Merely Day By Day

  Autumn Celebrity  Green says goodbye.  as I waltz in;  the great fall dance,  set to begin.  In morn' I rise  into the sky,  to shine a light   you can't deny.  I'm the lead of  Halloween shows,  showcased on porches  with eyes aglow.  I dress flowers  and brighten leaves,  dotting mountains,  covering trees.  I crackle in fires.   I dance in flames.  I am the spark,   you cannot tame.  I arrive with friends:  crimson and gold.  I am the one, whose color is bold. As nights grow cool, both near and far; I am orange. I am the star. © Cathy L. Mere, 2021 It's Poetry Friday!  Today’s roundup  is hosted by Linda Baie at Teacher Dance . She's hosting a Halloween party so I thought I'd pay a little tribute to the colors of fall.  Stop by to enjoy some poetry and/or leave a link. 

Dear Reader, I hope you won't think less of me after reading about my  duplicitous  ways... Monday "That's the sister I remember," my brother texted Monday evening just before game time.  I glanced out my car window at the fall mountain colors and had to laugh. It was a cruel move.  Flashback: Sunday Night  In our family fantasy league, I was matched against my brother in football and basketball for the week. My basketball team was taking care of themselves, but our football matchup score was 108.8 to 108.6 at the end of Sunday night football - and I was losing. Barely, but losing.  Upon close examination, I realized we each had left two spots empty on our team. In the busyness of an out-of-town trip, I had forgotten to add my kicker. While I had been hard at play, my brother, a superintendent in education, had evidently been hard at work and forgotten to add his defense. (Now you all know it isn't fair to pick on educators right now, but a sister has to do what a

A road trip inspires (using that word loosely) a humorous poetry confession.  About once a year, I fall. Temptation too much for resistance. Golden Arches taunt me, call me, pull me; coaxing. Two all beef patties, special sauce, all of it, too much  to resist. Self-control doesn’t last  all year. Surrendering. Without regret. © Cathy L. Mere, 2021 It's Poetry Friday!  Today’s roundup  is hosted at Jama’s Alphabet Soup .  Stop by to enjoy some poetry and/or leave a link. 

Ahhhhh, fall. Jacket weather. Sweaters. Cool evenings. Beautiful colors. Bonfires. Candy corn and peanuts. Apples, squash, pumpkins. There's so much to love.  Grabbing my iPad, I headed out to the patio to read. The evening was perfect with a slight coolness in the air. The sun set over the field behind us coloring the sky in subtle pink, purple and yellow. Leaves of gold and red beginning to the pepper the green trees that surround our patio. The buzzing of insects finally quieted by the colder nights. Perfection! Though I came out to read, it wasn't long until the crisp fall feel got the better of me. I decided a bonfire was exactly what the moment needed. I walked to the woodpile and gathered a few logs that looked easy to get started burning, a few small sticks, and anything that looked like it might ignite. Piling it all into the bonfire pit, I tried to get the fire started. I tried. And tried. And triiiiieeeeed.  I was trying to devise a better plan - and lamenting the fa

The Season Between I'm not sure  I've ever noticed the season  in between summer and fall: warm days, cool nights. I'm not sure I've ever noticed  the way summer and autumn  dance together: green leaves, grass growing. I'm not sure I've ever noticed the way the bush begins to turn: one red leaf, then two, then five. I didn't notice the change in the air, the subtle return of bonfires.  The time before  the yellow, the orange, the red. I didn't notice daylight sneaking away much earlier. The bird songs  slowly fading. The wind's return. The skittering of squirrels. Until today I hadn't noticed the season in between summer and fall. © Cathy L. Mere, 2021 It's Poetry Friday!  Today’s roundup  is hosted by Bridget Magee at  wee words for wee ones .  Stop by to enjoy some poetry and/or leave a link. 

The news is out. The new 2022 Passion Planners are available. I'm pretty psyched about the whole thing.  You might be asking yourself, "Why does she need a planner now that she's retired?" That's a terrific question. The answer is...I have passions to plan.  I started using the Passion Planner several years ago after a friend recommended it. I fell in love quickly with it! It really kept me organized. At the time, I used the large academic year planner. I loved the big pages, the month-at-a-glance view, the weekly layouts with times, and the ability to list big personal and professional to-dos for each week. (There was a short time they quit selling the large planners and I thought I might not live. Thankfully, that didn't last long.) In the years I used the planner, I never looked back. I loved everything about it.  Then, in the spring, I retired from teaching. Strangely - and even to my own surprise - the first thing I did was buy a new planner. I moved fro

As evening set, I found myself grabbing the bag of chips. Yes, this move always puts me in red alert, but I never seem to be able to stop myself. Could I grab a few chips and walk away? You'd think. Could I put them in a bowl to monitor my portion? Perhaps. Instead, however, I grab the bag.  As I sat down with the chip bag knowing the direction this would go, I had to shake my head.  I'll bet J.Lo doesn't eat chips,  I thought to myself. I'll bet she doesn't grab that Ben & Jerry's pint from the freezer. I'll bet she makes much better life choices.  Women over fifty inspire me. It seems 50 might be the sweet spot of time and wisdom for many. After years of dedication to their career path many find their way to reach their goals. Some after years of working hard, find their way to higher places and achieve their greatest success in this stage of life. Some, after raising families, decide it's time to follow a dream. Some just decide it's time for

  It's Poetry Friday!  Today’s roundup  is hosted by Catherine at Reading to the Core . Stop by to enjoy some poetry and/or leave a link. 

It's October. I've changed all the air fresheners in my house to a nice fall scent, the mums have been planted, and evenings on the patio are cool and comfy. October is the perfect time for jumping. In my younger days, I loved to jump into a pile of leaves. Now that I'm older and wiser, I like to choose jumps I can hand so I think it's time for a challenge. Several years ago I stumbled upon a podcast that discussed 30 day challenges. Sadly, it escapes me now where I first heard it (and the walk to the calendar that holds the answer is much too long...ha!). Doing something for 30 days seemed doable so I took heed of the advice to make a small change for 30 days. For many months after hearing that podcast, I planned a challenge for 30 days. Sometimes the challenge helped jumpstart a new habit. Sometimes it pushed me to finish a previously avoided job. Of course, the best challenges were the ones that just added a little extra to life. I never made the goals too big, but j