Two Things Thursday #7

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Bay Leaves 

BY NIKKI GIOVANNI

I watched Mommy
Cook
Though I cooked
With Grandmother

With Grandmother I learned
To pluck chickens
Peel carrots
Turn chittlins inside out
Scrub pig feet

With Mommy I watched
leftovers for stew
Or vegetable soup
Great northern beans
Mixed collards turnips and mustard greens
Garlic cloves Bay Leaves
Very beautifully green
Stiff so fresh
With just a pinch of salt
Not everything together
All the time but all the time
Keeping everything

I make my own
Frontier soup in a crock pot
I make my own ice cream with a pinch of salt
And everything else
With garlic
But fresh Bay Leaves
Are only for very special
Ox Tails

2. A Mitch Albom quote from Pinterest

1. Bay Leaves, a poignant and vivid poem by the incomparable Nikki Giovanni. Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni Jr. is alive and well and is 80 years old. She is an activist, writer, creator, poet, a lover of her people, and wishes to see humanity at its best.

Bay Leaves is a favorite poem of mine by her.

2. Mitch Albom quote. Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. I was introduced to his work as a junior in college for my Psychology, Death & Dying class.

We were tasked with reading Tuesdays with Morrie and writing a 5-page paper regarding the effects of the book on us throughout reading it.

I fell in love with this book. I was 20 years old and experienced so many emotions while reading it. I still have an incredible memory of each event documented in the book. However, I’ve read it several times since then, too.

If you haven’t done so, do yourself a favor and give this one a bit of your time.

I own four of Mitch’s books and they all deal with death, grief, dying, and adjusting to life after loss in some way. He is truly a genius in this subject.

WordPress Glitches

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Typically, on Tuesdays, I share a snapshot of a person, place, thing, etc that I’ve taken during the previous week to share. However, WordPress is glitching and I’ve not been able to upload the image I wish to share for today.

If it decides to act like it has some sense later on today, I’ll share that photo at that time. If not, I’ll allow more time before attempting to share any additional images. Right now, it appears to be an issue with uploading and copying/pasting photos in the blogging/content space to share.

I don’t have time to tinker around with WordPress during the week. My day job lends me enough stress and I SURELY will not have an activity of mine I love to take part in during most evening hours give me any stress. No, thank you!

Prayerfully, this will all be sorted before my next posting date which is Thursday, February 22, 2024.

Stay tuned, beautiful people!

My Sunday Morning Smiles

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Left: Caison Michael holding his basketball trophy proudly with a semi-toothless smile. Right: Jernee Timid resting on my cousin’s floor


I woke up with his
face tattooed on my brain;
such a handsome boy with
a smile to shake the world.
He gives me hope.
He lends me peace.
His innocence is contagious.

My old girl rests her
tired body on my cousin’s
carpeted hardwoods; a full
morning of racing through
time has drained her.
She calms my nerves.
She centers my spirit.
She saves me from myself.

And as Sunday kicks off
with temperatures that have
tanked overnight, I wonder
what the constant change of
weather will do to my
head and heart today, but
I’m still smiling because
of a growing boy and an
aging dog.

Two Things Thursday #6

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1. Tattoo#7, “October Star” for my cousin, Chrissy. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
2. Jernee Timid in Red. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

1. October Star. The first image is my latest tattoo which is a tribute to my cousin Chrissy who passed away on February 18, 2022. What you see before you is “October Star.” Chrissy was born in October and she lit up everyone’s life. I dubbed her our October Star and she will always be that to me/us.

For those of you who do not know, I also compiled several narrative poems, lamentations, and memorial works along with colored photos for her, aptly named, October Star. Information for the book can be found here.

Making this tattoo number 7 for me was a no-brainer. It seems right. It feels right. And I have a feeling Chrissy is smiling and is also pleased with it.

2. Jernee Timid has two new shirts. Since it is getting just a bit warmer, she doesn’t need to wear her sweaters or her hoodie, so I purchased two new T-shirts for her. One is light grey and the other is red.

She is casually donning her red shirt in this photo while commandeering my chair and electric blanket. She likes both shirts and gets aggravated when I take them off at night before she goes to bed. She wants to sleep in them, but I know she’ll get overheated during the middle of the night.

There’s never a dull moment with Jernee, and I have to say, I wouldn’t have it any other way.