Blood Moon (What Do You See?)

https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2026/01/12/what-do-you-see-323-12-january-2026/

These inspiring images are brought to you by blog author Sadje, and the credited image artists.  Click the link above for more information to participate in Sadje’s challenges.

The poetry is by my friend Hagar. ~ Cale

Image credit; Alison Torres Unsplash

Image credit; Sean Pierce Unsplash

~~~~~

I would have walked through

a thousand winters to find you

to be with you, to love you…

Bare trees, breath-tightening

frosted air would have been

to me, nothing…

loving so fiercely

I’d have been fearless

no mere child

despised, tiptoeing

’round strangers

harsh shadow figures

in world far distant 

much colder than yours…

I would love you today

with same blind

passion which knows

no dearth…regardless

of season or years…

But you are gone

for always.

~~~

Blood Moon, you pulse

with wild beat…heat

which can’t be soothed

nor I, who beg you

whisper in the wind

so dark it spins

my thoughts to places

I would not go…

sing a lullaby

into the rain

and weep with me

Blood Moon…

Last Dream, Last Dance

Not sure I made the deadline, but I couldn’t resist #6:

https://thesoundofonehandtyping.com/2026/01/13/this-weeks-writers-workshop-prompts-january-13-2026/

Here are this week’s prompts:

  1. Write a post inspired by the word theory.
  2. Write a post in exactly sixteen (16) sentences.
  3. Write a story where a unique vessel takes you somewhere you’ve never before been.
  4. What do you wish you had more talent doing?
  5. When you’re by yourself, what do you usually think about?
  6. What was the last dream you can remember about?

😴💃The last dream I had was that I was dancing with Brad Pitt, which is beyond ridiculous:  I never even liked him, and I seriously cannot dance….and I’m way too old, or he’s way too young.

But it was a nice enough change from the usual deluge of nightmares🙄 Cale

Unusual Coupons

Back in my day we lived for, and by, coupons for groceries and other essentials.  It was a thrill to match them with our current needs, thinking about all we could buy on a stretched budget.

Today my crazy ageing brain wandered to “weird coupons”…

It might be exciting to wake up

some days and collect a different

kind of coupons from the mailbox

not ones for coffee or catfood or

likely-freezer-burn cabbage rolls–

Imagine the relief to find savings

on things like knots and wrinkles

typical of normal days

(abnormal ones not included)–

Here are a few you might

be interested in:

50% off negative feedback

“2 for 1” sale on profanity

(limited quantities)

10% off artificial smiles

but Look! there’s a 

“manager’s overstock”

basket of eye-rolling…

The best one, to me, would be

75% off that troublesome

situation I still haven’t 

found a positive and doable

solution for.

~ Cale

(If I’ve lost you, the idea is that all these things would be less distressing than usual…doable😉)

Here are links to the prompt words I’ve used:

https://thedailyspur.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/abnormal-2/

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/rdp-tuesday-situation/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/feedback/

https://thedailyspur.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/burn-4/

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2026/01/11/rdp-sunday-artificial/

https://thedailyspur.wordpress.com/2026/01/10/solution/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2026/01/10/profanity/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/coupon/

Winter Shepherd

Good Tuesday to all who visit here!  I want to thank you for encouraging my blog-shy friend, Hagar, to share her poetry.  This is her most recent one, with a photo from her area–I hope you’ll like it. ~ Cale

Footprints in the snow

proof God walks ahead of me

my Winter Shepherd

Longer Winter

I have a friend who won’t blog, but has given permission for me to share her words. ~ Cale

Winter is longer this year

the days move like

ancient arthritic

tortoises

around clock’s

merciless face

I hear them sighing

or is it me…

Force of Life & Love

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/sundays-six-sentence-story-prompt-word-12/

Hello again!  I hope the New Year hasn’t beat you up too badly already…if I was a preacher (I’m not), I’d pat you on the shoulder and say, “gird your loins, be strong and courageous”. 

If that sounds too strenuous, you’ll like this better:  “find something FUN to do, preferably a creative hobby, a healthy distraction”.

 Taking my own advice, I’m here on a blog and heard about a writing challenge that sparked my interest.  It’s called “Six Sentence Story”!  As near as I can tell, the instructions are fairly simple, good!  However, I trust that if I’ve gone astray, someone in the know will graciously steer me right. 

So, 6 sentences and an enticing Word Prompt each week (and rumored to have a boatload of fine established writers, hosted by a lady named “Denise”)…I’ll give it a whirl with “FORCE”.

~~~a love story…

Having left Hawaii, his first love, they’d returned to the Pacific Northwest, her choice although she had no pleasant memories of it; but the climate was generally temperate, and to her, Puget Sound was equally as beautiful as his tropical vision of Heaven.

Alas, it was January of the new year, a bleak and dreary canvas with frosty rain–only now and then a bit of sun to encourage those who insisted this was “God’s Country”.

They’d been married forever (except for that 3-year marital catastrophy she’d embarked on at 21, to punish him for not retiring early and marrying her when she turned 18).

He’d known her since she was a child–a precocious, bright as a new dime child, but a child no less; now they were “older”…he, considerably more than she–though he was in good heath, “fighting fit” as the saying goes.   

The gray-on-gray sky he gazed into was no longer new, and he murmured to himself:  Life is strange at best, mercurial…unexpected gale winds threaten to take you out if you don’t keep a sharp eye on all that is your personal realm.

And love...the full force of it was an audacious breath-taking blessing–one which brought its burdens; privately, they sometimes weighed on him, having the ability to strike fear in mind and heart; nevertheless, Lorelei was Judd’s singular true passion.

Welcome!

The Christmas lights and decorations are getting packed away as I have energy (and the good sense to label boxes this year🙄).

Thank goodness there’s still time to make New Year’s treats from recipes I sorted weeks ago…if I hustle. 

But I’m most looking forward to a hearty pot of borscht–yep, CABBAGE…preferably in the form of sauerkraut!  How I love the ruby red of beets (which reminds me…I could bake the loaf of cranberry bread that didn’t happen between Thanksgiving and Christmas).

So this is a new blog, and I’m totally thrilled that WordPress gives us lovely falling snow which doesn’t chill the bones, thank you!!  A few days ago it appeared there was some white stuff on the grass below my window…but I couldn’t be sure (it might have been only my annoying cataracts).  I checked again, and sure enough it remained…until gradually melting in the rain.  Ah well…changing seasons and mercurial weather…at this point I’m eager for Spring cherry blossoms (sigh).

In any event, if you’ve stumbled on this site in your blog travels, I greet you with a warm welcome–perhaps I’ll see you again when I’ve hung up the apron, and settled into writing mode.  I offer blessings to all…may you enjoy peace and contentment, and HOPE as we enter the New Year!  Cale😊