Tag Archives: harvest

#Writober Day 5: Why is there always a cabin in the woods that isn’t mine?

Cabin in the woods

Ahhh, The Cabin In The Woods, not only a great movie in its own right, but also the setting of my favorite horror comedy Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

The cabin in the woods in today’s photograph was built in 1888 and is located inside Mt. Rainier National Park. Before you get to Paradise, there is an area called Longmire where strange bubbling wells were visited for therapeutic purposes, but have all been abandoned.

What is your cabin in the woods story? Does it include stereotyped teenagers and aliens or a serial killer? Or is it a Lovecraftian tale of psychological torture?

#vss: very short story

I had always wished for this; complete isolation in a cabin in the woods. My neighbor had the same wish; and larger teeth and claws.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s theme: Finally I understand

I Reap What I Sow

Slowing down, eyes to the ground, I discover

Tiny shoots creeping, reaching slowly, grow

Trying, testing, churning, always more to learn

Patience in attentive silence harvests triumph

Produce, ripe, plump and plucked, continues to transform

Mulching, composting, burning with next year’s vision

Tastes combining the known and unknown spark delight

 

#FlashFicHive

Stronger Noun/Verb Swap

flash fic day 5

In May of 2015, I discovered a fabulous book called The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How to Solve the Mysteries of Weak Writing.

While reading it, I was inspired to write about finding and replacing weak verbs. I included many links to stronger active verbs. I recommend giving it a look to help you with this challenge.

Happy Writing and Reading. I hope you’re enjoying #Writober.

Reaping A Bountiful Harvest

summer squash, pole beans, kale, Swiss chard and a lemon cucumber nicely displayed on a wood countertop

The harvest: Summer squash, lemon cucumber, pole beans, Swiss chard & 4 kinds of kale

I find no meal more satisfying than the one picked fresh from my garden. This year’s harvest is turning out to be very exciting. This year is the year of vine vegetables and many kinds of kale. Yum. The beauties pictured above were used for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For breakfast this morning I had a piece of grain and seed toast with a little yogurt ranch Three slices of lemon cucumber showing the pretty star-shaped centers and seedsdressing, white cheddar cheese and slices of lemon cucumber. The first bite was surprising. The sweetness of the cucumber drew out the salt in the bread to an acute surprise.

For lunch, the summer squash served as noodles after going through the spiral slicer . The raw squash had less taste than I expected, but was full of flavor once topped with an olive oil sauce of onions, garlic, Roma tomatoes (from my friend’s garden), and fresh rosemary and thyme (growing in pots on the porch).

Harvest DinnerDinner was wonderful. We put brown and wild rice in the rice cooker and food steamer and steamed the beans and some cauliflower. Then when those veggies were done, we steamed the greens and some mushrooms. I topped the whole thing with my favorite spicy peanut sauce. I used the Gado Gado recipe from The New Moosewood Cookbook .

This wonderful harvest after years of being mostly thwarted is a great metaphor for the writing life. It takes persistence and constantly trying new and creative things.

I keep planting every year, no matter how the last harvest turns out. Every year I try something new. I try new vegetables. I change where and when I plant. I’ve planted horizontally, vertically and in arcs. This year I added planting up with poles and twine. This year, I’m also going to try a fall/winter garden, replanting as soon as I finish the harvest.

In my writing life, I make another Gator McBumpypants picture book, another NaNoWriMo novel, another short story, another poem, no matter how the last one was received. I read, I enjoy online courses and I learn and practice the craft every day. I don’t approach the page the same way, but try new skills and ideas all the time.

At the beginning of the week, I organized all of my writing projects for this fall and found an amazing word harvest. I found a lot more words on the page than I expected. I have so many wonderful projects to work on, it’s hard to choose; in a good way.

Today is about celebrating the harvest. It’s about time and patience. If we keep at it, one day we may be happily surprised with enough to eat.

Happy Reading and Writing!