Happy Thanksgiving from the Homan Family!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Homan Family. This year we are celebrating in Arizona with all the family members flying in. Everything is a new adventure for us.

As we were cooking this afternoon I felt a bit of my actress side coming out. Thanks to Karen and Kristin for putting up with their mother-in-law!

The video is short, but it will give you a laugh as you keep the fires burning.

Bon Appetit!

Haiku for November 22nd.

bold stormy headlines

steel rain falls from pewter skies

on this day we weep

Happy Birthday Norbert Krapf

An interview with Norbert Krapf

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite Indiana poets, Norbert Krapf. I met Mr. Krapf at a book signing several years ago when he was the Poet Laureate for Indiana (2008-2010).

He is Emeritus Professor of English at Long Island University and is the author of 24 books. One of my favorites is "Songs in Sepia and Black & White."

In the above book Mr. Krapf reunites poetry with music and photography. Fifteen of the poems are dedicated to musicians such as Bob Dylan, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, John Lennon and Leadbelly.

I shared the above video with my composition classes today. They enjoyed the rhythm of the poems and the interview as well.

You may order books through Indiana University Press.

Happy Birthday!

First snow of winter...

First snow of winter...

The first snow of winter covered the land in northern Indiana last night. It was a beautiful evening with snowflakes the size of silver dollars. No one expected it would stick as the ground is still warm from the summer's sun, but it did!

I often post this view of my garden. I like the changes from early spring rains to the deepest blooms of summer to the first snow. 

The changing of the seasons allow us to think and contemplate the changes within our own lives. Winter brings us time to be quiet and listen.

Veteran's Day

I am on campus early this morning when a young man in uniform walks towards me. We are about to pass when I stop him. He is in the Air Force. He is young. He is proud. He is strong. I can barely speak, "Thank you," I say, and then I repeat it. He nods and we both move on.

For my grandfather, uncles, brother...those who came before and those who will come after, I speak the same words, "Thank you."

"Hunting with my Dad"

This was photo was taken in 1945 of my Dad and his brothers.
From left to right: Richard (my Dad), Keith, Jim and Jerry.

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 84. This is a photo, as you can see, from 1945.

My dad left behind stories and books and poems that I now treasure in my studio. The other day one of his poems slipped out of a folder, "Hunting with my Dad." 

This past week Jonah brought home his first deer to the family table. I wove the hunting poem with stories of family traditions of hunting. I hope you enjoy the column. It was a labor of love.

Please click here for the story. 

http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/lou_ann_homan-saylor/kpcnews/article_d7e1b218-dc41-55b5-99c0-0c0b3699c460.html

Autumn's Light Through My Window...

With most of the leaves gone from the bushes and trees around my house, there is now space for the light of the sun to shine through. These prisms decorate all my downstairs windows and when the light is perfect, I take a wooden spoon and give a little tap on each prism. The walls of my house begin to dance as rainbows beams of life cast of the colors.

Sometimes I wonder if this could be true of writers. Are you not trapped among bushes and trees which causes delay in writing? Could these bushes or trees be physical or emotional? Could they be a part in modern living with cell phones and Facebook calling us? 

Just some thoughts for a cold, but sunny Saturday.