Under Lavender Skies

Hello everyone!  February is Black History month and so I decided to write a story about the Birmingham Children's March.  This story is historical fiction but much of it is true including Gwendolyn Sanders, her sisters, her teacher, and her friends who you will meet later on.   This is just part one of the story, part two coming next week!                   “I will do it, we will do it!” Gwendolyn was pulling her two sisters, Dot and Deborah, up to standing and squeezed their hands tights.   “Gwendolyn, sit down,”  her mother tugged slightly on her skirt, aside from that, the room was completely silent.  Mr. Martin Luther seemed to gaze straight at her as the silence dragged on.  The congregation sat in awe as others joined Gwendolyn.  Other children, children of all ages stood with her.  She spun around the room, that was the moment she decided that yes, they co...

Do you like poetry?  Why or why not?  That is the question of the day.  Please comment below! Still, whether you like poetry or not, I have found that you can find poems about almost anything, but especially the seasons of the year.  A book I recently read, titled Emily of New Moon by L.M Montgomery, had a section about poetry and spring.  It made the statement that one isn't really even a poet if they haven't written about the wonders of spring.  We're not in spring yet, so I'm sharing some poetry about the season we're in the thick of: Winter.   Please enjoy my favorite poems about winter.   Starlings in Winter  — — — By Mary Oliver  Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they are acrobats in the freezing wind. And now, in the theater of air, they swing over buildings, dipping and rising; they float like one stippled star that opens, becomes for a moment fra...

Over the last couple of weeks, I have found some poems with a similar theme.  Each with the idea that life is made up of simple things, and you should enjoy them.  Drastic life events don't happen very often and you shouldn't live only for them.  Find joy and happiness in the smallest things, the everyday pieces of peace and happiness in life.   The first poem I found is called "The Orange" by Wendy Cope.   It is such a beautiful but simple and short poem and I even put it on my Instagram a while ago.  It seemed to set off my Pinterest acct and I found many other poems following this theme.   The Orange  At lunchtime I bought a huge orange— The size of it made us all laugh. I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave— They got quarters and I had a half. And that orange, it made me so happy, As ordinary things often do Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park. This is peace and contentment. It’s new. The rest of the day was q...

Do you know what is everywhere?  What litters the streets, lingers on sidewalks, and a lot of the time is delivered to people who didn't ask?  You probably read the title, the answer is advice.  Unsolicited advice is given everywhere but that is not what I am going to talk about today.  Instead, I will share my thoughts and explain pieces of advice that I may not listen to all the time, but I did, technically, ask for.  And that is writing  advice.    Most of the pieces of advice I have found are valuable and in general good tips, so I will explain each piece of advice in the best way I can and give examples.  Even if you are not a writer and reading this now I hope you can still find something interesting.   No. 1: Show Don't Tell  If you have explored any amount of writing tips or advice on Pinterest or Instagram then you know this is one of the most common sentences thrown around.  Maybe it made sense to you the first t...