What...

am I up too? Lots. So much in the pot, I haven't the time to share.

But fun stuff.

On my way back to New Jersey (driving); Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky,  Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, then North again, and Virginia by Friday. Home by the end of the Weekend. Two and a half weeks of pure fun!

I will post more, because I have met some more great bloggers in person, even Jessie Carty the poet mentor/teacher!

Hope all is well and great things come your way! Peace...

(photo taken at The Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey)

Give me give me give me!

I woke up to a great gift today, photos of my father's mothers grandfather were posted on my genealogy site- say hello to James Alfred Estill. I had always heard my father looked like him, but don't remember seeing family photos, other than the immediate family growing up. I also haven't been able to find out information until other distant relatives began posting, on that side of the family. They remain a mystery, or at least Mammaw Estill does. I see my son's, which looks like my father in this mans face.

I thought it was quite funny he had made several of these 'photograph postcards' to send to his family. I had never seen them before.

Hubs also came home from a work trip out of town with a gift. He can be thoughtful when he wants. I appreciate all he does for our household. I got a new 'bear claw' back scratcher, which is an inside joke, but it is so cute. He used it to avoid getting out of bed to turn off the light on his side, so see it already came in handy! Everyone should have a 'bear' around.

Another gift...I found a journal which encourages people with disabilities to submit their writing. Some of you know about my disabilities and my struggles to deal with them as an artist and writer and even in everyday job task. It is refreshing to find a place such as this to submit work. It has to be related to their subject material, so it gave me a change to pass on my newest chapbook project...and low on the totem pole of publishing I want to do, but 'Avocado Green Kitchen With A Gold Accented Childhood' came in handy. Three of the prose fit their criteria, so I hit 'send' this morning.

I have submitted lots of work these past few months, and been accepted to a few and still waiting on others. Some waiting times can be up to six months, but Referential and The RePrint should be up by the end of this month as well as my two books sometime this summer. Waiting is the hardest part.

Oops! One rejection and from a facebook friend I didn't realize until I saw the name again. Curious they wrote "nothing here to buy which interests me"...a curious rejection. Not painful. A funny thought, what if the disability journal rejects me. I'm not even good enough to be broken...kidding!

Hope your all having a wonderful week, as am I! Peace all...

Friday Shoot Out- Metal

Imagine field of wild grass that begins to sway in the hot summer wind of the old west. You can see for miles across the flat land before you come across a hill or two up ahead. Off in the distance... you might hear the faint cry of a skinny Longhorn calf stuck in a ranchers muddy sloped pond, and up over the brush suddenly...






















...was the rough riding cowboy of the old west. In Texas they still celebrate the trail ride. Herding 'reminiscent' of what was breed from original Spanish cattle brought into this territory...through city streets, and into the market to sell they did come...






























Longhorns were breed to endure the long hot summer months of the treacherous western trails. They're calf were the first and often the last to stand after a drought...

Cattle ranching once dominated this land...before cotton, wheat, and citrus farming ever was tried, and often failed...

The brightness of the already hot summer sun comes through my camera lens in these shots of bronze 'Idols' of my Texas heritage, and remind me why I only want to visit now.

The life of a cowboy was not glamorous in these parts, so they honor them with through out the area...









For some reason 'Put the metal to the petal' went wheeling through my mind, and that is just what I have been doing the past week and a half! I m visiting Texas, my birth place. We have been driving all over the DFW metroplex, and when I saw what this weeks theme was a few days past...I knew I had to make these babies the main attraction.






















Before moving away in 2005, much of the north side of the burbs had already was disappearing. I learned how to drive on these old dirt roads. Now to see a farm or a ranch is a treat for me. Much of the land was used for grazing cattle. Many breeds of cows and horses dotted much of the landscape as you drove down old farm to market roads, but now strip malls and housing developments have replaced them on every waking corner.





















This makes my heart sink each time I pass what seems to be a never ending stream of traffic and huge McMansions along each FM road that has been widen to astronomical proportion. Many say "Oh Texas is so big, and there is plenty of room", but it is barely an hour and half to the state line, and Oklahoma.

Some of this area is still cheap in taxes, and rich in wild grass, so we did see a small herd of longhorns grazing in one field a few days ago. Hubby and I went back to take a photo, but they were not to be seen. I will keep trying for that shot! I wonder what will happen before my next visit. Where will it all go?






























Old Cowboys

Trails are long and windin’

Odors overwhelm my sense of smell

Horses, shit, and dusty winds

Cold nights… feelin’ hasty

Longing… and want ‘an

Your breast, your sweet face

Just days… hours from home

Long stops… long nights…lost sleep

Empty my gun for prosperity

Shot a rabbit for my dinner

Seemed like the finest meal;

that my stomach ever had

As the fire keeps me warm

Starry night sends me driftin’

Dreams… our house… kitchen

Moving through windows

Door off the old back porch

Hear… metal pots clankin’

Sunsets… evening breeze

You begin to chase… playfully

across grass… into fields

Our backyard… laundry hangs

You… my love… catch me… hit me;

falling… slowly… together…

your beautiful face… you…

dressed in soft cotton, and

with an old wooden spoon

Me… chewin on old memories,

like old cowboys do…

- © E Stelling, 2008 all rights reserved by author



If you want to join us in our fun Friday Shoot Out, all you have to do is look for the theme that will be added later, and at the end of this post, so come back and see what was picked for next week! Go check out some of the other posts below...

Reggie @ Midlife and Menopause
Patty @ Crisfield News
Rachel @ Rachel's Ramblings
Lulu @ Serendipity LuLu
Science Girl @ Science Girl Traveler
Gigi @ Gigigriffis
J9 @ J9 and Stuff!
Gordon @ Friday Shoot Out
Doreen @ Shoot Out Michigan
GirliChef @ Off Topic
Jama @ Mummy Jam
Chris @ An Instant Out of Time

and many many more... What fun way to take a look around our world!!!

The Pink Birdhouse has chosen...Rainbow Of Colors, so everyone has creative liberties with this one!