Standing Into Danger: April 2022

Friday, April 29, 2022

Just a Little Rain

Today I walked down into the park and meandered along Piney Creek,

even though the sky threatened rain, the wind was rising, and the temperature falling.

It had been so long since I visited my favorite trees and parts of the creek ~

not since October 20th last fall, surely a record absence for me.

The City Park Beckons

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

"My" Middle Pond

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

The landscape is slowly waking from its winter sleep,

still drowsy in its dormant shades of taupe.

Blades of young grass and the occasional brave and perky dandelion clump

poke through, a promise vibrancy to come.

Blades of Green Grass

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Perky Dandelions

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Some find the landscape dreary and drab in this lingering pause

between winter and spring, but to me it is a riot of forms and textures and quiet surprises.

Pause Between Winter and Spring ~ #1

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

A Quiet Surprise, One Curly Eyebrow of Blue Grama Grass,

Bouteloua gracilis, among Dead, Dried Flowers

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Ready for Occupancy ~ Corrugated Architecture

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Purpose Fulfilled

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Pause Between Winter and Spring ~ #2

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Walking along Piney Creek Creek today filled me with peace and hope,

two feelings I need to sustain myself when the world feels increasingly dark and dangerous.

When Covid first struck over two years ago we were lifted up

by selfless heroes and a sense of togetherness.

Those feelings seem naive now.

But I stumbled across a reminder of that time of encouragement

when we tried to buoy each other: a painted rock now tossed from the path.

And I remembered that hope and peace can appear suddenly and in unexpected places.

Peace Be with You!

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

I wanted to walk longer and revisit more favorite places in the park,

but the wind turned squally and cold and rain began to sprinkle.

Time to dash for my car, fingers crossed that the dark skies wouldn't release a downpour.

Somber Skies

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Nature's Palette Reflected in a Manmade Palette

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Stipples of Rain Mean It's Time to Run!

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

As I walked along Piney Creek, one of the gentlest protest songs

from almost a half century ago was running through my mind:

What Have They Done to the Rain?

Gentle in melody, plaintive in lyrics, smoke referencing Strontium-90 in the air,

Malvina Reynolds' song pops up in my memories at unexpected times.

It's severely dry here. Climate change is likely to blame.

And I can't help thinking What have we done to our rain?

Originally the song was a protest against above ground nuclear testing.

I hope we can retreat from the brink of our current and unlooked for nuclear threat.

The environment is struggling enough without having to worry about radioactive rain again.

Yes, struggling and worrying, because the environment may be intrinsically conscious.

What Have They Done to the Rain ~ The Searchers

YouTube

A Burst of Hope Near My Front Door

as I Arrived Home

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Wishing you peace and hope and rain to make spring bloom.

*********

Months ago I was participating in my friend Rain's Thursday Art Date,

but circumstances forced me to put that aside.

Today I'm joining in again for her theme Leaves and Branches.

Here are three photos for the prompt:

Leaves (Dead and Baby-new) and Branches #1

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Leaves (Dead and Duckweed) and Branches (Reeds) #2

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

Leaves and Branches (and Blossoms) #3

Aurora, Colorado, USA

April 27, 2022

I'll be back on Wednesday, May 4th for Insecure Writer's Support Day.

If you haven't visited this critically-recognized site for writers, I invite you to do so.

Its purpose is to share and to encourage.

Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance.

It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

(The home page for the IWSG: https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com )

This Wednesday members have the option of answering this question in their posts:

It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

(The sign-up page for the IWSG Blog with a list of blogging members:

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html )

Stay hopeful and creative!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Friday, April 22, 2022

A Little Comic Relief

I've spent a lot of time puzzling over philosophy recently.

My friend, Baili (at Baili and I), sent me down this rabbit hole

when she shared a book she had read, Galileo's Error by Philip Goff.

On a whim, I decided to buy it and read it.

Highly unusual for me, because I've avoided philosophy since I finished

my final philosophy exam at Acadia University a long time ago.

I was done with philosophy, amen, full stop, period!

Philosophy made my brain hurt.

Well, thanks to Baili, I'm not done.

Now I find philosophy much more interesting, and I plan to read more in the future.

But today my brain is hurting from reading philosophy,

so I decided I needed some comic relief, a whole other rabbit hole!

If a man is in the forest, and he says something, and there’s no woman around to hear him - is he still wrong?

IF THIS POST IS PUBLISHED AND NOBODY READS IT, IS IT REALLY A POST?

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

IF THIS POST IS PUBLISHED AND NOBODY READS IT, IS IT REALLY A POST?

Friday, April 15, 2022

Rabbit Holes

It's good to be home after being away so long, even if away meant O‘ahu, Hawaii.

And it's good to have my computer, iPhone, and other technology items working.

Thankfully, I made it out of technology hell in time for me to co-host

the Insecure Writer's Support Group on the first Wednesday of April.

I struggle with time management, and I know one of the main reasons why.

I can't resist a good rabbit hole,

one that immerses me in an engrossing and time-consuming topic.

Every first Wednesday of the month, I plunge into a number of enticing rabbit holes

dug by the talented and creative members of the IWSG.

Consequently, it takes me a long time to visit around with fellow IWSG members.

Wikimedia

One IWSG member's post in particular dropped me into a rabbit warren of tunnels.

I've been stuck underground since April 6th,

racing around and exploring all sorts of topics

as a result of visiting PJ Colando's (aka Talk Lady)

interesting and funny post on exclamation points.

Me being me, I somehow found myself in a previous post of hers Somebody vs. Someone and falling into that damn rabbit warren.

Now you might think that exclamation points and the subtleties of

using somebody vs. someone would not make for interesting and funny posts,

let alone inspire rabbit holes, but you would be wrong.

PJ can make just about any topic she tackles in a post worth your time reading.

The exclamation point is one of her favorite punctuation marks,

and she describes herself as a walking exclamation point

on the home page of her author's website.

At the upper right of my blog, I state that I live my life in exclamation marks!

Points? Marks? Just American and Canadian subtleties.

Talk Lady and I are simpatico!!!

Author Lewis Carroll's Alice

She fell into the original rabbit hole in his children' novel Alice in Wonderland

Tom Simpson: flickr ~ license

PJ chose to illustrate her Somebody vs. Someone post with videos

of Queen's Somebody to Love and the Beatles' If I Needed Someone.

I have listened to this Beatles' song hundreds of times during my life,

but I had never heard or seen this video version of Queen's song.

I was spellbound!!!

Freddie Mercury's video of Somebody to Love, recorded at the Montreal Forum

in 1985, instantly became one of my favorite live performances ever,

and I was tumbling down a rabbit hole, a branching warren filled with everything Queen.

(If you'd like to hear the song, click here: Somebody to Love.)

The Rock Group Queen

(with Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor)

kentarotakizawa: flickr ~ license

I don't know how many times I've watched this video in the days since IWSG Wednesday.

Mercury is a strutting exclamation mark,

a powerful and intense performer, musician, and singer.

I've been mesmerized watching Queen in multiple videos,

in documentaries, in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, and in the 1985 Live Aid concert.

Queen's performance at this concert is considered among the greatest in rock history.

Terry and I were among the estimated 40% of the world's population

that tuned in to watch Live Aid on television on July 13, 1985.

Not yet a year into our marriage, Terry and I had spent the day working on our yard,

mowing grass, trimming bushes, weeding the garden, and dividing irises

that had run amok along a fence that bordered one side of our property.

We had collapsed, exhausted and hot, to tune into the show

that I described in my diary as an "incredible concert

and an incredible concept" (raising money for famine relief in Ethiopia).

Sadly, imho, Somebody to Love was not included in the Live Aid setlist.

But, what are you gonna do when you only have 20 minutes to perform,

and the most beautiful song Freddie Mercury ever wrote is seven minutes long?

And you have so many rousing hits to rock Wembley with?

Freddie Mercury Backstage at the Live Aid Concert

July 13, 1985, Wembley Stadium, London, UK

NicestGuyEver: flickr ~ license

I won't take you down all the tunnels I've wandered through since I last posted:

~ Freddie Mercury's extra incisors and the fossil hunters seeking

the origins of the human lineage in the Afar region of Ethiopia...

~ The bottle of Heineken beer on Freddie Mercury's piano,

and how a bottle of Heineken changed my life forever...

~ Brian May's earned PhD in Astrophysics from Imperial College London

in 2007, Philip Goff's book Galileo's Error, and metaphysics...

~ And, of course, listening to other intense performances

that never fail to lift my spirits... Okay, maybe I'll go here...

I have also been listening to these seven songs over and over all week:

1. Radiohead, 15 Step - live with the USC Trojan Marching Band

at the 2009 Grammys...

This never fails to give me the shivers.

Thom York's moves are as intense and iconic as Jagger's and Mercury's.

I can lose myself in this song for a long time.

(You may have to turn up the volume in the lower right of the video.)

2. Lady Gaga, Edge of Glory - live on American Idol, May 25, 2011...

Literally an over-the-top performance by Lady Gaga.

This was saxophonist Clarence Clemons' last public performance

before his death a few weeks later.

3. Bruce Springsteen, Dancing in the Dark - official video, 1984...

Springsteen looks impossibly young and cute now and so does Clarence Clemons.

4. Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter - live with Lisa Fischer...

Who outdoes whom, Fischer or Jagger?

"I tell you love, sister. It's just a kiss away. It's just a kiss away."

5. K.D. Lang, Hallelujah - live at the 2005 Juno Awards in Winnipeg...

How can you not get shivers listening to the incomparable K.D.

singing Leonard Cohen's classic song?

6. Van Morrison & The Band, Caravan - live in 1976 - The Last Waltz...

I always smile when I see Morrison cutting loose.

"Turn it up! Turn it up! Little bit higher! Radio!"

7. Some people might be offended by this next video, so be forewarned

(sexually suggestive moves, cross-dressing, semi-nudity).

But its exuberant, over-the-top performance by Steven Tyler never fails

to make me laugh and buoys me up when I'm down.

Aerosmith, Dude Looks Like a Lady - official music video, 1987.

Needless to say, I didn't get much of what I should have been doing done recently.

Good thing Terry is in Vegas with his buds.

It's all good, though.

Somebody to Love and other songs can take me right out of

our troubled world and all my Gotta Dos,

and plunk me into an immediate and timeless present where I can lose myself.

Where would I be without music?

Can you resist rabbit holes, or do you tumble into them a lot?

Are you a longtime Queen fan like me?

Are there songs that compel you to listen to them over and over again?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

See you next week! Stay happy and safe!

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

IWSG: Wednesday, April 6, 2022 ~ Looking Forward to Learning About Audiobooks!

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.

To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are Joylene Nowell Butler, Jemima Pett, Patricia Josephine, Louise - Fundy Blue, and, Kim Lajevardi!

I hope you have a chance to visit today's hosts and thank them for co-hosting.

I'm sure they would appreciate a visit and an encouraging comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.
This month's featured question is:

Have any of your books been made into audio books?

If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy April, Everyone!

Here comes spring ~ If you live in the northern hemisphere.

I love how the days are getting longer here in Colorado.

Thank you for an easy question to answer this month.

I am wiped out from traveling, world events, and technology hell during the last month.

None of my books have been made into an audiobook.

I don't have books.

I have shorter pieces of fiction and nonfiction, none of which have been recorded.

I have, however, recorded hundreds of books written by elementary children,

primarily in second and third grade.

After I "published" the books, we sometimes recorded them on cassette tapes.

The young authors were usually thrilled to read their books aloud to create a recording.

Their published books and recordings made a fun center

for classmates to spend time in reading and listening to the books.

While I could share lots about this classroom process,

I know very little about producing a professional audiobook.

I'm looking forward to learning about the process from all of you!

I've been home for a week after a long and enjoyable stay in Waikiki.

Now that everything is unpacked and order restored here at home,

I need to get back into regular life again.

I feel at sea, directionless after the strange interlude of the pandemic

and the uncharted and dangerous waters of world events threatening our future.

I hope writing will help me restore a sense of purpose and direction,

and quickly.

On a lighter note, I think I found the rooster I described in my last IWSG post,

the one I nicknamed Putin.

Of course I didn't try to catch him and wring his neck.

I chased him around the lawn and bushes by our building with my camera instead.

Toward the end of my stay, I found myself waking up at night

and listening for his ragged crowing to be sure he was alive and okay.

I'm trying to think of a better nickname for him.

He doesn't deserve to be called a name as dark as Putin.

Putin

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

February 24, 2022

And on a serendipitous note, I unexpectedly reconnected with a friend in Honolulu.

I hadn't seen her in over fifty years, but the intervening years vanished

as we caught up.

Poor husbands ~ LOL ~ It's a good thing Terry and Bruce hit it off well.

We spent some wonderful and laugh-filled hours together on two occasions.

Kathy and I Outside Nico's Restaurant

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

March 22, 2022

Terry, Kathy, and Bruce

Nu'uanu Pali Lookout

O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

March 10, 2022

Congratulations to Alex, our talented IWSG founder,

who released his latest book CassaDark yesterday!

His Cassa series is sooo good, and I can't wait to read this one!

Wishing him every success ~ Check out that Publisher's Weekly comment!

I've spent an inordinate amount of time in recent weeks dealing with technology problems.

I think I've conquered them.

Hopefully, I'll be able to reply to your comments on my post.

Fingers crossed, I'm looking forward to a fun time visiting around!

Take care, and happy writing in April!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be on Friday, April 15, 2022.

Books Read in 2024

"5 Languages of Love: The Secret to Love That Lasts" by Gary Chapman
"Eruption" by Michael Crichton and James Patterson
"In Darkness" by L. Diane Wolfe
"In My Time of Dying" by Sebastian Junger
"The Bat" by Jo Nesbo
"The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu
"The Last to Vanish" by Megan Miranda
"The Montauk Monster" by Hunter Shea
"The Road to Character" by David Brooks
"The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller
"The Twist of a Knife" by Anthony Horowitz
"The Uninhabital Earth: Life After Warming" by David Wallace-Wells
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
"Writing the Shadow" by Joanna Penn

Pages

Friday, April 29, 2022

Just a Little Rain

Friday, April 22, 2022

A Little Comic Relief

IF THIS POST IS PUBLISHED AND NOBODY READS IT, IS IT REALLY A POST?

Friday, April 15, 2022

Rabbit Holes

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

IWSG: Wednesday, April 6, 2022 ~ Looking Forward to Learning About Audiobooks!