Debbie Cribb Owens
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cribbowens.bsky.social
Debbie Cribb Owens
@cribbowens.bsky.social
660 followers 290 following 380 posts
Knock-about writer. Curious person. Caregiver.
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cribbowens.bsky.social
My first love, I eventually learned, was a #myth I had created to attach to a man who was in almost every way wrong for me, as I was for him. Cutting ties was painful. I had invested such misplaced hope in us. Now I know I avoided true heartbreak.
#vss365
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
#Measure
Cut
Sew
Necessary skills
For a short person
Hemming pants
That are always
Too long when new
A good tailor
A treasure to know
#vss365
November 11, 2025 at 1:52 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
My people
The writers
Who take an idea
And turn it into
#Literature
To share with others
A meeting of minds
Where author and reader
Contribute together
No two alliances
Exactly the same
Both necessary
For the magic to unfold
#vss365
November 10, 2025 at 1:04 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Looney Tunes characters hover in mid-air because they've never studied #law. My father always told me that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Turns out he was right, and I had the skinned knees to prove it.
#vss365
November 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Humanity's
Most important
Innovation:
#Language
Without it
Cooperation
Would be more
Haphazard
History
Would be lost
Essentially
No love songs
No poetry
How frustrating
It must have been
For our more
Primitive selves
Language
Had to occur
To make us
Who we are
#vss365
November 8, 2025 at 1:12 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Two strangers with a shared #history, some good, some painful. The early years were wonderful, but little by little, small poisons came between them. Differing opinions became points of contention. After a time, the good they had shared faded into obscurity.
#vss365
November 7, 2025 at 1:08 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Eighth grade #geography was taught by default. The instructor didn't want to be there any more than her students did. All went through the motions. Little was actually learned or understood.
#vss365
November 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
There have been a few encounters with the rich and #famous over my lifetime, all with elements of serendipity. One evening, in a hotel lobby, a woman I didn't know directed me to the ballroom where a charity dinner was winding down. I shook hands with Fred MacMurray.
#vss365
November 5, 2025 at 1:58 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Post-secondary #education is just as vital today as it has ever been. My parents' ideal of a 4-year degree is no longer the answer, however. We also need skilled trades people with business sense. We need properly-trained medical technicians with frequent skill updates.
#vss365
November 4, 2025 at 2:22 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Behold the #domestic tabby. Its soft fur, soulful eyes, and relaxing purr are all designed to lure you into a sense of benign contentment. Displease it, however, and consequences will be administered swiftly and painfully.
#vss365
November 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
The child dearly loved every #creature God put on this planet, so she was shocked and betrayed when a pet store rat bit down on her finger. Granted, there was a sign that clearly warned against putting fingers in the enclosure, but, in her defense, she couldn't read.
#vss365
November 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM
cribbowens.bsky.social
My reputation is controlled by other people. I can't help that. But I can determine my character. Am I the sort of person I would want as a friend? Do I like who I am and who I am becoming? That is what matters. Your opinion of me is none of my #business.
#vss365
November 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Our house will remain dark for #Halloween. There will be no welcoming lights for trick-or-treaters, no ringing doorbell to disturb the quiet. Instead, I will watch my father breathe for as long as I can; let him sleep with fond memories and peace.
#vss365
October 31, 2025 at 12:19 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
I need a vacation
Sailing on the ocean
Soaking up some #rays
On a tropical island
Not a care to bind me
Worries all behind me
Lovely dream to hold me
As I wait for father's death
#vss365
October 30, 2025 at 1:25 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
On a lonely stretch of road in the Arizona desert, I got my first glimpse of the #argent beauty of the Milky Way. Until then, it had been a myth to me. That experience was one of the first in a series of wishes I barely knew I'd collected.
#vss365
October 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
When you're a small child, life is one big #experiment. Learning how to live in a world full of novelty takes up all your time. That so many are successful highlights the innate genius of humanity.
#vss365
October 28, 2025 at 1:06 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
They used to say
You could watch it #creep
Kudzu taking over
They used to say
It would cover the world
And nothing we could do
Might as well move
If it spread to your land
Insidious vines unrelenting
Yet now, here we are
Decades later with no sign
Of the kudzu takedown
#vss365
October 27, 2025 at 12:46 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
I was as guilty of #heliacal worship as the next teenage girl. Every spring and summer, without fail, we would bare large swaths of our bodies to the sun's rays, believing the resulting damage made us more attractive. The accumulated harm tells on us now.
#vss365
October 26, 2025 at 1:23 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Wrapped completely in the grip of crippling anxiety, I knew I needed help but couldn't overcome my #terror to ask for it. The thought of making a phone call caused me to freeze up. I couldn't leave the house alone without dissolving in tears.
#vss365
October 25, 2025 at 12:46 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
The #Martian landscape spread out before them in all its bleak and alien glory. They were the first to collect its arid red soil on their boots, the first to leave human prints on its surface. They took a moment to appreciate the historical import of their presence.
#vss365
October 24, 2025 at 12:52 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Jessica could feel a presence in that room, #unseen but palpable. It reached out to her, trying to communicate through emotions its pain and confusion. Her job was to help it focus and pass on. It's job was to warn her of the danger.
#vss365
October 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
I think of all
That I could be
If I just had
The #energy
So many things
That I would do
If vigor would
To me imbue
But don't you know
It isn't vim
Or time or even
Seraphim
That keep me from
A life of glory
Just motivation
End of story
#vss365
October 22, 2025 at 1:04 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Before mugs became the thing, our grandparents used cups and saucers for their coffee. My grandaddy would always pour part of a too-hot cup into the #saucer so it would cool faster and drink from that. I haven't seen anyone do this maneuver in years.
#vss365
October 21, 2025 at 1:10 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
The basis of everything
Matter at its most simple
Yet, even the #atom
Is a sum of its parts
#vss365
October 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
cribbowens.bsky.social
Some mothers #hover. Others rely on benign neglect. The animal kingdom knows both extremes and everything in between. I tried to strike a balance with my own youngling. Sometimes, I succeeded. Sometimes, I didn't. But I always, always loved.
#vss365
October 19, 2025 at 1:45 PM