d. ellis phelps's Blog, page 4

#litanyofgood 3.26.25

Wrens returning, nesting by the kitchen window.

What a simple pleasure it is to host the wren and her nesting every year.

I have hung special wren nest boxes for them and they have chosen to nest there before but they seem to prefer this tin urn I have laid on its side on top of the baker’s rack by the kitchen window.

They have also nested in a ceramic planter and in the light fixture on the front porch and in an unzipped bag on the back of a bike in the garage!

They are the friendliest little birds who make for fun watching plus they sing the biggest, most beautiful song. That’s a wren you hear in the video above. I think they are my favourite backyard birds.

Wren Image by American-Fairbanks Brown via unsplash

The amount of energy these birds, both male and female, expend to build a nest, tend the brood, and fledge it is astonishing.

Nest building in progress

I look forward to the unfolding drama every year. When it’s fledging time, I lock up the cats and dog, hold my breath, and cheer when the fledglings make their first flight. I put this metal meshing on the front porch of the nest to give the fledglings something sturdier to hop out onto before they fly.

~

And, on the other side of the house, the Texas Possum Haw, a native, is in full swing, showing berries the birds love, especially migrating Cedar Wax Wings and Mockingbirds, leafing out to provide a nice shade on the front porch come summer, and blooming! The pollinators are all over it today!

Texas Possum Haw, native plant.

Finally, look at those clouds. For my South Texas Hill Country drought stricken home, those babies are full of gold! If it rains, everybody will be dancing!!

Keep your fingers crossed

In the meantime, count your blessings.

Namaste y’all,

d

#litanyofgood: 3.24.25

Crossvine: Texas native star!

It’s a good day for me when flowers bloom! I planted this Crossvine last spring and it did hardly more than survive. But! It did survive the drought and our rare but extreme winter weather. With a bit of water and a dose of Fox Farms Big Bloom, Voila! It’s a beauty.

Crossvine in full bloom.

The hummers have found it today and as they feed, they all but disappear into the funnel of the flower. So much fun to see!

Also, a good friend gives me Amaryllis bulbs each Christmas. This one was given last Christmas and just bloomed again. Remarkably beautiful flower!

Amaryllis, version I

And for the finale, here’s a silly little Texas Anole hanging out on one of my hummingbird feeders. I don’t think he’s dangerous to the hummers here, just cooling his jets in the shade.

Texas Anole: can you see it?

I hope your spring is a lively as mine and that outside is your happy place. It surely is mine! Mom used to say that when I was a toddler, one of my first words was “Side!” Heh heh. I’m still saying the same thing.

I’ll see you out there!

Namaste,

d

New art: 3.1, 3.2

I am challenging myself to paint daily. Almost. Maybe. Well more, anyway.

Here are two I’ve done this March.

Watercolor with mixed media on paper, 6×6” (c) d. ellis phelps, 2025

Available. $50 unframed plus tax and shipping.

Message me with interest.

Enjoy!

3.13.2

Engaging the Muse: writer’s idea box prompt

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Courage is Contagious

Free photo

Can you give more?

The MacArthur Foundation will increase their giving, alongside other philanthropics, in response to federal cut backs and freezes.

Freedom Together Foundation, formerly called the JPB Foundation, also announced that it would double its grantmaking to 10% of its endowment in response to the Trump administration’s policies.

Deepak Bhargava, the foundation’s president, wrote in a letter that the current moment reminds him of the AIDS crisis, when activists pushed the government to find a cure and changed the place of LGBTQ+ people in society.

“The movement made a way out of no way. That can happen again, as it has so many times throughout American history,” Bhargava wrote. “There is a dispiriting tide of fear right now, and I’m disappointed by how few leaders and institutions are stepping up. But my own experience and our shared history teaches us a hopeful lesson: courage is contagious.”

Source: ABC News

Non-profit organizations are hurting. Some, like Greenpeace, are under direct attract.

I get no less than six pleas a day via text, email, or mail ( I don’t answer the house line or there would be more ) asking for donations. I feel overwhelmed. Plus, I’m no philanthropist tho that is one of my heart’s desires should I win the lottery.

Note to self: play the lottery!

So, I’ve chosen three organizations that match my interests and perceived social-environmental justice needs to which I contribute monthly: The Audubon Society, The League of Conservation Voters, and The American Civil Liberties Union. Mind you, these are small donations. Very small. But it’s what I can do. And, it is through these organizations that I stay informed and take their recommended actions, especially in the form of emailing members of congres.

Can “We the People” uphold ourselves and our values in spite of federal upheaval? I will do what I can do.

What can you do?

Namaste,

d

PS: Thanks to @blum.bsky.social Andrew Blum, for bringing this heartening news to my attention.

Find me on blue sky too @dellisphelps

Poem Live at Formidable Woman Sanctuary

Please join me in extending my heartfelt thanks to Editor D. Ellis Phelps for including my poem “Glory Be…” in the Fall 2024: solace vol. 1 no. 1 …

Poem Live at Formidable Woman Sanctuary

new work on fws: solace, “Love Letter” by Jennie Meyer

Photo by Matt Paul Catalano on Unsplash Love Letter
~Jennie Meyer

You who are always so empty
always trying so hard to fill up—
I watch you rise every morning,
a hollow pail, before your beach walk.

I write to remind you
what you already know
in the very fish bones of your sea—
of the invisible, the indestructible.

Finish reading “Love Letter” on fws: solace here.

Consider making your own submission to fws: solace here. Deadline March 1, 2025.

Check out my new Writer’s Idea Box here. A year’s worth of writing craft syllabi and possible publication for a measly $10 subscription. Join us! You’ll be glad you did.

Namaste,

d

new work up on fws: solace

Check out the new addition to fws: solace, “Abuelita” by Rachel Aguirre. (scroll down to view)

Plus, if you haven’t done so already, please consider making a submission here. Deadline March 1, 2025.

friendly state, d. ellis phelps

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Today, we are having, what we Texans hope is the last really cold snap of winter weather.

Grant you, it’s not that cold, relatively speaking: lows near freezing. But, as you may have seen on the news, in recent years, we have experienced power and water outages due to freezing rain and snow and temps that dropped into the single digits (4 degrees here), weather that our power grid simply is not properly equipped to handle.

So, we all get really tense and worried when the forecast predicts actual winter. We run to the grocery store and the gas station and do last minute online shopping for winter-wear (we’re learning, but we are not quite up to speed).

Thankfully, this winter, even though we did have a peppering of snow a few weeks ago, the power has stayed on.

Recently, I’ve been writing for and supporting the fund-raising-for-food efforts of The Texas Poetry Assignment, Laurence Musgrove, Ed. Anyone can write to any of the posted prompts at any time and, if published, participate in the quarterly online contributor’s readings. Check it out!

Here’s a poem of mine that appeared in the Feb. 2025 Issue of TPA Quarterly (a publication of The Texas Poetry Assignment) that was written in response to the prompt: Texas Hopes.

friendly state
~d. ellis phelps

we hope the power
will stay on—that
there will be no snow

some of us hope
to see blue in power

but no

no matter
how red things get

no matter
we power on:

drive by the dry riverbed
—pray for rain

dig up invasives
—opt for natives

pre-cycle plastics
—drink from glasses

finish reading on TPA Quarterly

Thanks for reading. Stay warm!

Namaste,
d

I’ve moved to Blue Sky Social

Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash

In light of recent US political influences and undesirable (to me) actions by conservative political players, especially actions that have extraordinarily negative consequences on marginalized citizens, both within the US and internationally and on the environment worldwide, and because three social networking platforms, Meta (formerly Facebook) and X (formerly Twitter) and soon Tik Tok are owned (or soon to be owned) by billionaire conservative players in this unconscionable misuse of power, I have chosen to move my social networking activities to Blue Sky Social, which is currently privately owned.

I hope you will join me and the millions who have already rescinded their allegiance to the networks owned and controlled by the billionaires here: https://bsky.app/profile/dellisphelps.bsky.social

Namaste,

d