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Images and short stories like this can be found in these children’s books, The Unbelievable Topsy Turvy Day! and Off the Wall World Tours! at your local public library or can be purchased at www.leannembenson.com

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Each morning the family would rush out the door

With a pastry and coffee in hand

There just wasn’t time for breakfast!

The old forgotten cup soon learned

Stained, and scratched, chipped and alone

Years of celebration –evaporated

Upon the shelf, that lonely cup

Collected only dust

This cup was once a team of twelve

Matching plates, saucers, and cups

And together they added

A special touch –to family celebration

Pieces had broken, or were given away

Tender hugs, No longer felt

Now all that remains is this cup

And the emptiness inside

But recently, from eyes anew

A spark of gladness came

When a gaze saw something in that cup

That others had dismissed

This morning, as I sip coffee from

That old, but not forgotten – friend

I laugh; to think –someone so young

Helped me to see what I’d looked past

Wishing you pleasure in life’s little things.

Thank you for stopping by,

One of the first headlines I remember seeing sprawled across a national newspaper at the beginning of the new year, read, “How to find More Joy, Success and Connection in 2026”. Well, the message in that article was soon smothered by what seems like an entire year’s worth of muck and mayhem news articles.     –And it’s only January!

At times, finding good news and heartwarming stories can feel a bit like this little girl looking for the caribou!

I hope that joy, success and connection is right around the corner for everyone, no matter what their skin color, political affiliation, faith, or country.

One way I’ve found a bit of happiness is to spend time with friends and family.  Especially, the little ones! Having a grandchild snuggle in as I reading a book to them brings me great Joy!

Here’s a book that your children are sure to giggle their way around the globe reading!

Off the Wall. World Tours!  NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

To see more illustrations and find out more about this captivating story

…or if you know of a group of children around the Metro and Southeastern Minnesota, that would enjoy having an author visit their school, please contact me.

LeanneMBenson (don’t forget my middle initial and add) .COM

(I apologize for the inconvenience. Separating my address is a way to weed out spam and robots.)

LeanneBenson@goacentek (No middle initial. But don’t forget to add) .NET

Wishing you joy, success, and connection in 2026!

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It doesn’t matter what age you are, most of us feel our time is precious, so I’ll keep my thoughts brief.

You can see more illustrations like this one in my new book, Off the Wall World tours!  Coming January 2026

Enjoy the holiday season.

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It seems more and more often, subjects spawn disagreements.  And so, I wrote something most of us can agree on.

Children grow up quickly!

That seems especially true for those of us who adore children. That’s not to say, my kids and grand-kids are never difficult, noisy, messy, or don’t smug up the windows. But when all was said and done, those little aggravations seem to get smothered by charm. And what I remember most is their precious innocence and fun natured attitudes.

I was fortunate to stay home to care for my children when they were small, and even more privileged to help care for each of my grandchildren. If you’re not someone that is enamored with the things little kids do and speak. That’s okay! In fact, I’m glad! Just like I’m glad that everyone wouldn’t want to live where I live. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be room for me to do what I enjoy and be where I am.

Thank goodness for our differences!

Wishing you fond memories of times and places when life went your way!

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A half a lifetime ago, my high school Spanish teacher stood in front of the class instructing us, “This is a test. And during the test you are not allowed to leave FOR ANY REASON!”  Well, I had been coughing a lot that year. So, I began to worry that I would start coughing and would fail the test. Worry flooded my head. I couldn’t think. And then my fears came true. I began to cough and cough. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I gasped for air.  The teacher walked up to my desk and told me to go get a drink of water. I refused. I had to finish my test. I wonder if the instructor hadn’t been so adamant about not allowing us to leave the classroom, would I have had this coughing spasm? I don’t know. – It took a while to compose myself at the drinking fountain. But after a while I was able to return to the test. I finished it and passed.

Growing up, I often got wrapped in worry. It seemed when I lost my balance, lost control, and all my choices were gone; things just seemed to work out in the end. Maybe not the way I thought they would or the way I wanted. Sometimes things worked out better!  However, I guess, it’s rather obvious from this poem, I still worry about which things I can actually control and when to let go.

You can see more illustrations like this one in my new book, Off the Wall World tours! Coming soon.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

This illustration is from my latest children’s book  Coming Soon!

Back to the question, “What is or isn’t art?” –I guess, the answer is different for each of us. For each has the right to see, hear, and feel their own way about a painting, sculpture, poem, or song . . . Hope you enjoyed this piece.

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It was nine weeks before the solstice of summer,

When I noticed the glimmer of soft sunlight rise.

Creating a mirage of green shades and hues,

Not yet born to Winnebago Valley—

A place where melting glaciers had

sculpted the land –so beautifully!

Snowy patches had melted away.

The last of the juncos flew north.

Oak, Walnut, Maple, and Birch

Rushed to sport spring apparel.

But wild plum and cherry tree blossoms

Were the finest amidst bare branches.

The timbre from a hollow tree

Gave proudly to the woodpecker’s beat.

Goldfinch had turned fluorescent yellow.

Orioles raced in on the horsetail clouds.

And in those woods, I stood and listened

To the myriad of music.

Taking in a slow deep breath I held the smell of

Rain on the leaves and hidden Morels,

Tiny budding violets scattered on the hillside,

And the luscious green of fiddlehead ferns.

Little if any fragrance came from the yellow lady slippers.

But it’s rare beauty, was simply— enough!

Soon, last year’s fallen leaves will vanish.

New sights, smells, and sounds will flourish. 

—And as the sunlight began to fade

in Winnebago Valley,

I realized, “Each trip ‘round the sun,

Seems to go faster the longer I live.

~Leannembenson.comm

Over the years I’ve noticed more tiny details with each changing season. Is there something that you recently discovered? Please leave me a note in the comments. I always enjoy hearing from you.

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Where do our personal stories and blogs fit among the AI word-hamburger flooding our world? How do I know when I’m sympathizing with a real person who has a stake in the game and when it’s a bot? What message are we sending to our children? On one hand anxiety and depression are on the rise due in part to the stress of perfection. And yet, on the other hand, it seems excellence is paramount.

So much has happened since this blog site was created. Over the past five years, I have written stories, poems, posted artwork and expressed my opinions. There were times I felt I had little to say. But I’d sit down and write anyway. Those occasions, when captivating stories made it from my fingertips, through the keyboard and onto this blog site, gave rise to my struggles.

But do those painstaking hours that writers spend with pen in hand really make a difference anymore. Is it just as entertaining to read a piece that has been made from a list of words that a computer sprays out?

GPS has its place too. It helped us understand how to navigate… or has it? Most of us are lost without GPS. It certainly took me aback when the message “Use precaution…” popped up on my GPS screen. Calculators are great! We need to be able to figure out problems such as balancing a checkbook, using fractions when cutting a recipe in half, estimating the cost of interest on a loan, and creating a budget for ourselves. AI is amazing! But what is becoming of our thought processes…?

We don’t allow drug enhancement to be used in the Olympics. Should we? Where do we draw the line? Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we shouldn’t have calculators, GPS, or ChatGPT. I just want to ponder the rhetorical question, when is our true self enough?

How old do you think children should be before they have a cellphone or start using ChatGPT?  I’d like to hear your opinion. Please leave me a comment. No judgements, just interesting food for thought.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by,