Liz

"I'm begging you. Please don't do something weird at the last minute this time."
"I won't!" he responded, offended.
She smirked, brushed non-existent from his shoulders, popped his collar and sent him off to school, knowing full well this picture day would turn out just like all the others.
#vss365

The tap of her knitting needles
is the only sound that rises above the
hum of the train's heating system.
The muffled announcements between stops,
the only words.
A car full of people's unspoken agreement to be
together in silence,
until each of their rides ends.
#vss365

She tripped over her too-large boots as they walked the woods- countless generations older than them both. He pointed out an old tap covered with congealed sap & debris, the remains of a homemade bridge crossing a creek, old rusty tools in a box. Evidence of the life that could be made here.
#vss365

Shiny planks creaked under her feet & the aromas of cleaner, fresh lilies & a faint powdery perfume mixed. A white box at the bottom of the stairs was filled with hard candies. Beside each chair was an end table with a lace doily, table lamp & coaster and a pair of reading glasses on one.
#vss365

The poor thing... she just wanted some apple turnovers...

Thank you! 💙

Only a fool would leave.
The smells of a third season so far-
falling leaves & firewood,
apples roasting & late season tomatoes freshly jarred for the coming months.
She knew they were not planning for snow were she was going,
yet life would be harder. Much harder.
Still, she had no choice.
#vss365

Dance magic, dance.
With monsters and marionettes
goblins and gowns.
The fantasy lives
beyond walls of green and
upside down stairwells -
in the mind of adults,
once children with
imagination galore.
#vss365 #labrynth

Without distraction, his mind flooded with shards of memories, intrusive thoughts, moments from the past flowing into greater events- like lava down a mountain, slow to stop and cool once it got going. So he stayed with people, at places and doing things, avoiding the noise of the silence.
#vss365

I guess that's how it is sometimes,
when life provides a moment of clarity
and you feel where you are-
where you've been.
The haze of monotony lifted,
you realize that there is beauty in this
simple existence
a sharing of love & time
because what more is there?
Then you feel true thanks.
#vss365

She saw dance fill his body to his fingertips.
It wasn't a moment of technique -
of creating the perfect lines or silhouette.
He didn't seem aware of his body at all -
having gone to another place
with his partner, and the clave.
Nothing more and no one else.
Maybe this was how he spoke.
#vss365

It was certainly a challenge to stay quiet when she saw her kids in distress. Teenage dramas were blurry, a world away, yet the weight in her gut thinking back was still vivid. If only she could spare her babies from the harder realities of life - but she knew this wasn't the way of things.
#vss365

She was doomed to be misunderstood. Agatha had a beagle that always looked depressed. He wasn't but his face had sad puppy dog eyes that got him cuddles and treats despite the wagging tail.
Meanwhile, her own face made humans ignore her pain and existential dread. No sad eyes on an axolotl.
#vss365

Nick is also gross in a toxic way.

Nick is pretty toxic too.

Aria needs to run away and never look back. Mariah is nice and all but she and Caleb were cute. I hope she finds a good partner.

Can't stand that guy.

He's awful. He's so awful. Praying she doesn't get back with him!

Love lay latent,
a seed planted
and watered
with kindness and humor
and an ease of conversation.
As the sun arrived,
warmth spread through her chest.
Affection beginning to grow.
Anyone else could see
what would come to be.
A bloom of emotion,
An organic bond.
As a new season arrived.
#vss365

Amen. I would do anything for mine and now I really understand how much my mom did for me.

Breakfast, lunch & dinner
cuddles before bed.
I'll make your app't, drive you to practice,
teach you to clean up your messes.
Seek my advice- take it or don't.
Either way, you can
cry on my shoulder &
we'll celebrate the wins.
Load after load after load of laundry.
Mom's devotion is eternal.
#vss365

He didn't like to consider himself Type A. No, he didn't live by rules. Maybe parameters. Sure they were fairly narrow but he was laid back - anyone would tell you. The folks who disagreed were people who didn't do things properly & that had nothing to do with him.
Just a chill kind of guy.
#vss365

For 3 years she'd had this job. She wasn't a citizen, yet opened a bank account, got a tax id & the rest was history. She felt insulated here, in this moment, days after the attack. No one would target this small island town, a day's flight from NYC. But at home - chaos. She had to go back.
#vss365

No but now I will

There's plenty to complain about,
but there's plenty to celebrate.
I wake up grateful
if nothing else,
to honor my family before
that made this today happen.
For there are black & white photos
moments of joy
caught during hard times.
If I have grandchildren,
I want them to know
I too smiled.
#vss365

Welcome!

It’s not that she'd never say what needed to be said, she was just delaying. True, she'd been delaying it for 34 years now but she fully planned to get it out. It was just easier this way at the moment - for her. She wasn’t acquiescing to his needs. One day, she’d be honest. Just not today.
#vss365

I love a good podcast! Story or docu-style. And audiobooks which I see you also don’t like.

From a boat in the Irish Sea, I saw a heron sleeping on a skerry rock by itself. It looked content and at rest even though the wind was strong enough to ruffle its feathers. Maybe on a break from hunting with its flock or nesting with a greater heronry. Everyone deserves time to themselves.
#vss365

That looks amazing