Julianna's Limmerick

The was a young woman named Julianna
Who loved to eat bananas
She eloped in July
With her beau ever so shy
Now they're blissfully in nirvana
(Still eating bananas)

Book Review: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

The Paris Wife, a New York Times Bestseller and Best Book of 2011, by Paula McLain embarks on the love story of Hadley Richardson and Ernest Hemingway and its eventual demise. The lure of the idealistic life of Paris in the 1920's draws the newly married couple to Europe where life for Hemingway as an expatriate writer commences with the alliances of Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Gerald, among others, and where Hadley struggles to fit into the hard drinking, fast living life of Paris. The novel is Hadley's story, dull at times as she herself is, but the mystique for Hemingway and his womanizing ways keeps the reader glued to this soap opera romance. What is most impressive is Hadley's poetic voice and the research done by McLain to make this historical novel read true to life. In the end, Hemingway writes that he wished he had died before he loved anyone but Hadley

Book Review: The Night Circus By Erin Mortenstern

Have you ever dreamed about the romantic life of the circus? The Night
Circus, Mortenstern’s debut novel, evolves into a fantastical love story set at the turn of the 19th century transporting the reader across the boundaries of what is real and what is not. Open sundown until dawn, Le Cirque des Rê ves, the circus of dreams, is the arena for a deadly competition where the two players ultimately fall in love. The love story continues with a young boy, the “rê veurs” and a set of twins born into the circus revealing the narrator’s and the author’s love for the magical circus of which is here one day and gone the next off to another destination unknown. The sensational imagery depicted makes great fodder for a movie now in the making, although a release date has not been set. Join the “rê veurs” on a wondrous dream journey of a lifetime with The Night Circus. 

Holding My Breath

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

I'm stuck in my chair

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

It's driving me crazy

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

No purpose to move on

Forward is the way to go

Reaching out

Grasping what's in arm's reach

Holding on to hope

No more wasting life away

Take a stand

Take that next step

Patience will endure

The waiting will be over

Exhale

No Worries

Slowing down
No alarm clock
What day it is
What time it is
Is of no concern
As are the bills back home
Shorts and sandals every day
Walking in the rain without umbrella
Slow-moving speed limits
Snaillike pace to cross the street
Taking pictures of flowers on the daily walk
Seeing the colors of the rainbow
Amazed by a double rainbow
Mesmerized by a fading sunset
The causal life in Hawaii
No worries

Aurora's Poem

How precious life is when you hold a newborn
The power of God
A miracle of miracles
A gift from heaven
An angel here on earth
Knowing she is a part of me
My life carrying on
The cycle of humankind turning its wheels
Seems strange
Yes
Mystifying
Yes
It is real
A beautiful baby
New breath
Tiny fingers and toes
Little cries you want to protect
The potential of something grand
I want to be there holding your hand

Watch me grow

The 50 Cent Tour

Lost in paradise
One wrong turn turned into another
Palm trees abound
Peeks of the Pacific bring to mind
You're on an island
How far off course can you go
On this land surrounded by water?
The boundaries are finite
In this new and exotic territory
I must be on the 50 cent tour,
This is not Gilligan's Island,
Discovering landmarks to return to
If only I could find them again
The perfect landmark of all
The island police station
Found quite by accident
Where the good looking and personable tour guide,
Officer Yamamito
Rescued me with good directions.