Nature Poems

FALL ASPENS I and II

Art by Janet Tenneson

All poems by Lin Floyd

Less sunlight triggers a change in the mountains

as trees dress up in Halloween colors to parade

in all their glory as we pass by.

Golden aspens announce the coming of fall,

a changing of the seasons ending summer.

A glorious finale to the growing season,

as we await the silence of winter’s chill.

ANEMONES

Art by Ginny Northcutt

Perennial wind flowers growing from tubers
return to surprise and delight us with beauty.
Colors beyond amazement tickle our senses.
I return to visit their location and reflect
as I pass another year without blooming.

WOMAN WITH BASKET

Sculpture by Bert Garcia

Standing still, feeling the warm sun

the Indian woman prepares

for another day of necessary labor.

Clutching a hand woven basket

full of corn to grind for eating.

Stoic, quiet, resolved,

life begins on the plains.

Survival is the theme.

Fear necessary to keep away danger,

part of each day’s journey.

Threatened by natural forces,

dependent on wildlife for sustenance,

she knows no other way of life.

Southwest Poems

DESERT COLORS

Art by Janet Tenneson

Poems by Lin Floyd

muted adobe, purple sage and green cedars

reflect the climate of this high mountain desert

pink coral sand reveals blooming cacti

red and yellow blooms followed by

prickly pear fruit to amaze one

New Mexico, truly a land of enchantment

CACTUS BLOOMS

How can a plant so strange with spines

and rough surface display such beautiful blooms?

Coming in spring then in fall to astonish,

born of drought and poor soil,

growing none the less by design

to bless and surprise desert dwellers.

HOLLYHOCKS IN SANTA FE

Red and white blooms compliment

adobe casitas-wooden framed, flat roofs

speak quietly of Santa Fe’s charm

artists combine with historical architecture

blend together in raw desert beauty

a landscape filled with traditions and mystery

TURQUOISE SHUTTERS

Precious stones sought

by early conquistadores
are reflected in turquoise

painted wooden shutters
that frame windows,

withstand heat’s extremes
sheltering early inhabitants

from nature's power

Architecture now charming

and artistic, sought after as
the turquoise stones valued

in the past. Santa Fe, home

of the artisan and artist
exudes its traditions

history reflects through
turquoise shutters.

More Poems

VILLAGE VOICE

Art by Jennifer Rasmussen

Poem by Lin Floyd

Alone with her thoughts,
the young woman pauses
amid the busyness of shopping
and preparing meals for others.

She ponders Who am I?

How did I come to this time?

Does God know me?

Do I matter to anyone?

She stops, but the world
around her continues its frantic pace
to fulfill its impossible responsibilities,
unaware of the lonely figure.

GARDENIA

Art by Jennifer Rasmussen

Poem by Lin Floyd

Lost in the bustling cityscape,

constant motion surrounds her.

She looks down and sees

a tiny flower growing in the dirt

between cement pathways

on the crowded urban street.

How did it find nourishment to grow?

Maybe she can also.

FEET ON THE GROUND HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

Art by Jennifer Rasmussen

Poem by Lin Floyd

The willowy white haired grandmother
pauses, deep in thought.
Gratitude sweeps over her,
as she drinks in nature’s beauty.

Years earlier, she would have hiked

up the steep mountain path.

Now she is content to walk slowly,

basking in nature’s unfathomable beauty.

Aging has brought new opportunities,
revealed insights lost to youth
in their unknowing innocence and inexperience.
She now savors each breath of fresh air.

New Poems

I had the opportunity this past week to go with some poet friends to the Sears Art Gallery at nearby Dixie State College for their new exhibit of paintings entitled Colors of Consciousness by women artists from the Southwest.

The paintings are located on the DSC campus in a quiet glass enclosed hall with peaceful music playing. I loved the experience and sharing it with my fellow poets. We each found paintings that spoke to us and created poems.

I got carried away and wrote 17 poems which I'll share little by little. Still editing my poems, but what a fun experience with creative art painted by talented women of all ages from our area. Our original poems will be placed in a notebook in the gallery for others to read as they view the art exhibit.

Article #170 Honesty and Integrity

My grandpa Harold Vernon was a man of his word. If he told a neighbor or associate that he would do something, you could count on it. He valued his reputation and took pride in being totally honest in all his dealings. Compare that to today news headlines as employees embezzle funds daily from their workplace and feel no guilt about it at all or bank robbers see no other way of gaining money than stealing it. It’s a sad statement on the state of our society.

Stories from your youth that teach honesty are better teachers than all the preaching about this value we can do with younger family members. Remembering how you always returned lost items with no thought of reward, saved up pop bottles to redeem for pennies in order to buy some candy, etc. If you promised to do something, you did it. Which brings up another value closely related to honesty-integrity which the dictionary defines as “steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards.” Boy, do our politicians and prominent public figures need that value in their lives today.

Commitment to marriage vows, agreements and professional expectations fit in here. Knowing that you could trust someone who provided a service for you or signed a contract with you. Honest car repairmen, salesmen, faithful spouses were the norm in the good old days. Maybe that’s what made them good?

Nowadays our society lives at such a fast pace, that’s there is little time to teach or pass on values that are important as you rush from place to place talking on our cell phones or texting or emailing. It’is time to SLOW DOWN. Consider what is most important and do something in a positive way to encourage your youth to consider implementing values into their lives.

Trying to talk about values that are important can be done if you can get your families to unplug or listen. Sometimes that seems hopeless, but retelling tales from your youth that capture and teach a value in a more effective way. Preaching definitely doesn’t do it. Getting involved in your young people’s lives and finding out their concerns then sharing stories from your life that illustrate how to overcome a problem or deal with a situation can be very effective or writing your life story with that in mind as a purpose.

Dealing with Crazymakers

Is it possible? Yes, but difficult when someone is irrational

and trying to take control of a situation or group by force.

Kindness and patience can win out and not engaging the

so called "enemy." It you don't take the bait-hooks, they can't

trap you in their pity parties and guilt loads. I'm learning lots

from a situation or power struggle within my local writer's group.

Photos from our trip to Idaho

Looking for a Cabin

Some of you wondered about the cabin we looked at in Idaho recently. So I thought I'd post some photos. We found the property quite rundown because the owner had died a few years ago and his children are trying to sell the place. It needs lots of fixing. Hubby decided it was too much work to get involved with this late in our lives just to make it liveable and it is so far from where we live-takes two days of driving to get there. So we just enjoyed a fun fall vacation and returned home just as the rain came to Idaho.

Walking on the land, the barns were ready to collapse

Clearwater river where Lewis and Clark explored

Deer are everywhere

Snake River winds throughout Idaho into Wash. and the Pacific ocean

Lots of water and pine trees

Fun old barns everywhere

Early morning fog makes a magical scene

When my husband lived here earlier with his family.

They lived in a pink house. It is gone now and in its place

is a park called Pink House recreation site. Progress?

Poetry Workshop in Kanab

What a busy weekend as I took off for a Poetry Workshop in Kanab, Utah about 1.5 hrs from home. A poet friend Marilyn and I went to the meetings and stayed overnight Friday returning after the workshop on Saturday. After all the driving and learning, I'm exhausted. Marilyn treated me a great dinner in Kanab.

It was an opportunity to try to sell my books, meet new people, and make contacts on the local and state level to further some poetry ideas I have. We enjoyed listening to discussions on how to write better poems and participated in a poetry reading time where we each shared some of our original poems. Time away from home responsibilities to be creative.

Fog

Fog, mysterious fog,

Freeway Traffic

DELAYED IN TWIN FALLS

by Lin Floyd

Road work ahead, expect delays

I have no time for this.

My life is too busy:

appointments waiting, people to meet.

Traffic is inching slowly along.

Get out of my way. I'm in a hurry.

Will I ever get to where I need to be?

Does it matter to anyone but me?

Time to turn off the motor and rest.

Wait we're moving again.

Just when I thought we'd never get going,

the traffic is moving, ever so slowly.

Wait we stopped again.

I can't handle this.

Guess I'll get out and walk.

Follow that potato truck.

Tripping Again

We took a quick vacation to Idaho to look at a property for sale..

Nevada desert with the Ruby Mountains frosted with early snow.

Sagebrush, cedar and lots of space-this is Nevada

This Great Basin desert is full of rocks also

Fascinating blue outlines of rocky mountains

An amazing game crossing over the highway

We're in Idaho, see the flat farmland

Article #169 Preserving Values

When others read your life story or histories of your deceased family members, it’s easy to see what values were important to them by their daily actions and lifestyle. As I’ve reflected back on my grandparents’ accomplishments while trying to write a history to correctly portray them, it’s helped me to reflect on several basic values they held: honesty, responsibility, thriftiness, hard work, humor and faith just to name a few. They taught these values to their family through their example. Now my task is to reflect that in my writing about them so their efforts and lives are preserved. (Photo of me with my grandpa I love and my aunt Bonnie who greatly influenced my life.)

What is a value? It is something of importance to an individual, group or society, a character trait to gain and exemplify. Are there stories from your ancestors or your own life that reflect a value that was important to your family? That could be reason enough to write a history of yourself or another individual in your immediate family. Your grandchildren will never know your grandparents and what they valued unless you write their history or mention their influence on you in your own history or share orally your memories.

As I’ve asked several older individuals IF they have thought of writing their life story, I get a wide range of answers. Many say “Oh yes, I’m working on it, I know how important it is to leave for my family.” Or “Nobody wants to know about my life, I never accomplished anything great. I just worked everyday and raised a family.” We are too critical with our own contributions to society and especially to our families. Grandchildren are a precious gift and we may be the only one to share important values with them that are being rapidly forgotten in our society.

Such values as honesty, virtue, modesty, responsibility, etc are called old fashioned and not needed in our “modern society.” We hear…”As long as you don’t get caught or hurt others, it’s okay to break rules or ignore standards of yesterday.” Could just the mere act of writing down the values that are important to you and how you learned them help your posterity? I believe it could. It’s not too late to start recording your experiences as a child or preserving the memories of your parents or grandparents. It’s an important use of your valuable time.

Fun to be a student again

I've been learning new things lately as a student
in several mac computer and tutoring classes.
Nothing like a one on one session to increase
the learning and interaction with a teacher.

I signed up for help at Simply Mac with a tutor
learning more about I-movie and even got motivated
enough to upgrade my operating system to Snow
Leopard and buy an external hard drive for backup.

I'm amazed I even know what all these terms mean,
but I almost do. In fact I've been known to teach
classes and demonstrate picasa and imovie without
even knowing all there is to know. That's how I learn.

But I always like to keep learning and there is no end
to the amount of things you can learn at any age.
As long as you keep active and ask questions, explore
your world and technology is an ever changing area.

What would you like to learn about that you don't know now?

Time marches on...

Almost to Santa Fe as the sun sets...

Love the desert landscape

Columbus day used to be on Oct 12th and the Presidents

Lincoln and Washington both had their own holiday

on their birthdays? Change comes by golly-It does

with time and the passing of days, decades and centuries.

We shouldn't be surprised with different customs

and ideas. But I still am and was amazed at these

colorful creative cemeteries in New Mexico near

Santa Fe. What a way to remember our loved ones.

I suppose they were both bikers

No need for worry about these flowers wilting

Lots of love ones being remembered in this cemetery