#NaPoWriMo 2022 Day Seventeen

To begin with Beanie was a stray who wandered around my husband’s work until Shawn brought her home. She was a good tempered dog, friendly but also stubborn. If she did something she wasn’t supposed to she would whine and whimper when you told her no. Sometimes you would think someone was murdering the poor dog not just telling her no. One weekend we took her on a camping trip. Shawn had a friend who invited us to stay on his property up in Snowflake. One morning I was walking Beanie and we came across one of the other invited guests. Immediately Beanie started growling, full on gnashing and baring her teeth. We have had the dog for quite awhile by this time and I’ve never seen her react this way towards anyone. Despite the fact Beanie was clearly not happy and was pulling on the leash, this woman kept walking towards us and asked me what was wrong with my dog. At the reaction Beanie had towards this woman, I didn’t want anything to do with her. I told her I’ve never seen my dog act like this before. It was obvious it was taking everything I had to keep a tight hold on the leash and yet this woman kept walking towards us, telling me how all dogs love her. Apparently there was one dog who did not. Finally when she realized Beanie was not going to let up, the woman gave us a wide berth still telling me all dogs love her and there must be something wrong with my dog.

Stray dog
Good natured and friendly
Bares her teeth

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now here’s our daily (optional) prompt. This is a fun one – it’s a prompt developed by the comic artist Lynda Barry, and it asks you to think about dogs you have known, seen, or heard about, and then use them as a springboard into wherever they take you.

Good afternoon and welcome to day seventeen of napowrimo. Since it is national haiku day and today’s prompt was to write a story, I turned it into a haibun. I’m not much of a story teller but I will never forget how Beanie reacted towards that woman. She never reacted that way towards anyone before nor after this incident. She was a really good dog and her growling so viciously made me scared of that woman. Dogs know things. I hope you enjoyed my story and have a Happy Easter!

#NaPoWriMo 2018 Day Twelve

Palo Verde in Backyard

Backyard Oasis

Temperatures soar in Phoenix and like the bird, I rise out of the heat. In my backyard, the palo verde blooms. I sit outside soaking in the beautiful spring day. Where I was raised is seeing snow in April – too cold for me. My desert home may not be lush in green, but the springs are bright. When I head outdoors, I am able to stay cozy in shade.

Welcome warm sunshine
Green tree boasts yellow flowers
Snow long forgotten

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Today’s (optional) prompt picks up from our craft resource. We’ve challenged you to tackle the haibun in past years, but it’s such a fun one, we couldn’t resist again. Today, we’d like to challenge you specifically to write a haibun that takes in the natural landscape of the place you live. It may be the high sierra, dusty plains, lush rainforest, or a suburbia of tiny, identical houses – but wherever you live, here’s your chance to bring it to life through the charming mix-and-match methodology of haibun.

Good Morning and welcome to day twelve of #NaPoWriMo remember it is DEAR day in honor of Beverly Cleary. Drop Everything And Read. My readers may remember at the end of January, I was complaining about being chilly despite our Sunny Desert Winter. It doesn’t take a huge temperature drop to make me cold as I’ve acclimated to the desert heat. Well this past Tuesday, Phoenix recorded its first official 100 for the year. Yay! I still think it’s better than the snow they’ve gotten in Buffalo this month. Well I hope I was able to bring the desert to life in my offering today. I am off to get some housework done before I have to log into work. Then hopefully I’ll be able to dear.

Poetry Sketch – Haibun

This is my response to a writing prompt on gather.com.

I do not draw or sketch. I write. My first published writing was a creative nonfiction story, but since then I’ve concentrated on poetry. At the writer’s conference, I was given a blank journal and pen. The cover of the journal had an ink swirl on it: You know you’re bored when you draw tornadoes. Not my reaction at all – ink swirls on a page isn’t boredom. It’s the writer’s way of conquering the abyss staring at him.

Where do I begin
An empty page taunts my pen
Sketch me poetry