blessed are you

Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #45, The Beatitudes

Why would a person feel blessed?  Why would one bless someone for sneezing or having difficulty?  What is blessed anyway?  Good old Websters has several variances you can read here.  Several are religion connected.  Two definitions spoke to her or, more specifically, to her experience:  1) of or enjoying happiness;  2)  bringing pleasure.  To be in a room full of abused women, to rub their hands with oil, dip in warm wax, wrap in mittens while telling them they can rebuild their lives.  She knew they could because she had.  Giving and receiving happiness from a once dark place.

scattered seeds 

welcomed pleasures newly found

painted buntings sings

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

joy

Carpe Diem #716, Joy

It is a consuming obsession.  The need to write.  One awakes with words running around in one's brain.  Colliding, bouncing, eluding.  It is chaotic.  Every where an eye lands or every sound the ear hears needs to be described.  Every taste, smell and sensation must. be. recorded.  NOW!  An urgency before the words collide into a pile to be sneezed out of one's mind.  And oh the joy from the words!

the man moons
the trees bark, the dog leaves
the words play

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

purity

Carpe Diem #715, Purity

Ninety nine forty four / one hundred percent pure.  That is what was claimed by a soap manufacturer in 1972.  It is amazing how some fact or non - fact repeated often enough lodges in one's brain.  Over and over mantras, creeds, untruths told as truths, et cetra become the accepted hallmarks for society's beliefs and values.  Those hallmarks in turn can go from gentle suggestions to the law of the land, church or organization.  A litmus test of judgement

a smiling baby
the honey bee's sweet nectar
purity's pleasure

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

spider's thread

Carpe Diem Little Creatures #21, Chiyo-ni's "spider's thread"

a single spider's thread
ties the duckweed
to the shore

© Chiyo-ni

the spider's thread
holding a life's mementos
in a silken scarf
©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

thunder

Carpe Diem Special #144, Kala Ramesh's fifth haiku "thunderclap"

the main goal of the CD Specials writing an all new haiku inspired on a haiku by our featured haiku poet/ess ... so here is the haiku by Kala to inspire you.

thunderclap

the darkening sky splits
into liquid night

© Kala Ramesh

(Published in Haiku Presence, Britain’s leading independent haiku journal. Issue #37, Spring 2008)

thunderous bass sound
rumbling across the meadow
heaven's aria



©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

full circle

Carpe Diem Full Circle #1, Sunflower Reflection

Use the following words to make 4 haiku.  Each word is to correspond to the line of its number.  Well, I wonder what that Chèvrefeuille will think of next!

1. sunflower

2. rain storm

3. puddles

4. beach

5. waves

6. making love

7. seagulls

8. rain storm

9. lightning

10. mountain

11. peony

12. nightingale

bowing sunflower
beaten after the rain storm
petal filled puddles

along the beach
sun caresses the waves -
making love shine

beautiful seagulls
huddle close in the rainstorm
eyes reflect lightning

sunlit mountain mist
colors of a peony
nightingales refrain

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

universal self

Carpe Diem #714, Universal Self

Sitting looking out my sister's windows brings beauty onto one's life.  A mocking bird gathers nesting materials while the butterfly rests on a nearby chair.   The honeysuckle is trailing over the short patio wall.  Beyond is a line of trees. Only the tops are seen as sister's home as at the edge of a small, steep cliff.  Looking beyond the treetops one sees the wide, flat meadow.  That flatness is a result of Creation's molding beneath the flooding Brazos River.  Another line of trees marks the banks of the river. 

a butterfly rests
painted wings move in and out
giving breath to life

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Earth Day 2015

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked."

source:  http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement

While I was definitely alive and a functioning adult in 1970, I really do not remember much about that April day 45 years ago.  My husband was driving a 1961 Ford Falcon to work each day, a 70 mile round trip.  The car had no air conditioned, was a stick shift 6 cylinder not a huge gas guzzler.  He would arrive home quite warm in the Texas hot afternoons.  Later he needed a pickup truck.  It was a guzzler to make the long daily commute.  Cheap gas disappeared, up to 57 cents a gallon and carpools began.  Then came the 'gas shortage and long lines.'

In 1970 the term acid rain began being used much more often.  Originally observed in 1867 "by Robert Angus Smith, an English scientist. Smith observed that acidic precipitation could damage plants and materials", per the EPA website on acid rain.  The Clean Air Act passed in 1963 has been revised through the decades.  Congressional driven studies have helped in identifying the areas where we need to clean up our acts!

On Earth Day 2015 we did this:  

• awoke in our cool apartment thanks to electricity provided by wind power.  A few cents more but I like no acid in lakes except as naturally exists
• drove our hybrid Cmax as we ran several errands
• put the bed forts together we has made for our two grandsons.  Had used mostly left over fabric from my Mom's and my stash
• carried cardboard boxes and packing materials from our son's home to the recycling center on our way back home
• i failed to put compostable materials in my worm bin as the worms ran/wiggled away over the winter : (    note to self, buy more worms
• all recyclable items used were placed in our bins to be carried to the center on our next trip out.

We have worked to clean up our use habits.  Now if we can just get less packing around the items we buy.  That is how things have changed in the last 45 years.  Recycling is the norm in lots of homes.  There is less emissions and better gas mileage.  I am pleased to live in a nation than can and will respond to these needed changes.  The question is do we as a nation have the corporate will to take the next steps?  Will we leave the next generation in a better environment than exists today?

Want to see how others spent Earth Day 2015?  Then let your fingers walk on over by clicking here.

Thanks to The Spin Cycle Host Ginny Marie

Lotus

Carpe Diem #712, Lotus

Building a garden from scratch was an enjoyable experience.  Scratch, dig, sort dirt and rocks using a screen and carry the unwanted rocks to fill areas.  Drive back home with bags of manure and peat moss to mix with the dirt.  Move to a new area of the small yard and begin the process again and again ... and ... again.  Build rock walls with some of the rocks dug from the yard and others pilfered from areas being leveled for new buildings.  My husband learned that when I yelled, "flat rock!" he was to stop the vehicle asap.

©  Janice Adcock

Of course there was a compost pile.  Pebble walkways 'cause I like the sound of walking on pebbles.  All sorts of plants for a sunny yard were introduced into the beds as the yard progressed.  These later had to be replaced by more shade tolerant plants as the 4 native trees grew to make almost the entire area a shade garden.  Beginning in 2001 a water garden began being dug  .. by hand and pick ax.  It was finished in the fall of 2002.  The ice storm of 2007 yet again reshaped the garden.

Always was called a gardener by friends.  Truth be told I was little more than a planter that hoped it would grow.  I prayed as one last clematis was planted and made a deal with God, "if this one lives, I'll never buy another one."  It lived and bloomed.  And I never bought another one.  We sold the garden and the house it surrounded in 2013.

©  Janice Adcock

in the old pond

nourished lotus buds bloom

enlightened day

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

The Thing Is ....

Carpe Diem #713, devotion

Part of my ritual each day is a time of devotion or introspection.  After firing up the laptop, I head for the folder on the bookmarks bar of my Google browser marked "daly dev".   Mis-spelled because the words have to be short as I have 12 folders and 15 individual bookmarks. Yes, I am somewhat obsessed with surfing the net, checking emails, social media and blogging. But I digress....

The time of devotion starts with a legislative prayer calendar from Texas Impact.  Each day during the session of the Texas state governing body one or two names of senators and/or representatives are given as suggestions for a prayer focus.  There is then a focus on either professions, parks or some object of significance for prayer.  A second prayer calendar is the United Methodist Women's daily set of mission and birthday focuses.  The missions are world wide.  The birthdays are of staff, missionaries, deaconess and others associated with UMW.

In addition to the two calendars,  a devotional from The Upper Room that includes Bible verses, a short article for reading, a prayer focus and a closing prayer.  Then there is the list of names from my church requesting prayers for various conditions or for praise of results.  There is, also, the 'click to give' site that counts clicks and sponsors provide various services.

Recently I became bored, that is what you read, bored with just placing names out there...  I have altered the routines to research the folks from the legislative and UMW calendars.  This is being very rewarding and informative.  Let me use one of the legislators in one morning's calendar, Sen. Kel Seliger.  This gentleman is the Chair of the State Senate Higher Education Committee.  Searching the internet for Sen. Kel Deliger resulted in several connection possibilities.  I checked two or three then settled on this video.   I felt better after watching this video.  I saw a willingness to work toward a common goal on several subjects.

The thing is I needed to know there are folks in this state caring about more than guns. Open carry is now the law in this state.  There is a group of folks in this and many other states that need guns, almost worship them.  They need guns in church, colleges, school and Wal-Mart. Now in Texas, officers cannot ask if the person has a permit.  To hear one of those folks seeking votes for open carry before its passage here in Texas click here.  Hope I do not touch him in the checkout line at Wal-Mart 'cause I really am not interested in seeing him 'mean' (his words).  I know the vast majority of gun owners do not act like that individual.

The other thing I am now wondering about is a couple openly carrying guns enter a business and want a pizza for their wedding.  Does the owner of the business for religious reasons have the right to refuse service?  Which amendment wins, One or Two? See what devotion can do to one's day?

in the name of God
devotees flock to leaders
- perceived calling

Creator's love goes unheard
in a tower of babble
©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

harmony

Carpe Diem #711, Harmony

The color wheel is a designer's guide.  Complimentary colors, opposing colors and all the shades in between create such beauty, such harmony.  If all colors were mixed together would it create light?  For surely when light hits a prism, the colors are split apart into a rainbow.   In the correct proportions the primary colors mixed together make black, darkness.  So is the harmony in the splitting of all colors or the mixing of all colors?

in morning quite
the mockingbird and dove sing
harmoniously

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

the Delight Song of Tsoai-talee

Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu (former Ghost Writer) #44, N. Scott Momaday's "the Delight Song of Tsoai-talee" CD-Distillation

Navarre Scott Momaday (born February 27, 1934) — known as N. Scott Momaday — is a Native American author of Kiowa descent. His work “House Made of Dawn” was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969. Momaday received the National Medal of Arts in 2007 for his work that celebrated and preserved Native American oral and art tradition. He holds 20 honorary degrees from colleges and universities, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Credits: N. Scott Momaday (1934 -)

Momaday is considered the founding author in what critic Kenneth Lincoln has termed the Native American Renaissance.
“House Made of Dawn” is considered a classic in Native American Literature. (More about Momaday you can find by following the link under the photo).

Here is the poem which is chosen by Paloma of Blog It Or Lose It to distill a (or more) haiku from. It's a gorgeous poem, as I may say so, and I think it can inspire you a lot. It's a challenge of course to catch the essence of the poem in a haiku (or few), but it is also a way to look at haiku built from a longer poem ... 

The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee

I am a feather on the bright sky
I am the blue horse that runs in the plain
I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water
I am the shadow that follows a child
I am the evening light, the lustre of meadows
I am an eagle playing with the wind
I am a cluster of bright beads
I am the farthest star
I am the cold of dawn
I am the roaring of the rain
I am the glitter on the crust of the snow
I am the long track of the moon in a lake
I am a flame of four colors
I am a deer standing away in the dusk
I am a field of sumac and the pomme blanche
I am an angle of geese in the winter sky
I am the hunger of a young wolf
I am the whole dream of these things

You see, I am alive, I am alive
I stand in good relation to the earth
I stand in good relation to the gods
I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful
I stand in good relation to the daughter of Tsen-tainte
You see, I am alive, I am alive

© N. Scott Momaday

in a breath

the sum of all equals one

living in accord

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

for today

for today

for today the words will flow, unhampered by society's constraints.
for today life is sensual as the smell of a pup's breath
for today my husband's touch is beyond desires
for today the pain is over and joy reigns in my soul

forget the past that holds one back
forget the deeds left undone
forget the words of others the still can sting

but tomorrow what shall follow on this path of life now trod?
but tomorrow is but a whisper stealing today's energy

for tomorrow is but a dream of things to come
for today life is lived moment by moment
for today, I thank you, the Divine One

©  Janice Adcock

wild violets

Carpe Diem Special #143, Kala Ramesh's "wild violets"

Inspirations from our meme host:

seek on high bare trails
sky-reflecting violets...
mountain-top jewels

© Basho (1644-1694)

It's also a nice haiku and it has the same theme as this beauty by Kala:

wild violets . . .
he finally agrees
to the path I took

© Kala Ramesh

the roadside
covered with colorful violets
and horse droppings

© Chèvrefeuille

seeking peace

amid the minute beauties

scree shifts underfoot

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

renunciation

Carpe Diem #710, Renunciation

Now we are in the present and we are reading the Bhagavad Gita to (maybe) find peace of mind, as is the theme for this month.

Today it's all about renunciation ... a not so easy to use prompt I think, but maybe the definition for renunciation can help a little bit. This is the definition: an act or instance of relinquishing, abandoning, repudiating, or sacrificing something.

As I re-read this definition than it's obviously that renunciation is an act. An act to give up Self for the greater task in life. That's what Krishna tells Arjuna as they are standing in the middle of the two armies. Let us take a look at the Bhagavad Gita and what it tells us about renunciation.

without sadness
the birds in the sky
rejoice 

© Chèvrefeuille

wearied ....

from countless deeds of giving

grandpa falls asleep

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Waterfall

Carpe Diem Time Glass #29 waterfall

source: Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

laughter echoes

behind the waterfall's veil

cannonball dives!

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

without thought

Carpe Diem #709, God Realisation

Some days it feels a person's head could explode.  By Divine guidance or Happenstance, depending on one's point of view, input from multiple unrelated sources are bombarding one with a single message.  One grapples with the information, researching other sources, digesting it all inside the little grey cells.  As always a resulting conclusion will be shaded by one's past experiences and upbringing.  In the final analysis one is responsible to one's Self, to the Divine calling within .......

©  Janice Adcock

without thought

the sap rises

the bud emerges

without thought

the flower blossoms

the bees feed

without thought

the fruit is formed

the lemon ripens

without thought

the birds fly

Divinely free ....

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Thanks to Gemma & Magical Mystical Teacher
for hosting Macro Monday 2

Thanks to Laura for hosting i heart macro

Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars #22, Basho's "where the hototogisu is singing".

Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars #22, Basho's "where the hototogisu is singing".

Explanation and inspiration from our host, Kristjaan Panneman:

A new episode of Sparkling Stars is ahead of us and this week I have chosen to share a haiku by Basho, as a way of preparation for our upcoming month. The haiku which I will share here comes from his world wide known haibun Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North).

here is the context of this beauty, this sparkling star:

From here, I went to see the Death Stone. The Deputy sent me there on horseback, and the man who led the horse asked me for a tanzaku (a strip of thin cardboard, on which a verse is to be written). I was moved with admiration at his request, and composed the following verse ...

riding over the summer moor, -

"ah! lead the horse that way!"

where the hototogisu is singing

© Basho (Tr. R.H. Blyth)

bouncing along home

the street fills with laughing boys

brakes squeal to a stop

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

perfume

Carpe Diem Time Machine #8, Perfume

distant flash of light

the illumined nighttime sky

whiff of rain kissed air

©  Janice Adcock

"Within the time frame of 24 hours, see if you can compose a kikôbun, a haiku with literary travel notes, that leave a lingering aroma to enhance the feel of the environment."

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

feeling alone

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #81, Yozakura's "feeling alone"

©  Janice Adcock

feeling alone

in the woods around Edo -

just the autumn wind            (Yozakura)

painting thoughts and memories

across the canvas of time      (©  Janice Adcock)

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

wisdom

Carpe Diem #708, Wisdom

an entire life
searching for wisdom
reading ancient texts

at journey's end a book worm
consumed the final pages

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

breath control

Carpe Diem #707, Pranayana (breath control)

The monks filed slowly into the cold room.  The chill penetrated the warmest of clothing.  But the monks with wet towels on their heads sat down on the cold, stone floor.  Each in their own way began the journey of mind over matter.  The journey began by simply breathing deeply.  In and out the breath of each appeared as a mist before the monks.  One could almost sense the change in the room.  Then one by one, the cold towels began emitting a cloud of steam.  The chill of the room was reduced by the warmth generated by the monks.  Not a parlor trick, the power of the mind begun by simply breathing.

the old pond

the frog lies buried in mud

breathing through skin

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

debonding

Carpe Diem #705, Debonding (or detaching)

This past week my three sisters and I cleaned out the last of Mom's possessions.  It was not as emotional for me as for my youngest sister.  Sissy has been Mom's primary caregiver forever.  Sister has shared that when each of us three other sisters moved away she watched Mom grieve deeply.  As a result, Sissy could never bring herself to move very far away from the area where Mom lived.  Sissy was there to help decorate Mom and Dad's Christmas trees.  Her children searched for Easter eggs in Mom's yard. Sissy's grandchildren spent Mom's last Valentine helping her open gifts.  Sissy was always there for Mom and vice versa.

Who would take the last few pieces of furniture was being decided.  My teenage bedroom suite came home with me.  The ceramic chicken that held the scrubber on the kitchen sink went home with another sister.  Oldest sister took Mom's little blue rocker.  Sissy took things that had Mom's handwriting and Mom's favorite chair side table.  The list could fill the blog for pages as we looked at each piece of paper, every book and even Mom's deodorant.  There were only two small bags of trash and 3 boxes of donations at the end of the two days of sorting.

Different moments brought tears to each of our eyes.  But Sissy had so many more moments.  I finally realized the three sisters that had moved away had to detach from Mom in order to survive hundreds and thousands of miles away.  That detachment had happened decades earlier.  Sissy was having to let go of the almost daily time with Mom. Sissy was detaching.

neath protecting wings

hatchlings have warmth and food -

empty nest cries

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

taking flight

Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #43 and Carpe Diem Special #142, "taking flight" by Kala Ramesh

taking flight -
a butterfly shrugs off
its shadow

© Kala Ramesh


The silver skinned bird loosed from the bounds of earth, or in regular language, the plane took off heading toward California.  A vacation in the California sun!  Away from the chill of a long, gloomy winter.  A fall and winter that had taken the last two elders in my family, my sweet Aunt Opal and my own mom.  It has been a tough few months.  Lots of hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, delirium and too much more.

©  Janice Adcock

With the last possessions of a 96 year life to be divided, photos and documents to be scanned I seemed bound to the past.  At the same time I was bound by a sadness for the loss of connections to the past.  Living in a shadow world.

Above the earth –
Looking down on meringue clouds
Sadness abating

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

immortality

©  Janice Adcock

As a retired person I have too much time on my hands.  At least that is what my son says when I say something about a recent project.  I worked on getting all the electrical, computer and other dangling wires wrapped together with velcro strips. With hobbies that include some sewing, enjoying nature, travelling, photography, watching Netflix and writing, I hardly have time to take a leisurely nap on the sofa.  You know, a retired person should have time to take a nap.  There are soccer, lacrosse and American football games to be attended.  To round out the time in the sun we can attend swim and track meets.  An occasional visitor to enjoy some time together and there you have it, no time for a nap.  

But there are those days when not matter what I do, the nap overtakes me.  I never move from my chair.  I sit here with my head dangling like a broken bobble head doll.  Chin on my chest with my head at a 30 degree tilt to the left.  Usually a snort or drool dropping on me or my husband calling my name will awaken me in time to watch Wheel of Fortune.  Well, maybe I do have too much time on my hands after all.  Just do not tell my son I fessed up to it.  Thanks, it can be our secret, forever.

immortality
names whispered across ages
alive in bird songs
©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on
CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

delusion

Carpe Diem #706, Delusion

A good deal of my life was spent thinking there was a special reason for my existence. That 'special' reason found me doing public speaking about the horrors of child abuse.  After intense training sessions, the word about a charter by the United Nations for the law of the sea sent me near and far spreading the word.  A leader at state level gatherings, a leader locally, a mentor for young mothers, Bible school, Sunday school teaching, working with underprivileged of all ages were but some of the special calls I felt.  People and causes alike were helped. 

Is there a 'special' reason for me to be in existence?  Was/am I deluding myself?  Who will ever know.  Special or not, yesterday my husband and I painted a room.  The room for a fourteen year old young lady who has become part of our lives.  The joy in her face when she saw the room was not delusion.  It was special enough to last for a lifetime!

http://northlondonchurch.org/ministers-blog/post/christology-for-amateurs-1-docetism

a distant lake calls

mirrored sky on desert sands

deadly delusion

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Three of a different kind

Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #42, 5-7-5 not easy

The challenge:  Share your three kinds of haiku (3-5-3; 5-7-5; free-style) with us all at our Haiku Kai.

3-5-3

drip, drip
raindrops keeping time
life rhythms

5-7-5

soft branches and leaves
swaying fringe of the dancer
breeze in the willows

free-style

spring frees the water's roar from winter's freezing clutch

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

ancestors

Carpe Diem #701, Ancestors

The challenge text can be found here.  

on the ancestors' altar

without fail

a lucky wind blows            © Issa

on the credenza

the images of ancestors

lighted by a candle           © Chèvrefeuille

The kids that played funeral ©  Janice Adcock

Part of the way our family honors our ancestors is through story telling.  The Adcock Black Diamond Watermelon tells a migration story.  The Great Grandpa Adcock propeller for a wind generator built in the mid 1920's tells of invention and creativity.  An auto battery hooked to color paper wrapped flashlight bulbs by my dad in 1945 tells how recently rural America did not have electricity.  Granny Mary shooting two stray cats with one shot brings to mind a woman behaving in non traditional manners.  What child will not remember and honor ancestors that become more three dimensional, more alive, more fun? 

in reverence -

holding the antique shotgun

stories for grandsons

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

sunshine

Carpe Diem Time Glass #27, Sunshine

On a recent visit with children of my late aunt, I was shown a binder filled with her recollections.  Several stories involved my father, her only surviving sibling, and their first cousins.  Daddy, 4, and his sister, 2,  lost their infant baby sister and mother in December 1918.  Their first cousins, a girl and boy of about the same ages, had lost their father during the same week.  These four cousins became fast friends as their parents, a brother and sister, worked together to rear their children.

One of the favorite games for the four cousins was funeral.  The typewritten story recounted how the four children took turns at being the preacher, the singer, the crier and the deceased.  The best part was to be the deceased person.  In her words, "I played dead the best."  My Dad was the best preacher,  Roy Lee the best singer and Lillis the best crier per my aunt's critical assessment.  What a bittersweet memory to read at my aunt's grandchild's home during a party.

My grandmother's burial.  Box possibly contains doves.
A tradition during this time, 1918.

amid the sorrow

flooded in sunshine the dove 

rising from the grave

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI