Howdy, Campers--and Happy Poetry Friday! My poem is below, as is the link to PF.
What are you thankful for? Since 2011, we TeachingAuthors have each written a thanku (a haiku expressing gratitude) every November. Join us--use it as today's writing prompt!
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Carmela started this round expressing her thanks in a graphically beautiful thanku about being in the middle of a house remodel. Esther's post followed--she's jumping up and down with gratitude for a particular sports team. Now it's my turn.I was noodling around last week, thinking about which of my many blessings I wanted to write about here: I'm grateful for monthly hikes with five amazing women; for my best friend who taught me that if I ever think about doing something nice, don't question the thought--just do it; for my husband, who taught me that a fork in the sink does not mean he doesn't love me. It's just a fork in the sink.
That's just the tip of the iceberg, the edge of the forest, a lick of the frosting, the preface in my gratitude book, of course.
Just this weekend I was strutting around like a proud you-know-what,
congratulating myself that I hadn't gotten a flu shot and grateful that I was just fine, thank you very much, while several of my friends and family who HAD gotten flu shots were sick as dogs. Ha, ha, HA, said the evil green woman inside me!
And then...well, you know what happened.
BUT...I'm sure you'll be glad to know that the raging headache has abated and my eyes don't hate bright sunlight this morning. Yay, health, yay, sunlight (especially the glorious slant of morning sun)!
So...here's my...
THANKU FOR GOOD HEALTH
by April Halprin Wayland
Bees stopped stinging my
eyes...raise our curtains! The light
now tastes like honey.
poem (c) 2015 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
(And if you ever want to know anything about REAL haiku, click on over to the wonderful Robyn Hood Black's bounty of haiku resources.)
So, You, reading this...what are YOU thankful for? Join us in one of FOUR ways:
1. Share a thanku--or simply tell us what you're grateful for--in a comment to any of our blog posts from November 6th through Friday, November 27th.
2. Send them via email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com, with "Thanks-Giving" as the subject. (Depending on the number of emails we receive, we may share some of your gratitiudes in our posts.)
3. Post them on your own blog, on your Facebook page, etc., and then share the link with us via a comment or email. Feel free to include our Three Weeks of Thanks-Giving image (above) in your post. On Saturday, November 28, Carmela will provide a round-up of all the links we receive.
4. And NEW THIS YEAR: share them as a comment on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. While you're there, we hope you'll also "Like" our page.
posted by April Halprin Wayland, who is grateful she is no longer in bed, but bouncing on her bosu:
Just this weekend I was strutting around like a proud you-know-what,
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| from morguefile.com |
And then...well, you know what happened.
 |
| from morguefile.com |
So...here's my...
THANKU FOR GOOD HEALTH
by April Halprin Wayland
Bees stopped stinging my
eyes...raise our curtains! The light
now tastes like honey.
poem (c) 2015 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
(And if you ever want to know anything about REAL haiku, click on over to the wonderful Robyn Hood Black's bounty of haiku resources.)
So, You, reading this...what are YOU thankful for? Join us in one of FOUR ways:
1. Share a thanku--or simply tell us what you're grateful for--in a comment to any of our blog posts from November 6th through Friday, November 27th.
2. Send them via email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com, with "Thanks-Giving" as the subject. (Depending on the number of emails we receive, we may share some of your gratitiudes in our posts.)
3. Post them on your own blog, on your Facebook page, etc., and then share the link with us via a comment or email. Feel free to include our Three Weeks of Thanks-Giving image (above) in your post. On Saturday, November 28, Carmela will provide a round-up of all the links we receive.
4. And NEW THIS YEAR: share them as a comment on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. While you're there, we hope you'll also "Like" our page.
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| photo (c) Jone MacCulloch |
Great thanku, April! Glad you are feeling better :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you will now get that flu shot! Love the thanku, 'tastes like honey' is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for YOU, April, for your kind encouragement on my first time PF hosting duties. And for your haiku. I love the combo of bee stings and honey in relation to light and health. I, too, got sick after my flu shot. Is that a thing?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tabatha and Linda! And Linda, unfortunately the flu shot didn't seem to protect anyone from this one. Maybe it's just an awful cold. Anyway, time to celebrate--we've all recovered!
ReplyDeleteBridget--it's interesting that you ask this. Years ago I saw a study that showed how someone's immune system was weakened for several months (!) after getting the flu shot. Who knows? Maybe it's about each person's chemistry...
ReplyDeleteWalking by the bay
ReplyDeleteTerns swoop and dive and flutter
My love at my side
I enjoyed the information on the thanku and your example. It is wonderful to be thankful about life. Here is my post that I wrote with a haiku that I would like to think is a thanku. http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/11/give-thanks.html.It is great meeting you tonight. There is an invitation on my Poetry Friday blog to a creative challenge that I hope you consider.
ReplyDeleteHi, April--I will gladly join you with a thanku and I'm glad you're feeling better. My favorite thing in this post, however, is your double-decker desk on risers and your Bosu! This will be my "Enegy and Effort gift to my family this Yuletide. :)
ReplyDeleteCharlie--what a lovely thing to be grateful for--thanku for sharing ~
ReplyDeleteAnd Carol--your haiku does, indeed feel thankful. I appreciate your invitation but my plate is so full it's going to topple over, so I will pass.
Heidi! I'm so glad my bouncing caught your eye. The desk was my grandmother's...and the coffee table on top of it was my great aunt's. That coffee table was stored in our garage for years...until I created my standing desk--voila! And then my eye doctor told me to make sure I was looking slightly down on my computer screen, not straight across at it. So I went around our house looking for something to stand on, to raise me up a bit. My husband's bosu did the trick! (I bought him a new one).
Dear April - I am so so thankful for you and for your forthcoming book.. and for that pic of you in your workspace! Love! xo
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're back to your bouncy self, April! I love the fork-in-the-sink lesson. I ALWAYS get a flu shot--please get one now if you haven't yet!
ReplyDeleteHello April,
ReplyDeleteSending our unique sunshine from Florida with extra dose of Vitamin C.
Your smile is contagious!
Happy month of thankuness.
Jan
Irene! JoAnne! Jan! Big smile from this bouncy, (and healthy) Californian ~ :-)
ReplyDelete