(That happened badly.) The inadvertent send. 🤷🏽 I believe that was a great characterization of you, your writing, and the mark you are leaving with so many! I’d say you and The Muses made out like bandits.
Muse-speak seems to be a cypher that identifies the speaker. Words with personalities?
I’m so glad you mentioned National Ice Cream Day. I celebrated with salted caramel from our own freezer. Saturday NYT had a recipe for making a yummy sounding salted caramel, using only whipped cream (not Cool Whip), dulce-de-leche condensed milk, with a smidge of vanilla flavoring and fine sea salt. Just a mixer, even a whisk in a pinch, and a container to go in the freezer. 3 hours later and voilà! Scoops just like regular ice cream. Waffle cones anyone?
Hot fudge in the Mason jar? And “the kid” is chef-u-lating?! I would have pictured a nice 6-pound bass split lengthwise, broiled to perfection and served on an attractive platter. Curly parsley garnish? Red potato salad and tender asparagus as sides. And ice cream drenched in hot fudge!
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high”
Louis Armstrong
Recently you shared about Ralph Ammer and his TED talk. I think he noted, on his website, “You can’t argue about a poem!” Songs, thinking of Miranda Lambert and Louis Armstrong, operate the same way. So Einstein’s observation states the underlying nature of creativity, intelligence having fun.
As always I’m grateful for the “brain stretch” that resulted from you stretching your brain! (I just hope there’s no chance of you developing “repetitive stress disorder”) 😁
‘Twas a gift from an editor — the idea to empower each muse voice with distinguishable speech. I believe it is an improvement from when they all sounded just like Loveletterist. :)
Perhaps if you have a recipe link for the salted caramel concoction you’ll share? Sounds yummy!
Yes! The oldest kid in the house is chef-u-lating. 😂
We did have salmon salad (fresh Lake Michigan caught) for dinner last night.
Isn’t the song from Porgy and Bess?
Do poems allow us to extract multiple meanings? To hear what serves us best?
Perhaps you recall the gift (left by the muses) for Loveletterist many years ago? It was a box filled with envelopes, divided into four sections. The section labels were: memories, new adventures, people you will meet, and the fourth stack of envelopes was free of distinction. An envelope was affixed to the lid’s box with black corner tabs; the kind used in old photo albums to hold pictures in place. One word, said simply —open. The calligraphy read:
Dear Gail,
Until now, we’ve kept our presence a secret. We are your muses, Urania, Thalia, and Calliope.
We took you by the hand last spring and encouraged you to tell your stories. We found a safe place for you to share your words, making sure there was abundant support to encourage and guide you.
We see that our judgment was good. We are pleased with your progress and effort.
Today, we felt it was time to make our presence and expectations known.
There is a responsibility in telling stories. Of course, the process of getting ideas out of your head, and onto the page is for you. By all means, write for yourself, but… Your published work must be written for an audience. Words and stories are among the most powerful weapons ever created. They can fight for good or bad. Use them wisely, with good intent.
This box contains stories you have lived — that is the stack labeled memories. There are stacks of envelopes pertaining to future experiences and people you will meet. We will make sure you will always have ideas to work with.
The unlabeled stack, well, that’s the unknown. The unknown leaves space to grow into for you — it might be fiction or poetry one day.
This gift is real, but only exists in your thoughts. The physical box and envelopes are an illusion. The gift lies within your heart and mind.
You’ve got potential. We’ll always be nearby. If we do not come when you call, it is because you need to think a little longer — or possibly, we’ve run out for more popcorn.
"Still Life in Garden Flowers and Fudge Sauce" — I like it!
🤣
(That happened badly.) The inadvertent send. 🤷🏽 I believe that was a great characterization of you, your writing, and the mark you are leaving with so many! I’d say you and The Muses made out like bandits.
Muse-speak seems to be a cypher that identifies the speaker. Words with personalities?
I’m so glad you mentioned National Ice Cream Day. I celebrated with salted caramel from our own freezer. Saturday NYT had a recipe for making a yummy sounding salted caramel, using only whipped cream (not Cool Whip), dulce-de-leche condensed milk, with a smidge of vanilla flavoring and fine sea salt. Just a mixer, even a whisk in a pinch, and a container to go in the freezer. 3 hours later and voilà! Scoops just like regular ice cream. Waffle cones anyone?
Hot fudge in the Mason jar? And “the kid” is chef-u-lating?! I would have pictured a nice 6-pound bass split lengthwise, broiled to perfection and served on an attractive platter. Curly parsley garnish? Red potato salad and tender asparagus as sides. And ice cream drenched in hot fudge!
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high”
Louis Armstrong
Recently you shared about Ralph Ammer and his TED talk. I think he noted, on his website, “You can’t argue about a poem!” Songs, thinking of Miranda Lambert and Louis Armstrong, operate the same way. So Einstein’s observation states the underlying nature of creativity, intelligence having fun.
As always I’m grateful for the “brain stretch” that resulted from you stretching your brain! (I just hope there’s no chance of you developing “repetitive stress disorder”) 😁
‘Twas a gift from an editor — the idea to empower each muse voice with distinguishable speech. I believe it is an improvement from when they all sounded just like Loveletterist. :)
Perhaps if you have a recipe link for the salted caramel concoction you’ll share? Sounds yummy!
Yes! The oldest kid in the house is chef-u-lating. 😂
We did have salmon salad (fresh Lake Michigan caught) for dinner last night.
Isn’t the song from Porgy and Bess?
Do poems allow us to extract multiple meanings? To hear what serves us best?
Perhaps you recall the gift (left by the muses) for Loveletterist many years ago? It was a box filled with envelopes, divided into four sections. The section labels were: memories, new adventures, people you will meet, and the fourth stack of envelopes was free of distinction. An envelope was affixed to the lid’s box with black corner tabs; the kind used in old photo albums to hold pictures in place. One word, said simply —open. The calligraphy read:
Dear Gail,
Until now, we’ve kept our presence a secret. We are your muses, Urania, Thalia, and Calliope.
We took you by the hand last spring and encouraged you to tell your stories. We found a safe place for you to share your words, making sure there was abundant support to encourage and guide you.
We see that our judgment was good. We are pleased with your progress and effort.
Today, we felt it was time to make our presence and expectations known.
There is a responsibility in telling stories. Of course, the process of getting ideas out of your head, and onto the page is for you. By all means, write for yourself, but… Your published work must be written for an audience. Words and stories are among the most powerful weapons ever created. They can fight for good or bad. Use them wisely, with good intent.
This box contains stories you have lived — that is the stack labeled memories. There are stacks of envelopes pertaining to future experiences and people you will meet. We will make sure you will always have ideas to work with.
The unlabeled stack, well, that’s the unknown. The unknown leaves space to grow into for you — it might be fiction or poetry one day.
This gift is real, but only exists in your thoughts. The physical box and envelopes are an illusion. The gift lies within your heart and mind.
You’ve got potential. We’ll always be nearby. If we do not come when you call, it is because you need to think a little longer — or possibly, we’ve run out for more popcorn.
Love and inspiration to you,
U, T, and C
:)
I don’t remember reading the Muses’ message! Just now I have a leak in the corners of both eyes.