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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
Linda Mitchell
8/3/2023 02:38:45 pm
Love this, Jone! We had a party this summer for family celebrating 60 years of marriage--so many of the same questions asked and a connecting of the generations that are turning, turning into time. What a cozy, lovely golden shovel. 8/3/2023 05:47:38 pm
Jone, I love the wisdom of seeing the connecting turns in your own life and the life of your granddaughter. There is such heartful hope in seeing our youngest desire to continue the traditions they love. Beautiful golden shovel, too! 8/3/2023 08:41:21 pm
Jone, I find family time to be of utmost importance,especially now that we grow in years. I often wonder how my little grandgirls will be when they are in their teens. I am glad that you have a granddaughter who is interested in family traditions. I love the strike line you chose to write your Golden Shovel poem. It is one of my favorite lines. Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy the moon's full face. The sight was beautiful last night.
Mary Lee
8/4/2023 04:52:51 am
How lucky that you have extended family/generations to build and maintain traditions. We manage the best we can with our friendship group.
Irene Latham
8/4/2023 05:14:55 am
Dear Jone, I love these thoughts on turning! (Just this week we settled on a subtitle for a forthcoming book...it has "Turning" in it!) And no, never too old to roast marshmallows on the beach. Thank you! xo
Irene Latham
8/4/2023 05:15:39 am
p.s. and of course the answer is in the moon! Adding this post to my moon padlet! xo
Karen Eastlund
8/4/2023 06:54:45 am
Jone: I love the tie-in with roasting marshmallows, and the emphasis on family tradition. Great image also! Thanks! 8/4/2023 07:18:44 am
"Our answer is in the moon, full of delight." Such a glorious summery poem! 8/4/2023 07:36:26 pm
Oh, the answering moon and that sun turning a page...swoon. 8/5/2023 05:57:44 am
I love the song, too, Jone, and your connection to family & the moon! That “turning” in our lives makes wonderful memories. 8/5/2023 05:31:23 pm
Oh I love this. And I don't think we'll ever be too old to roast marshmallows on the beach.
Alan j Wright
8/5/2023 05:52:47 pm
Jone, you have reminded me that we are forever turning and becoming. Your poem sings to this very thing and asks questions. Your golden shovel shines brightly.
Tabatha
8/6/2023 10:08:39 am
Enjoyed this, Jone. The heat of the fire, the stickiness of the s'mores, the ever present delight of the moon.
Margaret Simon
8/7/2023 04:49:26 am
No, we will never be too old to roast marshmallows on a beach. I had a brief but beautiful beach respite last week. I love the golden shovel form. It's like the striking line is a gift and the writing we do around it emerges something new and beautiful in its own right. 8/7/2023 05:48:57 pm
What a terrific weaving of Tis A Gift To Be Simple! You captured the beauty of the song and made me think of the song by The Byrds as well :) No, no, no, we'll never be too old to turn marshmallows on a stick at the beach! And oh you made me homesick.. I didn't care for crossing the bridge in Astoria, but the Oregon coast was worth it. Comments are closed.
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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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