Do You Dog Paddle When You Skinny Dip?

Did that title get your attention? Well, I am writing about water after all.

It was an un-explainable summer. It started weird, became wonderful, and then got weird again. I won't go on about the strangeness. The recurring numbers. The messages. My interpretations.

Instead, I'm starting over from this moment, trying to let everything fall behind me. I had a wonderful time with family, but I feel backed up and dissatisfied with most of my writing from the past several weeks.

Driving is meditative for me. I had my best brainstorms while I was darting in and out of traffic. Unfortunately, I let those thoughts slip away like water over my fingers. Even the one below would not flow. No. Not even when the theme was water.

Invitation to Escape

Drowned

Water droplets inviting
yet off-limits, clarity sinks
inside overheated
emotions, streaming
thoughts pour, melding
with forbidden pool
below, too far
from reach, sub-
merged under tears,
uncertainty


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Chasing the Moon

I dreamt all morning that I was running with my son from a tornado. We were going to get into my car, but then I decided there wasn’t enough time for us to get away. Instead, I looked for something sturdy for us to hold onto.We wound up finding a hole in the ground to hide inside and I woke up before it hit.

Perhaps I have tornado mind; thoughts that jump around from one subject to the next. Or maybe it was the lullaby of Santa Ana winds that brought on my dream.

In any case, it helped get me back in tune with nature. I tried again this morning to get a photograph of the moon; was it the wind that blew it out of my reach this time?

The other night I was driving and the clouds shifted into what looked like a profile of a face with the moon in the eye position. By the time I pulled over, it was gone.

I like the way this shot lined up though. Can you say "Moon Man"?

Moon Becomes Man

Some people chase tornadoes,
I run after the moon, playing
hide-and-seek at twilight
with giant eyeball in the sky, he looks
down on me then hides behind ruffled
mountains, clouds dissipating from face
to eerie darkness. Days pass
and he thinks I have forgotten.
Yet morning routine brings me back
to his pursuit, a hint of that guy
hiding in the light, too many
missed shots until finally I catch
him, the man and his body, posing
just this once. I turn away
and he is gone again.

*****

This photo was taken in response to Rebecca Barray's photo prompt.

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Obsession With Old Books

Last summer I was browsing in one of my favorite thrift stores in Seattle and came across a book in the glass case at the register. I wasn't sure I wanted to pay the $25 asking price, so I put a note inside my phone notepad with the intention of checking for it again later to see if the price had dropped.

But then I forgot to go back before leaving town.

Fast forward to Christmas when we were out shopping and looking for unusual items. I took my husband to this store where he looked around. He wound up buying that book—and later giving it to me as a gift.

He had no idea I had fallen in love with it six months before.

I guess the book was meant to be mine. When I flip through its fragile pages, I am in awe of the beauty inside.

The Child's Book of Fairy Tales - 1860 First Edition

It's a reminder to me that things that are meant to be together will eventually find their way to each other.

p/s This photo was taken for Rebecca Barray's book-themed photo prompt at Wordsmith Studio.

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What Does Rain Mean? (A Photo Prompt)

This post is a response to Rebecca Barray's photo prompt, Rain.

Like people, raindrops come in all different shapes and sizes, many clustered together in groups, like families, while others stand off to the side on their own.

And like people, some are beautiful as they are, while others distort our reality of what stands behind them. The water may cause problems such as making the road slippery or decreasing visibility forcing those who try to see through it to sharpen their focus if they want to get to where they are going. 

Still, no matter the appearance, rain's ability to wash away dirt and oil that has gathered on the road from countless tire treads is refreshing. 

And like people, rain comes and goes, leaving us with only a memory.

What about you? Do you like the rain?

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