A writer inspired by nature and human nature

Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

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Have an Amazing New Year! (+poem by Bette A. Stevens)


May your New Year be Amazing
as a Monarch Butterfly

May your days be blessed and beautiful

May your nights, sweet dreams supply

May your New Year be amazing

As a monarch butterfly

Wishing all of you and our amazing monarch butterflies…
“An Amazing New Year!”

~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author

All About Monarchs

Monarch butterflies offer an amazing view into the intricate nature of the wild. Their science name, Danaus Plexippus, Greek for “Sleepy Transformation,” gets part of the story right, but not the epic whole. International conservation efforts to protect and restore monarch habitat are ongoing. These efforts may help improve the near-endangered/endangered status of the species; but we, as ordinary citizens, can easily help the monarch butterfly recovery right in our own backyards and gardens. Find out more at the links below.

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Written

on 12/30/2017

Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – A Christmas image and poem from Bette A. Stevens


Christmas love and blessings to all! ~Bette A. Stevens

Category:

Maine Author, My Poetry, Photography

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Believe in Miracles—poem by Bette A. Stevens


 

Believe in Miracles

Poem by Bette A. Stevens

The whistling of the wind at play
Sunrise marking each new day
Rainfall crafting flowers to grow
Bright hues of every new rainbow

Planning skills for birds and bees
Conifer seeds becoming trees
Seas with creatures great and small
Land or sea, God made them all

Stars that mark the sky at night
Waning moon soon waxing bright
Seasons as they come and go
Wonders in each day they show

Wonder of wonders is mankind
Of every persuasion, you will find
God’s miracles are everywhere
Here to treasure, here to share

God made each one of us to show
His love and mercy as we go
About our life on earth each day
To all God’s wonders on our way

The greatest miracle you’ll find
God made the world with us in mind
He made it so that we might see
The love He has for you and me

John 1:3 (NIV) “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

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Written

on 12/17/2017

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Respite for the Soul (Haiku & more Maine coastal photos) by Bette A. Stevens


Whenever we need a respite from the doldrums, Maine’s coast is calling…and no matter the season, Belfast, Maine is always a relaxing, scenic 45-minute drive from our 37-acre farmstead in Central Maine. The photo inspiring the haiku Respite for the Soul was taken at Moose Point State Park in Searsport, Maine. Photo collage below is from our latest visit to the nearby town of Belfast. Hope you enjoy the haiku and our visit to two of Maine’s  coastal towns too! ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author

Ocean waves calling

Visitors from near and far

Respite for the soul

Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

A Day in Belfast, Maine

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Written

on 11/07/2017

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“October Sunset” Haiku by Bette A. Stevens


Here at “The Farmstead” in Central Maine, the splendor never ends as God blesses  us with his bountiful beauty every day—season to season. This evening’s sunset inspired me to pen “October Sunset,” a haiku. What’s inspiring you today? —Bette A. Stevens, Maine author

October Sunset

Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

Ominous skies view
Evening extravaganza
Mourning daylight’s end

Twilight promises
Reassure restless critics
Splendor never ends

 

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Written

on 10/24/2017

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“Autumn Parade: Haiku by Bette A. Stevens


Autumn Parade

Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

Medley of colors
Marching in seasonal time
An autumn parade

About the author

Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies—an endangered species (and for milkweed, the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).

Stevens is the author of AMAZING MATILDA, an award-winning picture book; The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too!, a home/school resource  incorporating hands-on math and writing; and PURE TRASH, the short story prequel to her début novel, DOG BONE SOUP—coming-of-age story and family drama set in 1950s and 60s New England.

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Written

on 10/18/2017

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Summer’s Last Song—Haiku by Bette A. Stevens


Summer’s Last Song—Haiku by Bette A. Stevens Summer’s Last Song—Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

As summer draws to a close here at The Farmstead in Central Maine, the air feels crisper and days grow shorter; yet a few summer blooms remain to perform their last song as notes of autumn begin to appear in the background of the landscape, biding their time to take center stage. Oh, the wonders of the seasons.

Summer’s Last Song

Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

Serene autumn hymns

Play softly in the background

Of summer’s last song

 

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Written

on 09/15/2017

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Persistence Speaks—a poem by Bette A. Stevens


Persistence Speaks—a poem by Bette A. Stevens

Nature has so many lessons to teach us and here’s one among the many I’ve learned from the butterflies.

Persistence Speaks

by Bette A. Stevens

Persistence speaks—Do not give up
And why should we comply
The answer’s very humbly found
In wings of butterflies

A tiny egg begins its tasks
Of monumental span
To metamorphose sundry times
Before it understands

The goal which seems impossible
Before the toil begins
Nets dividends beyond compare
When butterflies earn wings

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Written

on 09/04/2017

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May you experience…


May all of your days be filled with wonders! ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author http://www.4writersandreaders.com

nataliescarberry's avatarSacred Touches

Screen Shot 2017-09-01 at 10.24.16 PM.png
**Image found on Pinterest; text added by Natalie

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Written

on 09/02/2017

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Write a Summer Limerick & Get the Kids Writing Too!


HAVE FUN WRITING LIMERICKS

Monarch Butterfly LIMERICK 2 bas 2017

Summertime is fun time! And with ‘back to school’ just around the corner, it’s a great time to write limericks and get the kids writing too…

Whether you’re a writer, a reader, a teacher, a parent or simply want to share the love of reading and writing, get the kids together and give “Limericks” a try. You’ll be glad you did!

Some of my favorite things about summer are butterflies, long lazy summer days, gardens and sunshine. I love to sit on the porch with my camera at the ready just in case I spot an amazing monarch or any of our sensational butterfly friends dropping by to enjoy the view. So far this year I’ve spotted twelve monarchs and dozens of other butterflies too—and managed to capture several of these exquisite creatures with my Canon “PowerShot.”

Butterflies are very sensitive to the environment and with their natural habitat areas being increasingly eroded and with significantly greater use of chemicals, our butterfly population is in decline. Planting and cultivating milkweed (Monarch caterpillars need milkweed) and other blooms that our pollinators need for survival is one way that I can help.

Limerick (poetic definition)

[lim-er-ik]
noun
1. a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet.

 

My limerick is about one of the monarch butterflies (captured by my camera) that fluttered through my garden so far this summer. I had fun writing two verses to tell my monarch’s story. Check out the link at the end of the post to find out more about poetic limericks.

A Monarch Butterfly Limerick

by Bette A. Stevens

There once was a monarch so fair

She fluttered and flit through the air

’Twas milkweed she needed

And so she proceeded

To search through the garden with care

 

Monarch  knew she had nothing to fear

Her flutters would soon disappear

When milkweed she spotted

Her heart was besotted

Depositing monarch eggs there

 

WRITING POETRY WITH CHILDREN

Tips & Tools

When teaching (grades 4-8), I found that writing poems and sharing them was an exciting way get children of all ages hooked on writing. I must admit it—limericks are so much fun to write and to share! In the classroom we learn about using some of the tools in our writer’s tool box—literary devices like assonance (repeating vowel sounds) and consonance (repeating consonant sounds) to create a musical message. And of course, we had Scholastic rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses close at hand. It’s always exciting to discover alternative words (synonyms) that have just the right sounds and syllables to perfect our poems.

Whether you’re a writer, a reader, a teacher, a parent or simply want to share the love of reading and writing, get the kids together and give it a try. You’ll be glad you did!

 

Click the link to find out all about it How to Write a Limerick http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/how-to-write-a-limerick/

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Written

on 08/08/2017

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