This Town Is My Town {Dayton, OH}

A few years ago, back in the day, holy guacamole...31 years ago...I worked in that second tall building from the right. Today it's called the Key Bank Tower; back then it was the Mead Building. My first job out of college was in that building working as a paralegal for the largest law firm in Dayton, Smith & Schnacke.

One of the secretaries (that was the term back then but today it's administrative assistant) was from Atlanta, GA. Her husband had been transferred to Dayton for his job and her credentials landed her a position with one of the high-ranking partners in the firm. She hated everything about Dayton: nothing to do, winter (snow, ice, gray skies, COLD temperatures), no sophistication, no good department stores, no good restaurants, and she didn't like us Yankees.

During one of her frequent rants, she said, "Dayton doesn't even have a skyline. It's more of a sky dash." 

Whatever.

Not every city has a skyline of Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, or Chicago because Dayton is none of those. 

But it's my home...has been for the majority of my life...and this is my town.

In the words of the Michael Stanley Band:

"Oh, and this town

Is my town, alright?

Love it, hate it, it don't matter

'Cause I'm gonna stand and fight

This town is my town

She's got her ups and downs

But love it, hate it, it don't matter

'Cause this is my town."

thank you BERRY much!

"O, blackberry tart, with berries as big as your thumb, purple and black, and thick with juice, and a crust to endear them that will go to cream in your mouth, and both passing down with such a taste that will make you close your eyes and wish you might live forever in the wideness of that rich moment."  ~ Richard Llewellyn

These beauties screamed for me to buy them at a recent visit to the farmers market. 

The next morning they were breakfast. 

Just me. 

Straight from the container. 

Every last one...

Purple fingers!

Bliss.

Blackout Poetry

I love Instagram. 

It keeps me connected to friends and family, takes me to places all over the globe, inspires me to cook new dishes and foods, and opens my eyes to new ideas.

Ideas like blackout poetry.

So what is blackout poetry? It’s a process where readers create poems by redacting words from texts like newspapers, magazine pages, pages from books, letters, any type of text. When creating a blackout poem, don’t read the article first and don’t read the article as you normally would. The words are raw material and the topic of the article is irrelevant. Look for words and the images they suggest. The poems are read like any other piece of work, left to right, top to bottom.

Austin Kleon is an artist and writer who recently popularied blackout poetry. “I like to think of blackout poems like those old ‘Word Find’ and ‘Word Search’ puzzles we used to do in elementary school - a field of letters with hidden messages to find.”

My first attempt at blackout poetry is  "Mind Body Spirit." 

been there

frustration at work

stressful encounter with your teenager

hungry

closing in on dinnertime

no idea what to make.

willpower falls woefully short.

snarf down those chips

chomp on those cookies

stop a moment,

think

Wait.

mindfulness

manage stress and emotions

paying closer attention.

We often go through life on auto pilot

mindfulness is an emotional time-out.

slow down and focus on what's happening in the present moment,

tune out the chatter that goes on in your head

avoid those knee jerk responses

get better at staying with your emotions

Mind Body

Relaxation

Take Time to Notice (December 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31}

December 27..."May all your joys be true joys and all your pain champagne." ~ Anonymous

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December 28...Just one of those days when it's tough to focus!

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December 29...Yesterday I was a bit out of focus and didn't get much accomplished. Today, feeling rejuvenated and armed with a huge grocery list, I headed out at 7:30 this morning to Dot's Market, Dorothy Lane Market, and Kroger to get food for company and New Year's Day. Let Round 2 of family and fun begin!

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December 30...Time to break in the new cookbook my daughter gave to me for Christmas. It was hard to choose what to make...so many delicious recipes! This ratatouille loaded with yummy veggies got the nod.

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December 31...My best nine Instagram photos of 2015. So many good memories. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hugs, hugs, hugs ~ 

Take Time to Notice {December 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26}

December 22...Christmas humor at Boston Stoker underneath some tasty coffee offerings...teeheehee! But this is painful for a former English teacher! Anyone notice the grammatical error? Still wrapping up some loose ends...3 more days 'til Christmas!

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December 23...Feeling the need for some super powers today. Which one to call on...Super Speed Gift Wrapping? Perfect Last Minute Gift Finder? Giving Sense to Idiot Parking Lot Drivers? Extraordinary List Making? Realizing That Everything Will Be Fine Because My Family Will Be Together Tomorrow? Yep, let's do that last one.

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December 24..."Twas the night before Christmas..." One last photo from our visit to NYC and so perfect for today! This park is named for the Chelsea neighborhood's founding father, Clement Clarke Moore, who is the author of the Christmas classic, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Ho Ho Ho...

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December 25...This picture makes me so, so happy! Andrew had to work on Christmas Day so he wasn't able to come home. rather than not having all the kids home for Christmas, we took Christmas up to Cleveland so we could all be together. The stockings were hung from the foosball table with care...Merry Christmas!

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December 26...Not all Christmas gifts are found under the tree. Mother Nature gave us a spectacular sky show last night with this brilliant sunset and then the Christmas full moon.