This book is a great read and will stretch your imagination!
The sequel, What's Next~An Epic Journey, comes out in the spring. Watch for more in the May issue!
My novelTo the End of Time and Back: An Epic Journeyis available via Amazon and Kindle. It will grab you from the start and carry you to places you have never been. The book contains many diverse ideas and is a great love story filled with adventure and intrigue.Questions? Email me. To read more click here. To go to Amazon, click here.
A number of individuals have sent some wonderful reviews. You can read some ofthem in the Forum Section below.
Two Poems: Where does the trail lead? and Home Church
Vignette this Month: The Comfort of Familiarity
Recommendations
............ A scene from the Tulip Festival
Opening Comments from Bob
Beyond Time and Back: Epic Journey: My novel is available via Amazon. It contains stories of deep passion and love. Follow two lovers throughout time as they search for answers. A great love story unfolds through the pages. Trust me, you will never be bored.
The sequel, What's Next~An Epic Journey, will be launched in May.
Spring in Utah: I have found that almost anywhere you live or visit that spring is a beautiful time of year. This issue has a feast of spring colors, primarily from pictures taken at two Salt Lake City gardens, Red Butte and Thanksgiving Point with its annual "Tulip Festival." Over 250,000 tulips including over 100 varieties are displayed. This issue contains two poems, Where does the trail lead? and Home Church. Both are somewhat serious, the second being a bit more lighthearted. I trust you will enjoy.
To follow me on Facebook, click on Poet Bob, and ask to befriend me.
Spring is beginning to show in this late March picture taken just outside of Midway, UT.
.Two Poems
Where does the trail lead?
The mysterious lies before us
with cliffs and mountains to scale.
We follow the trail.
In the valleys, the sun rises and the rains fall.
With cliffs and mountains to scale
blizzard air sends chills to the core.
In the valleys, the sun rises and the rains fall.
At night the stars serve as our guide.
Blizzard air sends chills to the core.
We follow the trail.
At night the stars serve as our guide.
The mysterious lies before us
Comment: I hope you enjoyed my first efforts of a French Pantoum. This poetic form is derived from a Malay verse form consisting of an indefinite number of quatrains with the second and fourth lines of each quatrain repeated as the first and third lines of the following one. Even more importantly, I hope it touched you.
Home Church
A over decade has passed since my last visit.
I enter with dear friend Doug.
The minister is new, and unfamiliar faces peer.
Upon further scrutiny the congregation remains much the same, only the hair, whiter or sparser.
Soon Bill and then Jenny and others welcome me back to the church where decades ago I was confirmed.
The familiar returns as I join friends in worship.
Comment: Little explanation is needed. The vignette below also speaks to familiarity and its importance. If you have time, please read. When I return again to Ohio, chances are likely that I will again attend the church of my youth and speak longer with those whom I didn't have time on my last visit.
In early April in Ohio, Spring was dragging her feet. Pictured is a picnic area at Clear Fork reservoir. My sister told me that the following week after my return the snow had disappeared.
A young boy on the run or is it the Canadian goose?
A fanciful scene at the Tulip Festival
The above and below pictures were taken at Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City
Vignette this Month: The Comfort of Familiarity
The older I become the more I realize the importance of the familiar. Some seek to avoid that as I often did in my youth. New adventures were my passion as I traveled and explored the world. Please don't misunderstand, I still enjoy such experiences, but they are no longer my driving force. Now, I find comfort and embrace events such as described in the above poem regarding my return visit to the church of my youth. I am at the age where you look back on life and rejoice in those moments that at one time were taken for granted. There is comfort in the knowledge that my spouse accepts me despite my many flaws. Friends provide support beyond mere talk of sports and the mundane. When former students come up to me, laughing and smiling, making comments that any teacher would love, I believe I might have made a difference.
I try to return to Ohio every six to eight weeks to visit my ninety-two year old mother and my sisters. We have a routine on each visit, two trips, one to a favorite Indian restaurant and the other, a Japanese one. At both, upon entering, we are greeted as friends. While there, I know that I will be exposed to many TV shows that I didn't realize existed. My moans regarding the shows are a running joke between my sister, mom, and me. Again, familiarity!
On this recent Ohio visit I caught up with a friend who recently experienced a great loss in his life. We spoke and reminisced about the past along along with our thoughts on the current political climate. We both agreed if only the country followed our advice. (Who doesn't believe that?) Despite the absence over the years, we spoke as if we were never apart.
A new familiarity I am loving is being near my son and his wonderful family. Janice and I rejoice in that opportunity. Ultimately, I believe most of us find comfort in life's familiarity.
If you have a guest vignette you would like to submit, please do so. Not only will I enjoy reading it, but if agreeable with you and space permitting, I will print it in a future issue. The vignette should be written in paragraph form and relate a personal story or event. Equally important, it should fit the overall tenor of this newsletter. Ideally, it should not exceed twenty lines. Please send to bob@poeticaljourneys.com.
The Tulip Festival displays over 250,000 tulips including over 100 varieties.
Recommendations
Take time to savor beauty!
Oh yes, if you happen to visit Thanksgiving Point, enjoy lunch at the Trellis Cafe–incredibly delicious food and service.
Please take a look at the online book and gift pages.
