June | 2023 | wordsfromanneli

June 25, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 50 Comments

Western Tiger Swallowtail

My job is to look pretty and to decorate the lands,

My wings are lemon yellow, and set off by several bands,

The bands and borders are a match, they emphasize the rest,

But it’s the dots of red and blue that make me look the best.

I flutter through the shrubbery, I stop to rest and wait,

I nibble at the buds and leaves, while watching for my date,

Ah, here she comes so daintily, her wingbeat soft and sweet,

She settles down beside me as I’m thinking, “What a treat.”

“So darling will you fly with me, check out the walnut tree?

We’ll flitter here and flutter there, spend happy hours, you’ll see,”

My luck has just improved a lot, and so on bended knee,

I ask if she will marry me, my wife forever be.

“I’ll think about it,” says the tease, “What can you do for me?”

I stutter and I stammer, as she flaps her wings in glee,

“Well, darling, if you’d like to know, I’d win a prize in show,

But now the most important thing is that I love you so.”

“That’s good enough for me,” she said, “I’d love to have a man,

Someone who’ll be there by my side as often as he can.

He needn’t be there all day long, but still it would be nice,

To liven up my quiet life and add some fun and spice.”

June 19, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 37 Comments

Cindy Knoke’s blog post (link to Cindy’s blog at the end of this post) about viewing dolphins reminded me that I had a scene in my novel, “Orion’s Gift,” that was very similar to her adventure. I wrote that scene after the Captain and I had this very experience in a 12-ft. aluminum skiff many years ago. It is based almost completely on our own dolphin trip from when we were dry camping in Baja and the dolphins came into the Bay of Conception.

The excerpt is a bit long, but I hope you will bear with me and enjoy the ride.

In the novel, my character, Sylvia, has run away from her unraveling life in southern California. Without much planning she has bought a camper van and thinks she can escape her problems by dry camping on the beaches of the Baja peninsula on the Mexican side of the border.

She meets Kevin, another runaway from a bad marriage, and the two discover an unexpected attraction to each other.

Here is the dolphin scene from “Orion’s Gift.” (Notice the whitecaps in the photo above.)

Moments later, I pointed. “There!” Kevin started the motor and, at a slower, quieter speed, angled the boat towards the school’s probable destination, so that eventually our paths would cross.

Hundreds of sleek bodies broke the surface only to curve and dive down immediately and reappear a few yards farther on. Kevin cut the motor again and we drifted, a mere speck in the middle of the huge Bay of Conception, closer than we had hoped to a huge school of dolphins, all aiming for the head of the bay.

“Listen to them!” I whisper-shouted to Kevin. The mewling, whistling, singing, and crying, as they repeatedly broke the surface of the water, was an eerie choir piece. Hauntingly beautiful, it gave me goosebumps in spite of the warm day. Kevin’s face mirrored my feelings exactly—somewhere between awe and ecstasy. My mind was suddenly in turmoil, balancing this rare and precious moment with the realization that I probably had few of them left. Peaks of happiness and bottomless pits of misery played havoc with my emotions.

My eyes filled with tears. “Thank you for bringing me out here. That was so beautiful.” I lowered my head. Just needed a moment.

“It would have been a shame to have to enjoy this all alone,” he said.

Still trying to come to terms with the amazing spectacle we had just experienced, we sat a moment longer watching the last of the dolphins disappear in the distance.

“Uh-oh!” Kevin pointed towards the open end of the bay. “Whitecaps.” He started the motor and turned the skiff towards home. Within minutes, the breaking waves had moved much closer and the glassy smooth surface changed to ripples that grew into an uncomfortable lump. I’d heard San Diego fishermen talk about the lump in the sea. Now I knew what they were talking about.

“Hang on,” he said. “It could get bumpy. I’ll take us to the nearest point of land and then we’ll work our way home along the beach.”

I gripped the gunwales of the boat where they began to curve towards the bow. We bucked into the choppy whitecaps that had now overtaken us. In no time, the sleeves of my blue cotton shirt were soaked from the spray. Two-foot waves didn’t seem like much but they followed one after the other so briskly that the small skiff took a pounding. My stomach clenched into a knot of fear as we were tossed in every direction. I tightened my grip against the bouncing of the boat. More waves splashed over the bow, soaking the front of my shirt. I was glad the water was warm. It would have been an ordeal to be splashed with icy water every few seconds. The finer spray wet my face so the drops were running off my chin. I glanced at Kevin in the stern of the boat. He was completely dry except for a bit of salt spray in his hair. He looked so good and I could only imagine what I looked like. Drowned rats came to mind.

“We’re almost out of it,” Kevin yelled above the engine noise. He saw that I was bearing the brunt of the beating at the front of the boat. I could only nod as I looked over my shoulder at him.

Closer to the beach, we zigzagged to avoid rocks. Beaching the boat here would be difficult. We continued along the shoreline until we rounded a point and entered the mini bay where our own sheltered beach lay.

“Whew! That’s better,” I said.

We pulled the boat ashore and secured it with a line to a huge rock far above the high tide mark. Immediately, Kevin started apologizing.

I held up my hand. “Don’t. It was wonderful. Worth the beating we took on the way back.”

“Your beautiful hair.…”

My hands flew to my head. “My hair?”

“It’s such a mess!” Kevin pulled me close and hugged me, kissing my wet tangled hair. “I have a sun shower bag you can use.”

“I have one too. But I think, since I’m wet already, I’ll have a swim first and then rinse off with fresh water.”

“Good idea. I’ll join you.”

“Don’t forget to shuffle your feet in case of stingrays.”

“Stingrays!?”

Orion’s Gift at amazon.com

For e-readers other than Kindle, go to smashwords.com.

Cindy’s dolphin post: https://cindyknoke.com/2023/06/18/off-the-beaten-path-super-pods/

Thanks for reminding me of this wonderful time, Cindy.

June 18, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Poppy Time

No, I’m not into the drugs made from the seed pods of these poppies. I just think they’re beautiful flowers.

There are many types of poppies, but I didn’t know, even after years of growing them, that these pretty flowers belong to the poppy family that heroin and opium are made from.

They’re just tall and beautiful flowers.

I come from Turkey, don’t you know,

My seeds are not too hard to sow,

And once I’ve bloomed, again I’ll grow,

Reseeding when the wind does blow.

June 11, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Oh, so Pretteeeee!

He’s back, but still a bit blurry. This American goldfinch is very shy and doesn’t like to be photographed. Again he took off just as I was focusing my camera and I had to settle for a faraway shot. When he sat on the edge of the hedge it was like trying to take a picture of a mosquito on a moose.

This time I got a better sense of his colouring. One day, maybe he’ll sit still when he’s closer in, like this morning when he sat on the garden fence until I got the camera. He is definitely camera shy.

But with colours like this flashing signals to every hawk around, I don’t think I’d sit still long either.

Cuz I’m pretteeeee, oh, so pretteeeee,

I can’t stick around, for I’m bound to be found,

Cuz I’m pretteeeee, oh, so pretteeeee,

It’s awfully hard to be meeeee.

Yes, they’ll see meeeee, oh, they’ll see meeeee,

I really must fly, if I stay I will die,

Yes, they’ll see meeeee, oh, they’ll see meeeee,

And dying so young is not pretteeeee.

You snap pictures, I’ll read scriptures,

I pray that today will not be my last day,

Cuz I’m pretteeeee, oh, so pretteeeee,

I want to keep on being meeeee.

June 9, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 42 Comments

Penny for Your Thoughts

My friend who has the house where the peacocks visit, sent me some more photos that he snapped with his phone, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Here we are, folks. Remember me? I’m Patrick on the left, and I’ve brought five of my friends. Next to me from left to right, we have Percival, Parker, Penny, Paxton, and Preston. I think Preston got into the overripe, fermenting mountain ash berries. You can see that his head is a bit blurry.

Notice that Penny has a paler face than the rest of us and her neck feathers are more green than blue. She has a light brown back and even lighter underside.

Being the older male, I’m sort of in charge of the show. My fan of tailfeathers is way better than that of any others here. When I go up to Penny and show her my fan, with all the beautiful “eyes” on the feathers, I can tell she’s impressed. I shiver the fan just like I’ve seen ladies do with their handheld fans on a hot day at the opera. She nearly swoons when I do that.

All the boys want pretty Penny,

But she just wants me.

My impressive fan has many

Eyes for her to see.

When I spread my fanning glory,

And I show my train,

All those eyes will tell the story

That I’m not so plain.

I must have two hundred eyes,

Marked upon my train,

When I shiver Penny sighs,

“I love you,” again.

June 6, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 39 Comments

Patrick Peacock

While visiting friends, we were surprised to see this peacock at their door. He lives in their neighbourhood and sometimes our friends put food out for him, so he comes to visit once in a while. I asked my friend to snap a quick picture with his phone, and here we have it.

Patrick Peacock feels at home,

For a meal, no need to roam,

Here he has a special dish,

“Keep it full.” That is his wish.

“Oh, but look, some people came,

Some old friends, they look the same

As they did some time ago,

One or two more wrinkles though.

I’ll sit still, so poised and cool,

Long as they obey the rule,

Just don’t scare me, or I’ll run,

Then you would have no more fun.”

June 3, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 38 Comments

How Orion’s Gift Came to Be

While camping in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, I noticed a woman sitting alone in a van parked near the beach. I never saw her get out of her vehicle. For several days, she sat in the driver’s seat most of the time, listening to audio tapes and chain smoking cigarettes.

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The beach was beautiful, the sun shone every day, the water was clear and inviting, the place was a paradise. Why would she not get out and inhale that fresh air, go for a walk or a swim, or enjoy this little bit of heaven? I certainly did.

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It puzzled me and I wondered what her story was. Her plates said San Diego. I mulled over many scenarios. Why was she alone? Why did she never get out of her van? Was she trying to kill herself with her own first and secondhand smoke in the enclosed vehicle?

The seeds of a novel were germinating in my head. A California girl comes to Baja alone. But why? I would make her health-minded, young, and beautiful. Yes, Sylvia was taking shape in my head.

palapa 2

She would need to find a love interest, but who would be down here on his own and why? Men come to Baja alone, looking for … something ….

Each of the characters had good reasons for being on the run, but would that interfere with them starting a new relationship? What if the attraction were so strong, they couldn’t resist?

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But what if their past troubles are coming after them? Will the new lovers stick together? Will they panic, split, and run to escape their pursuers? And what about that drug runner looking for revenge for a slight on the road?

sunset at La Perla