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Pumpkins And Poetry

1/16/2023

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From humble gourd to king of Autumn in America, the orange winter squash has become synonymous with Halloween. The humble gourd is transformed into a warrior that keeps the supernatural at bay.  We owe so much to the pumpkin!

We really owe it to the Irish immigrants who began travelling across the sea to the new world, that the pumpkin began to become a Halloween staple. The gourd, native to North America, was conveniently ready for harvest in autumn, and was far more plentiful than turnips. Yes, turnips and other vegetables, not pumpkins, were carved with faces to scare off spirits. In fact, the Celts who began the holiday had likely not seen a pumpkin before. 

It seems only fitting that this humble gourd would be immortalized in poetry by the great
Carl Sandburg.
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Photo by Brian Wegman □ on Unsplash
Theme in Yellow

​​I spot the hills 
With yellow balls in autumn. 
I light the prairie cornfields 
Orange and tawny gold clusters 
And I am called pumpkins. 
On the last of October 
When dusk is fallen 
Children join hands 
And circle round me 
Singing ghost songs 
And love to the harvest moon; 
I am a jack-o'-lantern 
With terrible teeth 
And the children know 
I am fooling.

​Carl Sandburg - 1878-1967

Pumpkins, Poetry and The Human Experience

It has been said that poetry is one of the most important forms of expression there is. As part of our heritage for centuries, it is an important part of our cultural identity. Poetry can teach us history that connects us to our ancestors, and our community. It can help us understand and empathize with the experiences of others. By reading and writing poetry, we can connect with our past, present, and future selves and with the world around us.

Do you have a poem that has special meaning for you? Do you love or hate the pumpkin? Let me know in the comments!
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#GivingTuesday

9/2/2019

 
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​The Susan Mast ALS Foundation is everything I wish my family had when we were struggling to understand what was to come. They give ALS patients and their families much needed support, guidance and resources that they so desperately need in one of the darkest times in their lives. There is currently no cure for ALS, but there is help! The Susan Mast ALS Foundation is there for patients and families when they need it most. They provide Support Groups, Respite, Meals, Caregiver Training and so much more.
 
I won't bore you with the growing mountain of statistics that come along with the subject of ALS. I'll leave the numbers to the numbers people. I'd rather tell you a story of my favorite person in the world, my big brother Joe.
My brother Joe was nearly 4 years older than me. Until his Senior year of high school in 1980 something, he was the typical older brother who didn't want much to do with his younger siblings because we cramped his style. And lowering his coolness status among his high school cohorts was not an option for him. But as fate would have it, shortly before he graduated and joined the US Army, something changed in our relationship. I never did figure it out, but we became fast friends. Joe began to invite me on outings around town and occasionally hang out with his friends, which made this ultra-shy kid who was afraid of is own shadow feel super important. He was the best! And to make things even better, when Joe came home on leave from the Army, he would come to my school and sign me out early. Joe would walk into my class like the bad-ass he was and hand my teacher a piece of paper from the office saying I could leave with him. That raised my coolness factor among my classmates big time! And it only got better from there.
Picture - Joe Prevost & Steven Prevost
Steven and Joe Prevost 2011

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LOVE MICHIGAN Designs Inspired by Pride Month

6/10/2017

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I've come up with a few designs and have begun to put them up for sale on sites like Zazzle and ArtsAdd. I'm selling under the name JavaTee.

JavaTee, originally was supposed to be a tee-shirt shop all about the coffee and nothing but the coffee, so help me god. But as with so many other things in life, it just isn't that simple. As much as I love coffee, there are other things about me and in my life that I consider equally important.
Gay Pride Love Michigan Watch w/Purple Face
Gay Pride Love Michigan Watch w/Purple Face
(Model 203)
by javatee
Recently I can came across and article about the Pride Flag and it's creator, ​Gilbert Baker, and I was inspired by his story. He and so many others of His generation who have come before me were on the front lines of the Gay Rights movement. I was overcome with emotion as I read about him and how the flag came to be. 
“Until we had a flag, the symbol for our movement was the pink triangle, which was put on us by Hitler and the Nazis.”
​- Gilbert Baker
I have been fortunate to have benefited from the blood, sweat and tears, folks like Gilbert Baker and Harvey Milk and countless others that have laid down their lives so generations following could enjoy Equal Rights promised to every person in the Unites States Constitution.

Making these designs probably won't change the world, and hell, I probably won't make much money from selling them, but for now I feel like I'm contributing to my community in a small way.
"We needed something that expressed our beauty, our soul, our love — that came from us and wasn’t put on us."
​​- Gilbert Baker
Hope will never be silent - Harvey Milk quote
Quote by Harvey Milk
For me, being open about my sexuality is hard because I like my privacy. I don't think it's anyone's business what my sexuality is or who I love or choose to be in a relationship with. I'm not particularly "Proud" to be gay. Honestly, I've never understood those who are proud of being gay. So your gay, so what! So I'm gay, so what! It shouldn't be an issue for anyone! Sadly, that's not reality. In light of reality, and I consider myself a realist, I am therefore obligated to honor the memory of my elders who, as I stated before, risked and gave their lives so I could live free of discrimination, harassment, hate and violence, simply because I'm gay.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end. If you came this far, would you go a little further and share this post or click any of the links on this page to purchase an item?
JavaTee
JavaTee on Zazzle
ladies-high-top-Love-Michigan
LOVE MICHIGAN High-top sneakers by javatee on ArtsAdd
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LOOKING FOR 100% FREE IMAGES FOR YOUR WEBSITE?

1/24/2016

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In my never ending search for quality stuff to include on my website, Stock Photos have always been a challenge. Often times they are too expensive or you have to buy a subscription to a website in order to get access to there "free stock photos".

That's a big waste of money when you only need one or two pictures.

Check out this quality set of resources where you can download 100% free images for your Website. Each of these websites hosts hundreds, sometimes thousands of royalty free Images which you can download and use on your website for Free.

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Peaches Café, an Eastown Gem

11/17/2015

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In the South East section of Grand Rapids, Michigan is a groovy little place called Eastown; A.k.a. "the center of the Universe". The later is more a rumor than a provable fact. I've lived in Grand Rapids since the early 1990s, but for the past 3 years I've been able proudly say I live in Eastown. Which is really awesome, because it puts me within walking distance to many my favorite places. Small, locally owned businesses. Many of which are Owner-operator. Small businesses are my favorite places to shop and dine, meet with friends and even make new friends. 
Picture: Peaches Cafe Exterior

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3 Reasons to Shop Small this Holiday Season

11/11/2015

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Picture: Buy Local
The holidays are hovering just weeks away—and Small Business Saturday (November 28, 2015) will be here in a flash. I love small businesses! The service is better and most of the time you get to deal directly with the owner.

I was surprised to find that a recent poll stated 57% of small-business owners haven’t heard of this shopping day. And even more concerning to me, 69% of small-business owners said they would not be supporting other small businesses this holiday season.

Here are just three reasons to shop small:​

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