Something Like Loyalty poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink for Roundup.

Happy news: I received my Alabama Master Naturalist certificate in the mail. Yay! It took me nearly two years to complete the program. The lectures and tests were the easy part; what slowed me down was the volunteer hours and the required field days, which were challenging to fit into my schedule! But I did it! And I learned so much along the way, like:

Alabama ranks 5th in the country for species biodiversity.  States 1-5 in order: California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Alabama!

Alabama is the Turtle Capitol of the World. (We have more turtle species in Alabama than any other place.)

I visited the historic iron ore mining shafts and labor-of-love native garden at Red Mountain Park, and I helped conduct water testing after salamander-searching in a stream atop Mt. Cheaha State Park.

I also added to my Must Go There (Alabama) list, so more on this soon!

MORE happy news: this weekend marks my annual pilgrimage to the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) to participate and perform with the Adult String Orchestra! Great folks, lots of learning, and making music, which is, more than anything, JOY.

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is on the topic of loyalty, about which there is some debate. Is it a virtue? A sentiment? An action? Click here to learn what philosophers are discussing!

To learn more about this particular painting, click here. (I don't know if Picasso intended a beach scene, but that's where I went with it!)

Also: I could keep tinkering with these words and lines FOREVER! (I was revising as I was creating the graphic...will return to it when I have more time!) Thanks so much for reading.

Something Like Loyalty

sky & blue

eyes & ocean

salt & whisper

mouth & wet

dog & boy

- Irene Latham