearest Julia,
It has been unseasonably warm for February. The buds have started popping from the tips of tree branches and the brown grass is greening. To my dismay the daffodils have decided to peek through the soil toward the warmth of the sun. Just this afternoon, one decided to open up in full bloom!
I know how you love the daffodils my dear. And I fear they may not be here when you come in the Spring. So I took a photograph for you.
I will see you soon. My love to you and kitty, Penelope.
Until Spring,
Laura
~kat – 13 February 2016
(100 Words)
A short note inspired by the photo above by The Reclining Gentleman for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers weekly photo challenge. If you would like to read other stories click HERE.
Calumniate – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku
From Wordnik:
Definitionsfrom The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition:
transitive v. To make maliciously or knowingly false statements about. See Synonyms at malign.from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License:
To make hurtful untrue comments about (someone)from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
To utter calumny regarding; charge falsely and knowingly with some crime or offense, or something disreputable; slander.Synonyms: Defame, asperse, slander, scandalize, slur, vilify, smear, libel, malign
Etymologies:
-Latin calumniārī, calumniāt-, from calumnia, calumny; see calumny.(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
-From Latin calumniātus, perfect active participle of calumnior (“I accuse falsely”). (Wiktionary)
Happy Friday and welcome to Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku. Today’s word from Dictionary.com is “Columniate”. I had never heard this word before today, but I find it most useful in describing the activities of candidates in the current U.S. political climate.
There are all sorts of untrue, and bordering on slanderous, statements being tossed around by candidates and their campaigns to gain advantage over a rival. And it is so easy to be swept up into the fear-based frenzy of twisted statements. While it is a good practice to follow the adage, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t”, in the political arena it seems a good idea to follow an opposite thought as well, “if it’s too awful or outrageous to believe…it is likely unbelievable.”
and now for a bit of a rant…
Sadly the average person cannot be bothered with checking sources for truthfulness of a particular claim. This is a fatal flaw in our political process, but also a tool well played by campaigns to gain the advantage over opponents. I am always interested to know how our politicking looks to people in other countries. If I am seeing an emperor with no clothes, I can only imagine what those removed by continents and oceans must think. And I want the world to know, not all of us are unthinking lemmings here. Though sometimes it does feel as though the lemmings are growing in number…and they’re headed for the cliff’s edge!
Have a great weekend. Be kind to one another. No columniating allowed! 🙂
Calumniate – The Haikus
Inept candidates
Columniate their rivals
proving their own lack.
Calumniated
Disdained and disrespected
She had the last laugh.
The incompetent
employ calumniation
to appear able.
kat ~ 12 February 2016
Most Inspirational Blogger Nominee
