Linda K. Sienkiewicz's Blog, page 21

March 1, 2021

Reliable babysitter, sort of

At Fourteen

Like a good babysitter, I arrived on time, I put the kids to bed when I was supposed to, and as a bonus, I would wash dishes.

I liked kids. I didn’t yell at them or slap them in the face, like one sitter did to me when I told her, jokingly, that the cookies she brought were “crummy,” meaning crumbly. I thought it was a clever play on words. Obviously she was an idiot.

Misunderstood

I had horrible hay fever. One spring it was so bad that my Eustachian tubes filled wi...

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Published on March 01, 2021 05:00

February 22, 2021

A Little Too Quiet

library podcast

“Libraries aren’t as quiet as they used to be. A Little Too Quiet is a podcast for library lovers and the library curious. Book chatter with librarians, community perspectives and author interviews”

Ferndale Library’s Podcast:

I had the honor of being interviewed by Jeff Milo for the Ferndale Library’s podcast, A Little Too Quiet.

We talked about the writing life, art and creativity:


Is writing a children’s book easy?


How do you illustrate a children’s book?


How do you write a nov...


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Published on February 22, 2021 04:30

February 14, 2021

Unconventional Love Poem

Art by Joanna GoddardIn Love With You:

For Valentine’s Day I’d like to share one of my favorite love poems, written by the late Kenneth Koch. It captures the exuberance of falling in love with delight, surprise and humor. It’s nearly giddy with magical leaps.

                                           I

O what a physical effect it has on me
To dive forever into the light blue sea
Of your acquaintance! Ah, but dearest friends,
Like forms, are finished, as life has ends! Still,
It is bea...

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Published on February 14, 2021 06:00

February 8, 2021

Chalkboard Messages

The Start

Last year, as the pandemic slowed life down and caused us to physically withdraw from one another, I dragged out a cheap chalkboard I’d bought for book shows a few years ago. On it I wrote messages for my neighbors and others who walked past our house, and put it on my front porch.

Early spring 2020, lettered with regular chalk

I hoped to create a sense of camaraderie while we hunkered down. I believe in the power of small things making a difference. If you can’t find anyt...

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Published on February 08, 2021 05:00

January 25, 2021

What, Why, How: Adrienne S. Wallner

What:

I am a poet.  I also write non-fiction, travel writing, and am an avid journal keeper.  Most of my published work is poetry.  I write much about the natural world, the National Parks, my devotion to the energy of the Earth, and the healing power of wilderness.

My first book To the 4 a.m. Light is a full-length poetry collection to be published March 26, 2021 by Finishing Line Press.  It is available for pre-order now through January 29, 2021. 

To the 4 a.m. Light addresses the...

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Published on January 25, 2021 04:08

January 19, 2021

Delivery!

butcher shopFirst job

My husband Don laughed when I brought the Target delivery into the house this morning.

“I was doing that over fifty years ago,” he said.

Delivering groceries, that is, from a butcher shop in Garfield Hts., Ohio. The funniest thing is that he was just fifteen years old.

This was my first time getting my order brought to the doorstep. I was happy. Two hours after I placed the order, it arrived. Perfect avocados. Decent bananas. My favorite: Veggie Straws. And the milk, wh...

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Published on January 19, 2021 08:55

January 11, 2021

Is the Pandemic messing with your teeth?

Image from GratisographyClenching, grinding and pushing:

I bet you didn’t see this coming: an increase in dental injuries attributed to the pandemic.

Dentists report a big uptick in patients grinding their teeth and broken or chipped teeth. Nearly 60% of Dentists say they are seeing more patients who grind their teeth, usually an indicator of stress. My friend’s dentist told her, “It’s all the stress with Covid-19 – People clenching, grinding and pushing on their teeth at night or even during the day.” 

D...

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Published on January 11, 2021 03:56

January 4, 2021

Had enough of These Unprecedented Times?

speech bubble banished word



Please stop saying that:



Every year since the mid seventies, Lake Superior State University in Michigan’s UP takes nominations for overused, misused and useless words to dump.





The goal is to “uphold, protect and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are overworked, redundant, oxymoronic, cliched, illogical, nonsensical and other wise ineffective, baffling or irritating.”





So, thankfully, after a year of hearing we’re all in this together du...

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Published on January 04, 2021 04:30

December 28, 2020

Blizzard: a poem

photo by MilaMai on flickr



Blizzard by Linda Pastan



the snow
has forgotten
how to stop
it falls
stuttering
at the glass
a silk windsock
of snow
blowing
under the porch light
tangling trees
which bend
like old women
snarled
in their own
knitting
snow drifts
up to the step
over the doorsill
a pointillist’s blur
the wedding
of form and motion
shaping itself
to the wish of
any object it touches
chairs become
laps of snow
the moon could be
breaking apart
and falling
over the eaves
over the roof
a white bear
shaking its paw
at t...

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Published on December 28, 2020 05:12

December 21, 2020

Let’s hear it for screaming

pandemic screamArt by Manon Gauthier



Not feeling it



This year my husband and I won’t be hosting our annual neighborhood Christmas party, which involves weeks of decorating, planning, hand-wringing, fears that no one will actually show up, not to mention dusting the baseboards. We won’t be driving to Ohio with thousands of other highway travelers in a possible snowstorm to see relatives for a traditional Polish meatless Christmas Eve dinner that includes prunes, boiled potatoes and frozen breaded fish fil...

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Published on December 21, 2020 05:00