You began working in a glass studio at fifteen. You were an artist. A talented woman, a kind-hearted creator, a towering beauty, an authentic environmentalist.
Decades later, I’d meet you as my future-mother-in-law, and we’d become the dearest of friends.
This post is dedicated to the working woman…
(I sketched Karole from an old photo – one I adore to this day. The 2 faded photo images are from Karole’s modeling days)
Despair is a fast trade commodity these days. I post these words-because I do despair-but I’m not giving up. Writing like this helps me face my fears-and once you face the monster-you see the best ways to defeat it…
onward & upward
am:)
I enjoy creating images in many forms and combining these images with my words.
I paired this lioness (drawn with Prisma pencils) with a published poem I wrote (The Avocet, Winter, 2018 print issue)
Snorky’s brown belly and back end are married together by a band of hamster white. His whiskers twitch and his tiny hands fondle food like Play-doh.
This morning I found Snorky curled into a frozen smile.
I will bury him in the sandy cemetery below the clothesline where our underwear already hangs in sad-mouthed shapes.
(Some childhood memories dig in like hamsters on spinning wheels-my siblings and I had quite a sandlot)
‘Tis true – we dwell in a ufo-embracing town – the kind that breathes Halloween – aliens, creatures, princesses and all – in every deliciously macabre direction
Armed with 3,000 pieces of candy, we’re ready for the costumed onslaught.
Happy Halloween
Be safe
Be smart
and remember – over-sugaring doesn’t make us sweet;)
kindness comes from within
am:)
(featured above – my little pumpkin kid – a great dancer who can pirouette atop any pumpkin)
Sir Top Hat walked in a few years ago – an honest and kind critter with a passion for memorizing the storied history of Abe Lincoln.
Sir Top Hat only surfaces above the earth during the month of October, and then, only when honesty is severely lacking.
am:)
Pencil sketch done a few months ago of my dear talented artist/writer friend, Clayton Buchanan, with his son, Baird.
In the early 2000s, I saw a local newspaper ad soliciting 101 word stories. For some reason, I was drawn to the idea and submitted a few stories. I don’t remember if they got published.
The limitation concept stuck with me, and I started 101 Words in December 2005. In those early days, I only posted my own stories and a few from friends. I didn’t open it up to the public until 2007.
In November 2014, I decided to go all in and turn 101 Words into something special.
My vision for 101 Words is a comprehensive ecosystem and community that can support writers, editors, and readers. This vision is a work in progress, and I hope you stick around to watch it grow.
— Shannon”
Thank you for stopping by.
AnnMarie:)
A March 2024 sketch done with a ridiculously large Ticonderoga preschooler pencil
“Little Karole” would blossom into a six-foot-tall, gorgeous woman who’d live an amazing life as a stained glass artist. And much later, she’d become my beautiful mother-in-law.
perhaps it is my 60 years of age inspiring the words below, it could be that the majority of my new friends, most in their 70’s and 80’s, continue to open my eyes in every direction but down
“to live”
I don’t believe the phrase “to live” means escaping our burdens
I don’t believe “to live” means transforming ourselves or collecting accolades
I don’t believe “to live” includes acquiring wealth or building empires
I don’t believe “to live” means ignoring the past or focusing on the remaining years as we age
I never believe “to live” is expressed through curated media or grinning images
I do believe “to live” creates dubious comparisons of one against the other
I do believe the phrase “what it means to live” suffocates dreams before they begin
I do believe “to live” finding strength in our efforts amid others indifference
“to live” brave in our ‘individualness’ while accepting others in theirs
“to live” caring for ourselves so we can care for others
“to live” stepping forward when we’ve lost someone behind us
And I always believe “to live for today” when it is tomorrow
am:)
‘Overwhelmed’ looms on the flashing billboards of my irises
‘Uncertainty…’ notches tighter the belt of the world
I’ve yet to decide on an acceptable version of heaven
Still, I must not give into ‘the unfinished’ of the past newest year
This will be the newest year!
My mettle must leap beyond obeyance of previous resolutions
Fundamental confusion must not stymie my goodwill tenacity
‘Where to begin’ roadblocks must not unseat me
On or off, I am driver, I am driver, I am driver
In my hands, my keys, below my keys, my feet
This will be the newest year!
The impractical apparatus of time must be accepted
In the know is the ‘now’ where we all exist
nothing more
nothing less
With less one can always make more, I can always make more
This will be the newest year!
As this newest year approaches, wineries will bottle their harvests
The media and social will continue their ‘rule of sale’
quintessential chaos begets profit, profit begets stockholders,
stockholders rule the world
“We can all save someone, we cannot save everyone”
—good words for a nearby desk sticky note
This will be the newest year!
Those standing ahead of my engine might consider
I won’t have the balls to roll them
And, they are correct
There are ways around not having your goodness stolen
Fire exists in many forms, I can choose one
This will be the newest year!
Poe spoke of “long fits of sanity”
before he fell into a coma while wearing someone else’s clothes
There is something masterful in the un-mastered struggle
the purity of the un-chartered quest on a quiet day
‘Hold to heart my windmill’ I must sing each morning
as I shake the rust off my fingernails
This will be the newest year!
Wishing you all a kinder and more peaceful newest year
Here’s to 2023!
Love, am:)
anntogether 