blogging101

on the Journey…

by taohobo

Creativity for the Haiku portion of this blog has been dim these past few years. Something I’m always thinking about… But, lately I’ve been thinking also about the other half, the journey portion, and that has still been continuing. Old doors closing and new ones opening, adventures and travel…

So, until the creativity kicks back in, and maybe beyond, I’m going to be posting about this journey. I’ll mix a little of this happened, with this is happening, to thus are the dreams…

Just a quick update tonight, I’ll be back in a couple of days.

Something new, something old…

by taohobo

Woohoo!! I just changed domains, kind of, to http://haikujourney.com for this blog – that’s something new. The something old is that https://taohobo.wordpress.com will still work and it’ll simply redirect to haikujourney.com.

As a blogger, you’ve gotta love WordPress and the tools, support, training, etc. that make it so easy to have a great blog (Ok, I’m still working on my part of that. lol 😀 )

So now I have a blog site that matches the name of my blog, makes more sense to people, will make it easier to find – in other words all the things you don’t want to have to constantly worry about while you’re trying to create content for the blog. And these are all things I may have never done if I hadn’t spent a great month with @michelleweber, @supernovia, @jeremylduvall on Blogging 101, and with @benhuberman, @lettergrade on Writing 201 and all of the bloggers, writers, and poets that were my “classmates”.

Thumbstone Happiness

by taohobo

Walking the beach. Watch the surf sweeping sand, look for the wet sparkle. Too small, wrong shape, too thick, fully round, too heavy. Ahh ha, white Quartz, polished in the depths, cradles in my hand, already my thumb fits, slides, caresses the slight depression. Caressing the slight depression, caressing the slight depression, ignites the slight smile of happiness.

Tuesday Treasured Tidbits 

In the fog

by taohobo 
It is so unforgiving this
 Fog in which we travel steadily
  Following the bow in and out
   Of swirling vapor drapes, warily
    Groping through the harbor
     Like a blind bat weaving recklessly
      In flight zigging zagging
       Flying without echoes readily
        To guide it on its course our
         Senses overruled by compass verity
          ! Our mooring dead ahead.

My walls…

by taohobo

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Wall to Wall.”

Hangs our life, little pieces of it, memories in frames. Boldness, fearlessness, is on our walls, – the painters asked twice, “Are you sure this is the color you wanted?” Small shelves honor ceramic art by our sons, carvings, and photos too. Life is on our walls, wall to wall.

The rest of the story…

by taohobo

I left off the About me story (see: What’s This Guy Doing Here?) adrift in the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii.

That seemed ok, it must have been obvious that I was saved somehow and the saving part wasn’t important to that Blogging 101 assignment. But, was certainly important to me. So here’s the rest of the story.

Just as I was wondering what I was doing in that predicament I looked up toward the Gridley to see if I was making any progress. What I saw was my friend and shipmate Andy Mott charging down the port side, coiling line (rope to you non-nautical readers) as fast as he could. I started swimming harder, keeping my eye on Andy – something they train you to do as a rescue swimmer. He slid down the port side ladder onto the fantail and raced aft. As he skidded to a stop just short of the stern, he wound up and heaved the bitter end (the loose end) of that line for all he was worth. It uncoiled in slow motion, Andy leaned out, extending his right arm…

Straight and true, every inch of it extended, the end of that line dropped about five feet in front of me. I lunged, grabbed it, and let Andy reel me in. Saved!

EPILOGUE

You’d think I’d have stayed in touch with the man who saved my life but no, such is youth, the military, life, that you loose touch with even the important people in your life. This WordPress Blogging University assignment was to write a post to your dream audience. I wasn’t sure what audience that was at first. I thought of a lot of different audiences that I had had in mind for different postings over the years. But it seemed fitting that this should be for an audience I literally owe my life to – and yes, I do know that there are many more of you out there – so Andy Mott, if you stumble across this, let me know. Or at least know that I’ve never forgotten.