End of Year Review

Another year ends
Strange as 2020 was
There were happy times

Good morning and welcome to the last day of 2020 and my year end review. Despite not posting very often this year, my blog visits were up from last year. I did complete #NaPoWriMo in April, thanks in part to not having to score standardized tests. This may have been a factor to the increased traffic. At the end of February, we celebrated Shawn’s 48th birthday. We had no idea at the time it would be the last time we would enjoy an evening out.

Shawn and I at his birthday dinner

Then in April we celebrated the first birthday in quarantine, Gretchen’s 19th birthday on April 4th. Shawn picked up dinner from the very same restaurant we went to for his birthday and we decorated the backyard and had an enjoyable evening. I used the success of our first quarantine birthday as inspiration to submit a haiku to the OCMA sound collage. Also in April, Patricia posted one of my haiku on her Pea TV moment. It took some finessing as I’m not great at capturing hummingbirds on video; but as we were eating dinner one night, we saw a hummingbird enjoying the aloe out the window. And I confess, Gretchen was the one who captured the recording.

In May we were also busy, Gretchen finished her freshmen year at ASU on the Dean’s List while Robin graduated from ASU Summa Cum Laude.

Gretchen’s 1st year of college

Robin in cap & gown

Of course we had another quarantine birthday to celebrate on May 20, Robin turned 22. Near the beginning of the month, our internet went down for A WEEK. The only plus it happened after the last final was taken since everything went virtual in March, it would have been a hassle to figure out how to get finals completed without internet. For June and July we were alone together. Shawn has a great job and has continued working; Robin finished employment at ASU in May since he graduated. He was still going to work at 4 paws but it was not every day. Then on August 1st we packed up the van Shawn dragged me over to the dealership at the end of May to buy and we took a road trip up to Oregon. Robin started his first year at the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine in September.

Gretchen and Robin in Corvallis

In October Shawn and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary in quarantine. There was one good thing to come from having all these celebrations at home. Shawn learned how to cook a proper steak. We had filet mignon medium rare. Then the following weekend Shawn talked me into an overnight camping trip at White Tanks. In November I celebrated my birthday in quarantine. Once again Shawn cooked an excellent steak and we had lobster tails to make it surf and turf. Then in December Robin and Gretchen wrapped up their second semester of virtual learning. Robin earned a 3.7 his first semester of veterinary school and Gretchen has a 3.6! Both are doing very well in this mixed up year of schooling. And as you can see, I’ve stopped adding links to my review since most everything can now be found on my blog’s home page as I really sloughed off updating the blog after May.

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NaPoWriMo 2016 Day 25

The Venus of Urbino 1538 Titian

When I find myself in bed
Wasting away the morning
One more week to push ahead
And keep my verse adorning

Wasting away the morning
I dream of April’s sweet end
And keep my verse adorning
Days start to overextend

I dream of April’s sweet end
When I find myself in bed
Days start to overextend
Waking each morning in dread

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from a another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. (Or, find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you).  The idea is for the original to furnish a sort of backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel stuck just rewriting the original!. For example, you could begin, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” or “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” or “I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster,” or “they persevere in swimming where they like.” Really, any poem will do to provide your starter line – just so long as it gives you the scope to explore. Happy writing!

One more week to go and I’m losing steam. And yes, I’m composing in bed today. It’s not the first time I’ve worked from my comfy bed. 😉 Poet at work.

When I find myself in bed – a line from Veronica Franco. Poetry in translation.

NaPoWriMo Day 25

National Honor Society

Rachael Hosking
inducted into NHS ring.
Their criminal ways
maintaining straight As.

Rachael’s NHS membership

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our prompt (optional, as always)! It’s the weekend, so I’d thought we might go with something short and just a bit (or a lot) silly – the Clerihew. These are rhymed, humorous quatrains involving a specific person’s name. You can write about celebrities, famous people from history, even your mom (hopefully she’s got a good name for rhyming with).

I thought since one of the reasons I did not write a poem on Thursday was because I attended the NHS induction ceremony, I should get a poem out of it. My daughter is joining other infamous people like her own mother. Yes, this criminal behavior runs in the family. 😉