My dad's parents were Lithuanian immigrants. Lithuania was the first nation to break away from the Soviet Union. That was exciting news for me in 1990. Then I thought, "How are they going to pull this off?"
Remarkably, they did and then others followed suit and broke away. Ukraine was one of them.

Oh, Ukraine
My heart bleeds for you
Wounded is the land
Broken hearts
Shattered lives
Your resilience amazes me

I first wrote and posted this on July 2017

I have a beef with plenty of things. One of them is how self-absorbed we have become because of those **** cell phones. No, I am not a hypocrite. I own one. I cannot imagine not having a cell phone, for it comes in handy, especially when one is stuck on the road with a car that is broken down or if an emergency call comes. Though I know, from personal experience, how life was before cell phones. We survived.

I still have a flip phone. Yeah, I'm behind the times, I admit. It's just that I do not want to pay a higher bill. I got enough bills. Would I enjoy those extra bells and whistles? You bet! But like my car, I just am looking at what I need verses what I desire.  I don't want to google and go on the internet here, there and everywhere. I have plenty of internet use as it is, enough to say that I don't want to access it in a moment's notice.

So what has become of us? It used to be that the biggest enemy to being behind the wheel was intoxication. "Don't drink and drive",  a terrible problem. Now we are intoxicated on our technological toys. Texting and driving has become the new road hazard, comparable to *****.

Cell phones are everywhere, and people are on them like their lives depend on them. And do we really pay attention anymore? How about the person next to us who we may never notice? Our cell phones have invaded our need to be aware of our surroundings. It seems we are missing out on so much because of it.  

We would be lost without our precious cell phones--at least we think we would. I admit I am guilty. But sometimes, I'd just like to throw mine out the window and be free of the thing once and for all.

Postscript-added on March 2022

I now have a smart phone. I now access the internet on it all the time. New and improved?

it wasn't until the sun rose
that I realized
just how much
I was in love with the moon

Dear Folks,

It's been a while since I last posted a piece of writing on here.

Though a woman, and a proud one, I feel like the tin man, all frozen up. The tin man got stopped in his tracks in the rain, rusted. What's my excuse?  

Perhaps, I thought I've said it all. Perhaps, my tears have all dried up. Perhaps, I got complacent or apathetic.

Perhaps, I was just plain scared.

Oil can, please.

Are you a friend?
Or are you a foe?
I think I like you
Well...I don't know

Doesn't it feel that way, sometimes?
That hope is a thin line
And your tottering over it?
One misstep and you fear
It's soon gone
It's over and so are you
As you plunge
Into the abyss.

That's when hope is
Thinning out
And the rope is fraying
And the line is swaying..
And if you can only make it
Before it all falls apart

I have a beef with plenty of things. One of them is how self-absorbed we have become because of those **** cell phones. No, I am not a hypocrite. I own one. I cannot imagine not having a cell phone, for it comes in handy, especially when one is stuck on the road with a car that is broken down or if an emergency call comes. Though I know, from personal experience, how life was before cell phones. We survived.

I still have a flip phone. Yeah, I'm behind the times, I admit. It's just that I do not want to pay a higher bill. I got enough bills. Would I enjoy those extra bells and whistles? You bet! But like my car, I just am looking at what I need verses what I desire.  I don't want to google and go on the internet here, there and everywhere. I have plenty of internet use as it is, enough to say that I don't want to access it in a moment's notice.

So what has become of us? It used to be that the biggest enemy to being behind the wheel was intoxication. "Don't drink and drive",  a terrible problem. Now we are intoxicated on our technological toys. Texting and driving has become the new road hazard, comparable to *****.

Cell phones are everywhere, and people are on them like their lives depend on them. And do we really pay attention anymore? How about the person next to us who we may never notice? Our cell phones have invaded our need to be aware of our surroundings. It seems we are missing out on so much because of it.  

We would be lost without our precious cell phones--at least we think we would. I admit I am guilty. But sometimes, I'd just like to throw mine out the window and be free of the thing once and for all.