Wasp Whispers

 A wasp landed on my arm today as I rested on my front porch. She whispered of springtime and asked me if I noticed the world waking up and warming up. She asked me to gaze on the grass just starting to turn green and the buds on the tops of the trees peeking out to warm in the afternoon sun. She asked me to listen closely to the bird calls as cardinals, robins, blue birds, starlings and morning doves greeted each other at the feeders. She asked me to feel the change in the breeze...wrapping me with a hint of warmth rather than the sharp bite of recent months. She asked me to breathe and smell the damp earth thawed and preparing to accept new seeds. Then she buzzed on her way, searching for a safe spring space to call her own. 

Committing Again

 It's been 6 years since I participated in the March SOL challenge. During that six years, I journaled sporadically, wrote some poetry, crafted letters to my daughters as they experienced some life transitions both wonderful and challenging. Writing feels indulgent to me, and rather than prioritizing it, I add it to the "to do" list and then push it down the list as the day goes by. I withhold this time from myself, and I'm not sure why. Definitely technology, in the form of social media and mindless apps, zaps time that I could devote to writing. Lack of subject matter plagues me at times, and I get caught in what feels like mindless stream-of-consciousness writing. Busy job and busy kids have also been high on my list of excuses; however, taking this year off from teaching to move my family cross country, get my girls settled into college life and learn how to manage a small hobby farm SHOULD afford me at least a few minutes a day to put pen to paper (or type at my kitchen table.) But, I still have not made the commitment to my writing that I wish I would. I joined SOL at the last minute, hoping that by making this month-long commitment, I can once again relaunch my writing journey.  And so it begins...Happy Mardi Gras. Happy first day of March. Happy writing.