Have you? Did you?

Have you had a rug burn?
Did you get itchy from a grassy hillside?
Did you wake up with roses on your porch?
Have you gotten butterflies in a bouquet?


Did you get a song to sleep by?
Have you been tucked in?
Have you met at the visitor's center?
Did you take a three county loop ride?


Have you been to the land of the green?
Did you spin yourself dizzy together?
Did you throw away a box of memories?
Have you laughed till you hurt?

Did you share a bottle of DeLoach?
Have you been on a hot date?
Have you felt a hundred godwinks a day?
Did coincidence confirm connection?

Have you sat with guitar and song sheets?
Did you inspire a praise song, written and sung?
Did you stumble to the stairs?
Have you danced to the whistle and fiddle?


Did you share dark fear in a sacred space?
Have you had a heart placed in your hands?
Have your tears fell again in brokenhearted pain?
Did you stub every toe on both feet?

Have you? Did you?
Did you? Have you?


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Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream click the link
to see more of Jack's super pics.

Returning the Gaze

"look at the way I look
at you and you'll know..."
~ a friend

Answering the question posed,
So how do you know when you are 'liked' ?

Quotable

"If you could only hear what you say,
you'd quote yourself often."
~ o'hOgain

Love Letter No 70 - Success Love

Dear J,

To say I think of you constantly is such an understatement. I would say there are times when I may happen not to be thinking of you, the distraction at that point is not worth a mention. With us "success" happened, over and over, and that reduced everything else to background noise. The rest of the world may have been spinning along, but our world was in slow motion. We embraced, the world turned around us.

So if you want the definition of "success"; our picture is next to the word in the dictionary. The sacrifices were there, yet hardly worth mentioning. And once "success" happens, there's no desire for anything else. Yes, I know that you know, I love you, and to hear that over and over is "success", to live in "success", to swim in that ocean and shout from that mountain, to ride that rocket beyond the atmosphere, "SUCCESS".

With deep and tender affection,
LarryG

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Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.
Love Letters are a Thursday feature.
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Haiku - I Want a Girl

I want a sweet girl
just like the girl (my mama)
that married dear dad
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(Check the link for a youtube of the barbershop quartet song)

to bless peanut butter and jelly

When fun lasts long and hunger is suppressed by the excitement of activity may peanut butter and jelly be blessed.

May relaxation and friendly sharing fill the moments of the day canceling anxiety of meal preparation in exchange for the simple satisfaction of peanut butter and jelly.

May the secret of the peanut hidden in its shell and jellied fruit combine as an offering bringing energy; the healthful fuel that secures wonderful memories.



~ by o'hOgain

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(Inspired by friends in a "wellness class" I attended.)

Love Letter No 69 - Retro Love

Dear P,
Tee shirts, torn jeans, sandals, beads, bracelets, earrings, all the trappings of days gone by are unnoticed as wide-eyed affection dominates. The intensity of tie dyed rainbows bursting open on display represents all the colors of life we share. Bangles were enough, matching toe rings too, kept rapt attention focused on what will never be forgotten.

Rubik's cubes, hula hoops, art deco, fads drop in and fashions change, this little boat floats on through every storm. And then that next kiss takes us back to the first one, retro love, alive and kicking.

With deep and tender affection,

LarryG

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Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.

Love Letters are a Thursday feature.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Spontaneity - Haiku

(Rita Hayworth)


perfume wafts in wake
perfect balance, hips swinging
lilting walk, heads turn

Sharing with You

When it comes to happy times,
we've shared them,
special moments,
got those too,

And partaking life at its
absolute unexceedable best,
downright unbeatable this
sharing with You.

Footnote: And yes, I mean you, you are reading this correctly,
it means you :) so you got it, right?!

-------------------------------
Photo i-appropriated from ~ghettojack at deviant art ~ click the link to see more of Jack's super pics.

to bless emphasis

May simple simplicity find itself
expressively expressed with
action and word.

May hopeful hope arise,
may caring care engage,
may merciful mercy embrace,
may loving love exchange.

And may you connect with many
who "get it!"

Love Letter No 68 - Hot Love

Dear J,
It's microwave, it's slow cooker, it's
instant, it's fermented, it's cappuccino,
it's sun tea, it's Hot and it just
might burn your tongue.

It's the beach, the tanning booth, the
blow dryer, the hot tub, the car
with windows up, the air conditioner
off, it's Hot and it just might
put you in a sweat.

It's morning aerobic, it's midday at the gym,
it's an afternoon jog, it's power yoga,
it's guided exercise, it's Hot and it just
might tone some muscles.

It's a sexy novel, it's an erotic poem,
it's a grinding dance, it's a backseat romance,
it's an afternoon nap, it's Hot and it just
might push the limits.

This love is Hot, it's now, it's ready,
it's ours, let's go.

With deep and tender affection,

LarryG

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Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.

Love Letters are a Thursday feature.

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Haiku - Geese

geese honk in passing

blackbirds chatter, rise and soar

times change all travel

Position to be filled RANF (Rainy Afternoon Naptime Friend)

Do you have the qualities listed below? Would you like the position of RANF?
1. Must love folk songs, know a few, like to sing along.
2. Have a flair for the poetic and willing to share.
3. Have a personal sense of spirituality that involves the micro (self) and macro (world).
4. Should enjoy sharing family lore and short stories (with laughter).
5. Have a zest for learning new things along with the stick-to-it-willingness to get the fun out of it.
6. Willing to express honest emotion with selfconfidence.
Send email and/or contact info -
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What qualities does your RANF, "Rainy Afternoon Naptime Friend" have? or what would you look for in an RANF?

to bless embarrassment

"I wish I'd have sunk through the floor on the spot",
often heard afterward, yet may the
moment of embarrassment bring blessing
other emotion cannot provide. May the common
bond of humanity prompt recognition that
brings comic relief. Feelings transfigured through
the hot flushing skin bring assurance of
basic humanity. If ever experience bonds
humanity as one let the glue be embarrassment,
and in that bonding a great blessing.

May the fundamental notion that "every thought
is physiological" be affirmed during
embarrassment. May acceptance reign
over avoidance, and admission over denial,
when gracefully the acknowledgment is made.

May we handle tenderly any event shaming
or embarrassing another, and if a "better
them than me" attitude comes to mind,
the knowing is this,
"The treatment received by those
in direst circumstance
is the measure of civility of the whole."

May embarrassment be rare,
may such events yield remarkable stories,
and may the telling and retelling of stories bind
those who love best closer still.

Love Letter No 67 - Climate Love

Dear A,

Pervasive, all around us, so influential and undeniable it becomes hard to put your finger on, and oh so difficult to describe, "Climate love" is, the just right water in the gold fish globe, the island getaway warmth to bask in while relaxing, the unified cheer of the crowd when the star emerges for an encore at the close of a brilliant performance.

And the climate I celebrate now is powerful, motivating, soul stretching, heart winning, thrill inducing, body entwining, deep soulful gazing, hand holding, lip touching, way down in the innards, total passionate love.

There is no better place than this climate, climate love.

With deep and tender affection,

LarryG

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Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.

Love Letters are a Thursday feature.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Watered as needed

watered as needed
bloom long faded, season change
wind's gift is waiting

to bless "the credit"

A moment of clarity, something to be hoped for,
and perhaps to be attained, for a
moment, may it bring with it "the credit"
needed for the days journey.

May the affirmation of life bestow
"the credit" to enliven the step, invigorate
action, and renew purpose. May there be no
time wasted in the pursuit
of "the credit" as an end in itself.

May "the credit" and those with concerns
for it be held in its most fleeting condition.
May those tempted with lesser
affairs grab "the credit", while life allows
freedom of the heart for pursuits
that engorge the entire being
to its intended stature for those
unworried by "the credit".

May "the credit" be recognized as a natural by
product of the truly valuable process of
a life's tasks. Yet, while it is nature's release to
be unencumbered by the gaining of "the credit"
may the joy of giving be always flowing
as that perpetual fountain in the giving of "the credit".

May the eye never tire of seeing those
nearby whose active presence deems
"the credit" be given. May the arms never tire
of thankful hugs that pass "the credit" to
those responsible for acts of mercy. And may feet
never fail for taking the steps to bring
"the credit" to those who labor
tirelessly behind the limelight to ennoble
so many great gifts.

May "the credit" be remembered for its
roll and blessed with a thousand
blessings as triumphs are passed around with delight.

Share “10 Honest Things”

A fabulous teacher & really "bad"mom Stephanie of bad mom bestowed upon me recently a gracious "Honest Scrap" award ~

I do enjoy reading the "bad mom"files, and can hardly ever resist: making my own personal comments, providing unsolicited "guy" remarks, and the playful spirit that Badmom brings to her blogging. For some reason she has pondered the above and deems it "honest scrap"!

Who am I to argue with that!

Furthermore, and pursuant to the terms of this award and with the encouragement of those who have shared this before I proclaim the following:

No. 1 -- I am exceedingly tickled, honored & thankful.

No.2 -- I share the glow by telling 10 honest things about myself.

No. 3 -- I name below other bloggers who constantly overwhelm me with brilliance and baffle me with, well you know that "baffling stuff (bs)" and that I sincerely love.

My ten things you probably didn't know about me:

1. When I was in elementary school I was smitten by "the little red haired girl", (a'la Charlie Brown)

2. I play or have played a few musical instruments: trombone and tuba (hs band and US Army 14th Army Band), Flute (Marshall Tucker style for rock roll band in HS, and one concert with the community orchestra), bass guitar (rock and roll band), flat top guitar (personal enjoyment, praise and hymn leading in church), mandolin - octave mandolin - mandocello (performed Irish music with my own band, Local Mandolin Orchestra, and countless "kitchen music" sessions of old time, bluegrass, fiddle tunes, irish tunes)

3. Have participated in the "4th day movement". (This is one of thousands of these type groups.)

4. Enjoy 3 wonderful children.

5. Ran a half marathon in Nashville, TN last April.

6. My mom's dad (born in 1903) was a casual acquaintance of Charles Lindbergh.

7. My dad's dad (born in 1900) played clarinet in the "Lincoln Mill Band" in Huntsville, Alabama (in the 20s)

8. My dad was a band director, choir director, and performed one season with New Orleans Opera one year in the 1950s. Dad had a lovely "irish" tenor.

9. My mom was a piano teacher, taught kindergarten in our home (before it was part of the public schools), and was a librarian.

10. I spent the next 6 years after high school sorting out who I am and how I would live, it was confusing, frustrating, even required meds a few times, but I got through it and have a life I am thankful to live.

Rules for the Award:

• Say thank you and give a link to the presenter of the award
• Share “10 Honest Things” about yourself
• Present the award to 10* other bloggers whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design or to those who have encouraged you
• Be sure to tell the 10* bloggers chosen that you are giving them the Honest Scrap award and provide the guidelines for them

*Or a number that you can reasonably accomplish in whatever mental/physical state you're in

My brilliant encouragers:

The Zen of Motherhood
1 door away from Heaven
Dancing with Cancer: Living with Mets, A New Normal
Slightly Off-Center, just a fraction of an inch
Fence Postings
Southern Sinful Bliss
Beacon of Hope
Softly Spoken
Breathings of My Heart
-Sweeter Poetry
A Portrait of the Human Heart

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All these blogs have something special to say to your heart!
Thank you each one...
Thanks Bad Mom!