Tag: #poetry

Back Home in the Sierras

Posted on August 14, 2026 by JANET L BARKER

I stayed up late to watch the Perseid meteor showers flashing across the 3-D drive-in movie screen above my campsite. I leaned back in my stargazing chair, bundled up in my New York Winter of 2025 puffy jacket, wrapped my chilled legs loosely in… Continue Reading “Back Home in the Sierras”

Category: #campingTags: #adventure, #camping, #hiking, #love, #Nature, #poetry, #solocamping, #solowomencamping, #travel, #tuolumnemeadowspoetryfestival, #yossimite, sierranevadas

To Quote Sir David Attenborough

Posted on June 13, 2026 by JANET L BARKER

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Life on Paradise Lane is, well, Paradise. Let me explain … My stellar view: inner elbow curve 3D screensaver-scape of the—as of noon on Friday—calm Pacific Ocean. It’s like being an extra on a movie set: the foreground is dewy grass lush with occasional… Continue Reading “To Quote Sir David Attenborough”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #adolescents\, #grandmother, #hope, #overrelienceontechnology], #poetry, #technology, #writing, A#grandchildren

State of Being

Posted on April 1, 2026 by JANET L BARKER

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Aloha. Our last day in Paradise and like most people who visit the lush island of Kauai, we don’t want to leave. It’s been rainy, a bit chilly, windy and seasonably weather-rich in Princeville, our home for a week as we celebrate my kind,… Continue Reading “State of Being”

Category: Uncategorized, unconditional loveTags: #family, #grandparents, #gratitude, #hawaii, #kauai, #love, #mindfulness, #Nature, #neverenoughtime, #poetry, #princeville, #retiredlife, #retirtement, #springvacation, #travel, #writing, aunties, family, life, love

I Wrote a Poem

Posted on May 5, 2025 by JANET L BARKER

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It’s been a long while since I blogged. I have so much to share and don’t really know where or how to begin. It’s all good. No worries there. But it’s been a jumble, a rumble, an unfolding, a sorting out—-literally—-of my entire life… Continue Reading “I Wrote a Poem”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #art, #beachlife, #cambria, #cambriacenterforthearts, #centralcoast, #dogs, #gratitude, #kauai #grandhyattkauai #summer #summervacation #georgeclooney #thedesendants #fullmoon #retirement #blessings #hawaii #advanture #lifeizgood #love #blessings #maitai, #livinglifetothefullest, #lovinglife, #maryoliver, #poetry, #poets, #retiredteacher, #thewritinglife, #writing, family, fiction, grandparent, life, love

But today, it is.

Posted on May 26, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

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Moss hangs from a sea of aged oak trees, dancing in the wind outside my friends’ forest-shrouded home in Atascadero, California. I’m residing here for a weekish, babysitting their two precious mini dachshunds as their mum and dad vacation in Kauai. Their original dog… Continue Reading “But today, it is.”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirementTags: #bestfriends, #dogsitting, #faith, #findingpeace, #friends, #friendship, #happiness, #housesitting, #lessons, #memorialday, #Nature, #peace, #poetry, #relaxing, @retirement, life, love, spirituality

Best laid plans

Posted on February 3, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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I love to plan. It’s like cleaning a bedroom closet or the fridge; while I dread the getting-started-phase feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand, once I get started, I’m energized by the process, and the end result: Efficiency. Tidiness. Everything in its place.… Continue Reading “Best laid plans”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #doglove, #education, #faith, #grandparents, #hope, #joecocker, #lifeizgood, #loss, #love, #loveeverymoment, #maryoliver, #poetry, #puppylove, #retiredteacher, #retirement, #watercolor, #withalittlehelpofmyfriends

l.o.v.e.

Posted on June 22, 2020 by JANET L BARKER

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Look at me: Overweight. Vulnerable. Entering a new chapter of life. Periods separate the letters. If only things were that clear. Like so many of us, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the Fall. I suspect we’ll do some remote teaching/learning and… Continue Reading “l.o.v.e.”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #catstevens, #covid19, #enjoyeverymoment, #grandparents, #poetry, #retirement, #summer, #teaching, #thenextchapter, #youthiswastedontheyoung