East Texas Living, a poem

 30MAY10

East Texas Living 

Gentle winds blowing

through pink and white blossoms on

the mimosa trees.

Lazy, tan-and-white 

dog dozing on the front porch,

ignoring the bugs.

Warm, slate grey heavens

signaling an impending

afternoon rain storm.

Wafting through the air,

the scent of magnolia

blossoms, smelling sweet.

Soothing highway hum

from Ninety-Six competing

with joyful bird song.

Back and forth rhythm

of wooden porch swing lulling

away today's toils.

When my friend, Donald (from Dallas) originally read this, he responded in semi-haiku:  He said, "Sounds like an improvement on...                            So many people--

                                                          Heat, noise, traffic congestion,

                                                                  and planes overhead.

Watching The Day As She Ends, a poem

 31MAY10

Watching The Day As She Ends

The phone call between

me and the 'puter geek guy

was interrupted.

I found Dale and Pop

coming back from the mailbox.

There were no letters! :(

We heard thunder from 

the south and signed at the thought

of rain. No such luck!

The dimmed light through cloud

cast an otherworldly glow

on the ground below.

Magnolia and

Mimosa and Gardenia

blossoms enthralled us.

Tomorrow's Delight

was foretold by the pale pink

clouds and soft blue sky.

Pop and I--on the

side porch--don't really mind that

we're not on the phone.

We're just loving the

beauty, watching the day as

she comes to her end.

Commissioned (well, free really) Poem for Ben Hartley

 06JUN10

On Interstate Ten

The hum of truck tires lulls me 

to sleep. Hope I live!!

Dear Ben, When you asked if I had been inspired by the trip, I hadn't yet.  Your comment did, though. I figured you'd enjoy the humor in this one. It seems like something YOU'D say!

His comment to me was:

Hmm, yes. I might need this one for a bedtime story. It just might work...unless an airbag nightmare wakes me up. :)  Thanks for the poem!

Lesson learned from downtown Houston 12JUN10

 In the midst of steel and stone and glass and tar and engine noises from cars, buses and machines, I saw one wispy, white cloud passing by, highlighting the blue sky; and two yellow birds flying past (I think they might have been making their way to Rockport) and three green trees--whose leaves and limbs were shaking and swaying in the wind--and was reminded awesomely and simply of the God Who Exists--ALWAYS--despite the chaos which surrounds us.

Words of Affirmation: Heather Sanders

 April 2nd, 2012,

Loralee,  You know I am not one to throw around compliments lightly, and when I do say it, I really mean it...

YOU should be writing for a living. PERIOD, no question.  This is what you are called to do, and extremely gifted at, and if you should ever need it, I would be honored to illustrate this story for you. (Especially if Homer is a white egret!)

Words of Affirmation: Guy Crain

So, have y'all ever heard of the 5 Languages of Love? It's a book which goes through--in depth--the five ways most people feel loved. They are: Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Touch, and Words of Affirmation.

Mine are--in descending order--Words of Affirmation, Touch, and then the other three. :)   So, when I get especially encouraging, touching, etc. 'Words of Affirmation', I write them down! Here is # 1.

Guy is a young man who went to Brown Trail after I had already graduated, but I was still a member of the congregation.  I kinda had a little crush on him at the time.  Anyway, time passed, he got married, had a kid, his wife left him for another man, and we had gotten back in touch with each other.  Nothing was going on, but a friendship which was encouraging. We talked on the phone and were people who filled a need for each other at that time in our lives.  I've since lost touch--again, but I'm sure he is having a lovely life, playing his guitar, and helping his wife raise that little boy (although the boy might be a grown-up by now.)   Anyway.... 

From Guy to me:

-A heart-felt amen to all your frustration and confusion about the suffering and injustice in the world.  

-And a heart-felt amen to your affirmation that God is still nonetheless good and just even beyond our capacity to understand. BOTH amens are very important, I think. (not just the first one, Mr./Ms.Unbeliever, and not just the last one, Mr./Ms. Preaching School Graduate. =o)

-I am humbled by the colossal size of your heart and its endless well of compassion. You are an example to me.

A HUGE PROJECT

Good evening, Everyone!

     So, I've been considering getting back to blogging recently because of some serious upcoming changes in my life, but have been putting it off because of all the work required in ACCOMPLISHING the aforementioned serious upcoming changes.  I will write a blog about the 'Serious Upcoming Changes" soon.  

However, today I discovered something kind of horrific.  FACEBOOK deleted the Notes feature and all my poetry and writing VANISHED!!  Thankfully, my amazing and intelligent and talented (and young and tech saavy) niece figured out a way to re-capture my notes, but it will be an issue of me bringing up the notes and hand typing them back onto another location--which for now will be here.  At some point, I will definitely buy one of those nifty thingies that keep things stored, but--for now--I'm doing it this way!   Anyway, so there will be LOTS Of new posts in the next week or so....I'm just transferring stuff.  Please forgive!

P.S. Nice to see y'all!