Happy Poetry Friday! It's so great to be visiting the round up. I'm grateful that our sweet friend, Carol is hosting this week at her space, Beyond LiteracyLink. 

Throughout the month of November, I have taken some time to consider the simple things in my life and my gratefulness for them. I need only step out into nature, and I am reminded of the blissful way it calls to me. These days it is one of the things that is always sure to fill my cup. This old elm tree is one such majestic being that brings joy time and time again. It is particularly lovely in the autumn as it turns, and when there is also a full harvest moon on the rise, a poem is destined to emerge. For this poem, the words came to me in threes. Soon, images began to form and words tumbled on the page.

I invite you to be inspired by the "power of threes" strategy in my invitation below. May it stir your poetry spirit! 

As it so often happens in fairy tales. many things happen in threes. For this poem, I brainstormed a list of strong verbs. I arranged them and re-arranged them until I found my perfect combination of three. Afterward, I stepped out on my back porch and let nature do the rest! I focused in on the sights, sounds, and smells around me. I invite you to try out your own  "power of three" poem as well. Once you have your three, allow yourself to immerse into your senses. Retreat to your own oasis for inspiration and let the pen carry you to wherever it may.

Happy Poetry Friday, friends! I appreciate your visit, and for more poetry, stop by Mary Lee's space HERE.

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday! I am so grateful for the time spent with family, nature, and my trusty notebook. I took some time throughout the holiday to walk-about my yard, listening to the sounds of Thanksgiving. After I had gathered some descriptions and noticings in my notebook, I reread them out loud. My words reminded me of a poem I had read sometime before. Does that ever happen to you? You can be reading something you wrote and suddenly you realize it sounds so familiar, like maybe you had heard it before or even written something sort of like it in the past. I love when this happens! It's a wonderful reminder to a writer that topics and words are never used up. We can always lean on earlier entries and pieces we have written. 

The poem I am sharing today is a spin-off of a previous poem I had written titled, Sounds of Christmas, which itself was modeled after Walt Whitman's poem, Sounds of the Winter. You can find his poem HERE.

So remember writers, read widely and write often. Those words will become a part of your memory and will inspire many more pieces to come.

Think about all the different pieces of literature and texts that you have read. What are the ones that stick with you? Make a list of those titles in your notebook. Now take it a step further. Write down the words, phrases or lines that you can remember by heart. Reread your writing out loud when you're done. How will you let these familiar words spark new ideas for writing? Happy writing!

Happy Poetry Friday! Autumn has fallen over the ridge. My poem this week is inspired by an autumn path I stumbled across here on the ridge. I hope you enjoy it and that you'll stop by Jane's spot www.raincitylibrarian.ca/ for more poetry offerings!

I am all for taking the road less traveled, and I'm never disappointed. One early fall evening, I came upon this sunlit path. It made me stop right in my tracks. The image of the path with draping goldenrod and the friendly forest trees, evoked a calming sensation within my writer's soul. I was instantly inspired to write a poem based on this visual image. I hope to share this poem with one of our Poetry Friday friends, Carol Varsalona. She has graciously invited poets to contribute a digital poem offering to her Autumn Ablaze Gallery. Be sure to check out many more image poems there! 

Try taking a path you have never followed before. Your path might be real or imagined. Whatever notion comes to mind, follow it. May its images and words inspire you to write.

Welcome to the ridge! Join the November Poetry Friday kick-off with Linda at her space, ​TeacherDance.

Did you know that this weekend there will be a hunter's moon? A Hunter's Moon or "blood moon" is the name given to a full moon when it falls in the month of October, except for every four years (which is this year) when it appears in November instead. It was dubbed the Hunter's Moon by the Native American's who would track and kill prey during the light of the full autumn moon. Besides being the subject of folklore and legends, it is an occurrence of significance for astronomers and moon enthusiasts like me! 

So what makes the Hunter's moon different from a typical full moon? Well, this moon rises 30 minutes later each successive night which makes the sunset and moonrise really close together. This leads to longer periods of light during this harvest time of year. See for yourself! Step outside tonight and throughout the weekend to gaze at the incredible Hunter's Moon. 

Writing about topics we care about never loses its luster. These are those magnet topics that we are "over the moon" about. As we begin a new month, take some time to sift back through your writer's notebook. Are there entries or pieces of writing that could could be sorted into a particular collection? Read through your writing pieces. Does your collection feel complete? What other types of entries  could you add to your collection? Perhaps you'll discover a collection of essays based on a particular theme or maybe a poem anthology about the moon, like me!

Welcome, friends! Thank you for joining me here on the ridge this week. for more Poetry Friday fun, visit Leigh Ann at her space A Day in the Life.

​I have been relying on my magnet topics for writing starters lately. Trains are certainly a magnet topic for me that I write about often in my notebook. I can always find new ways to write about them.

There's just something about a train lumbering down a track, far off in the distance, that makes me pause in my busy track of life. It seems I move full speed ahead these days, and yet somehow, a familiar sound will blow the horn in my head. It's the horn that says, "Stop, slow down, let out the steam." I need to hear that, and when I do, I feel safe. So safe that I am eager to step up on the platform and board the train, wherever it may be going. The destination becomes very unimportant. What matters is that the train's familiar sound was enough to slow me down and pick me back up. 

Often a familiar sound can slow us down and make us think about why it's so easy to recognize. It could be a memory from our childhood or something we hear everyday at school, work, or at home. What are the sounds that you are most familiar with. Make a list in your notebook. Think about how these sounds make you feel or what they remind you of. Writing about a sound we connect with can lead us down all kinds of writing tracks. 

Poetry Friday is back again! Thanks for joining in the round-up this week. For more Poetry nuggets, visit Irene at her space Live Your Poem. 

In October, I can always depend on many joyous moments and autumn offerings to inspire gobs and gobs of writing. Unfortunately, I can't always depend on my busy schedule to allow me to write them down. I have tried many things to keep my writing life at the forefront of this busy season, like keeping pens and notebooks everywhere or setting a reminder on my phone. However, none of these strategies have worked as well for me as my new favorite writing tool, Google Keep. If you aren't familiar with this app, I have included a button below the screenshot for more information. In a nutshell, it's an efficient and simple way to capture your words throughout the day. You can make lists, snap images, voice record, and write! There is even an option to create tags and to set background colors. This really helps categorize your notes and topics. 

This digital note taking tool can be very helpful for any writer on the go. I love to share new devices, especially when they help writers continue writing throughout the hustle and bustle of each new season.

What are your favorite tools for writing? Think about how they help you stay on track with your writing goals. How do they make it easier for you to write either at home or on the go? 

Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks for joining me for a visit this week. Matt is hosting this week at his space Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Join him for the rest of the round-up offerings!

Everyday a new set of current events and topics to ponder present themselves as focal points in our daily lives. While I believe it is very important for us to stay up to date with the happenings and possibilities that we may face in the future, I think it is equally important to stay centered in the now. 

However, staying grounded in the now, does not always come so easy. In my own experience, I have noticed too often that the thoughts and sometimes worries about the future distract me. And somehow, before I've even realized it, I have given my full attention to something in the future that might not ever happen. As a result, I end up feeling as though I may have missed something extremely valuable and meaningful in my current reality. This tends to be a struggle for me both as a writer and as a person who cares deeply about the natural world as well as the small intricacies of ordinary life.
Whenever I sense this tension, this struggle, I do what I always do. I write. This kind of fast and furious writing in my notebook, allows me to document my thinking about the future, so that I can continue living in the now. By both acknowledging my questions and fears, I can create a space in time that gives me the freedom to plant myself in the moment to write the immediate thoughts of my mind. Writing provides an invitation and the the room to welcome balance in our lives.   

Writers have different ways to balance their past, present, and future thoughts.  For example, many writers choose to blog about ideas and issues that they are immediately responsive to. Other writers may choose to log their daily thoughts in a journal or notebook. Some writers do both! How do you choose to document your current and future thoughts for safe keeping? Where do you find balance in your writing life?

Welcome! I am so excited to be hosting the Poetry Friday round-up this week. I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this group of poetry friends! Thank you for joining in the round-up this week. Please be my guest here at the ridge and add your link at the bottom of the post if you like.

A few days ago, a special package arrived in the mail. Inside was a well-loved copy of the book, The Shape of a Year by Jean Hersey. It was a gift from my dear cousin Ali, who had discovered it in her late grandmother's house. She had read it and thought that I might enjoy reading it as much as she did.

It turns out she was right. After reading the inside jacket and the introductory chapter, I knew that it was one of those unexpected treasures that find their way into the heart.

Here are a few excerpts that I particularly admire.
QUIET AND SMOOTH, fresh and untouched the new snow lies across our meadow. Its pristine surface catches the sunlight, and tree shadows stretch like great blue pencils over the unbroken white. The snow folds gently over rocks and hummocks half concealing, half revealing a variety of different shapes.
  So lies our year ahead, its basic ingredients sun and shadow and suggested shapes of things to come. I wonder what we will do with this year, what it will do with us, and what together we and life will create during the twelve months ahead.
  A new year is a gift... Things happen. We grow (we hope), and we learn willy nilly... Our reachings, acceptances, rejections, our hesitancies, courage, fears, and our loves, all these form the shape of the year for us, as individuals, as part of a family, as a member of a community.

For me, Hersey's words offer a gentle invitation to find joy in the ordinary gifts of each day of the year. She invokes a sense of purpose in the awareness and careful observation of ourselves and the world around us.

Though I was unable to find much information online about her personally or professionally, I was able to find a few tidbits about her life's work. Jean Hersey was born in 1902 in New York City. She later moved to Weston, Connecticut where she wrote several books about gardening including, A Woman's Day Book of Houseplants and I Like Gardening. Her other books, A Sense of Seasons and The Shape of a Year, are incredibly poetic memoirs that reflect her love of nature and her pleasure in documenting the beauty of ordinary life.

I have only begun to read The Shape of a Year, but I am certain that I will continue to be inspired by Hersey's graceful words and the joy she finds in the realm of daily life.  

You can find some of her quotes HERE.

The shape of our year will soon change again as we head into the summer season. Spend some time thinking about the shape of your year so far and the days to come. Where do you already find joy in your daily life routines? Take a moment to write and reflect on these instances.

​Think about how these moments help shape your thinking throughout the year. What impact might this thinking have on your goals and challenges this year?

It's been an exciting week of writing! So many people celebrated writing this week by taking part in the NCTE National Day on Writing, which is held every October the 20th. It was neat to see all the #WhyIWrite posts from writers everywhere. To top it all off, we get to celebrate writing even more on this Poetry Friday! You can visit our friend Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect for more of the poetry round-up today.

The poem I am sharing today really expresses one of the very special reasons why I write. I strongly believe that our life in this world is filled with so many wondrous things to write about. For me, I must write to celebrate and honor those things that are truly worthy to be etched in my notebook forever. Writing is like breathing to me, both necessary and essential to my being. It's why these words are here for you today.

Writers, we all have our reasons for writing. Some reasons we may share, while others are unique to us alone. Take a moment to think about the reasons you have for writing. What are those thoughts and words from you that must find their way into the world? Why do you write?