Challenge: G is for Gumbo. And Gumby!

A G-word didn't pop right out at me. No, not 100% accurate - the word giraffe came to mind, but I didn't want to do another mystical animal story. I mean, I like giraffes. They're funny and peculiar and they do kind of make me smile to look at them. But I haven't been in the mood to write about them.

So when I actually sat down to write this post, I thought again. G. G. G? And the word Gumbo popped into my thoughts so I decided to go with it. The problem is that I'm not from the South. My family isn't from the South. I've eaten Gumbo but I have no basis on which to say that something is or isn't Gumbo. And I realized that I really didn't know what rules there are for Gumbo and what does or doesn't make it Gumbo. Other than a sense of it being from Louisiana or that area, and that it probably includes okra, although I didn't know if that was my food stereotyping or reality.

So I started searching online. Yep - lots of options to tell me what is or isn't Gumbo and who has the best. And recipes. Recipes galore - oh, look! another G word.

One site I landed on was the Southern Food Guide on About.com, where I read

"Gumbo is a Louisiana soup or stew which reflects and blends the rich cuisines of regional Indian, French, Spanish, and African cultures. The word "gumbo" is derived African term for okra, "gombo," and first appeared in print in 1805 ... There are no hard and fast rules for making gumbo beyond the basic roux, okra or filé powder, and your imagination. There are probably as many distinctive recipes for gumbo as there are cooks in Louisiana." 

Good to know.

I also looked at Gumbo images, to spice up this post with a little more color and pizzazz. This one stood out  and the author of the accompanying article swears that his Mom's Gumbo is the best. But as he says, that's what all Louisiana boys are supposed to say. The picture alone makes me want to try the recipe, which you can read about in the article,  Best. Gumbo. Ever. .

But, wait. There's more.

So I started to type this post and as I was putting in the title, it came to me. Another G word I have to mention is Gumby! I'd already started drooling over Gumbo so I wasn't willing to let it go.

But - Gumby!

I grew up with Gumby. I remember his sticky green distorted eraser body. I remember the smell of the his body when he came out of the box - a soft chemical tang of newness, a sweet scent reminscent of green apples (which may have been from the Jolly Roger Green Apple candy I'd eaten rather than from Gumby himself). Gumby was fun to play with and take with me, he was flexible and could be wrapped around things and hang off of my pencil or pen when I wrote. And he was happy. So happy. He had an orange horse, whose name escapes me because I wasn't interested in him.

When he got old, he had ink marks on him, and smudges from dirt or the homemade mimeograph we'd made with gelatin in a shallow baking pan, and then he started to get brittle. Just a little bit in a few places. Then he got a fracture and water leaked in and I remember when his poor arm broke off and there was a rusted wire poking out. No wonder he lost his arm.

G is for Gumbo. G is also for Gumby.

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This is National Poetry Month

I've done National Poetry Month for the past three years. But not this year. This year - as you may have noticed - I'm doing the Blogging A to Z Challenge. If you missed my first post about it, you may have wondered why I have a letter block each day, and why some of the topics were chosen.

Not that I can really tell you why I chose the topics, unless that's already in the post itself. Which some of them are. But some are random, as in 'what's the first thing which pops into your head with the prompt of the letter "E".' That one was completely random and fun: Eclectically Ergonomic Elephants. Ha!

But even though I'm not writing a poem a day this month, I am posting prompts intended for poetry, every day on my related site, The Writing Vein Playground. The prompts could also be used for writing. Or making art. Or dancing. I have a few friends who are writing a poem a day so these have been created with them in mind, but are open for anyone to use, of course! You can find them and see what I discover each day over at The Writing Vein Playground. And if you use them, feel free to post your poem or flash writing in the comments section.

So far this month every prompt has been a picture, one is a video. I suspect that will continue; I may or may not add word prompts as the month progresses. Each post does include a link to the place online, usually an article, where I found the pictures if you want to read more about it. But wait until after you've written your piece!

Here are direct links to the prompts so far :

April 1

April 2

April 3

April 4

April 5

April 6

April 7
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No A to Z Challenge post today. Sundays are days off in their format. Although you can see that I have already developed the daily posting habit, so here you go!

And a bonus random photo from my own collection - just because.

Reaching for Sunset by Dot.

Nye Beach, Oregon 2011

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Challenge : F is for Float

F is for Float.

It could be a root beer float. Yum! I haven't had one of those in a long time; years. Right now I'm tasting that creamy texture of the vanilla ice cream - make it a really good one, natural, old fashioned, plain vanilla - covered with a real home-brewed type root beer poured over the top. So that the ball of vanilla is covered with a crunchy root beer ice coating, which crunches as you sip and chew. Smooth.

But I'm not writing about that today.

Or it could be a parade Float. Living in the City of Roses, that would be natural. We have the annual Rose Festival and the accompanying parade, which includes the Rose Princesses and the Rose Queen. And the Royal Rosarians. I haven't kept up with the newest technology in Float building, but it used to be that they used actual flower petals - many of them roses, of course - which where applied to the body of the Float to make the creatures and vehicles and the structures upon which the people and animals and various attachments sat as they flowed through the streets of downtown Portland, Oregon, blocking traffic for hours and making it difficult to get from here to there or anywhere.

But I'm not writing about that today, either.

What I am writing about is to take a Float. As in, Float in a saltwater tank for a period of time, with the door closed, the lights all off and access to light blocked, and no sounds. To Float in darkness for ninety minutes. Let the salt heavy water support your body in its natural position, in the dark and the silence and just be present. To slip into a state where ninety minutes feels like thirty and eventually your mind does quiet and you are ... just ... there. Floating. Supported. Relaxed to the state where creativity lives and flows and you now have access.

The first Float I did was about a month ago. I'd heard about them and they sounded wonderful. And kind of scary. I couldn't really imagine me doing anything like being still for ninety minutes. And the first appointment I scheduled was actually two and a half hours, because of the time slot, which was because of my busy and pretty full schedule. But I thought I'd give it a try.

There was the option of getting out at any time, they said.

But I didn't. I stayed in the entire two and a half hours. And had no idea it had been that long.

Two nights ago I went for my second Float. It was only a ninety minute appointment. And - yes - it really did feel like about thirty minutes.

So when someone asked me yesterday if my "E" word story was about an elephant eating a berry which turned out to be a drug, and I responded that I didn't think so, but maybe. And then I said that I didn't know where the story came from and, no, I wasn't on any mind altering substance, either, when I wrote it. I wasn't.  But it was post-Float. And Floating is said to aid in creativity. The place where I'm going did a project where musicians Floated and then created music; they have a CD of their collected compositions. They also did a Float project with artists. Right now they have a Float project going on with chefs - I can't wait to see how that one turns out.

I'm thinking of talking to them about my idea for a writers and Float project. Really. It's that good.

So. F is for Floating in ten inches of water which has 800-900 pounds of Epsom salts, in the dark and the silence. Ahhhhhh.

Challenge: E is for Eclectically Ergonomic Elephants

Don't ask.
I don't know.
It just came to me in the way that random
words
pop
with a prompt.
See, I'm a writer.
Words
Pop
Without warning.



Today "E" is for Eclectically Ergonomic Elephants. And if you're wondering which came first, the picture or the words? It was the words. Then I searched for a picture to go with the "E is for ..." because it was too good to pass up. Of course I couldn't find Eclectically Ergonomic Elephants online. So these pictures will have to do. They look like they're in Eclectic stances and they are Elephants and I'm hoping that the large creatures are standing Ergonimically, although I have no idea.


photo from A Step Ahead

Esther the Elephant on tiptoes, reached towards the lowest branch, hoping to pull down something delicious

to eat which she thought she saw dangling within her grasp. If she could get the branch just a little bit closer.

In the distance, Edward the Elephent raised his trunk and called to the herd to come near. There was something important news he'd overheard and it was vital to their well being. Esther listened and stretched a little further and managed to grasp a few leaves and the little twigs to which they were attached. She could smell something. Up there. It was there. The. Something.

"Meeting," Edward bellowed louder and longer, drawing it out so there was no mistaking his intent.

Esther heard others coming near. Some were walking quickly, short bursts of their round feet on the dry hard ground. Some scampering like the smaller beings in the area; proabably the young ones. And some taking their time, not in a hurry.

"The branch," Esther thought. "The - thing."

And a little red round deliciousness dropped to the ground. A few elephants ran past her and Esther let go of the branch, which bobbed a bit and rebounded to rap her lightly on the top of her head. She dipped her head and let her trunk search the ground for the little orb which was losing its glitter in the dust of the called to meeting members of her tribe.

Esther raised her trunk toward her mouth, and slipped the treasure into her pointed mouth. She felt the red juice ooze from the cool roundness as she pressed it to the roof of her mouth with her tongue. She felt it swell to double the size, triple the size, and her mouth filled with the sweet juice and she let it run down her throat and tipped back her head and felt it run clear to her belly. The hurry and scurry around her faded and there was only her and red and juice and the sparkle she had seen previously was now inside her head.

photo from The Daily Galaxy

Edward let out a final shout. Somewhere.

Esther felt the redness fade but there was a glow in her belly. She opened her eyes and there were now golden flecks in the trees, the herd was now covered with silver and steel blue sequins,and the sky was amber and fuschia with ribbons of azure. Her feet glided as if on ice as she walked toward the gathering.

Esther smiled.

Challenge: D is for Dallying

D is for Dallying.

From Merriam-Webster:


1a : to act playfully; especially : to play amorously
  b : to deal lightly : toy
2a : to waste time
  b : linger, dawdle




I chose the above definition of Dally because it's not entirely negative. Most of the available definitions of Dallying take the negative spin, such as this one from Google: Act or move slowly: "workers were loafing, dallying, or goofing off".

But for writers, for artists of any kind I believe, dallying is actually a necessity. I also believe that even the 2a definition above - to waste time - is necessary. Because I don't really believe that it is wasting time.

It is in those moments of moving more slowly in the world, of taking time to notice, or even of staring off into space and letting the world catch your attention with something unexpected or new or even mundane (thanks, gl!) that you might not have otherwise noticed if you weren't sitting there. Wasting time.

Or as authors dallying at the coffee cart, with the hot cup of green tea in your hands, inhaling and letting the warmth spread from your hands to your face, you smile. And you overhear a conversation between two people at the burrito cart behind you. And you know what the character in your story on the screen at your desk is going to say. You head back to it and begin to write.

Or you notice the Grocery Outlet store when you're heading home from an appointment and remember you have to buy some handy item and maybe they have it. Inside you find treasures of foods from places you've never been to, or you thought your friend had made up, or something from the place where your current work in progress takes place. You wander the shelves to see what else there is and find the jumbled products in random order and yet you're compelled to keep looking. And there is a can of ______ something. The thing your protagonist is going to make for dinner and on the back, the label has a recipe for just that thing.

And sometimes, we just have to sit. Or walk without purpose. To slow down. To let our mind rest a little and let the stories percolate while we relax. While we dally.

Dallying. It's not a waste of time. It's time spent getting ready for the next round. Dally a little and see what you might have otherwise missed. Or notice if it makes it a little easier to jump back into your writing or art, or even to get back to the less-than-creative job which pays the bills.

Challenge : C is for Candle

There is no such thing as an artist: there is only the world lit or unlit as the light allows. When the candle is burning, who looks at the wick? When the candle is out, who needs it?

                                                     ~Annie Dillard

                 
On the first day of the A to Z Challenge, this quote showed up in my blog reader list, thanks to Jessica Morrell on her The Writing Life Too blog. I don't remember seeing that quote before but I knew I had to use it. I had to share it. And then I realized that I had to include it in this month's posts. I'd already posted my "A" word so I thought I might go with "D" for Dillard. But that didn't work for me, so I read it again and again and settled on "C."

So there it is.

Here it is.

C is for Candle. At this moment I'm stumped for what more to say because "who looks at the wick" and "when the candle is out, who needs it" are so clear nothing more is needed.

The idea of Candle being the source of "the world lit or unlit as the light allows" delights me.

I love candles. I like the soft light they put out, combined with the warmth and the pulsing glow. I don't use them much because, like so many other people, my life is busy and I rarely have time to sit and ponder the flame heating air, heating wax, light seeping into the surrounding room and let it wash over me in quiet contemplation. With all the hurrying I know I'd only blow it out in my wake or I'm afraid I'd get caught up in emails and phone calls and editing the story, texting a student, calling my partner, feeding the cat, exercising, doing laundry, getting ready for work, and - I'm afraid maybe I will leave the flame too long and that might not be a good thing.

To busy to sit in the comfy chair or on the couch or to soak in a cleansing bath with Candles.

But this quote. The candles. The flames. The world lit or unlit. Knowing that what's important isn't the wick.

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Challenge : B is for Balloon

I like watching hot air balloons. I have since I was a child. I could sit and stare at the bright orbs floating on the sky for long periods of time. I remember going to county fairs where there might be one for show, or perhaps, if you were lucky, you might be able to get into the balloon and watch as the pilot turned up the flame and you rose higher and higher. Or at least as high as the tethered craft would go. Safely harnessed to the ground so no one would be lost.

I was content to watch.

I remember going to a hot air balloon event a long time ago. Listening to the forced hot air as the flames reached into the gaping mouth of the balloon. And it rose. Temperature differences reacting from the inside and outside and the rose and drifted and rose and fell, growing smaller as they moved away from the crowd. Or growing larger if they were coming in and headed toward the landing pad.

I can still sit and watch them for a very long time.

There is something soothing about their presence in the sky. About their graceful bob and bounce, floating on the wind, their openness, and the exposure of the passengers.

A couple of years ago I was on a dragon boat team with a woman who was a hot air balloon pilot. Before that time I'd never thought about the balloons being piloted, or that it was something one could aspire to do; that someone would think "I want to grow up and be a hot air balloon pilot." She was very nice. If I ever had to courage to go up in a balloon, I think I'd like her as my pilot - calm, funny, confident.

Twice I've just missed the big hot air balloon event in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It looks gorgeous - the balloons against the blue skies of NM and the landscape of the region is inviting. Once I considered planning a vacation so I would be there at that time but it didn't work out.

I don't think I'll ever go up in one. I'm content to be a spectator.

Challenge : A is for Adventure

One of my favorite A-words is ADVENTURE. And that's what this month is going to be: an adventure in daily blogging (skipping Sundays to make it all come out right) and having each day focus on consecutive letters in the English alphabet.

I'm looking forward to the Adventure of discovering where I find each letter leads me and seeing where others go, as well. I've already selected  the blogs to follow, which includes a few right after me in the blogroll and the fellow Wayward Writers who are embarking on this journey. Er, Adventure.

I know some people have themes for their A to Z Challenges. But not me. And are we surprised? No! Because I'm approaching this as I approach NaNoWriMo and pretty much any writing which is not editing - with my mind open and letting the prompt wash over me and see what comes up floating.

So, while others may focus on their novels (I can't wait to see how Rocky reveals bits about his novel in progress through the alphabet) and others may use landscaping or spiritual practice or editing, or so many others I haven't yet seen - my only focus is, living and writing. And Adventure.

I have had some travel adventures and some of those have been shared here in the blog over the five years it has been in existence. There was joining a dragon boat team, being in a walking long distance relay team, walking races, a half marathon, learning to kayak and taking a major dunk on the first trip out. Oh, and the big Adventure of going down the Grand Canyon for eight days with a large group of people. Awesome Adventure.

I've also taken an Adventure in writing the memoir. Which is still in the editing phase. I'm currently getting yet another round of feedback and edits from a couple of other writers. After which the next manuscript draft will be firmed up, more edits made I'm sure, and then find a few people who are willing to read it from {cover} to {cover} and see it as a whole piece. Then tell me where the holes still are or the cloudiness or the puzzlement which stops the reader. If any.

In the past I took the Adventure of becoming a step-parent. Which I will now say was somewhat accidental and, I'll admit, I thought I could escape. As a young twenty-five year old I thought I could live with my partner and the two children and not be a step-parent. But I was wrong. And that was okay. So as much as I declared as a very young adult, before I met my partner, that I would never become a mother - the universe had other plans and I fell in love with someone with two children. I became a mother.

Adventure. A good word which I believe is important for life. Adventure can be a big trip - climbing tall mountains, canoeing long and remote rivers, hiking scenic mountain ranges, or cross country skiing through forests on freshly fallen snow. But it can also be a journey inward, to your true self, your spiritual self, to merge with your muse and find your creative spirit. It can be found in a book, listening to a piece of music, looking at art created by another, watching the body of dancers on a stage or the lawn or on a highwire. Or watching a film, a live theatrical production, kids playing at a waterpark, lovers in a restaurant, skateboarders outside on a cloudy day.

Adventure is what inspires you and fills you up. Gives you hope and foundation for another day.

Adventure. What's one small thing you can do to surprise yourself today?

And a special thank you to Arlee Bird for coming up with this creative Adventure of the A to Z Challenge!

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

Okay. If you've been following my posts for more than a few months, you've probably seen that I like a writing challenge. Today I discovered a new challenge, thanks to a fellow Wayward Writer from Ariel Gore's Literary Kitchen. Rocky Hatley posted about a challenge he's undertaking, the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I had to follow up on this new adventure.

In the past, I've done the NaPoWriMo - National Poetry Writing Month. I did that a couple of years in a row. I also did a Small Stones one year - writing micro fiction sensory pieces on a daily basis.

This year, I didn't plan on doing a writing challenge in April. But then this opportunity appeared and, so, I will! The timing is great because I needed a writing boost from somewhere. I've gotten a little bogged down in editing the memoir, which is beginning to feel like a never ending bowl of spaghetti, plus doing feedback for other writers - which I love doing - and doing more correspondence and proposal type of writing.

I needed a little virtual kick in the butt to get my fingers working on new material. (Which I hope will also help me with motivation to get more writing out into the world. That's a topic for another day: how writing new pieces helps propel me to submit more. Maybe I can work that topic into the A to Z challenge. Hmm.)

There are a few rules, but not many and they're simple. Write a blog post every day except Sunday and have the topics go in alphabetical order - the "topic" is flexible - but somehow, each letter of the alphabet must be incorporated; see the website for examples.. Simple, right? Click on their banner above to see more information and sign up yourself!

This is just the level of challenge I can handle right now and it's perfect. Simple motivation and letting loose a little. Yes.
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