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Computer gremlins were at play yesterday as I attempted writing this post. Was it as Patricia's SJT"ps title says: "Life at the speed of grace?" Wednesday night I hadn't slept well. Grace was telling me Go. To. Bed. Plus, I was all over the map with this prompt. How does grace meet me and how is it in my life? One quote I lean on is "For the grace of God, there go I". If you and I were sitting together, sipping tea or coffee, and if we were talking about our teen and young adult years, you would learn that grace protected me over some really dumb choices. (So GLAD there were no cell phones with the capability to record that period of my life!) Thanks to Ramona, I was lead to this poem, "Everyday Grace." at The Poetry Foundation. This line resonated with me: "...Suddenly an ordinary day becomes holy ground..." ~"Everyday Grace" by Stella Nesanovich. Late August, I had my blood drawn. I walked into the little room, greeted by 'Aloha", the room decorated in a Hawaiian theme. The lab technician was from the Big Island. As she drew my blood, I asked if she was affected by the Lahaina fire. She nodded, a great auntie perished. In that moment, I felt a shiver in my body, the shift, the day becoming holy. we honor, welcome in a hug her new ancestor  This is the photo from this week's Wordless Wednesday, Week 35. A secret heart, evidence of grace A stranger feels safe sharing her grief The bushtits have returned to the suet feeder A friend confides about her struggles Morning's coolness sends messages that autumn is arriving soon Blood tests reveal I am in great health Grace abides Please head over to Amy at The Poem Farm who is dishing up poetry advice. I love her photo of the stones, having just played with some myself.
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I read Linda’s post for Spiritual Journey Thursday. I was filled with gratitude that she used the song "Tis A Gift To Be Simple" by Joseph Brackett. It’s one of my favorites. Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading is hosting Poetry Friday and sharing a beautiful textile piece along with a poem. She has been reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and I am reminded that book needs to come with me on a roadtrip. I’ve just returned from four days at the coast with daughter, grandgirl, husband, and husband’s former wife. A tradition that is almost twenty years old. Some of the questions that the 18 YO was asking made me think of ‘turning’; the turning of the seasons, the turning of our lives. Oldest grand has graduated and I am watching her enter adulthood with curiosity. She wanted to know about the “family member “cut off date” (translated how long everyone had lived) and whether she’d have access to the house we have rented all her life when we are no longer able to rent it. These questions show me the importance to her of traditions. It delights me that as the pages are turning in her life story (as are they in ours), that she holds some things close to her soul. I am into writing Golden Shovels for the summer poetry swap this year and thus I took a line from "Tis A Gift To Be Simple".  To turn, turn, turn will be our delight. Tis A Gift To Be Simple by Joseph Brackett Criss-cross logs ready to light the match to turn the stack into fiery flames. The sun turns a page by slipping below the horizon. We turn marshmallows on a stick, they’re gooey, golden s'mores. Will we ever be too old, roasting marshmallows on the beach. Our answer is in the moon, full of delight. ©Jone Rush MacCulloch The Sealey Challenge
August 1: field notes poems of the lost and found by Melissa Madenski August 2: Twenty Love Poems and One Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda August 3: Recover by Allison Joseph I'm on vacation and I am popping in with a couple of photo haikus from our trip to my old stomping grounds, On Friday,I met up with some of my high school pals. We missed our 50th reunion due to Covid in 2020. On Sunday, I discovered this circular redwood grove at Santa Barbara Botanical Garden on Sunday. Spiritual Journey Thursday's host, Carol Varsalona. Marcie at Marcie Flinchum Atkins is hosting Poetry Friday.    ©Graphic by Amber Fleek Welcome to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Trisha at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Amidst moving, Trisha is gracious doing Poetry Friday and doing it old school. Yesterday, Dave at Leap of Dave, offered the prompt for the monthly Spiritual Thursday Journey. This has been something that I decided to be curious about and join in this year. His prompt had these questions:
 A lot to ponder! And I want to speak especially to the first question bo t physical place. It made me think of a book I have been reading recently, Celtic Ways to Pray: Finding God in the Natural Elements by Ruth Lindberg Pattison. Visiting Ireland last June, resonated with me in a deep, deep way. I was home. I creturned very curious about how the Irish meld the Celtic beliefs with Christianity. I am a seeker, I always have been. Maybe in another life, I would have studied theology. Part one explores God in Earth and it was perfect for Dave's question about physical place. I have several to share below. I collect rocks (my suitcase was too heavy returning from Ireland and Scotland because of this). My photos are visual prayers.  "Shine" ©mixed media art, Jone Rush MacCulloch, gift for a graduate Christine asks, "Shall we dance?" And she shares several music offerings and a poem.
This line from Lord of the Dance speaks to me: Dance, then, wherever you may be. I have been retired since June 2018, almost five years. I've been learning new dances as I move further away from my teaching days (complicated by the two years that was the pandemic when time stood still). Maybe I have learn some of these dances before but they have a new twist, a new nuance. I am learning the dance of 70, feeling more sassy, curious. I am learning the dance of art, or creating. I am learning the dance of rejection and acceptance as I submit poems for publications.(I've submitted more this year than another year). I am learning the dance of grief as friends and acquaintances struggle with health and family issues. I am learning the dance of intuition, discovering my visual signatures of the moon and spiral, both dancing n the universe. I am thinking of this art piece above as I danced with it into creation. It will have a companion piece, "You can dance, no matter where you are." Dance wherever you may be in joy, in love, in grief, and for each season. |
AuthorAll photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me. 
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2023 Progressive Poem
April 1 Mary Lee Hahn, Another Year of Reading April 2 Heidi Mordhorst, My Juicy Little Universe April 3 Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference April 4 Buffy Silverman April 5 Rose Cappelli, Imagine the Possibilities April 6 Donna Smith, Mainely Write April 7 Margaret Simon, Reflections on the Teche April 8 Leigh Anne, A Day in the Life April 9 Linda Mitchell, A Word Edgewise April 10 Denise Krebs, Dare to Care April 11 Emma Roller, Penguins and Poems April 12 Dave Roller, Leap Of Dave April 13 Irene Latham Live You Poem April 14 Janice Scully, Salt City Verse April 15 Jone Rush MacCulloch April 16 Linda Baie, TeacherDance April 17 Carol Varsalona, Beyond Literacy Link April 18 Marcie Atkins April 19 Carol Labuzzetta at The Apples in My Orchard April 20 Cathy Hutter, Poeturescapes April 21 Sarah Grace Tuttle, Sarah Grace Tuttle’s Blog, April 22 Marilyn Garcia April 23 Catherine, Reading to the Core April 24 Janet Fagal, hosted by Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference April 25 Ruth, There is no Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town April 26 Patricia J. Franz, Reverie April 27 Theresa Gaughan, Theresa’s Teaching Tidbits April 28 Karin Fisher-Golton, Still in Awe Blog April 29 Karen Eastlund, Karen’s Got a Blog April 30 Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, and Writing |
