Dessert

February 7

I am thankful for dessert. I suppose dessert may be at the top of of the list of my favorite food groups! So abiding by this message at Ocean Spings, Mississippi's Bayview Gourmet restaurant is not a bad idea.

dessert

so my momma said

i had to finish my plate of dinner

before getting dessert

as the prize for the food eating winner

but if i had just one wish

it’d be for a universe

where dinner would have to wait

and dessert is eaten first.

© rt tulley

Springtime in Winter

February 6

I am thankful for springtime in winter, those days when the temperatures soar to the seventies or eighties when we've been having chilly and wet days come as a wonderful respite.

It was so nice on this particular day that I decided to go play golf around 3 pm. We barely had time to finish 9 holes in light. Here is my playing partner, Seth, preparing to tee off on hole #17 at the Oaks of Sherwood Golf Club in Baton Rouge. A wonderful full moon oversaw our final three holes.

springtime in winter

winter’s throws beat down

upon those weary of grey

wet and chilly the winds blew cold

it seemed that winter would stay

but today the sun woke up

and heated up winter’s chill

grey ‘s domain morphed into blue

giving a glimpse of spring’s fill

like a momentary lapse

of winter’s remembrance

we take copious advantage

of this springtime advance.

© rt tulley

Fantasy

February 5

I am thankful for fantasy. It allows us to escape from reality and get lost in daydreams.

I was taking a photo of a stop sign nearby and at the last minute before returning to my car noticed this scene. It was the brightly colored green moss on the ground in this drainage ditch (I prefer to think stream) that attracted me. I actually have several beautiful photos in this setting but chose to use this one for my fantasy theme. I created this photo by combining 3 photos taken at different exposures using Photomatix software with the "Grunge" setting; I then further edited it in Photoshop by increasing saturation and adding a touch of fog effect in the background. This was all done with the intention of creating a fantasy type world. I was tempted to put flying sprites or birds or butterflies, or maybe a leprechaun or fairy (I asked my wife Bebe to pose as one but she refused), but decided simplicity was the easiest approach.

fairy tale

once upon a time

there was a dashing young prince

who had been put into a dark sleeping spell

and there has slept ever since

there too was a beautiful young maid

by the name of castolay

who fell in love with the prince

as he slept his life away

she asked a witch of the name elronda

how to awaken that man

so she did exactly as elronda said

she had the most perfect plan

one night by the light of the full moon

she brought with her a big green frog

she held it over the prince and kissed

as instructed by the pedagogue

she waited and waited

but nothing at all had changed

castolay then told the old witch

 “i did just as you arranged”

elronda said, “you should have listened

no, it was not to be a frog

you were supposed to give him a kiss

under a full moon with a fog!”

© rt tulley