Hauku Horizons: Sand

Beach, water, sunshine

wrinkled hands, soft, sifted sand

Joy of memory.

Sprinkle my ashes

Let the waves, take me away

I’m coming Home, dear.

Photograph by Author

Welcome To St. Croix, As If

Old Danish Customs House, Christiansted (Photo credit:

Dear VERY KIND, RICH PERSON,

Is it May yet? I know, I’m daydreaming. I know it isn’t May, its dull, depressing, December and I know pretty much everyone is on vacation except for me and my family. I am grateful for what I have, truly. However, I am a tiny bit envious of all who are vacationing in warm climates while my chronic, painful bones tighten up. In my mind I am trying to conjure up some images that A) might torture me for months or B) give me the impetus to get through the ugly, soggy mushy yet cold winter. Either way, it’s something to do.

I just want to talk. I don’t believe in miracles, trust me, like I didn’t really believe I would win the lottery but it’s fun to think about so here we go: It’s only December and just because we had one day, sorry, two days with 20 more seconds of light it doesn’t mean it’s time to celebrate and dance barefoot in the grass with flowers entwined in our hair. It’s twenty bogus seconds, that’s it. But, we take what we are given, no, there are no hot dogs on the grill or s’mores from the barbecue just quite yet. Get inside, it’s freezing.

We eat tomatoes that look and taste like wax, they are not even orange-red but some pale combination of yellow and green and plastic, utterly tasteless. The fresh fruit that we long for in the summer has whittled down to apples, oranges, a few mangy grapes, drooping from their spines as if they were just begging to be put out of their misery. Do these grapes really look like they have the will to live? No, poor things, just put them in the back and don’t let us witness their slow, disintegrating death, it’s just too sad.

The sky, again, is white and black, sometimes blended into gray. I’m staring into my yellow pillow that I bought to conjure up what I remember as sun but it doesn’t do the trick. “Surround yourselves with things you love” is not always easy. I love the ocean and sand and seashells but even my globe filled with delightful seashells and sand does not make me feel like I am on vacation in St. Croix, or any of The Virgin Islands, Mexico, or anyplace warm. I’m woefully stuck in reality.

Most people are away for this long holiday break to places I’ve never heard of much less been to. Families with a lot of money book places far in advance so they have vacations to look forward to, I envy them. I rationalize my thinking: if this was my norm, flying somewhere every break, would I take it for granted? I admit, I wouldn’t mind finding out.

In my mind, I’m vacationing in St. Croix, or Jamaica, Hawaii or Australia. These old weary bones that ache constantly would just have to settle in for the long flight and suffer, knowing that in the end, I would see skies a beautiful shade of blue, silky, soft sand and walking on the water’s edge. My only goal is to worship and enjoy the natural elements of life. Given the chance, my family and I can be packed in ten minutes and we thank you so very much.

English: St Croix (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Haiku Heights: Beach

Reaching for the Sun (Photo credit: paperbackwriter)

Sniff sea air, faces

Yield to the sun like tulips

Green water crashes

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Curled, in a tan ball

hiding from treachery, greed

A seashell in sand.

(all photographs are property of the photographers.)

seashell on sand at Avila beach (Photo credit: kingdesmond1337)

Carry on Tuesday: My Favorite Things

Daffodills in St. James’, close (Photo credit: existential hero)

Don’t you know that it is human nature to be able to list the worst memories in your life more easily than it is to remember the best ones? Why is that? Why do we all remember, more clearly, things that we don’t like at all instead of all the things we do?  Maybe because sad things leave us scarred emotionally, we remember them because they wound us like a deep cut into raw flesh. Your skin is deeply cut, blood seeps out, you’ll probably have that scar for the rest of your life and it will remind you, forever, of what happened to cause that pain.

When I am feeling lonely or blue I try to think of peaceful things, the things that make me happiest, my favorite things: the ocean, dogs, collecting seashells while walking on the beach, the mass of yellow daffodils that come up once a year in the same place in my neighborhood. This year I only saw the start of the meadow of yellow flowers, when they barely started to bloom. It rained every day for a week after that, it wasn’t an auspicious start to summer.

It is harder for me to remember the happiest days than the worst days. There have been moments of magnificence in my life, with my husband, certainly the birth of my two children, but other than that, my head is cloudy. I can’t blame everything on Fibromyalgia,or Fibro-Fog as we call it. I don’t think I could have come up with this before anyway.

Perhaps tonight I’m steeped in self-pity, oh yes, now I know why. I just figured it out. The great unconscious, the biggest moment, months, years of grief: the death of my father. Father’s day is two weeks away. It gets to me every year around this time and every year I forget. How on earth could I forget that my father is dead? I know he is dead. What is wrong with me? Every year since his death, eleven years ago, I still go to the Father’s Day section for cards, or this year I picked up a new pen that I knew he would love, forgetting that there was no physical him anymore. I guess I will never stop doing that.

I will make a concerted effort to continue to think of past, happy, moments and will jot them down. The word “magnificent” sounds like an over-rated French movie. I’ll stick to happy but the point is, my memory can remember the pain first, the pleasure, second.

For all those women* who do not have a Father on Father’s Day, this is for you. I know how you feel, from my broken heart to yours. Do whatever you can to make your own life a little easier, a little happier, whatever it takes. Or honor your dad with a special memory or flowers, a drink, anything to help ease YOUR pain. Buy yourself some chocolate or ice cream or both. I feel for all of us, I really do.

*should say women and men

Father’s Day 2009 (Photo credit: Paul Allison)

Write A List, Any List…Plinky Prompt

• 

  English: A jelly donut that was bought at Dunkin’ Donuts in Brooklyn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  Who doesn’t love a list? So write one! Top five slices of pizza in your town, ten reasons disco will never die, the three secrets to happiness — go silly or go deep, just go list-y. See all answers
  Edi\t answer | April 24, 2013 by hibernationnow

•         The List of Happiness
• • Things That Make Me Happy:
  • My family (being healthy and safe)
  • A Raspberry/Strawberry Jelly Doughnut from Dunkin Donuts (maybe 2)
  • A tall, cold glass of milk
  • Pizza of any kind (except for super thin crust-why bother?)
  • The Ocean, walking, swimming, gathering seashells
  • My dog sleeping across my feet
  • Dining at a fancy restaurant, my husband, for a celebration
  • Vacation
  • Snorkeling on said fantasy vacation
  • Focusing on the Positive instead of the Negative. (I’m really trying)
  • Blogging/Writing
  • Grey’s Anatomy, The Voice, Top “F—ing” Chef (as we call it)
  • My Mother Being Motherly, Holding her soft hand.
  • Memories and Signs from my deceased Dad
  • Reading, all the time
  • Trying to be Positive instead of Negative
  • Trying HARD
  • Listening to the chuckle of an infant
  • Watching the sunset soothe its way unto the shore
  • Making a new friend.

Simple Pleasures

English: Fireplace. For more translations SEE BELOW (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I like walking on the beach and collecting seashells. I love watching the ocean, any time of year. Sitting in front of a fireplace watching the orange flames flicker and dance in front of me; I sit so close that I feel the warmth of the fire on my cheeks, safe enough not to get burned. Familiar music playing that I sing along to, I used to burn candles but I don’t do that as much anymore. It used to be comforting and pretty but I’ve outgrown that. My dad used to buy me a candle for my birthday every year. Since he died eleven years ago, my mom and my sister try to do that, it’s so sweet but not the same. I love their intentions though, I appreciate it.

I’m looking forward to the special sweetness of a pit-free clementine, the happy, simple snack that I can just grab and peel. That is one easy part of the winter that I like. The winters are long here, way too long for me so I try to think of specific things that make it better like my home-made pea soup with smoked ham pieces and plenty of carrots so that it has a smoky-sweet taste. Or my home-made chicken soup that comforts us when we have colds and feel like eating nothing else. Our son used to crumble up Saltines by the handful and throw them into the soup so it was thick, the consistency of gruel but tasty. In the winter, I drink hot chocolate, in a steaming mug, sometimes with marshmallows for an extra treat and I bake my famous banana bread, with chocolate chips and raisins. I bake it for three out of the four cousins; my daughter will not try it.

I like having a flashlight right beside my bed every night and a tissue clutched in my hand. On my bookcase, along with many, many books I have photographs of my son, my daughter, my dog Lexi, and our deceased dog, Callie. There is our informal “engagement” picture of my husband and myself grinning so happily at the world. There is a basket of seashells that I collected from Florida and Rhode Island that I play with every now and again. I look at them all the time. Our dog, Lexi, lies on my bed, across my legs and sighs deeply and happily.

I have an anxiety disorder and recently I was so lucky to find a Psychiatrist who is lovely and gracious and someone who will not just dole out anxiety medications but will talk and listen. I told her today I picture her and her assistant as Glenda the good witch, all pink tulle and smiling eyes. I do not take this lightly having seen a couple of really creepy people. This is something I hold special in my heart, that there are still a few good people on earth, that do good things, whether you have the money or not. They will work with you to figure it out, there ARE a few people to believe in. I am grateful for you; thank you for helping me believe that there are good people left in the world. I am grateful and blessed.

Dedicated to M.E. and B.

Plinky Prompt: Beach or Pool?

• Beach or pool? Why? See all answers

• • Edit answer |
  • July 24, 2012 by hibernationnow
  • Going For A Swim
  • Beach Girl
    Ocean Wave Beach. The feel of the sand under my feet, walking slowly in the sun, looking for seashells. The thrill of the ocean (and the fear of the sharks) jumping over the waves, being a part of Nature. Sure, it is a little risky, it’s a little cold but there is no better feeling for me than diving under a huge wave and jumping over the rest; knowing when to jump and when to swim. It’s always held power over me, I love swimming and walking on the beach. I love watching the waves as they crash. My biggest dream is to live near the ocean. Someday….
  • Previous Answer

Kreativ Blogger Award – THANK YOU

Shirley_Temple (Photo credit: hto2008)

     Special thanks to Phylor’s Blog AND DogKisses Blog for this wonderful award!

With this award I am supposed to tell you things about me that you may not know:

1) Pizza with grape jelly is one of my favorite food combinations.

2) I LOVE old Shirley Temple movies.

3) When I was young I had 3 goldfish, named Bagel, Lox and Cream Cheese.

4) Collecting seashells is one of my most favorite things to do.

5) I sometimes get frightened of new things; I’ve learned that with 24 hours, I adjust well.

6) I worked for a few days for a catering/ food place but they fired me when I wanted to give a little girl a free sugar cookie. Enough said!

7) I try to be patient but impatience presents itself while I am driving, I’m working on that.

8) I wish I knew one craft, just one but so far Pintrest is the only thing I consider a craft. I’m seriously addicted.

9) My initals spell out LAF which I have always liked.

10) My favorite time is 11:11.

Thanks again for reading my blog, check out Phylors Blog and Dogkisses Blog too. I am grateful to these two very kind and strong women. They both made my day a very happy one.

Haiku Heights – Gem

Diamond of the sea

Buried in the grainy sand

A perfect seashell

What Makes Me Smile

Image via Wikipedia

The name Schweddy Balls (and the SNL skit) by Ben & Jerry’s, their coconut layer cake ice cream (divine), a baby laughing, sunshine after ten straight days of rain. Also, my dog lying on my feet, the sound of my kids having fun, watching the ocean and feeling its power and picking up seashells.