My News
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My heart is heavy tonight because my mother passed away on Saturday. It is too early for me to reflect on what she meant to me.
I certainly wouldn’t be who I am today without her. She taught me to read. The elementary school I attended used look-say, instead of phonics the year I was in first grade. Mom had to step up and teach me.
The word that comes to mind when I think of Mother is courage. I’m reminded of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “The Courage My Mother Had” since Mother faced life’s challenges without fear.
To learn more about Mother go to the RWWalker.com website.
Join Barry Dimick & Me
Daytona Writer’s Guild 1st Annual Holiday Festival
Books * Art * Music for Children and Adults
Sat. Dec 11, 2021 10am – 4pm
Children story time readings
Jewelry, Ceramics, Art Live Music, Carolers
Live Painting
Make and Take Art
Our Books
❖ Poetry Readings ❖20+ authors / artists
❖Holiday Crafts
Please join us in supporting local authors and artists at the Daytona Writers Guild’s 1st Annual Boutique Marketplace. Plenty of specialty boutique gifts not usually found at a fair. Find a special gift for you or someone else.
For an updated schedule of events go to DWG T&S weblink
Or https://www.taylorandseale.com
Join our upscale event at the beautiful Daytona Shores Pavilion and Park at the Court of Flags at 3048 S Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach Shores.
Link for this year’s finalists. I’m a finalist. To see me, please be patient. I’m near the end.
Thank you for visiting My News.
Thank you for visiting My News 🎈
Mother to Mother
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting My News.
Most of my followers know I’m a wife, Mother, former teacher, and writer of Young Adult novels and poetry. Usually, I’m discussing my works in progress or seeking advice in My News. Today, I’d like to share some excellent advice I received from a fellow mother and teacher when my son was a baby. The advice is in response to concerns voiced by mothers faced with the choice of sending their children to school or attempting another year of virtual school.
I agree that students need an education. They need teachers. Most learn better in the traditional school situation. Being isolated is no fun. BUT. COVID is deadly. If you fear your child will fall behind his or her classmates, fear no more.
Why do I say that? The advice I received from a fellow teacher. She said, “Don’t send a child to school at the earliest possible moment. Children need time to mature before sitting in a classroom. There’s a lifetime to work.”
We’re all in the same pandemic. Others are unlikely to advance faster. Be sure your child is safe. When the pandemic is over, there will be plenty of time for a formal education. In the meantime, read together, visit outdoor museums, attend virtual classes, go to national parks, plant a garden, cook together, and enjoy each other’s company.
Thank you for visiting My News.
It’s Hispanic Heritage Month
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting My News. Today is the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month. Whether you consider the United States a melting pot or a salad bowl, it would be difficult to deny the contributions of Spanish speaking people to our country and Florida go beyond tacos and the cigar industry.
I frequently use literary allusions in my writing. In my current work in progress, I refer to a poem written by one of my favorite hispanic writers, Gary Soto. Gary Soto is best know for his poetry and short stories.
If like me, the pandemic has made you antsy and shortened your attention span, you may prefer reading shorter work of literature to sagas. I suggest you turn to essays, short stories, and poems for your reading pleasure. Sotos Baseball in April, Petty Crimes, and You Kiss by th’ Book: New Poems from Shakespeare’s Line, are available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.
Happy reading. Thank you for visiting My News.
It’s Labor Day!
For most of my life, I’ve attempted to champion American workers. We are a nation built on the backs of workers. The United States is the land of the free, not the freeloader. My dad, a Renaissance man, was the ultimate “rags to riches” story. In the photo, taken near the end of his life, he is resting in a memory quilt I designed and sewed for him.
Dad worked hard and believed in labor unions. He taught my sister and me the value of work and workers. On this Labor Day, I pay tribute to my father and to all the labor union activists who made life easier for laborers–skilled and unskilled.
Many big companies have taken advantage of their workers. CEOs have seen their pay grow 1,000 percent in the last forty years. In the same time period, workers’s pay rose 11.9 percent. CEOs make 278 times the average worker. Fair? I think not, and we are all paying the price for that now. People are refusing to work for wages too low to make ends meet and that hurts us all. I pray we work together to bridge the gap. Let’s keep the American Dream alive.
In addition to my father, I pay tribute to Cesar Estrada Chavez, Eugene Victor Debs, Arthur Joseph Goldberg, Samuel Gompers, Mother Jones, John L. Lewis, Lucy Randolph Mason, George Meany, Frances Perkins, Ester E. Peterson, and Kate Mullany on this Labor Day. I’d like to suggest if you don’t know what any of these people did to help the American worker, you Google them.
In the photo, taken on my recent trip to the Adirondack Region of New York State, Mother is selecting a burger from a menu. Because of COVID, she hasn’t been able to go out for lunch. Luckily, this restaurant offered outdoor seating.
Things change in a week. If you pray, please pray for my mother. Mom worked hard all her life. At ninety-three, she is resting in the hospital after suffering from another heart attack. She needs prayers.
Have a safe Labor Day. Remember why we celebrate laborers.
A recent wrong turn on our way home from visiting my mother ended up with Barry and me in the vicinity of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I have my peace mask in my hand because we were outdoors and no other visitor was nearby.
I’m a pacifist and a germaphobe. The last two years have shocked and scared me. Normally, I turn to writing to deal with life’s troubles, but the virus and division in our country and our move across the state have made writing difficult. As a matter of fact, the discord in our country has shattered my belief system.
Sitting next to the Lincoln statue, I was reminded of Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech. I fervently believe he was correct. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” What can we do to mend the rift?
I’m about to embark on a new course. Instead of writing just fiction, I plan to begin writing essays. Hopefully, I’ll free my pen.
Thank you for visiting My News. I’d love to hear how you plan to move forward in the new normal. How can we glue our pieces back together into something more beautiful than we had before COVID?
In the book my agent is shopping for me, my character, Riley says, “We can’t go back to the way our lives were before the disasters, but scars can be beautiful.” In my book I use a Japanese kintsugi bowl as a symbol of how scars can be beautiful. Let’s hope we can do something to make our scars artistic and appealing. We must believe in and continue our American Dream.
SPLAB
Good Morning,
Thank you for visiting My News. In the month of August, I participate in the annual poetry postcard festival. Everyday for thirty-one days I mail a poem to one of the people on a list created by Paul Nelson, the founder.
All year, I browse for postcards. This year, the pandemic made obtaining the cards difficult, but I think I have enough postcards and ideas to send to the other poets across the United States and Canada who are on my list. In addition to mailing cards to participants, I mail postcards to my soon-to-be-ninety-three-year-old mother daily. She lives 1500 miles away.
According to Paul Nelson, “The Poetry Postcard Fest is facilitated by SPLAB (Seattle Poetics LAB) a 501 ©(3) organization founded in 1993, dedicated to "empowering people to practice poetry & deepen connections to place, self & the present moment.”
Enrollment for this year has ended, but if you are interested in participating next year, enrollment begins on September 1. There is a nominal fee. Poems are expected to be ekphrastic–spur of the moment.
At the present moment, I’m off to pen a micropoem. Today, I plan to write an elfchen, a German form of poetry. Elfchens consist of five lines and a total of eleven words.
Thank you for visiting My News. Hope you’ll visit again soon, and please consider joining next year’s festival.
Woohoo!
Good Afternoon
Thank you for visiting My News. I’m excited to share my good news. My poem “Tattoo Parlor” is a semifinalist for a literary award. This is particularly exciting because it is a poem I’ve incorporated into my work in progress, a novella.
What made you happy today? In this time of the pandemic, let’s share accomplishments. Please go to www.MelodyDeanDimick.com and click on Contact Melody to share your good news. Thank you.