Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Darling Day (With Granddaughter) Memento


First thing this morning I had
a call from my daughter wondering
if I wanted the company of a grumpy little girl today,
and what would a grandma say to such a question but,
'of course! I would love that!'💓
Just like a change of scenery can work cheerful wonders in us oldies at times,
so too in a child. 😅💖

Whether discussing crispy-egg-deliciousness, 


or, rules to learn (about mushrooms)


Whether it is pausing besides a glorious sweep of gold wheat seas
To revel in sweet summer bliss,...






It might be choosing the right cup for outdoor tea party for two...


Or floating on a pretend lake to practice for Real-Lake-Come-True


It might be strolling very slowly down a holy garden path
While footfalls slip into the echoes that waft in its aftermath


It might be picking lavender...


 to add to our lemon tea...


Before we sit beneath the arbor while making a memory



Whether discussing crispy-egg-deliciousness, or rules to learn (about mushrooms)
Or how a robin knows exactly where to find a juicy worm
Whether it is pausing besides a glorious sweep of gold wheat seas
To revel in sweet summer bliss, oh, we are making memories

Whether we give it second thought, or not, life rolls through Time and Place
And it is up to us to make the most and best of moment-grace
Because the afternoon is soon a bubble bobbing on the breeze
Bearing away the Little Day where we were making memories

It might be choosing the right cup for outdoor tea party for two
Or floating on a pretend lake to practice for Real-Lake-Come-True
It might be strolling very slowly down a holy garden path
While footfalls slip into the echoes that waft in its aftermath

It might be picking lavender to add to our lemon tea
Before we sit beneath the arbor while making a memory
It might be disregarding chore-lists just to sing a silly song
For little girls and boys are never very little very long

Life is much more than duty's doleful left-foot-right to growing old
Ah look, within our very grasp is a nugget of moment-gold
Then, because we never know when our final fond farewell may be
Let’s try to spend it on a precious, Best-we-could-make memory

© Janet Martin

Serving up some 'thtrawberry-shortcake oil tea'😂
(after a five-star plastic lunch!!)





Monday, July 10, 2023

Like Sea-song...

 


Time rushes through heart doors and rolls like sea-song into memories
It roars through dreams where nothing seems to faze the toll it takes with ease



It grins and thins blue-sky July like pigment on a painter’s tray
While a collection of impressions, like blown bubbles, wafts away


And draws us nearer to that place we all approach with every breath
The grace of where we are is scarred with mementos of life and death


Magnificence of innocence soon stripped of luster of first leaf
How soon we start to recognize the bloom of every bud is brief


Ah, today does not bat an eye as it marches through you and me
Turning the future into past, cast in ethereal imagery


As, what was once so riveting and all-encompassing becomes
A trail of seasons scattered like flower petals and cookie crumbs


Where, while time rushes through us like sea-song that rolls across the shore
The older that we get we pause to hear its music more and more

© Janet Martin






Monday, March 27, 2023

Grace-berth/Birth

Yesterday's sunrise


So often so little distance seems to lie between dawn and dusk, doesn't it?!!

Yesterday's sunset

Days seem to fly by! 
So does life!!
Just a blip between the dawn of birth and the dusk of death!
(two visitations this week for friend's parents were a vivid reminder!!)
...and not one of us can see how near that Dusk is!
It can fall in the twinkle of an eye to young or old alike!
Thus, often much of life's focus seems to be 
on making every effort to 'Make (fond) Memories'
which really are precious!

...like picking pussy willows 😊



Canning sausage



Spending time with (aging) more precious-than-ever parents...


Because there are 10 children in our family, for mom and dad's Christmas gift
this year, each child is given a month to extra-bless them
 (not counting December (Christmas) and September 
when we hope to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary all together)
March was our month. 
On Saturday we took them to my brother-in-law's sugar bush
 to watch modern-day maple-syrup making...



...and then we dropped by my mother-in-law's house where my sister-in-law served us supper;
 the best bean soup I ever tasted served with Vidalia onions, 
summer-sausage, fresh bread and cheese! A five-star meal!!)



...but, as dear as these memories are there is something
far more sacred in life to make, than memories...
We are called to 'make every effort' for something far more lasting!

2 Pet.1:3-10
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 
4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, 
so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, 
having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness
and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; 
and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 
7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
  8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure,
 they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive
 in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  9But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, 
forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers and sisters
 a make every effort to confirm your calling and election.
 For if you do these things, you will never stumble,
  11and you will receive a rich welcome 
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In light of this, Awareness beckons us behold today with 
more thankful, thoughtful, sacred soul-searching!

Behold the berth/birth where God’s grace is extended
Where Life runs rife with holy beck and call
Daylight dissolves heaven’s star-studded blanket
From mercy’s fount hope-forged stepping-stones fall
From He whose love cannot be comprehended
Today is bestowed by God, to one and all

Though want and woe’s what and wherefore may vary
Though no two roads of life are quite the same
No matter what composes cares we carry
Rest and redemption are found in One Name
For the deathless soul, none can burn or bury
Jesus, the Way, Truth and Life all may claim

Today is a common-ground charge, all must weather
Like a barge drawn over sky, sea and sod
Where soon the Harbour at Twilight will tether
Some to the slumber that morning will prod
Some through a gate that parts, light as feather
Over that last lowered gangway to God

Who can afford to be calloused and careless
When no one knows where time’s curtain will close
Pity the passenger, faithless and prayerless
Unready for what Last Breath will expose
Come, bid Today reawakens awareness
To behold berths/birth where God’s grace overflows

© Janet Martin

So off we go on a new Today!
How many remain,
 only the Giver knows!

Saturday, December 10, 2022

Song of Silence



I had the honor and delight of being one of the hosts
this morning for our church's annual women's Christmas brunch!
(Faces blurred for privacy)
I forgot to take a picture of the food!
(It was a potluck event and it was so delicious)



After the laughter and chatter subdued
After food savored and fond farewells bade
Silence settles like a snowflake postlude
Over scrubbed kettles and memories made

After hello has turned into ‘so long’
After the treasure of fellowship ends
Silence follows, like a bittersweet song
Medley of echoes and pleasure of friends

After the loveliness of touch and sight
Slips from our fingers and fades out of  view    
Silence, like a flicker of candlelight
Wraps love's gold halo around me and you 

After the fabric of moments unfold
After ‘together’ turns into ‘apart’
Silence is like a picture book we hold
Every page in the shape of a heart

© Janet Martin 

Silence settles like a snowflake postlude
Over scrubbed kettles and memories made...


Tuesday, October 18, 2022

The Gift of Here and Now

 

How swift Here-and Now's moment-spheres
Augment the tent of yesteryears...

Yesterday I collected autumn colours for lunch (rainbow Swiss Chard)...

and air-fried beets with feta cheese (5-star meal!)

...and marigolds, dried for tea!
One large bowl of flowers when dried

fit into this jar!

What is can never stay; hello soon farewell kissed
The golden summer day soon drawn away on autumn mist
The garden green and young soon gleaned of harvest fare
The boldness of the silver tongue soon wizened by life’s care

To everything a time; this clime where seasons flow
A little like a pantomime of hold and letting go
A little like a page where ballerinas twirl
Like autumn leaves across a stage that steals the little girl

What is soon disappears, a joy and sorrow spree
Bittersweet fleet of smiles and tears that sparkle out to sea
Duty and beauty’s sands like treasures from a trove
That sparkle through our hearts and hands all for the sake of love

So then, because of how swift seasons rise and fall
Let’s use the gift of here and now to its full potential
To do the best we can to shoulder what we ought
For the welfare of fellowman and the glory of God

© Janet Martin


A last-minute invitation to Daughter and children made the meal ever-so-much-more memorable!
Granddaughter decided to bring alpha-getti when she heard what was on the menu😂
Baby just cooed and smiled (between gramma-cuddles, naturally!)


Dear Granddaughter...here's to a whole winter-long of tea-parties!
(And Grandsonny too, but he prefers stirring it to drinking it😍)



We've dubbed this blend (fresh mint, lavender and marigold)
 Azerbaijan Tea thanks to all the varieties showcased on Country Life Vlog


Phil.4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, 
whatever is true, 
whatever is noble, 
whatever is right, 
whatever is pure, 
whatever is lovely, 
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy
—think about such things.

Thursday, August 18, 2022

The Book of This or Why Do You Have to Hurry So?

 




Why do you have to run and dance where green of youth is fleet
And dare the dust of innocence with eager, restless feet
Why do you rush my dear, beyond brushstrokes of Now and Here
Through sun sparkles on summer’s pond, you leap from childhood’s pier

Why do you have to tug at strings attached to hearts of They
More attuned to fine-feathered wings straining to fly away
Quite near enough, my lovely child, are morrow’s misted swells
Driving starry-eyed darlings wild with dreamland’s dinner bells

Why do you have to hurry so from worlds of girls and boys
You poise upon the ebb and flow of childhood’s carefree joys
Without a second thought of what will soon be borne away
While you are busy straining at a Big World held at bay

A feast of tears and laughter scatters while you grow and grow
A heaven-ness of happy chatter smiles, but you don’t know
That you are splashing through the brook of life’s most buoyant bliss
Why do you have to hurry so to close The Book of This?

...a cartwheel made of stardust and love's countless hugs and prayers
A petal-vault of wanderlust soon turned to creature cares
A gift we cannot treasure to the full of its extent
Until its outpoured measure makes us wonder where it went

© Janet Martin

Inspired in part by a girl who remarked yesterday
that she is not going to be a child forever!💖😘