"I'm begging you. Please don't do something weird at the last minute this time." "I won't!" he responded, offended. She smirked, brushed non-existent from his shoulders, popped his collar and sent him off to school, knowing full well this picture day would turn out just like all the others. #vss365

The tap of her knitting needles is the only sound that rises above the hum of the train's heating system. The muffled announcements between stops, the only words. A car full of people's unspoken agreement to be together in silence, until each of their rides ends. #vss365

She tripped over her too-large boots as they walked the woods- countless generations older than them both. He pointed out an old tap covered with congealed sap & debris, the remains of a homemade bridge crossing a creek, old rusty tools in a box. Evidence of the life that could be made here. #vss365

Shiny planks creaked under her feet & the aromas of cleaner, fresh lilies & a faint powdery perfume mixed. A white box at the bottom of the stairs was filled with hard candies. Beside each chair was an end table with a lace doily, table lamp & coaster and a pair of reading glasses on one. #vss365

Only a fool would leave. The smells of a third season so far- falling leaves & firewood, apples roasting & late season tomatoes freshly jarred for the coming months. She knew they were not planning for snow were she was going, yet life would be harder. Much harder. Still, she had no choice. #vss365

Dance magic, dance. With monsters and marionettes goblins and gowns. The fantasy lives beyond walls of green and upside down stairwells - in the mind of adults, once children with imagination galore. #vss365 #labrynth

Without distraction, his mind flooded with shards of memories, intrusive thoughts, moments from the past flowing into greater events- like lava down a mountain, slow to stop and cool once it got going. So he stayed with people, at places and doing things, avoiding the noise of the silence. #vss365

I guess that's how it is sometimes, when life provides a moment of clarity and you feel where you are- where you've been. The haze of monotony lifted, you realize that there is beauty in this simple existence a sharing of love & time because what more is there? Then you feel true thanks. #vss365

She saw dance fill his body to his fingertips. It wasn't a moment of technique - of creating the perfect lines or silhouette. He didn't seem aware of his body at all - having gone to another place with his partner, and the clave. Nothing more and no one else. Maybe this was how he spoke. #vss365

It was certainly a challenge to stay quiet when she saw her kids in distress. Teenage dramas were blurry, a world away, yet the weight in her gut thinking back was still vivid. If only she could spare her babies from the harder realities of life - but she knew this wasn't the way of things. #vss365

She was doomed to be misunderstood. Agatha had a beagle that always looked depressed. He wasn't but his face had sad puppy dog eyes that got him cuddles and treats despite the wagging tail. Meanwhile, her own face made humans ignore her pain and existential dread. No sad eyes on an axolotl. #vss365

Love lay latent, a seed planted and watered with kindness and humor and an ease of conversation. As the sun arrived, warmth spread through her chest. Affection beginning to grow. Anyone else could see what would come to be. A bloom of emotion, An organic bond. As a new season arrived. #vss365

Breakfast, lunch & dinner cuddles before bed. I'll make your app't, drive you to practice, teach you to clean up your messes. Seek my advice- take it or don't. Either way, you can cry on my shoulder & we'll celebrate the wins. Load after load after load of laundry. Mom's devotion is eternal. #vss365

He didn't like to consider himself Type A. No, he didn't live by rules. Maybe parameters. Sure they were fairly narrow but he was laid back - anyone would tell you. The folks who disagreed were people who didn't do things properly & that had nothing to do with him. Just a chill kind of guy. #vss365

For 3 years she'd had this job. She wasn't a citizen, yet opened a bank account, got a tax id & the rest was history. She felt insulated here, in this moment, days after the attack. No one would target this small island town, a day's flight from NYC. But at home - chaos. She had to go back. #vss365

There's plenty to complain about, but there's plenty to celebrate. I wake up grateful if nothing else, to honor my family before that made this today happen. For there are black & white photos moments of joy caught during hard times. If I have grandchildren, I want them to know I too smiled. #vss365

It’s not that she'd never say what needed to be said, she was just delaying. True, she'd been delaying it for 34 years now but she fully planned to get it out. It was just easier this way at the moment - for her. She wasn’t acquiescing to his needs. One day, she’d be honest. Just not today. #vss365

From a boat in the Irish Sea, I saw a heron sleeping on a skerry rock by itself. It looked content and at rest even though the wind was strong enough to ruffle its feathers. Maybe on a break from hunting with its flock or nesting with a greater heronry. Everyone deserves time to themselves. #vss365

The little boy hopped from puddle to puddle - each landing a new chance for the perfect splash. In just a few years the world would see this playful child as a threat. A tall, Black youth with broadening shoulders and the unfounded appearance of danger. His childhood cut shorter than others. #vss365

I dig You dig We dig He dig She dig They dig It’s not a great poem, but it is very deep.

Rain fell, creating mud - the dirt, like this place. Loam was the only soil that wasn’t chiefly sand, silt, or clay - but an even mix. His people were the same. Cajan, Creole, Louisiana Indian, transplants - different but together. Connected by something intangible. Like jazz - pain yet joy. #vss365

Years back, as a young woman the fight felt righteous. But she remembered how quickly they had turned on one another. Factions splintering the group, trolls inciting mobs. And then, there was the hurt. Real damage had been done in the name of revolution - now a regime she barely recognized. #vss365

"What if you try viewing things through a fresh lens." she said. "It's like dating your spouse, or sightseeing in your own city because we do know that perspective changes things. What happens from there... well, that's for you to figure out." #vss365

Herded across miles, not even a suitcase to their name, falling rain now soaking what little they have. Finding an escape plan with every stop, searching for the best hiding place for their children- in diapers last year, this year called terrorist. No one wins in a war waged against babies. #vss365

We are just specks in this enormous universe and in this brief moment in time. That doesn't make me feel scared or insignificant. It makes me feel part of something greater - just a small part yet still, uniquely me, and you're uniquely you. Amazing. #GoodMorning !

I wish that she was known as more than Jessie's girl, and yeah, I guess wish I had her. Not because I want her, But because she deserves better. He for one, will move on his journey But I'd welcome her with open arms, faithfully. Bc I'll never stop believing that she can be good to herself. #vss365

If this is gonna work for me I need to find the folks who will gossip about reality tv w/ me… Esp. #Survivor and the #LoveIsBlind type shows.

Postcards reading: Aloha from Hawaii, Greetings from Thailand, Discover Historic Machu Picchu, The White Sands of Crete Call, Experience the Majesty of Kenya. Different words telling the same story: No matter where I go, I wish you were with me. #vss365

80s Atari vibes @ Hometown Arcade

The smell of rain took her away, travel through nostalgia. Burning peat moss and petrichor, A different kind of island life, of slate skies and rolling waves of green. The melodic rhythm of ending the work day in a sconce lit room, with stories and good company. #vss365 #ErinGoBragh

#&juliet was awesome at Boston Opera House tonight!

Since a lot of us are new - I'm a way left of center Boston-girl and mom and in no particular order, I'm about: laughing kindness writing, film, video stories, movies, shows, audiobooks, podcasts BLM women & girl-power menieres dance gratitude good food bad reality tv and spreading love

Her father had never been the type to offer praise directly. But she knew where he came from - a different time and place. There, love was keeping the family fed and safe. Care was making sure they were all prepared for what lay ahead. That kind of ready didn't come by way of compliments. #vss365

This man hadn't reached the pinnacle of useless arrogance, he was the pinnacle. The absolute peak. A Christmas tree needle that sticks into your foot in June. Dried out and stinging - but without the happy memories. And now he was knocking at her door yet again, HOA by-laws in hand. #vss365

She noticed the salt on her skin, crisp air and coffee in her nose, gulls in her ears. The lobstermen had already returned from a day's work, ropes stacked along the docks. Going into her office felt unnatural- A manufactured world. When the sea breeze was out here. For anyone to breathe. #vss365