Author Archives: Maggie C

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About Maggie C

Stained glass artist, writer, respecter of life.

Look What I Found!

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This week’s Discover Challenge at The Daily Post asks us to look back at our blog posts for this past year and find a way to build on or synthesize our best work of 2016.

My best work? Well, having only managed a single post for most of the months this year, the “best” of it becomes a rather short list. Nonetheless, I’ve taken on the challenge of using lines from previous posts to create a “found poem.” Here it is:

Glass Scraps

Things aren’t always what they seem.
You can’t sleep on glass, you know.
Does it matter what smashed it?
I really don’t know how it feels to sleep in a ditch,
having never done so. That I recall.

Chewing on lead… bad idea.
What? You think?
Tell that to your Scrabble companions!

Stuff seems to seek us out at every port,
clinging to us like barnacles on a boat.
Take hostas for example. You know,
those green leafy plants that don’t look like ferns.
They do have a certain je ne sais quoi about them, no?
Or maybe a coagulation of gunked up motor oil
stuck to the floor of a mechanic’s garage.
You know how that is, right?

I never goosed anything, quantum or otherwise.
Since I’m too impatient to do all of that,
that session was cut short once the rock shrapnel
began pummeling the inside lining of my kiln.
Okay, I made that last part up.
This is starting to sound like that twine theory stuff.
Much better than the exploding rock episode.

So what is the significance of all of this?
If you can’t stand the heat,
don’t touch the tip of the soldering iron.
But where’s the fun in that?

If Dart has instilled in you a crippling fear of Tiffany lamp shades,
and since that seemed boring as all get out –
well… his work here is done.

The Daily Post’s Discover Challenge: Retrospective

On the Cusp

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As one year ends and another queues up for its grand opening, we sometimes find ourselves pin-balling from remembrances of the year(s) gone by, to plans and hopes and dreams for the year(s) ahead. For now I’m indulging myself in parsing the 2016 posts I wrote for the What Rhymes with Stanza blog. Planning for next year’s posts will come soon enough.

Yesterday, I posted a retrospect of 2016 using photos I’d taken throughout the year. Today, I’m taking on a suggestion from The Daily Post’s Discover Challenge which also relates to looking back over the past years’ worth of blogging, only this time with words.

One of the ideas presented in the Challenge was to write a “found poem” using lines from past posts. I’ve only attempted a found poem once before, and determined that it would have perhaps best remained lost.

But, hey… I’ll try anything twice. Hence, a “remix” of some lines taken from poems I wrote in 2016:

On the Cusp

With each passing day the past grows ever longer
even though we already cannot fathom its span.
History will always be defined by the lens
through which each one of us perceives.

You can’t get to where you’re going
until you’ve come from where you came.
It takes but one misstep to reset trajectory.

With each dawning day the present forgives us and
offers a clean slate to create what we choose.
Actions speak louder than words.
Non-action can speak just as loudly.

Leap, simply because you can.

The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Retrospective

Down the Path in 2016

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At the beginning of this year, instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I chose a theme for the year. My theme was “magic.” Of course by February I’d totally forgotten about the whole theme thing, but I would say that 2016 has indeed been magical on several levels.

As some other bloggers have done, I’ve chosen 12 photos, one from each month of this year, and am sharing them here today. They are snapshots of the magic that was 2016.

January came in rainy and grey, but there are always patches of color underfoot. Mind the steps; they’re slippery.

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February: Spring tries to rush things, as these daffodils bravely poke up from the cold ground in late winter.

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March: Combining color and creativity is always magical.

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April begins filling out nature’s beautiful spring palette.

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May: Beauty in art and animals.

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June: Warm, expansive days encourage outdoor activity.

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July: The heat (and plants) get a little prickly. But just a little.

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August: Those lazy, hazy days of summer.

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September: Shadows begin lengthening, but there’s still plenty of time to get out and play.

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October: Time to break out the warmer (and waterproof) clothing.

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November: Grey skies return, and the last vestiges of autumn defy the rain and wind.

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December: Snow is rare where I live, so one must make the most of what little we get.

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The seasons followed their usual path in 2016, but these photos each carry a reminder of special moments, special places, special people, and the magic  of a year well played.

My theme for next year? I’m still pondering that. I can’t determine the path down which 2017 will take me, but I can certainly choose my company and mindset. I plan to choose wisely.

Do you have a theme for 2017? Resolutions?

The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Path

the ties (or glues) that bind

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Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

There’s been no holiday baking in my kitchen this year. Counter tops and back splashes  are ripped out, the range is covered with a paint tarp, wires dangle where light fixtures used to hang… and in general it looks as though Home Depot exploded all over the kitchen.

I can’t seem to remember in which boxes I packed which things to store out of the way for the kitchen remodel, and I couldn’t find any tape to secure the wrapping paper on Christmas gifts. Not to worry, though. Wood glue and trigger clamps did the trick nicely.

My dog Chules got a nice treat from Santa Paws. Judging by his newly acquired black snout, I’m guessing the treat is now buried somewhere in the dirt of the back yard.

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My cat Sebastian got some goodies from Santa Claws as well, but judging from his glazed stare, it looks like maybe he dipped into the egg nog when I wasn’t looking.

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I’ve had a wonderful day spent with my beautiful family, eating great food (obviously not prepared in my kitchen), sharing good memories and creating lovely new ones.

I hope your holidays are as blessed as mine!

at the very least

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kindness

One ring,
two Chinese characters,
how many meanings?

I didn’t know, and so I asked.

Second symbol first:
goodness,
kindness,
charity,

… I was told.

First one second:
it goes without saying…
absolutely…
at the very least…

It’s hard to explain,
I was told.

So many things in life are hard to explain, and so
we often devise our own explanations,
our own definitions.

What does it mean to say, “I’m fine?”
One sentence,
two words,
how many meanings?

I often don’t know, but I seldom ask.

I want to change that, to show more charity,
kindness and goodness;
to listen to your explanations
and belay my own fabrications
at the very least.

As for the ring, perhaps it’s telling me
when life is hard to explain and hard to define,
there is one course of action
that is always right.
In those two characters, I choose to read,
“Above all else, be kind.”

The Daily Post discover challenge: Hope Gone Viral

Weekend Coffee Share 12/18/16

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#WeekendCoffeeShare is graciously hosted by Diana at ParttimeMonsterBlog.com. 

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If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I’m feeling lazy this morning. Not that that’s unusual for me, but today I feel like embracing the laziness instead of berating myself about all the things I “should” be doing, or “have to” get done.

Okay, maybe I should go grocery shopping. With my kitchen torn up from my remodeling project, I’ve been mostly dining on frozen meals that I nuke in the microwave and foods that don’t need much preparation (like PB & Js). Since the freezer is bare except for ice, it’s time to restock.

With all my DIY home projects, I’ve been telling myself it’s okay if my “improvements” fall short of candidacy for a House Beautiful photo shoot. The house is pretty old after all, and – as a former rental house – wasn’t cared for with much pride in ownership. So if my rebuilt cupboards aren’t totally straight and level, it’s no big deal. It’s not the end result that’s important, it’s the fun of the challenge. Or so I tell myself as I survey the lopsided end result.

But I realized the other day that the house is only six years older than I am. That’s not so old… is it?

Speaking of old:

Last week I received my first “senior discount” at the local Walgreen’s store. I wasn’t offended. My first thought was that surely I’m too young for that and – in all fairness — I should decline the discount. My second thought was, “Discount? Heck, yeah!”

Perhaps the fact that I was wearing my sweatshirt inside out gave the impression of age-related dotage. What can I say? Sometimes I like to wear it that way.

Anyway, the sun is up now and it’s getting on in the morning. Basking in laziness can only last so long before the “should”s and “have to”s take over. it’s time for my PB & J breakfast. Then maybe I’ll watch a few episodes of “This Old House,” so I can plot some more DIY projects.

And if there’s a program out there called “This Old Person,” I refuse to watch it. Unless, of course, there are discounts involved.