Category Archive:Moose Nuggets

Maya Angelou has gone on to her reward. While it saddens me to hear of her death, my life is richer for her effect on it.

To come from an abusive childhood – to come from years of no language – to then march and write and advocate for change and equality; imagine the strength that has to have taken.

Maya said, “if you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.”

Taking that to heart, I will sit in my yard with my grandchildren. We will gather clover and weave it into crowns. We will smile.

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The Velvet Verbosity 100 Word Challenge is CLOVER – from an 1884 speech by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Rhonda mopped sweat from her face. Finally! The packing was completed. They were ready to be evacuated. She and Rod had spent the last 20 hours choosing what must go and what they could lose should the fire invade their property.

All those years choosing carefully which knick-knack to bring back from vacations.

All those years of filling shelves with gee-gaws.

Honed down to 20 hours of decisions on what was really important.

In the end they crated memories: photos of those trips. They packed clothing and food and left the rest for whatever might happen. They saved themselves first.

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The Purplemoose clan is not in danger – but many of our friends are. The Kenai Peninsula is under attack from a huge woodland fire. Latest assessment shows approximately 96,000 acres burned or burning. Residents in an endangered area were evacuated last night – only to be allowed to return in a very short time. Wind and Fire are fickle friends. Kenai (our home) is inundated with thick, acrid smoke. People with allergies and other lung problems are encouraged to stay indoors with little activity outdoors. Pray for rain, friends. Pray for safety of the firefighters. Thank you

the above is my entry for Velvet Verbosity’s challenge: COLLECTION

Sue stretched in a modified yoga pose. At least she thought it was a yoga pose. “More like a cat than a Yogini,” she thought. Rich, languorous stretch. Relaxed, loving life stretch. “I don’t want to go to work” stretch.

Work these days was stress-inducing and tiresome. There were more bad than good days and Sue found it tougher every day to beard the dragon, take the bull by the horns, and muscle through.

That is what brought her to yoga class. Sue saluted the sun and addressed the downward dog faithfully. The lithe, agile instructor didn’t hurt, either. Namaste.

flyzipper / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

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written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 word challenge: BEARD.

A night on the town was just what the doctor ordered.

Jim and Marilyn had been married so long they felt like it was forever. Gone were the days of passion and fervor; gone the days of flowers and candy. Sex? Yeah, nope. Not for 100 years or so, Marilyn would say.

Despite this, they cared for each other in the little ways. She washed his socks. He cut the grass. They made it through each day.

On the menu tonight was dinner, drinks, and a movie. Later, it would be a race to see who snored first. Ah, love.

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The challenge this week from Velvet Verbosity is TOWN.

Hubby and I celebrate our 45th anniversary Saturday. Our night on the town will include a trip to Homer where I hope the promised view is good for some great pics.

Joe Thomissen / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The deep loam of the fields smelt of horse manure, warm and earthy. Melissa inhaled deeply.

“This is what I’ve been missing, Papa,” she said softly. “The city just isn’t the same. I thought I could make it after Josh died.”

Papa gathered his weeping eldest child into his arms.

“There, there, girlie. Your Papa is here. Your home is here. For as long as you need us, we’re both here.”

Melissa nodded, took the oversized plaid hankie from her father and wiped her eyes. Together they walked across the pasture to Mama’s kitchen. Coffee and fresh cinnamon rolls awaited.

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written for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 Word Challenge: INHALED. Pop on over, check out the other entries, and write one yourself.