And the Word of the Month word for October is…

Hi everyone,

Our good friend JEANNE POLAND agreed to provide the word for our October challenge. She slipped it into the record early and you might not have been looking. So here it is is in all its glory.

GLOBAL

If that one doesn’t prime your pump, I don’t know what will! Thank you, Jeanne.

Wishing you a Goose Lake kind of weekend

Hi everyone,

Turned out to be a good week for staying on target. It’s a nice feeling to head into the weekend that way.

As for the weekend, weather is turning cooler, leaves are blowing off the hackberries and maple and cherry trees, mostly into the pool. Time to winterize and cover. I’ve sighed about this before.

Hope you have a good weekend. Check out the new Word of the Month, officially posted by JEANNE POLAND tomorrow but sneak previewed yesterday. It’s a biggie.

Last calls for September Word of the Month poems

Hi everyone,

Thank you, Nathan Papes, Springfield News-Leader, for the swell picture

We’ve been zipping along with our September Word of the Month poems, thanks to CORY CORRADO’S good pick. If you haven’t added yours yet, you still have time, but don’t put it off any longer.

Next up for October will be JEANNE POLAND, choosing a new word to inspire and challenge us. That’s coming up on the 1st.

Going bat zip at Goose Lake

Hi everyone,

Yesterday evening I opened the patio umbrellas shortly before our guests arrived. In doing so I disturbed the rest of a neighbor here at Goose Lake.

At first it made no movement, much like anyone else who has just been awakened and isn’t ready yet to accept reality. It remained on top of the umbrella with its eyes shut. Sandy was setting the table two feet below it until I invited her to join me at one side so she could look up and see our guest.

Finally, one wing extended. It turned its head and opened its eyes. I was reminded of a human, throwing out an arm to stretch and slowly looking around as sleep retreated. A second after I took this picture, it sped off and disappeared into the growing dusk.

Bat Awakening

Whoa. Hey. What’s going on?
This isn’t where I made my bed
When I stopped here to rest at dawn. 
How did I get up here instead?
I don’t like the looks of this.
What a way to end a trip
Those creatures ruined my peaceful bliss.
I’m out of here. Gone. Zip.
(c) 2022 David L. Harrison, all rights reserved

Cory says the word of the Month word for September is . . .

Hi everyone,

As you know, I’ve invited the poets who attended my first Highlights Foundation Workshop near Honesdale in 2011 to provide the Word of the Month words for the next several months. Today we lead off with our Canadian friend, CORY CORRADO. Those early events took place in the house where the originators of Highlights Magazine for Children once lived. Here’s Cory having fun on a swing in the big side yard.

Cory has been the unofficial keeper of all the words we’ve used since October 2009. It seems only fitting and proper that she should choose the word of the month for September, which marks the end of the 13th year of Word of the Month. This is our 156th month of making poetry inspired by a single word. What has Cory chosen. Drum roll please… the word is ZIP!

Thank you, Cory. I can’t wait to see what our poets here and abroad will do with such an energetic word!