John Holton is our host for Writer’s Workshop. Here are the prompts for 10/16/25:

  1. Write a post inspired by the word meeting.
  2. Write a post in exactly 14 lines.
  3. Write a story starting with the line “The balloons floated away along with all my hopes and dreams.”
  4. Tell us about the phase you’re going through currently.
  5. What is the strangest way you met one of your friends?
  6. Write a top-ten article listing your favorite songs or albums with short explanations of why each one won a spot on your list.

Mid-October and people are talking:

leaves changing, jeans weather, and Christmas lists galore.

But here I sit in North Carolina,

days in the upper 70s, barely a leaf change in sight,

and zero ability to even imagine weather that requires sweatshirts.

Octobers here are warm, sometimes a little humid,

and not at all conducive to Christmas beginnings.

I imagine that’s why every year we tiptoe right up to Thanksgiving

with a mad shift afterward toward a yuletide attitude.

I know I complain about bitterly cold weather

but I have boots in my closet that beg to be worn

more than three months out of the year.

Alas, a warm region is where we have settled,

a warm October (and possibly November) is part of its charm. So be it.

badge by Patty