Hard Things

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

Sunshine Challenge: Prompt 1 Red

Prompt 1: Red
Red is a strong color that is associated with a variety of things including: courage, power, glory, love, passion, inner strength, romance, sensuality, defiance, tenacity, violence, life, pleasure, fire, and revolution.

Life moves out of a red flare of dreams
Into a common light of common hours
Until old age brings the red flare again. —William Butler Yeats

For some, the color red can signify personal power and tenacity. When something flares red for you, what does that mean? When was the last time you felt the power of a red concept or emotion?

Please feel free to answer in whichever way comes naturally to you, be it a memory you share or an artwork you create. If you’d like a more specific idea to kick things off: try writing a poem or a drabble that encapsulates the red theme.



Red makes me think of warning coloration.


"SCARLET"
-- an acrostic poem


She wears red --
Coats, T-shirts, shoes --
Always warning them away.
Red says DON'T TOUCH in
Letters even animals can read.
Everyone stands farther back
To let her pass by in peace.

Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-20

Here is my card for the Winterfest in July Bingo fest. It runs from July 1-30. Celebrate all the holidays and traditions of winter! (See all my 2020 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


WINTERFEST IN JULY

Human Rights Day - December 10	Blankets	Acts of Kindness	Beach Getaway	Deer
Winter Soldier	Snuggling by the Fire	Aggressively Festive Holiday Sweater	Kwanzaa	Antlers
Feast	Pie	WILD CARD	Lights	Snowflakes
Just Friends	Wise Men	Christmas	Die Hard	Strings of Popcorn
Boxing Day - December 26	Candy	Fish	Pretty Paper	Silver and Gold

21 Plot Shapes

Because plot is so much more than the mountain shape a teacher draws on the chalkboard in first grade. 

My favorite is probably #2, the hurt/comfort ratchet.  Thank you, Master Tolkien.

Birdfeeding

Today is hot and mostly sunny.

I fed the birds.

I trimmed grass in the wildflower garden and started going around the telephone pole.

EDIT 7/1/20 -- I finished trimming around the telephone pole.

Fireflies are coming out.  Clouds on the horizon are starting to tower up.