Crooked Creek by Sue Mattingly
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Mahatma Gandhi
the year of perfect vision fall colors have begun to seep in… staining the landscape and in places, leaving the trees to bleed… summer has lost its tenacious grip… ebbing now against the winds of change… receding into the depths of its own dusty shadows… the earth is releasing a bounty… sighing with the fall […]
October day a placid stream meanders through an October day… quietly reflecting the autumn trees that line its banks… a sprinkling of fallen leaves floats upon its surface… casually drifting when nudged by a gentle breeze… collectively gathering along its fringes like thoughts along the fringes of our minds a wooden bridge spans the gap […]
Trees Reach for the Heavens It seems that trees are abundant. There are so many kinds and sizes and they change predictably season by season. It would be easy to take them for granted and I probably did at one time. During the early 1990s, I had an experience that changed that. I now look […]
Today I look at the flowering trees and think of you. When we enjoyed them last spring we had no reason to think it would be our last dogwood season together. Now you lie in the cold ground with woods of redbud all around, but cannot see, or smell, or move to raise your eyes […]
During this time of year, the woodlands change almost by the day. As more trees give birth to leaves the view changes. Some things so obvious during the winter months are now obscure. Spring brings the same beauty each year yet it is forever new. Today there were wildflowers not seen just a couple of […]
This Winter Day Why can’t you decide? First, you let a few white flakes float down then you drop an anemic sprinkle on the ground. I decide this cloudy day I can abide then the sun peeks out from behind the trees. Winter Day you are such a tease. At least there is no ice […]
Back to the Park For various reasons, some more important than others, I have not been to the Parklands to walk for a long time. Mostly it’s just that during the winter months I’m a wimp about the cold temperatures and it seems that spring has been a long time coming here in Kentucky. Finally […]
Trees The beautiful autumn leaves are gone and the deciduous trees look a bit like skeletons against the sky. For many of us, our thoughts turn to indoor evergreens burdened with red and green or multi-colored lights and ornaments. Decorations in your home may be blue, white and silver for Hanukkah or they may reflect […]
Winding Down November was not a favorite month for many years, but I have learned to appreciate it more. In the past, I thought of it as rather colorless and simply a time to be traversed to reach December’s cold, snow and Christmas. This year somehow I have learned to appreciate this bridge month between […]
Challenge Accepted 2 The Crooked Creek Poem Challenge was an idea born over four months ago on Facebook when Cindi Carman used George Ella Lyon’s poem as a template to write her own “Where I’m From” poem. Cindi, an original follower of this blog, has graciously agreed to share that poem here. Where I’m From […]
Thank you to Syl Mattingly who submitted this poem in response to the challenge of July 29, to write a personal version of the poem by George Ella Lyon, “Where I’m From.” Where I’m From i am from white clover . . . from lightening bugs and night-crawlers i am from the soil in the […]
The heat had subsided and autumn had arrived with the week-end. The skies were the bluest and the clouds the whitest. The sun was warm and I had planned to enjoy a local festival, but alas, it was not to be. Good wife that I am, I spent Saturday doing all the chores my husband […]
