Good Day! It’s Poetry Friday! Today’s round-up is brought to us by Karen Edmisten and her same-named blog. She posted some great autumn-themed media from the past. Be sure to check it out. Thanks, Karen!
I’ve been mired down in several projects. I am finishing a National Park quilt for our oldest son. He turned 29 in September and agreed to my making a queen-sized quilt for him with a National Park theme. Some of you might remember that I traveled with him to Redwood National Park in June. Since then, we’ve both done a lot of traveling. He went to Croatia for work and then Milan, Italy for vacation – due home soon. I’m trying to finish the quilt so he can enjoy it. But his cat, and ours, seem to want to supervise!
Our “other” animal, Molly, our yellow labrador retriever, had an adventure that inspired the following poem.
Molly’s Nighttime Chase You went into the woods at night, Chasing something black and white. We didn’t see the varmint you chased But once you came out, you were laced With a smell…an awful smell, We knew in an instant, your chase didn’t end well. A skunk had sprayed the woods as it ran Over and yonder, almost to where the beaver’s dam Your paws caught the scent of this romp through the wood And into the house, the smell followed you, because it could The house really stank and so did you, Now romps in the woods, without a leash, are few. © Draft, Carol Labuzzetta, 2023
Anthology Update
As most of you know the submission window closed on 11/1/23 for the ekphrastic nature poetry anthology for children that I’m putting together. I’ve accepted poems from twenty-four authors and will have a few of my own poems in the book as well.
The title of the book will be Picture Perfect Poetry!
Most of you have returned the photo release, but I am still waiting on a few of those. I also have one to two more authors that I need to contact regarding their submissions before I send their releases. Thanks for your patience, if you are one of those people!
I want to send out the first rights release for the poetry in the next day or two. I was hoping to collect all the photo releases before I start accumulating the poetry releases. Thank you to those who sent their forms back promptly.
The anthology is underway – I’ve been able to lay out the first six poems in Canva and it is going well. As a reminder the expected publication date is sometime in March 2024. Thank you for your interest in and support of this project.
If your work has been accepted for the anthology, please let me know if you have questions at any time. Thanks!
And lastly, a nice fall scene… the leaves are all off the trees here and we have had a couple of inches of snow – now gone. Thanksgiving plans are underway and life is good!
As a last note, I’ve done a lot of writing on Medium.com about our European River Cruise on a Viking Longship. September and October were great months for me on Medium, bringing in my highest earnings ever! I’d be pleased if you checked out my writing there, as well!
The Apples in My Orchard 
It must feel like a lot of pressure to have such close supervision while you sew! I feel your pain on the skunk spray. Molly just looks coyly into the camera. She knows she had a job to do, and she says she’d do it again! : )
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LOL. She’d definitely chase a skunk again! Luckily, we think that it was just her paws that were affected. It didn’t take much to get rid of the smell.
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Oh my, another friend’s dog recently had that kind of stinky romp in their woods, too. It’s not fun, for your pet and for you, sorry! I am wondering how you are getting everything done, Carol. Wow, a beautiful quilt, too! Maybe the helpers are helping??? I’ll try to check out your Medium this week! Have a nice one!
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Thanks, Linda! I don’t know where the week has gone. I appreciate all your lovely compliments though. I am busy, that’s for sure!
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Hope you’ll share a pic of the quilt when you finish it, Carol! Fall looks beautiful in your neck of the woods…Hope you were able to mitigate poor Molly’s foray!
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Thanks, Patricia! I will definitely share a photo of the quilt. It’s been a big project for sure. I am anxious to move on to another sewing project. Molly got several wipe downs with some commercial spray meant to get rid of the skunk smell. She handled it well and fortunately, it didn’t take us too long to be rid of it.
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Oh, Molly! My goodness. What a stink that is! A leash will probably be a good idea. Do dogs ever learn to stay away from skunks, I wonder. Your post has so much goodness in it. I enjoyed seeing the cruise photos on Medium, and the quilt looks like it is coming right along, in spite of your lazy supervisors. And thank you for the anthology update. I had totally forgotten to send in my photo release. I have now, though!
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Thanks, Denise! The days are flying by with so much good busy-ness. I am sure Molly would chase a skunk again given the chance. We keep her leashed if I walk her but if my husband has her, she goes without – we live pretty rurally and she behaves fairly well – so he gives her some freedom but getting sprayed is definitely a downside to being off leash! Thanks for your photo release!
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You have quite a lot of things happening at present Carol. Skunks are clearly not sometihng you chose to be involved with. The varmint immediately grabbed my attnetion in your poem -such an American word- so apt for the situation. Leash free dogs so frquently discover mayhem and unpleasant smells, I’ve noticed. Thanks for the anthology updaate as well.
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Thanks, Alan! Yes! I’ve been busy! I’m glad you enjoyed my use of the word varmint! I felt it fit as well!
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Such helpful kitties. 🙂 And poor Molly! So glad Medium is working so well for you too!
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Thanks, Karen!
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Love the pet pictures! I can relate to Molly’s romp in the woods – have been there with our dogs, too. Congratulations on your success in Medium. I’ll have to check that out.
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Thanks, Rose. Medium has been a good outlet for my writing but it ebbs and flows, just like anything else. I have a loyal following and that helps! Glad you liked the pet photos – we love our furry family members!
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