Sunny Yellow

Here’s my offering for today’s photo prompt from City Sonnet…

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Summer’s Cove [flash 101]

Solstice has passed and though the days are still warm, they grow shorter. The sand is cold at night, when the bright lemon sky is draped in a black velvet cloak. She walks down the beach just before sunset, the wind whipping her hair. Sometimes she approaches the water, takes off her shoes, and lets the foam bathe her toes. She’s always careful to turn away before the cove because she remembers. I know. But she comes closer each day, her heart braver than her mind. The salty scent of memory pulls her back to that place.

I watch. I wait.

~*~

Image from Pexels.

Written for Eugi’s Weekly Prompt.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

5 Things [I Love About Summer]

Dr. Tanya wants to know the 5 things we love about summer…

1. Ice cream! Since I’m always cold, it needs to be hot hot hot for me to enjoy ice cream.

2. Long, lovely days with lots of light…

3. Adorable summer clothes I don’t have to lump a sweater over because I’m not cold!

^^^ yes, that is me… 🤣

4. The sounds of fun at the pool! Not that I want to join in or anything.

5. Flowers!

~*~

Images from Pexels.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Saturday Pome [socs]

Snails are icky;

Snails are gross.

Keep them off of my plate

And my fence post.

~*~

Image from Pexels.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Bloggerz 2

Guess who is back with a dozen silly questions for us? Yep, you got it. The Blokey Guy aka Rory! Let’s get to it, shall we… I haven’t got all night.

1. How spontaneous are you? Great question. I’m very fun and spontaneous, as long as I have a teensy bit of advance notice, say like 2 weeks.
2. How flirtatious would you say you are and if that is not the word you would use then try the alternatives of ‘teasing or playful’ either way – how much are you of this? I’m loads of this as well, though perhaps I might use the word snarky or bitchy, but a rose is a rose, eh? 🌹
3. How serious are you as a person? Welp, I would say I’m more serious as a person than I am as a kangaroo.
4. Do you think the older we become certain emotions are easier to handle – say as an example ‘grief?’ Yes, especially when we can’t even remember what the hell happened the day before. That’s helpful.
5. What is the most adventurous thing you have done to date? Probably dating a married man was pretty adventurous, and that worked out as well as you would expect. 💔
6. What’s the craziest or riskiest thing you have ever done and simply got away with it or gotten caught doing it? Way way back when, I both took and gave rides from/to strangers. Don’t do this, kids.
7. What do you think the future is of dating and other ‘other’ now that social distancing has become part of your life? Irrelevant, since I no longer date or do any other othering either.
8. How different do you really think you are to the next person – are you prim and proper, or straight laced and serious, wild and abandoned or rebellious and controversial? I think I’m average/middle-of-the-road in almost all areas, except I can be alone for vast amounts of time and be fine (though I miss my family in this horrid lockdown). In fact, being overly social makes me exhausted and depressed, which seems different from what most people report.
9. During this time of global concern how has your thinking changed with regards the planet, conservation, climate issues… or has it not changed one little bit? I’ve always been in favor of minimizing our pollution levels and finding ways to avoid destroying animals and their habitats. 🌎
10. What ‘topical issues’ considered ‘taboo’ by society are you deeply passionate with and about to the point of doing something about it? None really. Just leave people alone to do as they will as long as they aren’t harming anyone else. Oh, I guess I’m a fan of internet reform, which no one likes, but I’m too lazy to do anything about it. If I were in charge, I’d likely disallow anonymity and multiple accounts. One account, per person, traceable across platforms. No trolling or sock puppets or other shenanigans used for evil purposes.
11. What’s more important and or is there a difference between ‘Friendship and Companionship’ and if so what is that difference? There are levels to friendship for sure, from basic acquaintances to coworkers to peeps you want to hang out with in your free time. And then there are other people, maybe just a few, or only one, with whom you have a special connection (not talking romantic, though it could be)… someone who “gets” you and with whom you can easily share your feelings and experiences, knowing you won’t be judged or mocked or criticized. But also someone who shares things with you in return, so you feel you aren’t just taking but giving as well. This is what I consider companionship, beyond friendship. I don’t really have it in my life now, just sporadic friendship when people aren’t busy with other things, and I’m okay with that.
12. What is your passion with regards writing genres – (1) what is your chosen genre and (2) what is the genre you might like to write about but lack confidence to start? I’ve written lots of romance and a little erotica, bunches of poetry, and a political romance. I’ve begun a few mysteries and “literary fiction” type works as well. Finished some shorter pieces in those genres. Dabbled in a bit of sci-fi too. As I keep saying, I’m working on a mystery/love story called Ghosted, which will be finished… at some point. Lack of confidence to write in a genre I haven’t tried before does not seem to be an issue for me. 🤣

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image found on eBay.

Renewal

She burned all her bridges
And set fire to the river.
The sky turned blood orange;
Her soul swelled in pleasure.
She arrived with the dust
And left naught but ash,
Seeking a hallowed renewal
By erasing her past.

~*~

Image from Pexels.

Written for Eugi’s Weekly Prompt.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Questions a la Di

My posting has been a bit sparse lately. A few reasons. I’ve rejoined Facebook, even though it’s horrible. I’m just lonely in this endless isolation and couldn’t resist the re-connection with my peeps there. Also, I’ve been having trouble sleeping and that’s messed up my creativity. I haven’t felt the urge to write much poetry or flash fiction during the lockdown, since I’m so zoned out. I may end up doing more question type posts or “meanders” for a while.

Di @ Pensitivity101 offered these…

1.  Do you cloud watch?

Yes, I love to look at the sky. It’s beautiful, just as the ocean is. Now, I don’t know the names of the types of clouds or formations of stars, but that doesn’t stop me from taking photos and googling stuff for poems. Actually, this is a good time of year for pretty sunsets here at the California coast. I should go outside sometime again and see. The pic of the Hotel Irvine was taken a few years ago.

2. What is your biggest failure in the kitchen?

Where to begin? I accidentally spilled so much pepper into a veal dish once that I had a tummy ache for a week (my ex was fine with the pepper veal). I brought spicy noodles to a gathering of (mostly) elderly people and no one would eat them. They were pretty spicy! I didn’t have time to bake chocolate chip cookies for a man I was dating and he dumped me. Later he said that the lack of cookies made him feel that I didn’t care about him. 😥

3.  Do you prefer a shower or bath, bubbles or lotion?

Shower only.

4. What do you do to calm yourself when angry?

The best thing for me is to get away from whatever is causing it and go home so I feel safe. Usually I would want to make hot tea, cuddle up in my jammies, and think about what happened. Hopefully I’d be able to talk to one of my daughters about it too.

5. Eggs now: do you prefer them scrambled, boiled, poached, fried or in an omelette?

Depends on my mood. Probably a cheese omelette is my favorite, or eggs scrambled with some shredded cheese in them. I like some sautéed mushrooms with either.

It’s 1:42am and I wish I could go to sleep…

~*~

Image is mine.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Earth 🌎 Day

Today I went to get the mail and saw our mama duck again with her ducklings. They were very close to the busy road and I was scared, but they stayed in the grass and then waddled back to the moat. Wished I had my camera. Instead, I’ll post a few pics from when I was out and about in other times, celebrating our wonderful Earth. It’s a celebration of all of us too…

~*~

Images mine.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

A Bunch Of Nonsense

To distract myself from myself, I’m going to answer these super intrusive questions about myself from Melanie…

1. Tell us how you met your partner. Please be specific in telling your tale.

I don’t have a “partner.” I’ve been divorced since 2011 and all my attempts at dating were documented disasters. Right now, it might be nice to have someone to be cooped up with though. Or maybe not.

2. What is your most romantic experience, again with details?

I have a post in drafts called Skyloft. It’s about the best first date I ever had ~ my last first date. I had a couple more first meetings since, but they don’t count as first dates. This man was also a disaster, like the others, but worse because I’d finally begun to trust again, and after him everything was impossibly shattered. The date itself was incredible. It was the hottest day of the year, and I was sick, had been sick for a month, which made the whole experience surreal. I felt I was in a painting, with all the colors and sounds and tastes and smells so exquisitely bright. When he touched me, I felt transported to another plane. Nothing was the same again… it still isn’t. He kissed me at the beach, with the turquoise waves crashing in, just like a dream. I will never forget this, no matter what he did later.

3. What is the most extravagant purchase you’ve ever made, and why did you buy it?

I have not bought anything extravagant for a really long time. I’m super careful. I’ve spent money, sometimes a lot, but on stuff that’s necessary, such as a car (a sensible one). I simply can’t think of anything. Oh! I know. My daughter went to Costa Rica several years ago and brought me some very cool artwork. I spent $400 to have it framed. But I love it. ❤️

4. What is your favorite swear word or expression, and when are you most likely to use it?

I’m an equal opportunity swearer. I try to give all the bad words a good workout daily, but I must admit that since I haven’t been driving they’ve been sitting in a sad heap on the sofa watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island and munching potato chips. 😢

5. What is your favorite kind of pie? With or without ice cream?

Ooh pie! I had the best pie up in Northern California ~ key lime with whipped cream and a thick graham cracker crust. That is my fave, followed closely by lemon cream and then cherry. No ice cream necessary.

6. While we’re on the subject, what is your favorite ice cream, and where did you last eat it?

Cookie dough! I don’t remember when or where I ate it last. I don’t eat ice cream often because I’m always freezing. 🥶

7. Who is your most unique friend and why? (May be someone from the past.)

My daughters are both brilliant and hilarious and totally unique. I love them to bits! My besties! 💖💖 (Why? Because I raised them! Duh.)

8. What is your most irritating habit?

Yelling at my cat to quit yelling. 🐱

9. Who was your favorite teacher and why?

I loved many of my philosophy and writing professors at CSUN.

10. Do you like being alone and if so, what would you probably be doing?

I enjoy choosing to be alone; I don’t enjoy this forced isolation and not being allowed to go to work. It’s super depressing. When alone, I read, write, play phone games, chat with peeps online, etc.

11. What is the most outlandish thing you’ve ever done?

Probably picked up hitchhikers and taken rides from strange men back in Illinois. Nothing bad ever happened even though this is a terribly stupid thing to do.

12. What superstition do you always follow?

I count things a lot, which isn’t really a superstition, but more an OCD, except not that much since I don’t do it consistently. I just feel things will work out better when there’s the right number of ’em.

13. What famous person or animal have you met? Tell us about the meeting.

Not really. I’ve seen various celebs in the Los Angeles area, but haven’t hung out with any. I don’t think celebs or royals are better than anyone else, and people ought to quit making such a fuss over them. 😛

~*~

Image credit to Bitmoji.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Self-Isolation Report 2

Friday Morning

8:30 ~ finally got up after sleeping until 7ish & then lazing in bed playing games on my phone until I ran out the battery

9:00 ~ Noon… had coffee but wasn’t hungry for breakfast, chatted with friends online, played with cats, took shower, read news to further terrify self, ate a protein bar, had tea

Friday Afternoon

12:30 ~ drove to Crystal Cove State Beach & walked around for a couple hours taking pics

Later Friday

3:00 ~ stopped at grocery store to get fresh produce, milk, bread (they were pretty well stocked)

4:00 ~ put groceries away, ate late lunch of spicy vegan black bean burgers topped with melted non-vegan brie (yummy)

5:00 ~ FaceTime with elder daughter

6:00 ~ tea and phone games

7:00 ~ contemplated writing… decided to do this report first and also the SOCS and the SLS… plenty of time to write… plenty… my gosh, I’ll be knocking out so many new books soon they’ll probably ban me for hogging all the Kindle space! 🤣

~*~

Images from Bitmoji and me.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.