P is for Poet

 

My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. 

It's time for some  A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 2 posts behind.  The next letter is  P so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N was for Narnian

O was for Optimist

P is for Poet

They say beggars can't be choosers.  I think the same logic applies to people who are behind on their assignments.  Instead of not being choosers, we can't be perfectionists.

So I'm just making a pastiche of some examples of my poetry for today's post.  If it's been on my blog or appeared somewhere else before I am also providing a link.  

In 2023 and 2024 I participated in the Kid Lit Progressive Poems  as part of the celebration of April as National Poetry Month.  A progressive poem is ehre several poets take turns writing a line for that day's part of the poem.  I have included the 2023 poem in it's entirety with my contributions are in bold/

Raindrops, Moonseeds, and Dreams 

 Suddenly everything fell into place

 like raindrops hitting soil and sinking in. 

When morning first poked me, I’d wished it away

 my mind in the mist, muddled, confused. \

 Was this a dream or reality, rousing my response? 

The sun surged, urging me to join in its rising, 

 Rising like a crystal ball reflecting on morning dew. 

I jumped out of bed, ready to explore the day.

 

 My feet pulled me outside and into the garden 

Where lilies and bees weave…but wait! What’s that? 

 A bevy of bunnies jarted and darted and played in the clover. 

A dog barked and flash, the bunderstorm is over. 

 I breathed-brave, quiet. Like a seed,

 as the day, foretold in my dream, ventured upon me. 

Sunbeams guided me to the gate overgrown with wisteria 

where I spotted the note tied to the gate. 

 As I reached the gnarled gate, pollen floated like fairy dust into my face. Aaah Choo! 

Enter, if you must. We’ve been waiting for you. 

 Not giving the curious note a thought, I pushed the gate open and ran through.

 Stopped in my tracks, eyes wide in awe—can this really be true? 

Huge mushrooms for tables, vines twined into chairs, 

A flutter of fairies filled flowery teawares 

 With glazed nut cakes and apple blossom tea, 

I heard soft whispers from behind a tree. Oh my! They had been “waiting for me!” 

 Still brave, but cautious, I waited for them. 

Forested friends filled the glade. “You’ve arrived! Let the reverie begin!”

I laughed as my bare feet danced across the dew-soaked grass, 

matching the beat of paws, claws, and wings—around me, above me. 

Tea cakes and hugs, twice all around, then silly games and races ’til the sun slid down,

 Moon shared a warm wink, and showered moon-seeds over earth’s precious ground.

A few years ago I did a holiday poetry reading for Christmas.  Here is the you tube video ...

Last Year for the Q day if the challenge, I wrote a poem:  \

According to Merriam Webster, A quatrain is a unit or group of four lines of verse.  I have decided to write the heart of my A to Z post in quatrains today.  I am following an ABCB rhyme scheme

My A to Z Q Post

The A to Z Challenge

Is a big to do

Each year I struggle

As I get to Q

My theme this year

Has been Holidays

I've tried to approach it

In some different ways

Each Day, save Sunday

Calendars I consult

And search for Holidays

That I can exult

When I find the occasion

That I like better

I match the event

With that day's letter

For example April 2nd

Was Children's Book Day

B is for Book

I put on display

On the days of the alphabet

That start with A, E, I, O or U

I created my own holiday

Don't ask Y, but it's true

Today's Holiday

Wasn't hard to find

It was Poetry

And the creative mind

But how would that match 

With the letter Q?

I just scribbled out some

Quatrains for you

This has been Poetry Friday

And Also A to Z

Thanks ever so much

for joining me. 

I am not entirely a rhyming poet.  I think all of my poems referenced here do rhyme.  I did do an Acrostic poem for O in this years challenge and while that did not rhyme it did follow a pattern. 

SO to end this post I'll just jot some unrhymed lines and see if later I can make something more of it.  

Twisting and turning

The parade passed through

An optical illusion or a deliberate lie

A furtive glance of desperation

Ignorance of the truth 

disdain for the needy

The I doesn't see

That the me is beside myself

in myopic misery

A buffet of brutality

with extra helpings of apathy

washed down with righteous indignation

X marks the spot

where twitter once retweetd

link on the various words to get to the various places.

A to Z Challenge Home Page

A to Z Challenge Master List

Coming Up Quintessential Work Ahead

O is for Optimist

 

My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. 

It's time for some  A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 1 post behind.  The next letter is  O so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N was for Narnian

O is for Optimist

Today is also Poetry Friday and since there is only a few minutes left in Friday, I will share a poem about Optimism and be back tomorrow to write about how I'm a poet.  The slacker in me wants juts to combine both but I think I can prevail.

OPTIMISM

Opportunities Present Themselves In Many Initially Simple Matters

Pessimists Turn Inner Memories Into Seeing Mirages

They Ignore Messages Indicating Successful Management

I Might Instead Secure Motivation

Motivation In Seeing Myself

Instinctively Moving Swiftly

Striding, Marching

Masterfully

Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Jone Rush MacCulloch. Check it out!

Click on the various words to get to the various places.

A to Z Challenge Home Page

A to Z Challenge Page for the letter O

A to Z Challenge Master List

Coming Up

N is for Narnian

 

My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. 

It's time for some  A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 2 posts behind.  The next letter is  N so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N is for Narnian

When I made my list of A to Z attributes at the beginning of this year, it was just going to be on my blog page.  I had no intention of using the list as my theme for the A to Z challenge this year.  When I made that decision as I alluded to in the theme reveal, some of the entries were not suitable to full blown posts, and some were very similar which meant that the posts about those letters would cover similar material.  For example, I had J for Jester, N for Nincompoop, O for Original and T for Teller of Jokes, I am augmenting all but the first since after a while how many posts do you need explaining I'm a goofball when one random post will do the trick.  

So instead of Nincompoop I went with Narnian.

I did encounter the chronicles of Narnia as a child.  I learned about them in high school.  They captivated me and soon their author C.S. Lewis was my favorit author and has remained so for almost 45 years.  I have written here multiple times about C.S. Lewis and Narnia and I certainly don't mean to regurgitate all of that for you now.

For most of the past 45 years I have reread all 7 of the Narnia books.  Some years reading them all twice, first in the order they were published and second in how they occur in Narnian time.  And yes I stop at the penultimate page of Lion Witch and the Wardrobe and read The Horse and his boy and then finish the last page and a half of LW&W.  What can I say I'm hard core. 

For the past 2 years I have announced that my next A to Z challenge topic was going to be A to Z Narnia Characters.  The problem is I haven read all 7 Narnian books since 2022 and I was going to assign the characters and research my posts while reading.  I'm not saying that I will do Narnia A to Z next year,  I have some pretty good ideas for future challenges.

But I thought it might be fun off the top of my head to make an A to Z Narnian character list for this post.  Here I go ...

A is for Aslan

B is for Bree

C is for Caspian

D is for the Dufflepuds

E is for Euastace Clarence Scrubb (and he almost deserved it)

F is for Frank the Cabby AKA as King Frank

G is for  Glimfeather the Owl

H is for Helen the wife of the cabby and the first queen of Narnia

I is for 

J is for Jewel 

K is for King Peter

L is for Lucy

M is for the mice who chewed off Aslans cords

N is for Nikabrik.

O is for Old nurse (as in Caspian's Old Nurse)

P is for Puddleglum

Q is for Queen Susan

R is for Reepicheep

S is for Shasta

T is for Tumnus the Faun

U is for Uncle Mraz

V is for the  (Grand) Vizier

W is for the Witch

X is for

Y is for 

Z is for 

22 out of 26 off the top of my head is pretty good I guess.  If I did do  Narnia as my theme I would need to get creative with some of those letters.  

Click on the various words to get to the various places.

A to Z Challenge Home Page

A to Z Challenge Page for the letter N

A to Z Challenge Master List

Coming Up: Looking forward to being an Optimist.

M is for Muppet Man

 My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. 

It's time for some  A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 2 posts behind.  The next letter is  M so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

A Quote To Start Things Off

I only like movies about real things, like the Muppets.  - Amy Roller

To say I grew up on the Muppets is  not really too much of an exaggeration.  I remember watching the first episode of the show when I was in Kindergarten and introduced to Muppets like Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, and a reporter by the name of Kermit The Frog.  The Muppet Show started when I began Jr. High and the Muppet Movie came out the summer before I started High School.  My grandmother took us to see it and it changed my life.

Amy had a similar epiphany with The Muppet movie and even had a stuffed animal Kermit which not only attended our wedding, but sat on the piano for all to see.

The day before our first daughter was born we went and saw the movie Muppets from Space.  Not a great movie, but just another example of how I can measure my life by the Muppets.  I don't really have much more to add so I'm just going to put this music video of Man or Muppet  on to end our time together. 

Click on the various words to get to the various places.

A to Z Challenge Home Page

A to Z Challenge Page for the letter M

A to Z Challenge Master List

Coming Up: Narnia (I'm not lion)

L is for Library Lover

 My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. 

It's time for some  A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 3 posts behind.  The next letter is  L so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L is for Library Lover

My family loves libraries.  I grew up literally across the street from one.  Over the years I have written lots and lots about libraries.  To give you an idea of what me and my family do at libraries, I too a post from Jabuary of 2024 that was languishing in draft status finished it up and am inserting it below.  I'm putting it in italics so you'll know when I'm back.  

Double Library Day

Today was my last school day off of school for winter break.  I decided to spend some of it on ad adventure.

First I went to breakfast with my wife at Allen's Corner Diner in Hampshire, Il.

Allen's Corner is an excellent spot to eat, but they accept cash only.  They do have an ATM on the premises, but I am not fond pf paying the  additional fees. Last year, we were on our way to being regulars there, (Amy and I dream of being regulars at a local place with atmosphere, And Allen's Corner diner has atmosphere in spades.) when we were both working at the same school in Hampshire.  Unfortunately, I am no longer working at the same school, so when we came in today, there was no shouting of Norm, or any other "regular" greeting.  We split a skillet and had a good time.

While we were at the restraunt, I looked up cities that were 60 miles or less than Hampshire.  I found a place called Rockton, Illinois and found out they had a library called the Talcott Free Library.  I headed over to Rockton after Amy went to her school to catch up on work before the students and teachers came back in force on Monday.  

I got to Rockton before the library was open so I decided to go the extra few miles to the Wisconsin state border and make it a double library day by going to the library in Beloit.  The library in Beloit was also not open upon my arrival.  So I checked out some of the beautiful areas near the library.

The Library is located to  some sort of medical building that used to  be a department store.

I got to the library and decided to check out the children's section.  They had a section of A to Z books which I believe are called alphabets.  

They also had what is called a library of things where you can borrow all kinds of things.  I was struck by the fact that you could borrow snow shoes. Amy and I went snowshoeing a few years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and really enjoyed ourselves.  Maybe some day we'll make the trek tp Beloit and borrow us up some fun. 

I really enjoyed the Beloit Library but it was time to get back to Rockton and the Talcott Free Library. Libraries were traditionally private and not just anyone could use them.  This article gives a good history of the first free libraries. 

Rockton, Illinois is kind of a blink or you'll miss it border town.  I know because I've driven to Beloit many times, and blinked and missed Rockton.  I did like my time in downtown Rockton not only at the library but visiting some of the local haunts.  They had a very nice bookstore there and I had a good meal at a sit down restaurant before my double library day came to an end.  

One of my favorite books with a cool cover at a Rockton Bookstore 

Meanwhile back at the challenge ...

Our Local Public Library 

Celebrating 150 Year Anniversary

January 2024

Our family used to do something twice a year during our homeschool days called library week.  Once each semester usually over Christmas and Spring Break instead of our regular school days we would visit libraries.  

We would still do school but in a different format.  It is one of the things we liked best about  homeschooling and also some of our best memories as a family.  

Making friends at the library.

That boy with Lucy  is now pre-med at Loyola

(You prove he isn't)

Charlie playing Chess

Chillin' at the library

So this is why we bibliotech ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

Click on the various words to get to the various places.

A to Z Challenge Home Page

A to Z Challenge Page for the letter L

A to Z Challenge Master List

Coming Up: Muppets show up