Lora Kay

Mouse the Cat is looking aware. He is sitting on the cushion of the porch swing looking over the back at a squirrel on the fence.

#Caturday #Cats

Look! A squirrel!

#Genealogy #Italy #VitalRecords

I have found the address where an Italian ancestor was born in Altamura, Bari in 1858 on the birth certificate. These records are searchable for all of Italy on FamilySearch.

We can look for the place when we visit Italy and see where great-grandfather was born.

#BlueSkyRelay #Respite #Poetry

Treadmill

So much stress
So many mistakes
So few good answers
So much pain and sadness

And respite seems so far away.

Vielen Dank

Actually we did not argue or point fingers. I was able to help the person think more about her prejudices in a positive way and where they come from. We’re still getting to know each other - and I am sure I can answer any LGBTQ questions in the future. Her gay granddaughter may benefit.

#BlueSkyRelay #Sonder #Prose

I came up against sonder so very recently when I met a person whose interests mirrored mine in some ways.

But when the conversation turned to deeply held prejudice I saw the different parallel life that fear and misinformation had made.

#BlueSkyRelay #Realm #Haiku

My favorite realm
Is the curious realm of
Possibilities

Decadent and delightful!

Yes. My grandfather was born in 1888, his mother Frankie died two months later. This story started me on genealogy. I was so surprised when my mother gave it to me.

Water Lily blossom reflected in still water.

#EastCoastKin #Stunday

Mirrored Beauty

#BlueSkyRelay #Zenith #Haiku

At the highest point,
The zenith, one has to look
For safe place to land.

Chaises and porch swing on the patio

#BlueSkyArtShow #Relax

Come out, sit down
Relax!

Delicate gold ring with an oval faceted dark red garnet with three tiny pearls above and below the main stone.

#Circle #Ring #BlueSkyRelay #Cipher #Poetry

Garnet and Pearls

This blessed circle of love
Is no cipher
Not a zero
Or a mysterious message.
It graced the marriage
Of ancestors Frankie and Johnny
In 1887, passed down to me,
Only Great-Granddaughter,
Treasured and cherished.

Ikebana yellow rose display with feathery greens in navy blue vase my son gave me for a birthday a few years ago.

#GoldenAnniversary #50Years

This yellow rose represents our 50th wedding anniversary today. I remember the yellow roses that celebrated my grandparents’ 50th in 1967 and chose to carry yellow roses at my own wedding in 1975.

Sometimes time stands still as we recall the milestones.

Comfy new couch - Mouse the Cat has already staked out his favorite spot - on the chaise section. Curled up and resting comfortably, he knows what he likes.

#Caturday #Cats

New sofa
Mouse approved

I think we see the world in similar ways. It feels good to connect.

Blessings in your time of reflection.

#Poetry

Blessings reach us
In many ways
We also give them
Sometimes unknowlingly

Our connections
Reflect our feelings
Strangers see the smile
And feel the blessing

Kindnesses are the fruit
Blessings proliferate
When patience and grace
Abide

Takng time to bless
and acknowledge
Brings grace

Personal altar.

#BlueSkyRelay #Amulet #Poetry

The moon
The star
The butterfly transformation
Jizo playful and caring
The mercy of Guanyin
Stones of the earth
Candle enlightening
Spirit amulets
Peace
Harmony
Welcome
Guidance
Grace

#BlueSkyRelay #Oracle #Poetry

The mystery
The oracle
The epiphany

What did you hear
What really happened
Was it clear or clouded
In obfuscation

Like family stories
Always a grain of truth
But not necessarily what you thought
Originally.

#BlueSkyRelay #Oracle #Haiku

The oracle speaks
Words that are always left to
Interpretation

#BlueSkyRelay #Fable #prose

My brother and I were born out west in Wyoming. We traveled East a week after he was born and grew up in New England, our parents midwesterners from Missouri. No true connection to Wyoming really. And yet my brother’s fable identity was a cowboy with boots and hat.

We are a mix of truth and imaginings, real and fable. And we believe nearly all of it.

The crotch of the tree shows bark heading in different directions, marching up and down and sideways.

#ArtYear #Photography #Texture

The Bark of the Live Oak

#BlueSkyRelay #Fable #Poetry

Our public-facing facade
Has elements of truth
Enmeshed with the fables
We tell ourselves.

Who we are
How we are
Where we are from
Where we are going

Are colored by
What we want
The world to think.

The stories we write
About ourselves.

Home pictured with warm glow of interior lights - very inviting.

#BlueSkyRelay #Create #Poetry

As much as I love fireworks
And wild, chaotic tangles of nature,
A different kind of creativity
Brings peace.

Eliciting the comfort
The grace
The warmth
And welcome
Is a test of patient creation
That transcends
All the thunder and lightning
the gods can muster.

Heart-shaped bright green leaf, serrated edges.

#BlueSkyRelay #Canvas #Poetry

Only oil paint enlivens canvas
My art's canvas is the very air
The blank page
The computer screen

Words that paint pictures
Feelings
Urges and despair
Beauty and hope
Comfort and creativity

I write with water and fire
Illustrating with photographs
That also speak

Tree branches, blue sky and white clouds, lots of green leaves. Sun and shade on tree trunk.

#RastCoastKin #Stunday

Look Up!

Squirrel pauses atop wooden fence carrying huge nut and flicking his tail. Latin phrase "nucis tibi" means "nuts to you" in English.

#EastCoastKin #Stunday

Nuts To You
Nucis Tibi

Bright red spider lilies grace a green garden with delicate flowers springing from the ground sans leaves. After the blooms die, the leaves appear, tall and straight.

#EastCoastKin #Stunday

Spider Lilies Dazzle