Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Tickle Me Pink Tuesday

August 17, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

The day yawned, stretched, and rose up from pink pillows. Of course, I had to rush outside and catch its awakening. And I came back in with cold, wet feet that tracked green grass clippings across the kitchen floor.

Dennis is getting used to these early morning door bangings.

I made sure to tuck the camera in my purse since I had to ride to Lansing with him to pick up his now-repaired car.

Just in case I spotted something photo worthy.

Anyway, even though we’re empty nesters, supposedly, we seldom enjoy undistracted time together, so I looked forward to an early morning drive.

Just the two of us.

I had a bit of a headache and asked if we could stop and get me a cup of coffee–a habit he declares expensive and kind of nasty. But he loves to humor me, even when he’s in a hurry.

Of course, he had to go in and get it because I had no makeup on. And he declared that getting “a tall coffee, light roast, with a cinnamon bagel and plain cream cheese” order correct was probably the hardest thing he’d do all day.

He tickles me sometimes.

We talked about his cousin who was in our wedding and died Saturday. He felt ill only about a month ago and found out he had liver cancer. We talked about his life and visitation and funeral plans.

And we talked about a former pastor who’s having surgery today for prostate cancer and his rosy attitude and how we miss him.

We talked about whether or not we could sneak away this weekend.

He reviewed instructions about how to use the rider because he ran out of light while mowing last night.

And I asked him to tell me again about bull thistles. They once grew all over the pasture, he said, but Mike the burro loved to reach up and munch the flowers off. Not the stems because those are thorny. And by eating the flowers, he helped keep them under control because they couldn’t reseed.

I asked about the “reach up” part, and he said they could grow quite tall, even as high as six feet.

I said I thought they were beautiful and that a whole field of them could be quite beautiful. They’d look like little pink trees. I showed him the photos I’d snapped the other day.

And he kind of rolled his eyes and shook his head and smiled. He thinks I wear rose-colored glasses, and I tickle him.

But I see beauty even in the weeds these days. Treasures in pink.

And white and green and purple and blue and orange.

Even black.

And I asked how they got the name “bull.” And he didn’t know. The pasture they grew in also housed the bull. Maybe because they are big and strong like a bull, he said.

Bull-headed? Like me?

Tough beauty?

I’m still thinking on that.

Today I’m linking up with others who are unwrapping gifts with Emily over at Chatting at the Sky .

tuesdays unwrapped at cats

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Helen says

    August 17, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Nice picture of the sky and the flower.
    We have a great big pink flower in our yard that I didn’t plant. It is so pretty and pink. It might be a weed, but I don’t care. I am not going to be all worked about weeds that are pretty.
    I love pink. Nice.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:35 am

      Weeds are in the eye of the beholder. 🙂

  2. Terri Tffany says

    August 17, 2010 at 11:58 am

    Oh this was beautifully written. I love your voice! And you are a good photographer too!!

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:36 am

      Thanks, Terri! I play with my little camera. I’m learning.

  3. HisFireFly says

    August 17, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    It is His grace that allows us to see beauty in the weeds!

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:36 am

      Amen.

  4. Kelly Langner Sauer says

    August 17, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    what a beautiful post! this just makes me happy. I mean really happy. love it!

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:37 am

      You were having a glowing day yesterday. 🙂

      Thanks.

  5. Anne Lang Bundy says

    August 17, 2010 at 3:18 pm

    There are some wealthy people in some of our circles. And you, my friend, have riches to exceed them all.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:37 am

      You enrich my circle!

  6. Sarah at SmallWorld says

    August 17, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    Sounds like a lovely, blissful, simple morning. I look forward to those days, while cherishing where I am now.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:39 am

      And that’s the key. The now.

  7. katdish says

    August 17, 2010 at 5:14 pm

    Wonderful post, Sandy.

    I think weeds are in the eye of the beholder. I love mimosa trees, but my brother in Hawaii says they are weeds, because they are unwanted. I’ll take those weeds anyday.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:42 am

      Our first church was on Mimosa Blvd in Roswell, GA. I have a special fondness for mimosas. Apparently, it’s an “invasive week” there, too. Pink fragrant flowers . . . silk tree.

  8. Anonymous says

    August 17, 2010 at 8:24 pm

    I love mimosas! And I can’t imagine a whole forest of orange and bubbling glasses being “unwanted.” They’d even go well with this author’s love of mornings! But I’m guessing we are not speaking of exactly the same thing…

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:33 am

      Mom?? 😉

  9. in the hush of the moon says

    August 17, 2010 at 11:03 pm

    i LOVED this post… and your hubby sounds like mine. he hates coffee… you write pure poetry. and your photo is marvelous.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:35 am

      Thanks.

      I always hated those ads where husband and wife made up over a cup of Folgers. We can’t fight, cuz making up just isn’t the same over a glass of water.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in