April rainfall

We had a goodly amount of rain this month. After the drought in 2012 this rainfall is wonderful.
I've been keeping track.
April 15th was one of those weird days when the temperature went up and down around the freezing point.
Our total rainfall form the big tornado/storms, April 29/30, was a mere 37mm, although it is still raining today, May 1st.

These storms drove their way up the coast, bashing into the Martime provinces.

April 30th it worked eastwards

The radar on April 30th shows the extent of the storm system.

This system killed something like 35 people in the USA. There was heavy rain across the south eastern parts of Canada on April 29th, and lasted until May 1st. The photos of the damage are horrific.

This is what the storm looked like in the US. Jackson, Mississippi is on the middle left.

meteoroligists warned Toronto about rain and wind

compare this screen capture from April 29th

NaPoWriMo Day 22 –word play

Prompt Day 22
Today, I challenge you to write a poem for children. This could be in the style of a nursery rhyme, or take a cue from Edward Lear or Shel Silverstein.

It could rhyme
it could not
either way
it hits the spot


kids all ages
love their pages
word play fun
has just begun

it's pouring rain
don't disdain
rhyming all
or rhyming none!

NaPoWriMo Day 30 –fare thee well

Today, as befits the final poem of NaPoWriMo, write a poem of farewell.  Find some examples in this selection of goodbye-and-good-luck poems from the Poetry Foundation website.

Old Man Winter, fare thee well! 

Old Man Winter, fare thee well
Glad to see you gone a spell
You were a wickedly horrible master
The more snow fell – I shoveled faster

 Knee-deep in snowfall I felt empowered

Our three seasons: construction, bugs, snow

Despite wishing to see things flowered
Rain it falls and wind it blows
Glad it seems: no more snows

 Down in the south tornadoes wreak havoc
No one there lies on a hammock
On the horizon grass will need mowing
Water will run, hurricanes blowing

Construction, snow and bugs; our seasons
Some will say they are our demons
Building character they teach us patience
Canadians cannot have complacence

 In the meantime, spring flowers bloom

Phoebe nest 

Colourful faces erasing the gloom
Birds they have begun their nesting
Bugs, like mad, they've been ingesting

Nature awakens, begins to smile
I'll enjoy it here for just awhile
Leaves and buds begin to swell
Old Man Winter, fare thee well!

NaPoWriMo 2014

Here are my 2014 poems

Day 1 – oracle

Day 2 – haiku

Day 3 – a charm

Day 4 – a lune poem

Day 5 – ekphrastic poem

Day 6 – sensory poem

Day 7 –love

Day 8 –re-creation

Day 9 –podcast playlist

Day 10 –ad for Spring

Day 11 –We are becoming...

Day 12 –Songs of Spring

Day 13 –kennings

Day 14 –questions

Day 15 –terza rima

Day 16 –Now I lay Me

Day 17 –a sense poem

Day 18 –rubaiyat

Day 19 –sea shells

Day 20 –whose voices?

Day 22 –word play fun

Day 23 –♪♫♩

Day 24 – masonry

Day 25 –Anaphora

Day 26 –curtail sonnet

Day 28 –newspaper headlines

Day 30 – Fare thee well

NaPoWriMo Day 25 – Anaphora

Prompt
Anaphora is a literary term for the practice of repeating certain words or phrases at the beginning of multiple clauses or, in the case of a poem, multiple lines. The phrase “A time to,” as used in the third Chapter of Ecclesiastes, is a good example of anaphora.

 I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Glorious time of year as garden wakes
I've spent hours using rakes
Creating sanctuary birds return
Twitterpated, I do discern

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Chickadees flutter, preen and cajole
Fluttering above the grassy knoll
Surprises daily in my inherited garden
My skills the plants they duly pardon

Painted Lady, flowers

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Successes better a list to keep
For past mistakes I've buried deep
Each trial and error and tribulation
Do not require cogitation

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...

As Phoebe begins their ritual yearly

Females taken cavalierly

Daffodils their heads they raise

Springtime's here, we all do praise

 

NaPoWriMo Day 28 – news headlines

Day 28
Find a news article to write a poem using (mostly, if not only) words from the article! You can repeat them, splice them, and rearrange them however you like.
This is a good prompt. I remember giving students newspapers and they 'wrote' poems using headlines, physically cutting and pasting them. I thought using the 'life' section or the Ottawa Citizen might bear some fruit.

a fashion show
a night to remember
for the slim and the trendy
I'm no club member

dieters offered hope
a pill to turn off hunger

you'd have to diet to fit into fashion
afraid I'd eventually turn up ashen

is there a trend here?
Canada's obesity epidemic exaggerated
media makes us look saturated

drug resistance has spread worldwide
Superbugs cannot be denied
keeping clean is one great practice
also fights against malpractice

Fight affluenza by giving back
I'm feeling peckish– want a snack?

Maplefest 2014 Perth, Ontario

It was a cold, drizzly day, but it didn't dampen spirits. Maplefest, which celebrates all things maple syrup, as well as Lanark County, like the OPP, volunteer firefighters, CHEO bear, local fundraising, and local merchants. It was fun seeing our neighbours.