Category: Poetry

October In Review 🍂🌾🍁🎃🖤✨ ~ whole person work check-in

amyofhearthridge5 Comments
Happy chaos ✨♥️ and Happy November to you!

{previous whole person work check-ins}

Lord, it is time. The summer was so great.

Impose upon the sundials now your shadows

and round the meadows let the winds rotate.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Spiritual

I’ve been plugging away at my devotionals, Bible, reading, and journaling. I’ve really tried to concentrate and put a little more focus into it as I had gotten so distracted this summer during my meditation time. I’ve also noticed I’ve really enjoyed taking notes at church, helping me to concentrate. There’s so many things the Lord has been showing me, He is SO faithful! I’m excited about Advent readings soon.

Physical

I’m back in my food program called Bright Line Eating. It has been a bit bumpy, but October was the best so far! I’ve been texting a friend for accountability and that’s really helped. Writing my food down for each day helps with not making bad, emotional decisions. I’ve gone back to Instagram after a 10 month break for the purpose of using it as an encouragement to others, but also to keep myself accountable in many areas. I will watch carefully my usage. I’ve been re-listening to Rezoom by Susan Peirce Thompson and it’s been to good to refresh myself. I have to be purposeful about my health, so I can be of service to others.

My son took this picture! ♥️✨🍁🍂

Mental

I’m challenging myself to read a little deeper and I have some great buddy reads lined up in November. Dombey & Son, The Makioka Sisters, Countess Kate by Charlotte Mary Yonge, and Julie by Catherine Marshall. Nourishing food for my brain instead of “candy”. I’ve been reading more poetry, especially Emily Bronte, Rilke, and Sara Teasdale. I’m trying to write more poetry too, as a healthy, healing way to work through emotions and feelings (instead of eating and binging on media). I’m thinking on the tagline, “rage and grace”, that I saw on the artist RM’s Instagram a few days ago.

Emotional

This ties into the mental category too, while in reality, all of this is in relationship together, but I’ve been journaling, writing penpals, taking nature photos, and dipping into seasonal books. Taking drives in nature (the leaves!!!!) and keeping track of the moon phases has been a relaxing and enjoyable experience lately. God’s creation is a gift given for the taking if I just open my eyes and heart and RECEIVE. ♥️✨

Servanthood

Our homeschool activities are in full swing and it’s been good and stretching for me to give! 😬🥱😂 We’ve been getting back into better daily rhythms and I’m continually learning that servanthood can mean something as simple as shutting my mouth and listening. 😶🤐😂♥️

First snow, leaves in glass ✨🍁🍂♥️

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

from The Beatitudes, Jesus

Light ✨

How about you? How are you doing? I’d love to chat in comments or drop me an email! 🌾🎃♥️🍄✨🍁🖤🍂💌📚 Blessings over your new November month ahead!

🍁🌾5 Books for End of Summer 🍃🍄

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I love reading seasonally or at least I get in certain reading moods as the seasons ease into the next. 😄🍁🍂🌾🍃🍄🐿️🌻♥️ 📚Here are five reads that I recommend that feel September-ish…

1. From the Heart of the Home: Autumn by Susan Branch {this is a delightful collection of joyful reflections, illustrations, quotes, and recipes to get you into the fall mood}♥️🌻

2. Pat of the Silverbush by L.M. Montgomery {I’m reading this currently for the first time and it’s lovely and cozy for this time of year}

3. Christy by Catherine Marshall {beautiful story full of hope, growth, faith, and wonderful female friendships}

4. The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry {honestly, I pull this short poetry collection out all times of year, but have been craving it lately}

5. The Grasmere Journals by Dorothy Wordsworth {beautifully simple journal entries from the sister of the poet William Wordsworth. The domesticity and pace of life is just so relaxing to me and the English Lake District setting is perfect}

P.S. William Shakespeare is another I feel drawn towards. What’s your favorite play of his?

Do you have any favorite reads that smell and feel of September? ♥️ Please share!

Wednesday Wonders

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There is wonder all around us…

Listening… I dip into these podcasts, here and there.

Reading… this piece here about what the author learned this summer…thought-provoking .

Watching… really enjoyed Nicole’s footage and her thoughts on her Shakespeare reading journey.

Noticing…the dark lingering longer, the brilliance of the moon, barn swallows are still here, don’t go my friends!

The Golden Circle 🍂🌾🌻

How about you? What are you listening to, reading, watching, or noticing? 🌾🍂🍁🌻🥀🌚🌝🪵🐿️

Monday Ponderings {September 4th}

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Thus says the LORD,

Stand by the ways and see and ask for the

ancient paths,

Where the good way is, and walk in it;

And you will find rest for your souls…

Book of Jeremiah 6:16a

Saturday Sips & Stacks 😌☕️🌻📚♥️🍃🍂

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What are you reading 📖, exploring, or creating this weekend? Happy September, friends! 😘🥰🌻♥️☕️📖📚🍃🐌🍁🤎📝📓💌📬🍎✨🌾🍄🌲

I’m mostly sipping coffee ☕️ {maybe Tazo’s Lemon 🍋 Loaf tea, later} and loving The Grasmere Journals by Dorothy Wordsworth 🥰.

🌲whole person work 🌲 check in: second week August 2023

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Follow the Amish buggy! ♥️

{previous check-ins and intro to series}

Don’t you feel a tug, a yearning to sink down into the silence and solitude of God? Don’t you long for something more? Doesn’t every breath crave a deeper, fuller exposure to his Presence? It is the Discipline of solitude that will open the door. You are welcome to come in and “listen to God’s speech in his wondrous, terrible, gentle, loving, all-embracing silence.”

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 109

Focus Areas:

Spiritual ~ I was a bit sluggish this week about REALLY pressing into my quiet times and calming myself down enough to enter in. We came off a wonderful, but exhausting graduation party for my oldest son and it takes me a long time to recover from events. I kept up with my group reading plan, but didn’t deeply meditate and pray/journal as much as I want to. The end of this week has been better and it feels so good to soak in Matthew among other things. My sister reminded me of Pray As You Go app which helps me focus as I begin my prayer times. ♥️

Favorite breakfast ~ oats, cinnamon, plain yogurt, unsweetened coconut milk, natural peanut butter, and berries ♥️

Physical ~ I honestly struggled a bit with getting in the groove with my food. Just grazing and bingeing, even on “healthy” things. Out of exhaustion or anxiety, finding myself feeling hungry in my MIND not legitimately hungry in my stomach. I found that listening to the audiobook of Rezoom by Susan Peirce Thompson or Half of Carla’s YouTube really helped me calm down a bit. Not making or having unhealthy choices in the house really helps me, too. I did get out on my walks with my audiobook. I’m 56% through Klara & the Sun and 😯 it’s thoroughly intriguing. I bought a new tshirt and struggled with the mental battle about my worth because it was a bigger size. 😞 Just be brutally honest here. I am excited to receive it, though, and support my friend’s creative endeavor .

Mental ~ I had so much fun updating my book journal and purging/ organizing my reading stacks. I decided to focus on one particular stack of things I’m reading with others or have wanted to read for a long time. I gave myself permission to set aside books that were too silly, not grabbing my attention, or just weighing me down. I read a few poem’s every day (Oliver, Wordsworth, and Native Nations poems) and it was so nice. I’m super interested in learning about the “Balkans” area after finishing the historical fiction thriller The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

Emotional~ I had some hard relational talks this week that were good. I tend to avoid and stuff down which isn’t healthy. I really tried to keep up on some household rhythms and it’s amazing how much that lifts my mood. Just putting a fresh weed 😄 bouquet on a clean dining room table with tablecloth, washing the dishes after each meal, etc. Being outdoors really helped me! I also did a fun video about my favorite things and I wrote two snail mail letters. I’ve been trying to sleep a little in afternoons lately and it’s SO nice. I did get a little Totoro stamp set and some new, darling stickers which was a blessing. Maybe I’ll show them to you next week. Stationary is the way to my heart! 😂💕

I watched “Heidi” performance with two of my children ♥️🌲
Shakespeare in the Park (Macbeth) with some friends and three of my children ♥️

Servanthood ~ this was tough this week. I think coming off the graduation party made it extra hard. I want to focus more on the little things I can do for those around me and do them well. Not be so distracted. I was able to do some fun things with others last week and it was wonderful to connect in those big things, but I can see some daily practices I believe Jesus wants me to give more in. ♥️ He is so gracious and faithful to help and strengthen us. I do want to start gratitude journaling again to practice thankfulness and get outside my head. Look for a Joy Journal entry soon, hopefully.

Verse Focus for Coming Week:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30
Graduation party leftovers ♥️

How about you? How did your week go? Bless you all! 🌿🌟❣️✨🌙🌻🌧️🍎🥦☕️🌳🌱

Art Begets Art 🖼️ Piece #5 ~ “Speaking Silence”

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Inspired by RM’s song, “Wildflowers”

My life is silently watering

the flowers of my grave

long lasting work

slow-turned soil

roots cut, my place

dug deep

what’s growing on my grave?

my remains fertilize

what remains

is love the single

word etched

on my cement slab?

what’s leftover,

burned behind?

the swaying

rosebush, its pricks and petals

perfuming

the grave’s air

scent of life lingering

silence, speaking

of a flower bud

living on

A.M. Pine 🌲🖤

🌿Art Begets Art🌿 Piece #4

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Original Painting by Lore Pemberton.
My friend protecting her plants.
Image originally from National Geographic 1976.

These three above selections were shared by my friend and this is what I think has been brewing for awhile in my heart, but started coming out as I simmered a bit over them. A collage of bits of letters, ephemera, and poetry for you! ♥️🌿

A mom thought 💭 balloon.

♥️Becoming ♥️

quilted by hand

mosaic shards

indigo dipped

puzzled over

collage pieced

~becoming~

sewn shut

stitched down

torn open

ironed flat

glued tight

~becoming~

rolled thin

poured out

mixed raw

washed clean

knit warm

~becoming~

idea inked

pencil erased

journal birthed

word soaked

being spoke

~becoming~

all together.

a bit of dust.

a bit of Divine.

swirl of a finger,

womenkind.

🌲🖤A.M. Pine🖤🌲

2nd Quarter Favorite Reads 2023: April🌲May🌲June🌲

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Nature🌲 and books 📚 – two of my very favorite things! ♥️

Hi Friends! I’m loving all the summer space to soak in GREEN & BOOKS. I’m closing out the books 😉, so to speak, on my favorite second quarter reading today! Here’s first quarter’s favorites, if you are interested. I had a WONDERFUL few months of reading and I was surprised how they fell into a few main genres with a couple of wildcards. I’m grouping my snippet reviews under those for your ease! Happiest Reading!

Historical Fiction ~

Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth by Shelia O’Conner ~ 5 stars – lovely tale told through letters between a young girl and an older gentleman on her paper route. This is set during the Vietnam War and addresses conscientious objectors, war, prejudice, family, and is SO well done.

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ~ 4 stars – set during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era we follow a family leaving Oklahoma to find work in California. This gorgeously written, raw, heartfelt, and disturbing. I will be thinking about it for a long time. Ma Joad was my favorite character to follow. Adult content and language.

Paint Chips by Susie Finkbeiner ~ 4 stars – sobering and disturbing look at a mother (and her twin sister) and daughter’s journey through abuse and sexual trafficking. The Christian message was super well done, woven through this contemporary setting and difficult topic. This was told through alternating chapters and flashbacks. Good twist at ending.

Rose & Thistle by Laura Franz ~ 4 stars – this is a Christian historical fiction/ romance that I felt was pretty well done. A little bit of the clean cheesy romance, but overall, lovely setting and characters! This was set in England/ Scotland around the Jacobite Rebellion.

Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee ~ 4 stars – I really enjoyed this YA historical fiction that I received for my birthday about a Chinese American girl in the late 1800’s in Atlanta. Some of it seemed a wee bit unbelievable, but overall, so interesting with great characters, humor, and twists!!!! There was one weird, random sexual moment so FYI, if you are handing it to teens.

Amazon

Fantasy~

The Princess Game by Melanie Cellier ~ 4 stars – unique, clean retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Interesting twist on fairytale, great main characters, plot, and action.

The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang ~ 4 stars – I really loved this Asian (Japanese?)-inspired elemental magic fantasy novel. It started off VERY slow, but I grew to love the characters, mothering, family aspect to this and some deep, beautiful lessons about growing through terrible circumstances. FYI: This is EXTREMELY violent with sword-type warfare, war crimes etc.

Amazon

Domestic-y Type, Gentle Fiction ~

Katherine Wentworth by D. E. Stevenson ~ 5 stars – so gentle, full of peace, hope, nature, and a charming cottage. Second chance story with lovely mother & children. This reminds me slightly of The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, although not quite as quirky!

Mrs. Lorimer’s Quiet Summer by Molly Clavering ~ 5 stars – I read a lot of stories set in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 this quarter! Must be a sign. 😉😍 A sweet family tale set in beautiful Scottish scenery. I found out that Clavering and D.E. Stevenson were friends. 😍

Because of Sam by Molly Clavering ~ 4 stars – A widow and her adult daughter living in Scotland! 😂🥰 Sweet, humorous story with lots of delicious domestic details. I’ve read 3 of Clavering’s 8 novels so far and they are charming.

Amazon

Nonfiction ~

The Alpine Path by L.M. Montgomery ~ 5 stars -reread. A short memoir on Montgomery’s creative journey.

School Education by Charlotte Mason ~ 5 stars – reread. A challenging and encouraging vision for learning with children. The appendices are so helpful for practical application, too

Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson ~ 5 stars – a haunting poem that I so enjoyed. Thanks, Anne Shirley, for the recommendation. 😉😍

Unearthing the Secret Garden by Marta McDowell ~ 5 stars – such a lovely look at the 3 gardens created by Frances Hodgson Burnett in her lifetime.

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason ~ 5 stars – beautiful Christian philosophy for life! Reread with a friend!

Amazon

Random Titles I loved ~

The Moorland Cottage by Elizabeth Gaskell ~ 4 stars – a Victorian novella/short story. I read and discussed this on Zoom with Booktube group. Beautiful setting, interesting widow with two children and how good parenting can make a difference. A bit over the top twisted ending, but overall, enjoyable.

Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth ~ a Golden Age-type mystery. The third in the Miss Silver mystery series. Very interesting and fun mystery solved by an older woman. I like these a little better than Miss Marple.

What a wonderful reading quarter! Can you believe we are halfway through the year? 😍📚🌲 What were your favorite reads the past few months? I’d love to chat below! ♥️

💕Art Begets Art💕 Piece #3

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Still Life with spring flowers by Tove Jansson

From the southeast came a steady summer wind that whispered sleepily around the house and on across the island. She could hear the weather report on the radio inside the house. A corner of sunshine edged across the windowsill.

Tove Jansson, The Summerbook, p.27

~Tove~

weird and wacky, yes

brightly thoughtful, I am seen

sun, moomins, and me

~ 🌲A. M. Pine🌲

What about you? Who’s art do you feel “seen” by? Tove’s combination of beautiful writing, bright painting, and whimsical illustration is a feast for me. ♥️💕🌿

🖌️Art Begets Art🖌️ Piece #2

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Snapshot sent from my friend Sam

~drift~

I took the stack of ‘not for sale’ notes

from the kitchen counter

I float freely, clutching them

wondering which of all

my memories

will get packed away

or $1.99’d at the yard sale

who puts monetary value

on mothering moments

tears, grubby-fingered gifts?

The sandy Texas whelk shell,

the lone star-shaped button

from that one Marshall’s skirt,

will these be for sale?

They haven’t even touched the shelves

of my tattered friends, dog-earred, wrinkled.

Is it all reduced to trash to be

talked and hashed over?

The Post-Its crumple a bit

in my filmy grip.

I peek out the sun-bleached,

red gingham curtains and see

a crowd of crow-clad mourners,

truly all that’s left behind that’s-truly true,

all that love huddled on that hill.

All the dregs, threads, life

will be packed up, garbage-bagged.

The Post-Its flutter to the floor.

I’m back in my pine box.

Songs being sung.

Soul not sold, bought with blood,

drifting off.

Memories Post-It-seared on Souls.

Not for sale, ever.

~A.M. Pine

{If you are interested, read here for this series Piece #1 and origin story.}