I think I am over whatever funk I was in, and I'm ready to get back to it. I tried yesterday to put up a post. It was going to be a collection of my favorite photos from this past winter. I spent more than three hours posting pictures and writing captions. When I had everything in order finally I went to publish the post and hit the delete post button instead of the publish button.
I have to say I was a little traumatized. After so much time away from my blog, and the hours spent on the pictures, it was just about enough to send my laptop crashing into a wall... After I got a grip, I made a post on my facebook page explaining the ordeal, and that I WOULD get a post up on my blog as soon as I stopped swearing and could think straight again.
It's funny how things work out sometimes. My post on facebook sparked a conversation with my friend Marcia Doyle, who writes the blog Menopausal Mother. One thing led to another and my plan has changed. Rather than a bland and impersonal post of generic pictures, I am pleased to bring you something much more personal, and meaningful. (At least it is in my eyes.)
This is a poem she sent to me with one of my pictures in mind. And it pleases me to no end to feature it here. As I read her poem, I was touched with a bit of nostalgia, and I was brought back to a similar time, and a similar memory in my own life. And I was left with a sentimental longing for the past. I hope you enjoy.
Northern Express
By: Marcia Kester Doyle
In the distance
a train whistle echoes
its wheels clack against metal tracks
rock with winter darkness.
I remember the old phone booth
by the depot
where you called every night at nine
wearing your thin boxing jacket
and complaining of the cold
that chilled the glass around you.
Now
when I hear the trains
in the middle of the night
stirring my bones from sleep,
I lie in the dark
and sift through the sound
for a voice, soft and distant
like the whistle
on the Northern Express
If Marcia's poem invokes a feeling in you, or recalls some distant memory from your past. Feel free to share it here with a comment for her. Or if you would just like to tell her how wonderful she is... Your thoughts are always welcome. Thanks for coming by...
So beautiful what you have done here. I am speechless. I am so honored that you decided to use one of my poems with your amazing photography, and the set up here is perfect. Truly, I am humbled. Thank you Jon, from the bottom of my heart for letting me share this with you. This is very special to me!
ReplyDeleteI think you give me too much credit Marcia... But I love it :)... It's good for my ego. It was a pleasure and an honor to do this with you. I hope it won't be the last time. I can't wait to see what others think...
DeleteThese two bits of creativity compliment each other very well. Love the poem Marcia!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Traci! Jon's beautiful pictures just evoke poetry! I'd love to see his photography in a book one of these days!!!
DeleteThanks for checkin' us out Sis'!
DeleteGreat to have you back Jon and a lovely poem indeed Marcia
ReplyDeleteHi Gail, thanks for coming by. Glad to see you after all this time. I'll be sure to stop by before the day is out and get caught up with your page. Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for saying hi. See you soon.
DeleteHey Jon,
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you back in action ;) I won't push the button unless it's not what I wanna publish either. World is better if you hangout with right folks. See, Mercia made you push the button.
It's better later than never mate ;)
Cheers...
Mayura! What's up my friend? Nice to see you. Thanks for coming by. Sometimes we just need a little nudge to get back on track. This is not the first time Marcia has helped me to push that button, she has been a huge supporter of my blog almost since I started it.
DeleteIt is an honor for me to do this post with her, I am so glad you enjoyed her poem. Thanks again for stopping in. I'll be taking to you soon.
'm just so glad to see you back here Jon. Writers block, lack of creativity etc is every bloggers nightmare because whatever you do, the words just won't come and it can't be forced. Sometimes we can also put added pressure on ourselves thinking that we 'must' do a post at a particular time but in reality it's good to be consistent but the world won't end because you missed a week a two. I'm learning this now.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you're back and 'm truly looking forward to all that you have to share with us.
As for technology, I know what you mean. One press of the wrong button and things can go absolutely mad. I broke my last lap-top by banging it in a fit of rage when it wouldn't do what I wanted it to. Then to my shame I had to go out and buy a brand new one, which cost a pretty penny, so I won't be doing that again.
Loved the poem by Menopausal Mama (she's a fantastic blogger and lovely person that always has good words of encouragement no matter what the situation).
When I look at your photo it reminds me that we all have a long road to travel and every now and again we cross paths and take different routes but we're still on track. We can see way ahead but when we reach that point, there is always another distance ahead of us. It's like we're forever on the move trying to get somewhere.
Brilliant come-back Jon. :) Good job Menopausal Mama :)
Hello my friend. I hope all is well for you. I stopped by your page last night... What a great post! I left you a comment there, or at least I thought I did, when I woke up this morning it wasn't there though. I was having problems with my wi-fi last night, so I am assuming that is why it didn't go through. I will be sure to get back there today and make sure it goes through this time.
DeleteI am just waking up, It makes my morning to find your comment and words of encouragement. There was a time when I would not have set my computer gently on the floor and walked away from it.(even though I was swearing profusely.) That is an improvement in my life. lol I am prone to fits of rage myself and I have smashed many an object simply because that was what was in my hand at the time of my fit... I'm very glad that I am better about that now. Temper tantrums can definitely be expensive...
Yes, MM is quite special. I know you have been a fan of hers as well for some time. She is always encouraging, without fail. Even when she is struggling with her own issues, she is always encouraging to others. It's an admirable trait, and just one of the things I love about her. I was more than pleased to do this collaboration of creativity with her. So glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for coming by RPD. As I said I will be reentering my comment on your page at some point today, so I will see you soon. Thank-you for your own words of encouragement during my absence. While I may not always act on people's words, I do take them to heart, and I don't forget. Thanks for being a friend.
Jon, I noticed that your comment on my blog went into the spam folder so I had to take it out and it's now appearing on my blog. I'm not sure why, but this seems to happen to some of my regular commentors too. So I'm getting into the habit of checking my 'spam folder' every time I log into my account just in case. I'll be replying soon.
DeleteI feel we have similar traits and experiences, and I too don't forget what others have done for me. I'm just glad to call you a friend and admire your honestly.
Hi Jon and Marcia, I'm new here, but a bloggy friend of Marcia's. Your picture is beautiful to say the least. I love pictures, I can sit all day and make up a story just based on a picture. I'm no poet! Hahaha. Marcia, your words matched the picture beautifully. I'm going to stick your site in my favorites folder and continue to keep an eye out on your work.
ReplyDelete-Ellen
Hello! Thanks for stopping in. I love pictures also. I don't go anywhere without a camera (at least I try not to). I like to share them even more. I always say there is no point in taking them, if your not going to share them.
DeleteI'm no poet either! I don't even like to call myself a writer. I just like to share my experiences, interests, and opinions. And if I can get together with someone else and express creative outlets together... All the better.
The poem and picture are from different times, different eras, and stem from different experiences. But they meld together as if they were meant for each other. I really enjoyed doing this with Marcia, it was rather spur of the moment. But I hope it will not be the last time we collaborate like this. I don't think it will be actually.
So glad you stopped by, I will look forward to hearing from you again. You are always welcome. Everything I write, may not be for everyone. But I think everyone can find something in my writing that they can relate to and enjoy. Hope you do.
I'll be sure to stop by your page too.
First, Jon, I want to say that I feel your pain. I write in Windows Live Writer and went in there yesterday to find ALL of my finished and partially finished posts gone. I didn't lose them completely, I keep a copy of them in documents, but all those hours of re-typing. . .
ReplyDeleteI find when looking for inspiration that the best thing for me is to turn to blogging friends and am working on some collaborations with friends now that make me smile.
The lovely pic together with the beautiful words took me back to a time long ago. Thank you for that trip down memory lane. I just loved this collaboration.
Karen, believe it or not. I am a technology idiot. I really have no idea what I'm doing on a computer, I just wing it and take it as it comes. I need to be a little more organized I think. I don't have drafts, or back ups, or anything for that matter. When I sit down to write, it's all I can do to write a post one time. If I like it I publish it. If I don't it's gone. I really should back my blog up, because if something happens here... It's gone. Everything. I am happy to hear you are smarter than me, and did't lose all your work. :)
DeleteI do alright with inspiration, it's motivation that is more my problem, I think. I have all kinds of things to talk about, more ideas than i will ever get to here, and more photos than I could ever hope to post. But I would rather go fishing, or out with my camera, or play a video game than sit here and write it all down. My motivation comes when I need the emotional or creative outlet. If I don't feel that need, it is very hard for me to make myself write.
I am glad to have friends like Marcia, who constantly encourage me to keep at it. She really is a wonderful person, and a great friend. It was a real pleasure to do this with her. I am glad that you enjoyed the outcome.
Thanks for coming by Karen. And thanks for the kind words and encouragement. See ya'...
Great to see you blogging again Jon. The pic is awesome and well you and Marcia just make a great team. So looking forward to some more collaboration between the two of you.
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure to hear from you Lanthie. I think we make a pretty good team too. Thanks for saying so. I'm glad you like the picture, but I don't think it has the same impact with out Marcia's words. I will be looking forward to doing this with her again also.
DeleteThanks for stopping in and even more for taking the time to leave your comment. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around. ;)
Jon - Always a pleasure. A friend of M's is a friend of mine so you will always be able to rely on me being around!
DeleteJon, so good to meet you. I recently met up with Marcia in the blogging community. The photo and poem are wonderful compliments to each other - like they were literally made to go together.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're back to your blog and I will certainly look forward to reading future posts and looking at some of your great photography. Thanks for sharing!
Penny at Green Moms and Kids
It's nice to meet you too Penny. Thanks for stopping in for a read. Marcia is a great person, you will never regret meeting up with her I promise. Nothing but kindness comes from her.
DeleteThanks for the compliments, I really liked the final outcome myself. I will look forward to hearing from you again. And I'll be sure to pay your site a visit too. Take care and have a great day Penny.
Beautiful poem and photo. Nice to meet you Jon. Marcia directed me to your site. Lovely collaboration, you two!
ReplyDeleteI'n so glad you came by for a look. Thanks for the kind words, and compliments. You can blame Marcia for anything lovely... It's all her fault. I hope you'll come back with more nice things to say when I'm to blame. Hope you have a wonderful day Linda. Thanks for leaving your comment.
DeleteMy grandfather was a conductor on Chicago's south side during the 40's 50's. Trains always remind me of that loving man who died so many years ago. This poem was beautiful. Thank you, Marcia, for writing it, and thank you, Jon, for posting it.
ReplyDeleteI always love to hear people's sentimental memories. Memories are special, and personal, thanks for sharing yours. It was my pleasure to receive the poem from Marcia. I am a big fan of Marcia's writing, and she seems to like my photos. I really like what we came up with together. :)
DeleteThanks for coming by and taking the time to share your thoughts. Come back anytime...
We are all really experiencing just what a fabulous writer she is in the past week. Most people know her for her hilarity and wonderful sense of humor, but she is so much more! Yes she is wonderful-I'm proud to call her my friend. She sent me by to check out your blog. I also liked your Facebook page. :-)
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the writer's block. After many months of looking for employment I took a long term sub position at a preschool I used to work for. I thought the return to the workplace would inspire my writing but instead has brought it almost to a standstill. I can barely form a thought, let alone write it down!
I will be reading more of your blog as I have time to do so! :-)
Thank you for this comment. I agree 100%. I started following Marcia's blog because she made me laugh out loud. That is not an easy task to accomplish. I left a few comments to let her know I appreciated what she does on her blog. People NEED to laugh. And she is very good at helping people do that. Eventually after following each other's blogs, we connected on facebook, and a wonderful friendship has ensued from there. Getting to know Marcia a little more personally, has given me a view of her that I wish everyone could see. It pleases me to no end to see her deciding to show more of herself and her wonderful talent with writing. There is a lot we all can learn from this incredible woman.
DeleteI don't think I will ever stop writing publicly at this point. I receive to much personal gain from it. But I think that I will just have to accept my own style. Sometimes I just am not up for writing... And that is okay. I feel like I have to put SOMETHING up every week, and I stress out about it if I don't. Then I get frustrated and it compounds the block. I write when I need a release, if I don't feel that need, what I write seems bland and boring to me. If I have an issue that I have a deal of passion for, or a feeling from the gut, I am pretty good at expressing that. I just have to understand that I am not going to be able to write effectively all the time, and not stress about it when I don't.
I am glad you came by to check out our collaboration. Thank you. I'll look forward to seeing you here again... And I certainly understand "As I have time to do so." Life is busy, blogging is busy, it's not always possible to check everyone out. I will be glad to see you anytime you show up. And likewise, I'll be sure to visit your page in the future as well. Take care!
Lovely poem. Stopping by from www.gracegritsgarden.com
ReplyDeleteTalya
Ah... A fellow gardener! What a pleasure. It's one of my favorite things to do!!!
ReplyDeleteSometime if you have the time... Please check out my post "In My Spare Time" and "Spring Has Sprung. These posts have many pictures from the gardens I work in.
Thanks for coming by to read our post, and thanks for the comment. I swung by your page and joined your site on Google connect. Can't wait to hear your gardening adventures!!! Take care.
Y'know, I didn't even know Marcia writes poetry until she mentioned it, like, YESTERDAY. Anyway, I'm a friend of Marcia's & she sent me by to say hi to you, she said she was going to start collaborating with you, or maybe it was consorting with you (which sounds way more sinister, but honestly, I wouldn't put it past the little blonde brat to consort :) to spread poetry throughout the world, which doesn't sound so terribly sinister to me, really! Her effort here is a lovely one and I'm quite, quite glad that she writes the sort of poetry I understand and not the stuff that makes me go, "WTF? What was that all about? Is this supposed to be some twisted commentary on the existential angst of the futility of comprehending the very nature of existence or is it just a cute toss-off poem about a julienne salad?" Then again, I'm a cultural cretin when it comes to poetry so you should probably take everything I say with a giant grain of MSG ;)
ReplyDeleteI expect this will be an excellent collaborative effort, and that if any consorting goes on, it's all in the effort of promoting the greater good, esp. if it involved giving people something better to do than watch Honey Boo-Boo :)
Nicole you are too much, haha!!! What a great response this is! I too, hate poetry that is so abstract that I have to stand on my head, gnaw on an apple and juggle mice just to figure out what the heck the poet is trying to convey! I like to keep it simple with clean, clear images that take the reader RIGHT THERE in that moment of time. Jon's gorgeous photography does the same thing, which is why I think a collaborative effort is pure genius. Just wait until you see what else we come up with--it will be magic, I promise!
DeleteYes Nicole, Marcia has been hiding many of her talents from the world. But we are going to work on changing that. Consorting, collaborating... Conspiring... I'll do anything it takes to pick her mind and extract all the talent I can to share with the world...
DeleteThanks for coming by. Thanks for the encouraging words... I guarantee Honey Boo Boo aint' got nuttin' on us chile.
Hie Jon! Welcome back. Every time I see your post, the first thing I'm already expecting is an awesome collection or at least one great photograph. And you never dissappoint me. This time, I got to read a poem too by Marcia. It gelled up so well with the pic, that it took me into an unexpectedly known feeling!! (I hope you understood, what I meant, cz I'm not able to put it in proper words!)
ReplyDeleteWrite soon again. :)
I understand just fine Esabella, thanks so much for such a sweet comment.
DeleteI was very happy with that photo myself, even before I posted it here. I thought It was a nice picture of the train, and the tracks continuing on. Nice colors in the sky. I like the crows hanging out on the tracks. But it was just a cool picture that I took while I was out and about. But with the poem, they compliment each other very well. It adds an emotion to this photo that I didn't feel when I looked at it before. And the image lends to Marcia's poem in turn.
Thank-you for coming to read, and taking the time to say hi. Glad we didn't disappoint. :)
You people never dissapoint Jon! :)
DeleteI know Marcia for her hilarious posts that never have failed to make me smile or laugh. Recently I learned that she could turn 180 degrees and write a very heart felt poem that really touches the readers heart. And now, a lovely poem from Marcia with emotion very well woven into it. I love this line, "and sift through the sound" - I could feel the emotion of the person in the poem. Very well written!
ReplyDeleteAnd Jon, sorry for what happened to your post, but I'm glad that it opened the way for this great collaboration. That was a very nice picture and the poem has defined the emotion hidden behind it.
Thank you for such kind words, Zunnur. The minute I saw Jon's lovely photo I just knew we were on the same page in our nostalgic thoughts. There is always something very haunting about the distant sound of a train whistle. It comforts me. I want to do a lot more work with Jon and would be honored to have my poems tagged along with his beautiful work--so glad you like our first collaboration!
DeleteThanks Zunnur, I'm not sorry at all. I still have my photos, I just lost a little time (and patience). It was well worth it. I liked this Idea much better right from the start. It makes me very happy to try something new, and have it so well received. So glad you came by.
DeleteHi Jon
ReplyDeleteI just nominated you for the Very Inspirational Blog Award, you can check it out here http://gailsforum.com/2013/03/18/very-inspiring-blog-award/
Thank you Gail. I'm quite flattered. I write and do things here to inspire myself to improve and continue learn about myself. To hear that what I do inspires others is a bonus I never expected when I started blogging. But a nomination from you means that you received the award as well, and I should let you know it is well deserved.
DeleteJon, I think so much of you and Marcia. She has a way with making me feel like I matter. In any other instance, I don't know that I'd ever say that. Does that make sense? Beautiful poem, beautiful photo. I love how the two meshed together.
ReplyDeleteoh, I understand the "delete instead of publish" debacle. It's beyond annoying. Eventually though, I realize, maybe it was meant to be. As I read your collaboration w/ Marcia, I'd say the same thing.
I wanted to say that I'm enjoying your photos on FB. I always feel like a stalker, but want you to know that your work is enjoyed.
Finally, I want to speak to your response to me from your last post. It resonated with me for a long time. I wanted to write back (again, not seeming like a stalker) and tell you that. Thank you for your very kind words.
So happy that you liked our collaboration. You are one of the sweetest bloggers I know, Michele. It means a lot to see you here and receive such nice comments!
DeleteIt makes perfect sense. Marcia seems to have a knack for making lots of people feel like they matter. I've received a bit of that from her myself.
DeleteMichelle it makes my day to see your name pop up in the comments and "likes" on my facebook photos. I post them there to share them, so please don't feel uncomfortable about enjoying them. I love it when people compliment my photography... But from some people it means a little more. You are from the area that I live in, you probably know many of the places I take my photos. It leaves me with a good feeling to think that my photos give someone else a glimpse of of something familiar that they may miss, or remember fondly. A picture to me, is like a moment frozen in time that you can return to again and again, when someone else can identify or relate with that moment it makes it a very special moment to me. So thank you for making my photos mean more to me.
I try to be kind to everyone. But I also try to be honest even if is not so kind. I meant what I said in that comment you referred to. You are a wonderful blogger, and you wear a heart of gold right out on your sleeve for the world to see. That is courageous and inspiring, and I love it.
It's funny... Marcia has referred to herself as a stalker a number of times as well. If you two are what stalkers are all about... I'll take 100 stalkers just like you two any day. Thanks for coming by, take care.