Sunset Serenade

Oil on panel, 15 x 20 in. Palette knife painting.

The sun dips low, kissing the waters, whispering the secrets of the day.

Fab Over 40

UPDATE:  10/24/2024  It delights me to announce that I advanced to the top 20. Thank you for voting for me. I much appreciate it! Voting is still open for this second round. 💋

Vote Here

Hello fabulous people,

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been chosen to compete in the Fab Over 40 competition! The winner will get an incredible opportunity to visit Arizona and grace the cover of NewBeauty Magazine. This competition also shines a spotlight on breast cancer awareness, which is such an important cause.

The winner will be announced in December, determined by public votes. It would truly delight me if you cast your vote for me at this link: Here. Voting begins on October 14th.

You can vote daily, and I’ll be adding new photos, so please visit the link often and show your support. Thank you in advance for your votes and encouragement!

Love Always,

ML13

Mrs. Johnson

Every once in a while, when I learn a life lesson, I remember Mrs. Johnson. She was my microbiology teacher in college. She was my friend. I loved going to her class. We would always be excited at exchanging our poetry. She would read hers to me and I would share mine. I remember one day walking late into class, I hadn’t had time to remove my sunglasses. She said as I walked to my seat, “here she comes, incognito.”

I aced her class and was asked by her to tutor her summer class, but I, who loves travelling, opted to vacation instead of teach. My anatomy teacher had also asked me to tutor her summer class, but summertime is for vacationing.

One of my favorite poems of Mrs. Johnson is about learning and evolving in life, and that once we learn a lesson, we’re rarely ever confronted with the same situation because we’ve learned the lesson. And there’s a nostalgic tone to it, that we suffer so much to learn a lesson but end up never really needing to apply that lesson again.

She wrote the poem for her step-child who was always moving between her mother’s and father’s home. Here I share the poem.

Again

broken strings and shoelaces, packed again
the bear’s house is left behind, again
patched decisions seamed with frantic fantasies
new-old-new faces
teachers without substance
a piece here, a piece there
childhood fragmented and scattered in too brief a time
promises tied to places, obsessions, reversals
why must we run from the ghosts

shift, shift, shift
move down, move down, new cup, new cup, new cup
to be discontinued………..
run, run, run,
it will be better, won’t it

unpack but don’t unfold your dreams, again
talents untested, arrested, packed again
unframed sequences briefly reviewed and packed, again
unsent letters, unspent emotions, unsolved problems
feelings out of sequence, abrupted, interrupted, again
tucked in, put away, again
you’ll be too old to use them next time they are opened
don’t learn to adjust
just learn to leave again
rehearse for a rapidly approaching adulthood
a lifetime of lessons well-learned.

Image by Catkin

Alien Visitation

So, I had an alien visitation last night, but before I delve into that let me just say that it’s been a year and a half since I’ve been here, or had the desire to write, because well, life can be so surprising and shocking sometimes that it leaves me lost for words. But I’m here now. Thank goodness!

As I was saying, so last night as I was dosing off to sleep, I heard them. I was slipping in and out of consciousness and it was their sound that brought me back into consciousness every time. I felt no threat, or fear. Just curiosity and interest.

I know, to most of you I may sound cuckoo, but that’s okay. One can never really believe something until they experience it themselves. I get it. Completely! By the way, I was not drunk or on any kind of drugs.

A similar, almost similar, thing happened to me many years ago. As a result of an experience I ended up vibrating at an incredibly high vibration. For three days straight, until it wore off, I heard music and random, but clear and concise conversations between people out of the air, from the ether. It was like I was tuning into these different frequencies and hearing things, like from a radio, but coming from nowhere, just the ether.

At that time, my vibration was so high that there was a hum in my room. I was not the only one who heard it, as another person in the house asked “what is that sound?”.

Anyhow, last night was different. I don’t believe that I was picking up their sounds from the either, like I had tuned into their vibration, because every time I heard them, I turned my head to one spot in the room, as if I would see something. It was coming from a specific location. As opposed to the time I heard sounds which came from no point of origin.

No words they spoke, but tones and clicks and vibrations. Not only their sound, but a presence was felt, as if they were doing something, commotion and busyness was sensed, as well, their vessel. I wish I had kept my consciousness for a longer period of time because it was extraordinary.

Maybe they were my family from another life. Likeminded people always gravitate towards each other. I know I’ll find my people someday. We always do!

2023

We made it to 2023! Although we are still in the year of the Tiger until January 21 when we’ll transition into the year of the Rabbit; the luckiest animal of the Chinese zodiac. 2022 was a yang year, and this year it’ll be a yin year, yin water rabbit.

The year of the Tiger was an awesome year for me, as well as for many people as I read on social media. Whereas the Tiger is strong, daring, and adventurous, the year of the rabbit should be soft, elegant, cuddly—full of love—yet quick and decisive.

Wishing all of you a year full of love, peace, self-improvement, and decisions made without the consequence of regret.

To you all, I send my love!

Happy New Year!

pumpkins

Thankful

The first national Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated on November 26, 1789. President George Washington proclaimed it “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God”.

It is a time of prayer, hot chocolates and lattes. Of sharing, giving thanks to the harvest and people in our lives. As well, It’s a celebration of life, warmth and safety as we congregate with our loved ones in thankful appreciation.

This holiday season, I would like to remind you to give thanks to yourself. It is ever true that love begins with the self. Don’t forget to thank your beautiful self for all that you are and all that you do. Appreciate your efforts at life and show gratitude to yourself so that it may spread beyond you to all around you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo by Alfred Schrock