The Seven Deadly Sins

Be a glutton.
With love. With friendship. With kind acts and kind words.
Engage in wrath
toward anything that offends your soul.
Be greedy with time: save it, hoard it, plan it out carefully
so you're able to hike through the woods
and get your work done.
Sloth-like behavior
is what lets your body stop
so your mind can wander toward discoveries you might not otherwise find.
Be proud of what you've made,
from cookies to scarves to mistakes.
Lust after your bliss.
And envy only who you would be in another wild, crazy version of you
to challenge your imagination
to develop your superhero characteristics
and to cultivate your appreciation
for you
here
now.

Phoebe Cat

At eleven pm,
when the house is curled up in bed,
she comes alive
yawling at the pom pom she chases
up and down the stairs, through the hall,
kitchen,
living room,
under the dining room table and
sometimes leaving it soaking in her water bowl.
During the day
she's invisible
hiding mostly from the dog
unseen by visitors who are surprised when she does
slink into the room.
She'll appear to block the warm air
coming from a heating vent or
to squawk for her dinner.
But then she is gone
until the house is silent
the dog asleep for the night
and
she purrs and rolls on the bath mat
waiting for someone to scratch her tummy.

I Love Dragons! (Guest post by Jane Strode)

Some are green.

Some are blue.

But some are rainbow color.

Some are BIG and some are small.

Some are fancy and some are messy.

Some breath fire and some breath ice.

Some are fat and some are skinny.

I LOVE DRAGONS!

THEY ARE SO COOL!

Inspired by "Miracle Workers"

I can run. But no more than two days in a row. The runs
never feel totally swift and smooth, but
they feel better when I space them out.
I'm almost 40 and this is what I do.
Exercise
six days a week to keep muscles and lungs strong to
keep the pain at bay.
But mind the line, when crossed it's too much.
No amount of training can keep my joints from hurting after
two hours of anything--
hiking, running, biking, sitting at the computer.
I'm almost 40 and this is what I do.
Sleep more. The morning alarm battle is epic.
Every day.
But the morning oatmeal routine helps to bring me into the day peacefully.
Read more. Books keep me cogent and TV makes me dull.
Write with my students.
Remember the lessons of yoga:
Focus on the breath and all else disappears.
Stretch and stretch some more--I'll get there.
It won't happen immediately, but I will get stronger.
I'm not too old to do a headstand.
Go to Boulder Ink to connect the daisies on my arm.
I'm almost 40 and this is what I do.

Inspired by "Direct Orders"

Breathe. The air is cool and fresh coming across Sunset Lake at dusk.
Breathe. Fresh bread is baking in the oven, there's butternut squash soup on the stove, and you've just come in from a cold February day.
Breathe. Mom just made it home from work on Christmas Eve, 1982, in the blizzard that paralyzed Denver for a week.
Breathe. There's Jane, finally, and she does indeed have 10 fingers and 10 toes and a powerful set of lungs.
Breathe. All the grading is done, the grades are turned in, the classroom is clean, and it's summer vacation.
Breathe. That was the best performance of the season, and it happened at finals for the state marching band competition.
Breathe. The dissertation. Is. Done.
Breathe. The moving truck just pulled away, empty. All of our stuff is finally in the new house.
Breathe. You got past the boulder field on Long's Peak before the lightning started.
Breathe. Jane found her homework. It wasn't lost, just deep in her backpack.
Breathe. Her fever broke.
Breathe. Dad is fine. The side air bags kept him safe.
Breathe. Hug Paul.
Breathe.