Look beyond
what you see,
look at you,
look for me.
What seek you
in the days ahead?
Health and hope,
not fear nor dread?
It starts within
each gentle soul
as we look
to be made whole.
It is not so simple
is it now,
as we look for
the why, the how?
Do one kindness
on this day,
a smile, a laugh
to pave the way.
See beyond
what is there,
look for joy,
everywhere.
I watched a commercial featuring an elderly man doing a seemingly foolish series of exercises using – I think it’s called – a kettlebell. His actions are a curiosity to his neighbors and downright alarming to some, but he persists, always using as inspiration a photo the audience is not privileged to see, until the end. You can view the ad here. The commercial inspired me to write this poem and served as a reminder to identify what brings joy and focus on that. Happy New Year!
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting, and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares, and comments are welcomed. I am an indie author of six books and two chapbooks of poetry. Check the BOOKS tab to find out more. Follow me at www.vandermeerbooks.com, https://www.facebook.com/vandermeerbooks, Amazon Author Central. I frequently write about my town, Las Vegas, N.M.Occasionally I use interesting and helpful content from other sources. I also invite guest posts. If you have a topic you would like to share, send to fsvandermeer@gmail.com.
Christmas ornaments reflect light –
iridescent, glowing,
bringing joy,
lifting spirits,
and lighting faces
– young and old –
with smiles.
Like stars alight
in the swirling dark,
their colors shine sublime.
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting, and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares, and comments are welcomed. I am an indie author of six books and two chapbooks of poetry. Check the BOOKS tab to find out more. Follow me at www.vandermeerbooks.com, https://www.facebook.com/vandermeerbooks, Amazon Author Central. I frequently write about my town, Las Vegas, N.M.Occasionally I use interesting and helpful content from other sources. I also invite guest posts. If you have a topic you would like to share, send to fsvandermeer@gmail.com.
We are so excited about our next Literary Salon event. Book Talk will feature two of our favorite booksellers talking about the books they love and getting your feedback about the books you love. The holiday season is upon us. This is a great opportunity to find just the right gift for the readers in your life. Thank you Dennis Ditmanson and Nancy Colalillo. Readers and writers, you won’t want to miss this!
Ditmanson is a dealer in used books with a focus on the American West and an emphasis on the Southwest, New Mexico, and Las Vegas. Hence the name – Books of the Southwest. Ditmanson has a smattering of other non-fiction and general fiction, cookbooks, trail guides, etc. His main outlet is at Frankie Ann Tiques, 247 Plaza, and He keeps a small space at Rough Rider Antiques. He and his wife Carol, came to Las Vegas in 2001 when Ditmanson took on the Superintendent posts at Pecos National Historical Park and Fort Union National Monument. “Books have always been a must for me. I got the bug as a seller after a stint working for Nancy at Tome On the Range!”
Nancy Colalillo is the founder of the original Tome on the Range independent bookstore, which she owned and operated from 1996 to 2013. After a brief retirement, Nancy resumed her retail career with the founding of Paper Trail, a quirky gift shop located in Tome’s second home at 158 Bridge Street in historic Old Town Las Vegas, NM. In addition to flights of fancy for home, office, kitchen, garden, and kids, she has integrated a carefully chosen selection of books for all ages into Paper Trail’s offerings, proving that once a bookseller always a bookseller!
Nancy has also been involved in commercial and economic development ventures that focus on shopping local, historic preservation, and community improvement. She is the quintessential emcee at fundraisers and her entrepreneurial savvy has been a great inspiration to many small business owners.
Don’t miss this Literary Salon!
Sign up below for the November FREE Book Talk
Thanks to Jim Terr for his help in preparing videos of Dennis and Nancy for posting. Check out Nancy’s personal invite here…
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting, and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares, and comments are welcomed. I am an indie author of six books and two chapbooks of poetry. Check the BOOKS tab to find out more. Follow me at www.vandermeerbooks.com, https://www.facebook.com/vandermeerbooks, Amazon Author Central. I frequently write about my town, Las Vegas, N.M.Occasionally I use interesting and helpful content from other sources. I also invite guest posts. If you have a topic you would like to share, send to fsvandermeer@gmail.com.
The aroma of
chile roasting warms my heart
conjuring autumn.
SQUIRRELY
The squirrel is busy,
so industrious!
Running about, gathering…
what?
It can’t be nuts,
unless it’s pinon,
we have a lot
of that around.
Our shade trees are elms,
not oaks,
the Chinese variety.
They’ve nearly lived out
their life spans,
with crusty bark and spindly limbs
subject to fracture
when autumn winds blow.
But, the squirrel doesn’t mind,
scurrying about in a mad rush,
running up one tree and down another.
Its busyness is calming somehow,
nature welcoming fall
as the squirrel prepares
for a change in the weather,
as must we.
NESTING RESTING
An autumn nip
in the air
sends you snuggling
in your chair.
Pull in,
regroup,
make yourself
some Harvest Soup.
Be alone
by yourself,
take a book
from the shelf.
Time enough
to reconnect.
For now, sit awhile
and reflect.
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting, and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares, and comments are welcomed. I am an indie author of six books and two chapbooks of poetry. Check the BOOKS tab to find out more. Follow me at www.vandermeerbooks.com, https://www.facebook.com/vandermeerbooks, Amazon Author Central. I frequently write about my town, Las Vegas, N.M.Occasionally I use interesting and helpful content from other sources. I also invite guest posts. If you have a topic you would like to share, send to fsharon@msn. com.
This is my way of procrastinating. I have every intention of starting a new novel that’s been churning around in my head for a while, and I started working on a book of inspirational prose and poetry entitled, Echoes. And then stopped.
But I digress. This is about filling one’s time in the age of COVID. Lower case or uppercase? Depends on how pissed off I am when I’m typing the word. The restrictions caused by this pandemic keep loved ones from being with the people they need most – family. It makes me crazy, and yet… I know people in medical care of any kind are more vulnerable and I do not want my dear one to be exposed to the virus, so not being with him is in his best interest… I guess. I feel as though I am in isolation as well, which is ridiculous. I can – and do – get out and about, but life isn’t the same without him by my side. Enough of that!
BEFORE
And back to the topic. I’ve been doing other things to occupy my time, instead of writing. Well, not really, if you follow this blog you know I write now and then, essays and poems, and about local folks and how they are coping with Covid-19. But some of what I’ve been up to has nothing to do with writing at all: keeping my potted plants alive in this dry, dry weather; trimming the indoor plants so my patio doesn’t turn into a jungle; cleaning closets; working with Patti Romero and Susie Tsyitee (and now Mary Rose Henssler) in the development of the Las Vegas Literary Salon series of events for writers and readers; church committees and projects… and a real departure for me, painting furniture. I was inspired by Juli Salman and Angela Meron who are WAY better at this than I am, but it was something to do and I wanted to try it out. I’m also dabbling in watercolor, but we won’t go there. I’m a little heavy-handed with the brush.
Anyway, the table belonged to Bob’s mom. It has been painted and repainted a number of times. I suspect there is decent wood under all the layers, but I decided to give it a bit of flair, with what I consider to be a fairly decent result. It is perfectly imperfect in every possible way. Close inspection will reveal some quirks and mishaps, but I consider these to be marks of unintended panache.
The table has gone from being functional as a plant stand to being… I don’t know what the heck! Anyway, the table has been transformed and my writing is waiting in the wings. My book, Echoes is taking shape; I just need to get back to it. I’m writing a review of Ray John de Aragon’s latest publication, Eerie New Mexico, and will have an interview with him on my blog sometime next week. This is in advance of his spot as a guest on the Las Vegas Literary Salon’s Zoom A Visit With the Author, Sept. 27 from 4-5 p.m. And yes, this is an invitation to register and be in the virtual audience. Go to lvliterarysalon@gmail.com to register. Type September Salon in the subject line.
AFTER
Back to the table. I really enjoyed working on this piece. It took me about a week, not counting the drying time between coats of shellac. And it fired up my brain with writing ideas, so in terms of writing, it was not a complete loss. (Smiley Face Here!) Mostly it energized my flagging spirit. When you have a family member (in my case members) dealing with illness and you can’t be there physically, it does drain you and whittles away at your resolve to be upright and bright. You know what I’m talking about; having a positive attitude goes only so far when the control you thought you had is taken away. Covid-19 did that to many of us. Ask any business person, health care practitioner, those who have lost a jobs… You get it. You know what it means.
What the perfectly imperfect table did for me is help me remember that I’m not the sum of current circumstances; I am someone who knows that defeat is the end game only if I let it be. I have a choice every day to use what God gave me and make the most of it. So, back to writing and back to being creative in the best way I know how. I’m not the bubble gum pink table, I’m the bright new-looking one with something to say. I hope. Anyway, I will be doing it in my perfectly imperfect way.
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares and comments are welcomed and hugely appreciated. I am an indie author of six books and two chap books of poetry. Check the BOOKS tab to find out more. Follow me at www.vandermeerbooks.com, https://www.facebook.com/vandermeerbooks, Amazon Author Central. I frequently write about my town, Las Vegas, N.M.Occasionally I use interesting and helpful content from other sources. I also invite guest posts. If you have a topic you would like to share, send to fsharon@msn. com.
In a chaotic world this song – so beautifully rendered by these talented young men – reassures and uplifts. Merry Christmas. I’ve posted it before and will probably post it again.
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares and comments are welcomed and hugely appreciated.
Night shades the cloud-shrouded moon,
cold white against the inky sky
framed by a lacework of leaf-striped limbs
intertwined by nature’s refining hand.
What stories does the moon observe
as it passes through the starless expanse
on its way to the other side to see
an end to one day, and the beginning of another?
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares and comments are welcomed and hugely appreciated.
Not a holiday, a holy day.
If there be excess
let it be an excess of kindness and mercy.
There is no place in Christmas
for anything but joy.
Change the Christmas sprint
into the Christmas Spirit.
Jesus lived as humanly as any of us
and left an example for us to follow.
Love God
and love your neighbor.
Simple rules, easy to follow. That is Christmas.
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares and comments are welcomed and hugely appreciated.
morning’s misty glow
filtered through foggy dawn light
a new day is born
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