Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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I Quit

February 24, 2020 By Sandra Heska King

I quit. I came by here for a visit and found it’s been six months, almost seven, since I’ve strung any words together in this space. Because I quit. I keep getting new visitors, though. And views on my Facebook page–where I haven’t posted in the same amount of time. Because I quit. Actually, does […]

Filed Under: Blog, stories and reflections

First Words Friday: Week 6 – 2019 – Literary America

February 8, 2019 By Sandra Heska King

literary america

I bought this book–A Journey Through Literary America–as a gift to myself directly from the website, on sale and autographed. But it’s also available on Amazon. It’s “a literary pilgrimage in photography and prose.” Thomas Hummel (writer) and Tamra Dempsey (photographer) set out to find the stories and explore the places that inspired 26 of […]

Filed Under: Blog, First Words Friday

Dared: To Paint a Wall Chartreuse

April 19, 2018 By Sandra Heska King

    Chartreuse. The color of your creativity. That phrase pinged around my head this morning. I wrote it on an index card, attributed it to L.L. Barkat, and pinned it to my bulletin board. But then I wondered, “Did she really say that—like that?” Laura Barkat has unofficially mentored me for several years. Last […]

Filed Under: Blog, Dared

Read-to-Write: Nature-Deficit Disorder (1)

May 17, 2017 By Sandra Heska King

Last Child in the Woods

I grew up on a lake–practically lived in the woods–and did all kinds of things outdoors that these days would be considered too dangerous. There was little on TV (we got maybe two stations) and no electronic “gizmology.” Books were my best friends, and I often read them outside. Last week my husband and I […]

Filed Under: Blog

When You Dare To Open Doors

April 6, 2017 By Sandra Heska King

door

  So  those of you who started to follow along may have noticed I piddled out on my Lenten reposts after just six days. I’m not really sure now why I decided to dig up six weeks of old. Maybe because I’ve been so quiet and I wanted to let you know I was still […]

Filed Under: Blog

How I’m Investing in Self-Care

February 6, 2017 By Sandra Heska King

workshop mug

    Hi. I’m Sandra/Sandy/Snady/SHK, and I’m a Tweetspeak Poetry workshopaholic. I want to believe that the investment I make in these workshops will pay off, that I’ll eventually/someday reap what I sow in terms of my bank account. That may or may not happen. But I’m pretty sure that what I invest in self-care is immeasurable […]

Filed Under: Blog, stories, writing

When I Was No Writer And My Words Were Poo

September 23, 2015 By Sandra Heska King

  “I like good strong words that mean something.” ~Jo March (Little Women)   I chinned the rusty barrel near the hem of our woods. The carbon petals curled and separated. The ashes fluttered high and melted into the atmosphere. Cremation complete. The weekly newspaper over in the next county had rejected my fiction story—the […]

Filed Under: Blog, writing

Dreaming With Darwish: Nurture Hope

September 9, 2015 By Sandra Heska King

  The poet Mahmoud Darwish believed there needed to be a time gap between an event and the writing about it. My thoughts about this latest dare are like “cotton ginned by the wind.” Maybe I need a wider gap. I’ve sat most of this past week in “A State of Siege,” a long text […]

Filed Under: Blog, poetry, writing

Becoming Mindful in Place: Mosquito

July 6, 2015 By Sandra Heska King

  There’s a cloud of them, forming and re-forming like an angry amoeba. They’re battering the windows like marauding movie zombies. They. Want. My. Blood. “But it’s AB,” I yell at them. “My blood is AB-negative. You like it O. O-positive. I read that somewhere.” It must be my scent. Or the fact I’m now […]

Filed Under: Blog, stories

Becoming Mindful in Place: When You Don’t Feel Like Walking

June 24, 2015 By Sandra Heska King

  I’ve been crying again and don’t really feel like doing this walking assignment for my Becoming Mindful in Place workshop, but I carry my key and a heavy heart out to the garage. I drive Hope, my new red Jeep, down the paved entrance lined by American flags and through the gate. I bear […]

Filed Under: Blog, stories, writing

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

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sandraheskaking

A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
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Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
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Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
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So pay attention. Find a poem.
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Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
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P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
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A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
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Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
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Read the whole poem--> -->
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Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
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"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
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I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
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#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
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Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
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71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Don’t mind me. Just storking by. Don’t mind me. Just storking by.
I’ve gotten several messages asking if things we I’ve gotten several messages asking if things were okay. Yes. I’ve recovered after 3 weeks in Covid jail. Also, I’ve been a bit scarce on social cuz we’ve been finishing up house renovations, and there is SO much that now needs to be cleaned and stuff put away. Also, we’ve had the second oldest grand with us for two weeks. I “should have” at least shared some stories about our adventures, but we’ve relished the time and kept busy. One can’t leave South Florida without a gator encounter, though, right? Tomorrow the two of us fly back to Michigan, and then I will spend a week with my sister where I expect I will be put to work in the chicken house and the gardens and become a glad(iola) roadside proprietor for a day at the Four Star in while she and my BIL attend a family reunion. I’ll also get to see my dad in the nursing home and spend a couple nights with my daughter. D will hold down the fort here. Then maybe by the first of next month, I’ll be able to finish putting things in order, breathe, find some writing space and get back to normal. Whatever that is.
I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm started. I finally got up about 5ish and sat outside to watch. Until a couple mosquitoes found me. Also, the jasmine hadn’t gone to bed yet and smelled heavenly.
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