raven1

Hello Albert! Maybe we should gang up on Drew and find him a good man. Sorry to hear about the visit to the doctor for you and Steve. I always hated the wait when I lived in the States. Here doctors work out of hospitals and the service is much better baring emergencies. Those the give me options for rescheduling to the next day.

Good Evening Drew! I agree with Clo. You need to start searching and finding a great boyfriend. He'll give your hands something to do besides holding onto time.

Hi Man, Hope all is well with you today.

Good Morning, Clo Sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your dad. It does sound like your brother and sil are really there for you. Also, the friends you are now making also are understanding and supportive. That's great to have.

Hey Page! Great story about Max and his friend!

Good Evening Everyone!

Getting late here, so I'll say Good Night All! ❤️

Hi Albert!

The little dragon has a huge attitude. Not sure I like the little git. I'm glad he won't be guiding Beckett. Although, with the way he was treated by others when he first arrived I'm not sure his guide will be any better. The cleansing pool did sound very nice.

I understand Brian's distrust of Grant. It will probably disappear when he realizes how oblivious Grant is to his own feeling and attraction to Troy. I also think that Brian doesn't know his wife as well as he thinks he does. Although the reunion was great, Grant deserved the scolding he got from Troy. To me it is interesting to watch these two guys trying and failing to control the physical reactions of their bodies. Guilt? Confusion? Sound a lot like they are going through puberty again.

How's Steve doing now?

This is about 100 km and a two hour drive from where I am. ❤️

Hi Albert

Have a good time relaxing. I hope you can help Clo with her plans to rope in her new husband. 😄

Funny you should mention AC. I've worked with him and correspond frequently. I found his updated site with instructions for writing poems. I am now learning and practicing Tanka poems.

The furnace installed Grant came up with a great idea to keep Troy there and safe. Grant is both smart and lucky. That book is helping him, but I worry he will still try to get rid of it. He needs to find a way for Troy to "accidentally" find it as if it were discarded at some point. Maybe a bag of ashes from the fireplace in an open bag with the book on top in a hidden corner of the garage. At least Grant has more time now. He is taking a risk by contacting some of Troy's old friends and that could backfire on Grant. Troy is still in a fragile state and that is distressing.

A very interesting morning for both Troy and Grant. I'm sure Grant has a lot to think about at the hospital after his reaction to Troy's morning wood. Mr. Burgess' job was a great opportunity for Troy to maintain his pride. Mr. Burgess' interaction to Troy's new appearance was not as awkward as it might have been, and seemed to boost Troy's self esteem. I was a bit disappointed that Troy didn't give Grant a chance to invite Troy to spend another night on the couch.

At first I wanted to yell at Grant as he decided that he was going to shred the journal. He would have destroy what would be the equivalent of a treasured family album of memories Troy had of his love and wonderful times with John! Troy may not be ready now to see it, but I am sure he regrets his decision to burn the journal. I did have to laugh at Grant as he struggled with himself to read one more entry. Fortunately the entry provided just the bit of information to take down part of Troy's wall enough to get Troy to say longer and continue working on the house. I was afraid that the jelly incident might go wrong, but it was I that was wrong. Troy is seeing more of the house, and using his old tools in the shop is not as uncomfortable to him as he thought. Great chapter!

Sounds like it's great weather for a walk, but short naps are great too! I'm doing great today, at least until I decided to work on my income tax returns for the US and found I'm missing one form. Grrr! At least as an expat I have another two months to file.

Grant is observant, insightful and sensitive as Troy observed. Grant is going to need all those and maybe some strategy to navigate around Troy's barriers. I hope as the job progresses Grant starts to talk about some of the other projects he has thought about doing on the house. That central heating really needs to be completed, and would mean minimal exposure inside the house if the ductwork Troy started to install is intact. It would give Grant more time to learn about Troy, and help him in other ways. Since Grant and Troy are both aware that Troy is living in the van, Grant might offer to let Troy use the laundry and shower room if Troy needs to stay an additional time to do more work. Someone said that a chair replacement might or might not work. If Grant requested all new chairs and use of the workshop to do them, it might not bring up the old memories of how the chair got broke. Troy's defenses are strong, but between Troy's great needs and skillful maneuvering by Grant I'm hoping a few cracks in those wall will happen.

What wonderful and diverse poems heralding a new season. The diversity of both form, topic and emotional impact is impressive. I loved the imagery and thoughts in these. I loved them all, but was drawn to the Haiku. I love the laugh I got when I recognized the three blind mice. Also emotional for me was the poem celebrating your mother. From somber to humorous, bittersweet to heartening these brightened my day!

Damned but things changed fast. I was expecting a quiet drive to CSU, and now we are stuck with a cliffhanger. I guess we'll have to wait to see if Devin can convince the guy to back off, or see if a fight ensues. The holiday did go well and I hope the parents can get together often. It would make life easier for both boys. Great gif @JohnnyC! Lol!

Wow Gary! I'm just trying to follow in your footsteps, and feel awesome by your praise. It amazes me how much of the local wildlife I can see from my balcony in the city. I am glad that you enjoyed my friend! Cheers!

Thanks for your support Kris! I want people to find my poems interesting. Many of the poems I wrote are about Thailand, because this is now the background of my experience and source of emotions for the past 14 years. A few of the Haiku are from my past living in the Cascade Mountains on the slopes of Mt Hood. I enjoy when people can learn and relate to my poems. I hope you will continue to read and comment about them. Thanks again!

What you did is what I am trying to do. First to learn the forms, master them and eventually break away. For me the form for Haiku actually made it easier for me to write. I've been going to AC's blog that explains how to write various forms, and am learning about Tanka poetry now. It is only a little bit more difficult, but enough that I have to have larger thoughts and more required elements to meet.