Michele Lee Sefton's Blog, page 25

Lover’s view (w/sensual songs)

Sensual and sweet song list:

When I’m in Your Arms by Cleo Sol / Fever by Josh Turner & Allison Young / Folding by Abimaro / Can’t Help Falling in Love by Haley Reinhart

Scrolling through my recent photos from Europe is offering dreamy inspiration and a beautiful summer escape. The desert heat is full on with the monsoon season tiptoeing in.

Clicking on my logo (left) will take you to a preview and reviews of my lyrical love story, Her Coastal Cottage. Reading and reviewing are greatly appreciated, as every published writer knows. A generous thank you to those who have!

My next novella, Honeysuckle Heat is in the editing stage, set for an August release date. This story has been a slow simmer, all the better as it is saucier. My contemporary novellas have different characters, conflict, settings, and plotlines, however, both feature romantic love and address complexities often involved in relationships and life. A visit to my Writing Journal offers detail about a longer and distinctly different writing project.

If you are new to my blog, welcome and thank you. A bit about me ~ I am a former high school English teacher/community college adjunct professor who picked up a poetic pen in the late summer of 2019 after losing my dad and realizing how briefly our candle flickers. I’ve spent the last few years letting the words and creative expression flow, co-teaching narrative therapy online, and reconnecting with my youthful tumbleweed spirit. Thank you for stopping by. Michele

my photos from Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany / morning sunrise from the Sonoran Desert (June 26th)

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Sweet biscuit Sunday

Fingers in flour
Craggy balls become biscuits
Strawberries drizzled

Homemade biscuits remind me of my grandmother, Evelyn, born in 1920 on June 21st, on a farm in Arkansas. She was an incredible chef who made the most amazing biscuits. She whipped them up in what seemed like minutes. Her seven daughters, one my mother, are equally talented cooks and bakers. Family gatherings, with her at the center and dozens of cousins, were fun and full-filling. I don’t remember any of her three sons cooking, but I do remember them eating several helpings. My grandmother has been gone for a few years now, but her legacy lives on through a family that has grown beyond what I can keep track of and what I cherish the most – memories of her laughter. Thank you for stopping by. Michele

featured photo by Everett Collection (not my grandmother) / my kitchen photos

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Serving up some strawberries

The clouds rolled in late afternoon. I thought that would be the end of my Strawberry Moon viewing, so I set my sights on Friday night strawberry cooking. Turns out the cloud gathering was just creamy frosty forming before fresh strawberries were sliced and stirred in. I watched Mother Nature stir and blend, before serving up some deliciousness.

Summer is off to a splendid start in the Sonoran Desert. I did not bake a strawberry cake last night, but I did enjoy a delicious homemade nondairy strawberry shake under the Strawberry Moon. Thank you for visiting. Sweet regards. Michele

If you are interested in learning other names used to describe the Strawberry Moon, visit e-Quips blog post, titled, “Strawberry Moon – June 21” ~ You’ll find a delightful poem there, too!

featured photo by Agnes Kantaruk / my sunset and Strawberry Moon photos / strawberry photo by Parikh Mahendra N

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Best seat, peddled by feet (Part II)

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle

Adorable photobomb in Bruges, Belgium

Fun bike stats: Germany has 84 million bikes, the Netherlands has 23.9 million, and Belgium has less than a million. I won’t be sharing that many bike photos.

Thank you for stopping by. Warm regards from the blazing southwest. Michele

my photos were taken in Trier and Heidelberg, Germany / Zaanse Schans Village, Netherlands / Bruges, Belgium

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Not set in cement

Just five more minutes

to listen, as the lapping lullaby sings to me. To feel Lake Markermeer’s breath pause then lift all that is not set in cement… wings, sails, petals, and hair. To pull my scarf tighter and rub the pastel pink knitting of my secondhand sweater. To watch a lone silhouette drift. To decipher a cloud code forming in the pale sky. With a brush of my hand along a surface, cool, I invite the water to swim through the channel and find me again, where palm fronds dance near a coast, golden. Just a few bold drops can change an ocean. It may take more than my lifetime to happen, but as water flows, from the past to the present, there is no separation. My soul will see the ripple and know.

Just five more minutes

to sit on the bolted bench that held me. I wonder if the seat is free. If not, I wonder if they’ll make room for me. Just five more minutes is all I need. Stretched to eternity.

My photos were taken along Lake Markermeer in the town of Volendam, North Holland. A lovely and lively fishing village with some out-of-the-way quiet spots. Thank you for stopping by. Kind regards. Michele

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Stained-glass Views

Eyes cast toward the heavens
            separated by a puzzle painting, vibrant and mesmerizing
fragile glass pieces held together by cement, putty, and strips of lead

Fragments, fused to each other
            further bonded by an ancient sun

I close my eyes and imagine
            each piece melting into one

Across my face, I feel the warmth of a thousand colors
            a hue without a name

Beyond the stained-glass window, I find my church

Poem written for Fake Flamenco’s June Poetry Challenge. Subject: stained glass

my photo taken at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Flower Fuel

Every season,
            roots watered
            love poured
            growth celebrated
            petals adored
            stems snipped
            perfectly arranged
            scents freed
            beauty contained

Seasons
            faded
                        fallen

folded

into an expanding foundation

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Michele

featured photo by Depiction Images / my tulip photos from Keukenhof Gardens Holland / Flower Moon (full moon May 23) / hungry hummingbird (June 14)

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

An earthy and balanced blend

Roots thickened by centuries

            toiling hands and a dependable sun

Quenched by the Moselle, a River with French origins
Protected by the Taunus Hills, a wind-stopping barrier
Nurtured by a climate, perfect for producing acclaimed Reisling and Pinot Noir

Beneath layers of soil, rich with grape-growing nutrients
Pressed beyond sight, by changing elements and the passing of time
Compacted into a bedrock, dense

            with an ear to the earth, one can hear
            the brotherhood of Roman monks, stomping on grapes
            fainter and further still, the stepping of Celts, the first settlers

Small in size, a region grand in significance
            to wine experts

There is the living and experiencing and then there is the learning that often comes after. Like Audrey Hepburn mentioned in her “Living is like tearing through a museum… “ quote that I shared last week, traveling through four countries in ten days gave me a great deal to view, engage with, and photograph. Now, with the rushing and jet lag behind me, I am adding more layers to my experience – learning more about the places visited. Details and historical facts about places and activities that feel more real having been there. Thank you for stopping by. Michele

If you’re interested in learning more about the winemaking history of this area in West Germany, I encourage you to read the article, “Winegrowing in the Rheingau region and in Rüdesheim.”

my photos, Rüdesheim am Rhein (chair lift location) / Weingut Anton Zimmermann wine barrels (family-owned winery located in Bernkastel-Kues)

Photo note: I’ve done my best to match my time-stamped photos with my travel guide and notes, with the added help of online maps and articles to fill in some gaps. To those familiar with the areas I have and will continue to share, please let me know if a detail is off. Thank you!

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Sunday Soundtrack

Metal barrel, turning
three-thousand spins

buttons and buckles
smacking, a snare drum echos
            behind a closed door

loose coins dinging
forgotten chapstick melting
a cool-down finish
followed by a chime, ascending

skirts keep twirling
            one more time after the song ends
                        falling gently

door is tugged open
            a release of breath

Yesterday I learned from Luisa’s Z.’s blog, words and music and stories, “that in 1824, the Legislature of Lower Canada enacted the first patent law in British North America and two hundred years ago, on 8 June 1824 in Quebec City, an inventor named Noah Cushing was the first Canadian to be awarded a patent for a “washing and fulling machine” to clean and strengthen cloth.” Seems a significant day to me.

Chirping baby birds ready to fly soon and a washing machine working, the sounds of a Sunday afternoon. Thanks for stopping by. Michele

my photos: close-up of firestick succulent / blue sky and orange & yellow bells / lemon tree / prickly pear cactus / glass vase with long stems

© 2024 MyInspiredLife

Lovely lady in the lobby

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It’s the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.”
― Audrey Hepburn

“Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once.”
― Audrey Hepburn

“I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.”
― Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn, born in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 1929, was an actress, fashion icon, humanitarian, and philanthropist who acted in twenty-eight films (imdb). “At the age of 22, Hepburn went to New York to star in the Broadway production of Gigi, based on the book by the French writer Colette. A few weeks after the play premiered, news reports indicated that Hepburn was being wooed by Hollywood.” A few titles include, Roman Holiday (1953), Funny Face (1957), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), and My Fair Lady (1964). She left a legacy of humanitarian work which included her role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador from 1988 to 1993. Hepburn died on January 20, 1993, at her home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland after a battle with colon cancer. (biography.com)

Thanks for visiting. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Michele

my photos: Hepburn pictures hanging in a hotel lobby in Leiman, Germany / May sunrise photo in Sonoran Desert

© 2024 MyInspiredLife