catnipoflife

Observe life at its best, Listen to life’s songs, Embrace life’s bounties, Breathe the breath of life, Savor life to its fullest!

Nov 23

Free Write Friday #10: Gratitude

by catnipoflife

This week the Free Write prompt from Kellie Elmore is the word “GRATITUDE.”  If you are not familiar with the free write challenge, feel free to read the intro on Kellie’s website. In short, here is what is expected. . .

  • Do not think. Do not edit. Do not pay attention to spelling, punctuation or form.
  • Just allow the moment, your feelings, your imagination to run free and…
  • Do not stop until you find yourself forcing your words or trying too hard to complete a thought.

Free Write Friday Prompt

We are taught from early childhood to say “please” and “thank you” to the point the words flow as naturally as chocolate syrup being poured over ice cream. If someone should ask why you reply as such, a common response would be “Because my mother taught me to say so.” But, is that all there is to it? Is simple saying “thank you” enough? Are those words being used from learning simply because it is the right thing to say, the way we were taught?

Thanksgiving brought with its celebration heartfelt thanks for the many, many blessings bestowed upon each of us on a daily basis as we journey through life. Echoes of thoughtfulness, thankfulness and gratitude resounded throughout the day as family and friends gathered in fellowship and prayer. In thinking back over the day, a question comes to mind: “Isn’t giving thanks being thoughtful in expressing gratitude for what we have?” So, what is the difference in being thankful and expressing gratitude?

When I was a young child, I was among those who were taught the right thing to say, the “please” and “thank yous.” But, I cannot remember ever being taught gratitude. Did its meaning evolve as my vocabulary bank received deposits of new and unfamiliar words? Perhaps with recognition of both the good and bad in life an awareness was evoked for all the things I was truly thankful. As for today’s experiences in the blogosphere, I am thankful for the words that sometimes flow more easily that others which offer inspiration for purposes unknown to me at the time written. Most importantly, however, is the gratitude I have for those who choose to read and follow the musings I so thoughtfully share. To me, being thankful is learned whereas gratitude is a choice.

My challenge to you: Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing today, pause and reflect on whom or what you are grateful. You may find it easy to name coming rather naturally or you may find it takes some time for the right choices. Just remember, regardless of whether easy or hard, the goal is still giving thanks and being grateful for all you have. Isn’t there a lot to be thankful for…all you have to do is put a little catnip into your life:  Observe life at its best, listen to life’s songs, embrace life’s bounties, breathe the breath of life and savor life to its fullest!

That’s it, folks…no rereading, editing or mulling over whether I accomplished what I intended. Let it fly. . .

 

Free Write Friday Inspiration Reflection

16 Comments »
Nov 18

Free Write Friday #9: Photo Prompt

by catnipoflife

FreeWriteFridayBadge

Kellie Elmore welcomes us back to Free Write Friday (FWF)! If you are not familiar with FWF, feel free to read Kellie’s intro.  Here is the FWF prompt for this week…an image to which we are to respond What does this bring to mind…

 

Motionless in Flight

Swept away in an instant she became motionless in flight

Knowing the Earth she knew so well was no more

Was she afraid? Only for those left behind

Not of what lay ahead for her soul had already gone before

Be still, my love, all is not lost…for in dreams

I will come within quite whisperings of the night 

Sweeping you away in an instant

As you become motionless in flight

©catnipoflife
Sharla Lee Shults

This is truly a ‘free write’…decided not to read over and over and over as I am tempted to do because the objective is just to write what freely comes to mind. The rhyme and rhythm may be off but that’s okay in the FREE world of writing! Share your thoughts. . .

Free Write Friday Inspiration

13 Comments »
Nov 2

Free Write Friday #8: Halloween Haunting

by catnipoflife


Today is Friday and that means another opportunity to ‘free write’ and on this day I have decided to do just that…FREE Write! Halloween has passed but memories of its haunting still linger. On Wednesday Kellie Elmore placed a call for submissions asking for Halloween photos and a chance to have a well-chosen image offered up as this week’s FWF prompt. The winning photo was taken by Missy Upton and pictures Oak Alley Plantation, which was the location for the movie Interview with the Vampire. The photo is displayed at the bottom of the writing.

Thank you, Missy for a great photograph and Kellie for the opportunity to use imagination to write. [OOPS! Being the educator that I am, I must admit I did correct some of the errors along the way.]

Here is my contribution. . .

The Haunting

Rain, pelting the road and windshield, was unrelenting as the drive seemed to be never ending. When we left home, it wasn’t so bad, except the sun had already begun its decent and shades of deep purple projected an eerie feeling to this already spooky day. “Why did we decide to get on the road on Halloween?” I ponder. “And, of all things, now it is pouring rain and getting darker by the minute.”

“John, do we have to go to Aunt Mary’s?” I ask in a trembling voice. “You know I don’t feel comfortable in that big old house of hers and the weather, well, it is terrible and frightening.” At that exact moment, lightning bolts zig-zag across the sky followed by sharp, loud cracks of thunder. “Please, let’s go back home. Please!”

“Settle down. Not for you to worry your pretty little self, my darling, I am driving and all you need to do is lay your head back, close your eyes and we will be there before you know it. Give Aunt Mary a chance and think of the house as a historical landmark. Step back in time. Just think, you would make a great Scarlet from Gone With the Wind! The way you are acting one would think the house is haunted for Pete’s sake!” John laughs as he tenderly takes my hand and presses sweet, tender kisses across the top of my fingers. “I love you,Scarlet!”

No way was I going to relax. Absolutely no way was I going to close my eyes! Too many visions within blood-curdling scenes scream thirstily as they whirl around and around with eyes wide open: knives, axes, scissors, villainous apparitions float effortlessly through the winding corridors of my mind. Understand it isn’t that I don’t like Aunt Mary or that she herself is frightening. She is wonderful and loves to cook and every year at Halloween she tries to outdo herself from the year before as she concocts the most unusual Halloween treats. It is the house…it seems to cast a spell as though dear sweet auntie is Bloody Mary. “Snap out of it!” I slap myself subconsciously.

Thoughts begin to turn away from tales of ghostly encounters and unexplainable happenings that had been reported from one generation to the next in THAT house. I began to surmise whether they are true or simply the fabrication of chilling whispers within the wind of souls crying out to be released. Some say fact, others proclaim fiction. Me? I don’t know but I do know one thing for sure— I don’t want to find out on this night.

Oak Alley Plantation

“We’re here!” John exclaims as he slows down to make the turn into the driveway. There it was…Oak Alley Plantation. Nestled back off a private drive, the secluded house stood hauntingly still. The gaze down the driveway becomes absorbed in massive oaks stretching outward forming a canopy of moss-laden limbs. Shadows creep along the driveway as the wind wrestles with the moss clinging to the oak limbs. The scene is like arms above and below reaching for anything along their path to bring into the clutches of its grasp.

We are not ten feet into the driveway when the car begins to shake. Spine chilling, hair raising, heart pounding sounds howl within the night wind. Rattling chains, feet dragging along the driveway, freightening moans and groans pierce the air synchronizing their echoes with the thunder as it claps in the distance. Are the chains symbolic of slaves owned by the former plantation masters? Do the sounds of feet dragging mimic those of the tired workers coming in from the cotton fields? Are the moans and groans typical sounds of constant hunger and thirst for something better?

Now, I ask you: Is it real? Are the haunting tales of horror coming to life? Is the plantation truly haunted or is it Uncle Harry playing a practical joke?

What is your perception as to the ending to the story?

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing
guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity
is self-doubt.”  ~Sylvia Plath

Free Write Friday

35 Comments »
Oct 26

Free Write Friday #7: Abandoned

by catnipoflife

FreeWriteFridayBadgeKellie’s back! In the midst of the chaos in her life over the last month (or so), and the MIA of FWF, Kellie feels the word desinated below would be perfectly suited for the returning prompt. For those who do not know the events leading up to this week’s prompt, here is a little blurb from Kellie’s blogpost on September 28, 2012:

After the lab tested the materials in our home believed to be asbestos, seems the contractor was mistaken. It tested negative! After five long days away from home, I’m happy to say we will be moving back over the weekend and continuing our remodeling!

Glad to have you back, Kellie♥

Here is the FWF prompt:

a·ban·doned/əˈbandənd

Adjective:
  1. (of a person) Having been deserted or cast off.
  2. (of a building or vehicle) Remaining empty or unused; having been left for good.

Here is my contribution:

Picket Fences

The home place is visible in the distance

Fully laden pecan trees line the driveway

The front porch is in dire need of repair

And the picket fence guards the entrance way

Sounds of laughter, children playing can still be heard

“Don’t leave the backyard,” echoes the wind

As visions of scampering little feet

Turn them quickly around again

Gardens of rose buds, camellias in full bloom

Need nurturing and lots of care

Weeds have grown all round the fence

But sweet aromas linger in the air

Remembrances of family gatherings

Held dear and close to the heart

Are renewed with a walk along the fence line

Remaining very clear until time to depart

Smiles from within follow the picket fence

Along the perimeter of the yard

Securing home and gardens

Like an ol’ soldier standing guard

©2009 Remembering
Sharla Lee Shults

Free Write Friday PoetrybySharla

24 Comments »
Sep 1

Free Write Friday #6: Welcome to Kindergarten

by catnipoflife

free-write-friday-kellie-elmore

#FWF Free Write Friday; Welcome to Kindergarten

Since I was late last week posting my Free Write Friday contribution this one has come rather quickly. Kellie Elmore welcomes her readers and contributors back to Free Write Friday with an invitation for a trip! This one may be the shortest of mine and perhaps the shortest of anyone who contributes their story. For my kindergarten experience was a very, I mean VERY, short experience. Of course, if I decide to write it poetically, it just may take more than a line or two. Here goes my story. . .

#FWF Free Write FridayLet’s go on a little trip…to your first day of school!

Going to school…
What an exciting thought
A new box of crayons
Mama smilingly bought

All giddy and excited
Hair braided, not curled
A cute little sundress
Mama carefully unfurled

Daddy was off to work
As the normal rule
For he was principal
Of the elementary school

That made education
A must in our house
Being a good girl
Quiet as a mouse

Mama took me by the hand
Led me to the car
It was only a few blocks
See, not very far

We drove along the road
I smiled the whole while
Thinking the entire time
This is the longest mile

She stopped at the curb
Hugged me tight as could be
Told me to be good
Said she’d see me at three

Don’t remember what took place
That made me so sad
I cried and I cried
All the tears I had

Standing on the sidewalk
When Mama appeared
Face red and swollen
I had nothing to be cheered

She hugged me tight
Tight as could be
With tears in her eyes
She fell to her knee

I’ll never forget
The sadness in her face
As she vowed I would never
Go back to that place

©2012
catnipoflife

What memory do you have of your first day in kindergarten?

Free Write Friday Reflection

23 Comments »
Aug 29

Free Write Friday #5: Word Bank

by catnipoflife

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#FWF Free Write Friday: Word Bank

OK! I know today is Wednesday, not Friday. BUT, according to Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday, the ‘rules’ say, “No deadline. No word limit.” With the happenings of the weekend and the week’s beginning, time has not permitted thoughts to gather around free writing. So, with a break this afternoon, I decided to check out the prompt. Oh, dear! It is a doozy. She has provided a word bank and what a strange conglomeration of words.

I looked at the words, remembered Kellie’s guidelines: Just write. Whatever comes to mind. Just write. Being the poetess, of course, the lines must rhyme. Whether the rhyme and reason go together in this one is yet to be seen by the comments hopefully it will receive. Here goes:

This week’s prompt:

Try to use all of the words. Let’s see what’s inspired…

Homeward bound
That’s what I say
As I listen to the 8-track
Along the way

Memories abound
As thoughts quickly shift
To bygone days
Of rivalry not rift. . .

. . .the coarse, stiff broom
Across the floor
Readying the room
For what’s in store

Candles were lit
As part of the show
Like a light-emitting diode
With a soft glow

Hustle and bustle
Throughout the kitchen
Ranted and raved
Good ol’ fried chicken

Salacious homemade pies
An all-time tradition
Made one froth at the mouth
Hailing its elocution

No rancid odor there
As fillings did coagulate
Only succulent aromas
This affair did permeate

My favorite, the peas
With pot liquor too
Inviting the spoon
For a helping or two

A family fling
Of cravings and itch
All came about
With nary a hitch

©2012
catnipoflife

Whaddya say? Did it meet the challenge?

Free Write Friday Humor Reflection

19 Comments »
Aug 17

Free Write Friday #4: The Road Less Traveled…

by catnipoflife

FreeWriteFridayBadgeHere we are at the end of another week and the beginning of the weekend! The story below is my contribution to Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday. As a writer of poetry, Kellie’s writing prompts have afforded me the opportunity to write outside the poetic box. Thank you, Kellie! The writing prompt for this Friday . . ..

********************************************************************

Talk about a time you took the road less traveled and the differences it made…road less traveled

I was born to teach. I knew that from the time it was even possible to know life carried with it a special purpose.  Even my baby dolls were my ‘students’ and when in school, I always volunteered to teach a lesson whenever the opportunity arose. Never minded getting in front of the class and welcomed the challenges when questions were asked.  Sometimes my classmates would come to me to explain a math concept because they simply did not understand the teacher.  Math – that was my favorite, just like my granddaddy!

Upon graduation from college, of course, I got my first ‘real’ job as a classroom teacher. Oh, dear, the position entailed teaching physics, chemistry, physical science, geometry and general math. Did I ever get my feel wet in a hurry! Here I was barely 21 years old and some of my students were approaching 18! At the end of that first year, of course, I looked for a different position, one which did not require five preparations!

I taught for four years undergoing quite a number of changes in my life that led me to make a move to another state. Requirements were different, certification was different and the pay was definitely different, much less than I needed (Notice the word need, perhaps a better word would be wanted.) Anyway, a position was found that kept me struggling just to keep up with rent/utilities on an apartment and a car payment. At least it wasn’t too far from ‘home’ and I could make a quick trip for food and staples. Nothing like Mama’s cooking and Daddy would always slip me a five dollar bill to help with gas. That five dollars went a LONG way back in the late 60s and early 70s!

Anyway, to the crossroads. . .Teaching was going great and my classes were relatively good. There were always war stories and the classes from hell but that goes with the territory. I was living alone and barely getting by with nothing, absolutely nothing, to carry over from month to month. New clothes were a thing of the past and thrift stores were looking more and more promising. Then, entered the possibility of a roommate. . .

With this roommate came the beginning of a new career that would have never, ever crossed my mind. I was a teacher. That’s all I knew, teaching. My education prepared me to teach. The ubiquitous they say that money is the root of all evil but when I found out she made in one week what I brought home in one month that looked pretty good to me. Evil thoughts went out the window; survival was at the top of the list.

So began the career with the Bayline Railroad in Dothan, AL. Diesel engines, wood racks, box cars, open hoppers, consists and waybills were the tools of the trade now, no more daily lesson plans, in-service meetings, state standards, books, compasses, rulers, and protractors. Instead of walking those hallowed halls, I would now be walking the railroad tracks, climbing on and off railroad cars that needed to be waybilled to their next destination. The sad part was that this job did not require a college education where with teaching the minimum was a four-year degree.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was just the beginning of a new teaching era that lay a decade ahead.

I could have chosen to stay in teaching for that was the field in which I felt prepared or I could take the road less traveled and take a chance on something different. The Lord works in mysterious ways and had it not been for the decision to leave education for the railroad industry, I would not have gained the real-world experience so necessary for effective mathematics teaching in the future nor would I have met my soul mate. Had I stayed on the narrow path I started I would have probably ended up back home living with my parents, making lesson plans, grading papers and feeling secure in my teaching abilities but never fulfilling my potential or walking through windows of opportunity that I did not know awaited but He did.

Be sure to read the poem, An Echo from Yester Year.

What are your thoughts? Have you ever taken that road less travelled?

Free Write Friday Reflection

23 Comments »
Aug 10

Free Write Friday #3: After Midnight…

by catnipoflife

FreeWriteFridayBadgeDoesn’t seem like it has been a week since I participated in Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday. Time seems to get away with not enough hours from one day to the next. Of course, if a day were 48 hours, I would probably still claim not enough time. C’est la vie!

While I may not participate every week in Kellie’s writing prompt, I will surely check out each week’s scenario. This week it is a Time & Place Scenario. Here is how it goes:

It’s after midnight. You find yourself in an eerie yet, magical swamp. You hear whispering and see flashes of light… What happens?

Goodnight on Fairie Swamp Garden (Photo credit: echoroo)

Photo credit: echoroo

On the edge of silence, soft whispers of the night penetrate the darkness. I stand alone wondering what happened to the others. How did we get separated? Lights flash in the distance. . .but we forgot the flashlights. My knees are knocking, my heart is pounding, chills are running up and down my spine, my palms are sweaty and ringing in my ears are my father’s last words, “Nothing good ever happens after midnight!”  DADDY!

Of course, being the poetess that I am, I could not stop there.

***********************************
*********************

Midnight in the Swamp – Dream or Reality?

Alone in the darkness
Thoughts eerily sway
When was the last time
I ventured this way?

Once in my dreams
Within a magical land
Flashes across the sky
Fuse as if hand in hand

Shattering the sky
A mosaic in black
Announces its fury
As though under attack

Moss-laden trees
Cast shadows of ghosts
Purple-black silhouettes
Make the perfect hosts

How can I be there?
This can’t be real
Only moments ago
We kissed—love’s seal

I twist and turn
Toward whispers I hear
Hoping and praying
It is you who are near

A clash of thunder
Jolts me awake
I reach across the bed
Your hand I take

Eerie, yet magical
Real it may seem
Feeling your warmth
Reflects but a dream

© 2012
catnipoflife

Free Write Friday

14 Comments »
Aug 3

Free Write Friday #2: The Street I Grew Up On

by catnipoflife

FreeWriteFridayBadgeIt has been awhile since catnip participated in Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday. When I read the topic for today’s writing, The Street I Grew Up On, I could not let it pass by without a walk down memory lane. As thoughts shifted back and forth in memory, several images passed through my mind. In the poem below I do hope I have captured the essence and sadness of East Fourth Street.

* * * * * * * * * *

East Fourth Street
(Donalsonville, GA)

Similar street in Donaldsonville, LA
(Interesting coincidence in town name)

A narrow street
First began as dirt
Straight as an arrow
Always on alert

Watchful as children
Walked to and fro
Kicking up dust
Without shadow

Bumpy along sides
Longing for rain
Rutted and worn
A rough domain

Through the years
Change remade
What once was dirt
Now was paved

Where once I walked
Now a bike trod
Over gravel and stone
It plod and plod

A quick turn
Slid across stone
Cuts and bruises
No broken bone

Gravel and rock
Did meet its fate
Covering of asphalt
Brought it up-to-date

Lined with oaks
Massive on scene
Intense in beauty
Regal of queen

Forces of nature
Hurling all around
With mighty fury
Ripped the ground

A narrow street
Barren along each side
Bears only ghosts
Where mighty oaks once thrived

©2012
catnipoflife

“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love,
the things you are, the things you never want to lose.”
~From the television show The Wonder Years

Author Connections Free Write Friday

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