Brown Paper Packages

The Time Traveler from Old Mrs. Romine's

2010-08-19T08:31:00.001-07:00

While gazing into a blue summer sky, whose brilliance backlit tall treetops into silhouettes, I was surprised by a tiny white speck. A small downy feather floated in slow motion from up seemingly nowhere and landed in the middle of me sitting there. It seemed to have traveled from the puff of a rosy-cheeked little boy that had sent a dandelion silk seed up into somewhere on a day just like this in a field where goats stood on old cars.

Blue Salt

2010-08-19T06:17:00.001-07:00

More like falling in love

2010-08-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

One Fine Day

2010-07-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

Due by 5pm

2010-07-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

"Artist's Statement"

Zygote is my favorite word. Everyone once was one, and no one had a choice where on this blue dot they would land, or whether they got brown eyes, black, green, indigo or not. I wish everyone could learn to swim and read and not drive under an influence. I think everyone has a spark of creativity inside that longs to get out there; some don’t realize it yet or have not found a way to do that, but they do recognize sparks in others, and it doesn’t necessarily take language or a set of rules to express it. One look, one touch, one aroma, one taste, one harmonica playing somewhere. That could be the door.

`

Blue Sky Kiss

2010-07-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Was lying on a bench after my walk in a game-filled, 3-diamond ballpark and picnic playground, looking at the clouds, imagining if I could see a message in the sky, when a jet made a trail. Then another jet went by and its trail criss-crossed the first.

(pic from my cell)

Namaste, Everyone

2010-07-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

Added to the short list of favorite words . . .

namaste (nah-mah-STAY)

A Sanskrit word:
"All that is best and highest in me greets/salutes all that is best and highest in you."

A story I read:

Albert Einstein was fascinated by Mohandas Gandhi. He watched newsreel after newsreel of Gandhi's doings in India. Having seen Gandhi greet people in the street with his hands placed together, as if in prayer, and with a bow, he wondered what Gandhi was saying. Einstein wrote Gandhi and asked him what he was saying. The simple reply: "Namaste." Einstein then wrote again to ask the meaning of this Hindu word, "namaste," and the reply was: "I honor the place within you where the entire universe resides; I honor the place within you of love, of light, of truth, of peace; I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us."

One of the Most Beautiful Places

2010-06-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

6-22-10

In the imaginary world of Aurora Boring Alice, Alice Krupperminsk was the clerk who helped Americanize old Great-Uncle Stanley’s family name, the name that had made her tougher for life. “Mm, Krupperminsky. Let’s see, you could shorten that to ‘Krupa,’ like the boat company. Or, now, ‘Copper’ with the hard ‘C’ would be attractive. Or, how about ‘Rupp,’ or ‘Permi.’ That--‘Permi’--has an important, scientific ring to it . . . So . . . what will it be then, Mr. Krupperminsky?”

“I think you can take away the ypsilon,” he said. He had learned English, though British English, so he had a charming, mixed, musical accent. “Yes, Krupperminsk. Krupperminsk. I like that.”

6-23-10

Of course, her name wasn’t really Aurora Boring Alice, either. That was the nickname Donald MacDonald had called her in fourth grade at Greater Gratiot Elementary School when they were studying the atmosphere. He was also the one who once sat by her on the bus and told her somebody had bitten him that day, after which he bit her shoulder and said, “Like this.”

When Alice recounted the story to Mama, she briefly thought about passing the bite along, for effect, of course. But that was what was wrong with Donald’s storytelling in the first place. In the second place and third place, Alice loved her Mama Lina--short for Emilie Ottilie Marie Carolina--so much, she was ashamed to have even had the fleeting thought.

Alice was nonetheless pleased to have a bonafide nickname that did sort of refer to something beautiful. Plus, everyone knew that Alice was not boring, so it was a kind of tease that included her into most everything that went on at school. She was a quiet and good student, so no one who might later depend on her as a study buddy would be too mean.

What made her not boring were two things. She could draw anything on anything with anything and she could hum and whistle at the same time. If it was during lunch, she’d wash her thick and thin sandwich down with water and do a requested round, say, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” or “Three Blind Mice,” humming first, then adding the whistled round. Her best one was “Dona Nobis Pacem,” which she’d do if someone added in a piece of licorice or some potato chips.

That doesn’t include the fact that Alice also spoke two other languages besides English. To her, since she was not allowed to speak them around people who might not understand them, it was really like that part of her was invisible. Except, once in a while, she experienced “auditory delay” in responding to a question in English that was being filtered through those two other languages. People would get impatient with her sometimes, or think she wasn’t listening, which taught her to be very quiet, so fewer questions would be asked of her. This also taught her to be patient with herself, because she was always thinking very fast and in layers. There were so many ideas and funny and ridiculous scenes that floated by as she sat listening and doodling on her papers.

She’d count how many times Mr. Helmer took off and put on his reading glasses, while she thought of how many words she could make with the letters of her name.

A L I C J A S U S A N N E K R U P P E R M I N S K

A E I U C
A E I U J
A KK
L
M
NNN
PP
R
SSS

ARE SPARE PARE PAIR PAN PANS ANT ANTS AUNT
AREA SPARES PARES PAIRS PANT PANTS AUNTS
AREAS SNARE SNARES MAIN MAIL MAILS UNCLE
EAR LIP LIPS CLIP CLIPS CLAP CLAPS CAP UNCLES
EARS PLEASE PLEASES EASE EASES SEAM NAP NAPS
CAN CANE CANES RULE RULES REEL REELS SEES
CANS CAPE CAPES LAKE LAKES LAME CAMERA SEE
MAN MALE MANE MANES NAME NAMES SAME SNAIL
MEN CAKE CAKES LAMP LAMPS SLIM SLIME SNAILS
MASS MASSES MISS MISSES KISS KISSES SAIL SAILS
MANNER CAR LIKE LIKES PAL PALS PAIL PAILS RAIL RAILS REEK REEKS CREEK
MANNERS CARS LAIN LAP PLAN PLANNER PLANNERS PLANK PLANKS PLANE
PAPA PACK CARE PAIN SAP SAPS MAP MAPS SMACK SNACK SNACKS PLANES
PAPAS CARES PAINS SPA SNAP PLAIN PLAINS PEAK PEAKS SPEAK SPEAKS
PRIMER NEAR PALE SNAPS SNIP SNIPS SPIN SPINS PIN PINS PEN PENS
RIM PEAS NEARS PALES SCAM SCAMS SCRAM SCRAMS ALMS CALM CALMS SUN
RIMS PEA PEAR ALE SUNS SCAR SCARS SCARE SCARES RACE RACES SPACE
PRIM RUN PEARS ALES SEA SCAN SCALE SCALES SPACES RANK RANKS REAM
PRIME RUNS SEAR SALE SEAS SCENE SCENES SINK SINKS INK INKS LINK LINKS
PRIMES SEARS SALES SPAN SICK SICKNESS PICK PICKS PINK PINKS PIE
PRINCE SMEAR PANE SPANS SPRAIN SPRAINS RINSE RINSES RISE RISES
PRINCES SMEARS PANES REAM REAMS REAL LEARN LEARNS EARN EARNS . . .

Then, if she would add the letters from “Aurora Boring,” that could make more than a hundred new combinations and sentences. As Alice thought about the words she was forming from her name, each one came with at least one picture. There would be the one thing connected to the word that first--almost instantly--appeared, and then other pictures would follow. Many pictures that were connected to her other languages would dance around the words.

6-24-10

She would doodle on the edges of her papers including the loose leaf holes as she listened to Mr. Margitan tell about the perfect right triangle and the Pythagorean Theorem. Alice liked Pythagoras and Euclid and Newton. Where were the boys that turned out to have ideas with pictures and symbols like that, she wondered. It seemed there weren’t very many girls with these thoughts, so Alice was quiet about that. She smiled as she designed a scalloped collar on the back of the “Estimating the Height of a Flagpole” homework assignment.

What made her laugh in school were things like Mrs. Magee exclaiming, “My stars and steel-rimmed garters!” in English class. This kind of thing would get Alice to drawing any number of versions of stars and steel-rimmed garters, and whispery giggling. Mrs. Magee was the one who began encouraging Alice to write about her family. She also encouraged Alicja Susanne to use her real name.

Most of all, Alicja Susanne loved music. Every day after warm-ups, Mr. Hanawalt would introduce a song in a story, give out sheet music, and show a movie clip including that particular song. Then, they would sing it. They sang “Bali Hai,” which had a mysterious quality expressive of yearning for grown-up love and exquisite beauty surrounded by swaying palm trees. They could almost feel the warm, white sand between their toes even though they were singing in a windowless cement block room that terraced down to a piano from behind which Mr. Hanawalt’s tan, bald head nodded and turned. The lenses of his black-framed glasses made his eyes look huge when they looked at the group singing the melody and then cornered left and right to keep everyone together. Once in a while, he would play the piano with one hand so he could direct with the other, but mostly it was his trusting gift to their independence that he sat down there on the bench, playing up to them with sweeping flourishes.

6-25-10

Many years later, when Alice was married and the mother of several children, she’d remember the thrill of “Bali Hai” and try as a grownup to reimagine the exotic beach with the warm trade winds gently caressing her cheek. For a moment, she’d wonder how that whole movie turned out, but it was almost better not seeing it, because it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever been.

Steady Sunrise

2010-03-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

Steady sunrise whispers, hey there,
Peeking over fuzz of blankets.
Far beyond the snow wave contour,
Lacy blues and silvers glisten.
Golden streams through quiet branches,
Warm bird chirps now softly waken.
Ball of new flame, steady, spreading,
Steady glowing, steady growing,
Burns away the great, gray-white mist,
Dances with my pen and fingers.
Rainbows flashing on my lashes--
Hello, steady, I remember.
In the night I yearned for you.

Blurry

2010-02-16T18:57:00.000-08:00

Snowy, flurry days through windows
Blurry time ticking by
Nurses tender, giving showers
Secret friends bringing flowers,
Ice, hot soup, Beethoven, pie
Blankets over wraps and pillows
Firewood flames and feet aglow
How many stair steps did I go?
Love, I do not care or know.

Knocking Holes in the Darkness

2010-01-17T14:31:00.001-08:00

Oh, the interview with Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles on NPR this morning . . . one of the best pre-Martin Luther King, Jr. Day meditations ever. The line, "knocking holes in the darkness," gives such a vivid picture.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122670935

The image, attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, who, as a child, described what he saw outside his sickroom window--a man lighting the street lamps, does a lot more than that for me, too. And, I guess it did for Tom Waits when he wrote it in "Downtown Train."

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Wishes for the Best Year Ever!

Hope your chicken got its kisses!

Velvet Night

2009-12-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

In an old part of the city one of the best spots to work is by the window of a creaky-floored, tin-ceilinged all-night cafe. The square, real window panes have Christmas-light-edging around the view of a snowbanked, pavered street and narrow shops on the other side with their evergreen and twinkling garlands. The sidewalk below glows from the warmth that invites friends and lovers and tattered wanderers alike. Good music, bursts of laughter, and pleasant voices telling stories mix in.

Some friends come by, pull chairs close, and tell about their ice-skating at the city rink tonight. Earlier today I had promised I'd buy them coffee afterwards. Stories of hockey (haw-key) come up. I recall mine, having just bought a hockey puck at the Red Shield (Salvation Army) store--not just any hockey puck, though. It's a genuine, used, CHA, maple-leafed gift for one of my brothers, who is a collector. We grew up skating every chance we could get, and I think of the Fire Department flooding for rinks and how we brought sack lunches and delighted over free hot chocolate at the warming booth. Each new season, we traded in our outgrown, used skates for used skates that pretty much fit depending on how many socks were worn, at the ACE Hardware. How they made a little money was charging for blade sharpening and selling blade covers. I tell them about the scar on my chin--how I got it playing hockey--high-sticked after making a goal, no less. And, being on crutches right now stinks. So we laugh and talk about skating, life, love, and family fun. They tell me how much they love that their mother can kick someone in the seat of the pants and the person will thank her for it later, because, of course, she only does it because she loves them. Their mother, the former Dairy Queen of New York State, rode the train to Chicago and sat on Santa’s lap at Macy’s while I took a picture. There was no line, and Santa was amiable. Two middle-aged businessmen, apparently foreign visitors, observed and pondered our “custom.” One of them took out a camera and made a souvenir photo, while the other one sat on Santa’s lap . . . all the same . . . smiling and wishing and hoping.

Pushing their chairs back away from the little table, they linger on goodbye. Midnight mass, Christmas Eve--you'll call us, ok?

Outside, the ribbon ends of red velvet Christmas bows, softly flapping, frame the winter night.

12-23-09, 12AM

Unexpected Gift

2009-12-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

I ventured out his morning to see how much slickning the icy rain had brought. I saw something unusual and thought, "I should take a picture. That's wild." I went back to wrapping presents, humming Christmas songs, when it came to the The Twelve Days of Christmas. Then, it hit me. That odd thing I saw--was that a partridge in a pear tree? I believe it was! (See: wildeblue.blogspot.com)

Happy First Day of Christmas!

The First Snow

2009-12-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

December 3 brought a favorite day and a favorite poem:

The Coming of Light

Even this late it happens:
the coming of love, the coming of light.
You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves,
stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows,
sending up warm bouquets of air.
Even this late the bones of the body shine
and tomorrow's dust flares into breath.

Mark Strand

For Jean

2009-11-21T00:23:00.000-08:00

Mother to Son (Child)

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Langston Hughes

Rise and Shine

2009-11-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

"The sun never sets. It is we who rise and think to shine."
Earle Birney, in The Old Farmer's Almanac 2009

Beautiful Pomegranates

2009-11-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

How to eat a pomegranate. So far, nothing beats fresh, like an orange. Umm, crispyluscious. I've never heard of anyone getting sick from eating too many. (?) While expecting Molly, I ate 3-7 oranges a day the last three months with no apparent afteraffects, my only scientific basis.

Crispyluscious!
Pomegranate cheers!

Spirit in the Sky

2009-11-02T01:04:00.000-08:00

It seems lazy, and it is kind of, but I'd put this one in my favorites, too. Song of the Year for 1969:

http://www.wildeblue.blogspot.com/

And the forests will echo with laughter

2009-07-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

See:
http://www.wildeblue.blogspot.com/

Hugs All Around

2009-07-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

Radish Leaves

2009-07-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Fast-growing, easy, tasty. :o) Mmm, eating a salad of them right now--sprinkled with black raspberries picked from the thickets, almonds, feta cheese, thinly sliced small green onions, fresh ground pepper, sea salt.

More ideas:

Steam garden fresh radishes for a few minutes, add the greens (well-rinsed) for a few more minutes, and then serve them with butter, a little salt, and gratings of coarse pepper. They are absolutely delicious - a whole new vegetable for the table!

Grandmother's Radish Leaf Soup

* 3 large bunches radishes
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 very large onion, chopped
* 4 russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, chopped
* 3 cups water
* 2/3 cup milk

Cut leaves from radishes and wash well. (Reserve radishes for another use.) Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add radish leaves and sauté until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add potatoes and 3 cups water. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in blender. Return to saucepan. Mix in milk. Stir over medium heat until hot. Season soup with salt and pepper.

Pavement vs Me

2009-07-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Now I think I need a different bike but, oops, my pavement says I don't. Thanks for the inspiration, Mark--here's to dreams!

Stravinsky's Birthday

2009-06-30T22:43:00.001-07:00

The artwork on June 17, commemorating Igor's birth, by someone special at Google. Love the all the horns, especially the French horns in this piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlrrllC927o&feature=related

Pennies IV

2009-06-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

How long can this "lucky penny" thing last, I wondered. Finding them so often, I started noting the calendar for fun. My mind would even calculate ahead how many more days could pass without finding one whenever I'd pick up a larger denomination.

One day, after I'd gone for about a week without finding any coins, I began thinking, guess my life is not really that special, oh well--maybe a quarter next week will make it up. Later that day I went to pay a bill. When I handed over the check, the lady said, "Oh, it's you. You're the one, the winner!" I was puzzled. A scruffy customer next to me growled, "Just accept it." "It" was a lovely lidded Italian glass jar filled with JellyBellies, the number of which I had guessed a month before, a part of the Easter decor. As she handed it to me, she said, "Wait, there's more--you also get a $25 Meijer Gift Card!" I swallowed my giddy laughter as I nodded to the man and thanked the lady very much.

Once outside, I laughed so hard I felt 10 pounds lighter. God has a sense of humor. The next day, I had my students calculate how many days of "lucky pennies" I'd been given. 2,500 days, of course--almost seven years. Everyone loved the JellyBellies.

Luminaria in the Night

2009-06-15T10:10:00.001-07:00

Happy June Chickencrossingtheroad Jokes

2009-06-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Loved 'em since childhood, like pumping high while standing on a board swing. I give extra credit for new (or made-up ones--ha) brought to class. Like: Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide.

Here's a neat one from a friend. :o)

Odd News Video: Chicken Crosses the Road ... for Doughnuts ABC News

Brie

2009-04-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

All I'm going to say is, if you don't like the taste of "light" products and thought brie cheese with the delicious, edible rind couldn't get any better, try President's new Brie Light. It has "50% less fat & 30% fewer calories." BUT, mmm, best of all, it TASTES BETTER than the original! Of course, all I had to go with it at the moment was apple juice. Still--the label said "not from concentrate" . . . Cheers!

Cartwheels on Steroids

2009-04-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

I did promise a couple of friends that I'd do cartwheels on their front lawns when I am well again. Now I'm on steroids. Wonder if it will make any difference. Ha. I also have an inhaler to take with me to school. My doctor sent the "release" after he saw me today, so I'm going back tomorrow.
A nice cup of coffee at 6:15 and look out, kids!

The Flame of Burning Love

2009-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Although I didn't attend church this morning, I was deeply moved in reading this little book from Fall River Press: Mother Teresa, Her Essential Wisdom.

"The sunshine of God's love . . . the hope of eternal happiness . . . the flame of burning love. Easter is this joy. However, you cannot have joy without sacrifice. That is why Good Friday comes before Easter."

"Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen."

"I love all religions but I am in love with my own. If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there. They come closer and closer to God. When they come closer, they have to choose . . . Gandhi once said that if Christians lived according to their faith, there would be no more Hindus left in India."

"To smile at someone who is sad; to visit, even for a little while, someone who is lonely; to give someone shelter from the rain with our umbrella; to read something for someone who is blind; . . . to write a letter or take the mail for someone, or bring a flower to somebody, or wash clothes for somebody, or clean the house--small things, but God sees everything great."

"Today somebody is suffering, today somebody is in the street, today somebody is hungry . . . today somebody is lonely."

Good Friday

2009-04-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

John 16:33 (KJV) "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

John 16:33 (NIV) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

John 16:33 (NLT) "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

Hey, 98.6, It's Good to Have You Back Again

2009-04-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ohhh, c'mon, let's join the fun--Look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

Love you all.

Sleeping = Fighting Bears

2009-03-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

OK. "The Bear" has a mean teammate, "Grizzly,"

aka P-neumonia. The good news:

Dr. : I'm ordering a powerful antibiotic for you . . . and you don't also have mono.

Pharmacy: Insurance pays most of the $170 for the 10 pills.

School : Please don't return until your doctor faxes a release note.

Sweet dreams, everybody. xoxo

A Dozen Steven Wrights for TLC

2009-03-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

~I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place.
~I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums.
~My aunt gave me a walkie-talkie for my birthday. She says if I'm good, she'll give me the other one next year.
~I had some eyeglasses. I was walking down the street when suddenly the prescription ran out.
~Smoking cures weight problems...eventually...
~I intend to live forever - so far, so good.
~I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
~I took a course in speed reading. Then I got Reader's Digest on microfilm. By the time I got the machine set up, I was done.
~I went camping and borrowed a circus tent by mistake. I didn't notice until I got it set up. People complained because they couldn't see the lake.
~Today I dialed a wrong number... The other person said, "Hello?" and I said, "Hello, could I speak to Joey?" They said, "Uh... I don't think so... he's only 2 months old." I said, "I'll wait."
~Two babies were born on the same day at the same hospital. They lay there and looked at each other. Their families came and took them away. Eighty years later, by a bizarre coincidence, they lay in the same hospital, on their deathbeds, next to each other. One of them looked at the other and said, "So. What did you think?"
~I can remember the first time I had to go to sleep. Mom said, "Steven, time to go to sleep." I said, "But I don't know how." She said, "It's real easy. Just go down to the end of tired and hang a left." So I went down to the end of tired, and just out of curiosity I hung a right. My mother was there, and she said, "I thought I told you to go to sleep."

The Upsides

2009-03-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

of viral meningitis . . . aka THE BEAR :O

---<-<--@
sleeping, sleeping, sleeping
--<--<--@
hearing songbirds, geese, ducks, turkeys, seagulls, muskrats, and squirrels . . . with nests near my window (tweedle, wockle, quackle, gobble, swoosh, swish, scribble)
---<--<-@
friends and family with TLC and jokes (see some of Steven Wright's next)
--<--<--@
no make-up needed with fever blush
-<---<--@
hot Mike's Hard Lemonade with honey
--<--<--@
thinking, praying, sleeping

The Impossible Takes Longer

2009-03-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer.
Fridtjof Nansen, Peace.

Pick a flower on Earth and you move the farthest star.
Paul Dirac, Physics.

In any case, let's eat breakfast.
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Literature--to his wife on hearing he had won the Nobel Prize.

From a joyful compilation of Nobel Prize Laureates' quotations by David Pratt

Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire

2009-03-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Oh, it's good. Makes you feel better about being at, PTL, a 24-hour Meijer after midnight, picking up guinea pig bedding or something for the next day's lessons and being called cuckoo. Rafe Esquith can often be found at the 24-hour Home Depot. Here, from his slim, entertaining, and worthy book:

We can do better . . . true excellence takes sacrifice, mistakes, and enormous amounts of effort. After all, there are no shortcuts.

Heads Up

2009-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

From the edge of crumbling asphalt acres to pitted sidewalks caulked at empty windows, there was nothing but mountains of haggard snow out of whose summits rose lampposts that could still be seen beyond the interstate. Under ubiquitous clouds enveloping shammers, scammers, and radio yammers unraveled a long prayer walk. Upon the sigh of its last yearning prayer request there was something after all. Shining. The amen. It said, "In God We Trust."

Farm Night with Baby

2009-03-03T01:53:00.000-08:00

Tick tock
Dream shock
Awake blick
Asleep block
Midnight click
Moonlight clock
Blanket quick
Frantic frock
Cramp leg kick
Cold foot sock
Baby sick
Cradle rock
Flutter wick
Stumble talk
Nestless chick
Lonely walk
Starry crick
Foggy flock
Freckles’ lick
Backdoor lock
Climbing stick
Stairway stalk
Eyelid plick
Body balk
Pillow thick
Feather dock
Tick shhh
Tock shhh
Zick shhh
Zock zzzzz

Penny Dreams

2009-03-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

If dreaming of finding pennies counts, there were two. They appeared during the night before my trip to the Lemmon-Holton Cancer Center for a sudden lump last Thursday. Numerous digital xrays, diagnostics, and two ultrasounds later, there was no hint of surgery where incisions had been made before, only free valet parking and Douwe-Egberts coffee, views of large flat-screen tvs, lighted ceiling art, the city, and the beautiful, beautiful blue sky. Oh, and my plastic amusement park bracelet.

Penny Report

2009-02-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

The green indoor-outdoor apartment stair carpet is not always trip-free after a weekend of visitors. This weekend it was an impromptu charm bracelet or a Miro or a Klee all the way down three flights and out the door. A pinata had broken somewhere, it's happy owner not knowing that all the way out, small plastic trinkets mixed with crepe paper and candy were trailing through, and into the snow. Near this living, charming snow painting lay a penny--maybe gravity had also had its way on the pinata's cashola. So that was one wet penny.

The penny before this one sat by the molding under the Goodwill counter. Gave it to the cashier.

Authors

2009-02-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

Quote from CREDO by William Sloane Coffin:
"Clearly the trick in life is to die young as late as possible."

Really great writing by Rick Bragg:
All Over But the Shoutin'
Ava's Man

Landmarks

2009-02-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

About one-fourth of the way down County Road 900 South to Slater's Market, with baby Eli frontpacked, Emma and Molly in the double stroller nibbling graham crackers, and Jesse walking, making longstemmed grasses whistle, we'd pass the Kissing Tree. It was really two parallel trees that barely touched, except slightly, at two large branch cuts that had healed into facing, well, "kissing" doughnuts. Then someone of us would always exclaim, "There's the Kissing Tree!"

It was beyond old Mr. and Mrs. Hossler's place where Ruby tended the neatly arranged, large garden, with some of the tallest, prettiest flowers we'd ever seen. He, "Pardon my French" Ed--he said that a lot because he'd slip most every conversation and say something he really meant to not say, was rarely seen driving his truck. They say he'd started drinking years ago when they lost their beautiful little five-year-old daughter. It wasn't a disease. She just fell out of the truck's open door as the then-young Mr. Hossler was driving up State Road 14. The Kissing Tree helped us forget about that awful sadness.

Seventeen years later, it is so grown together and intertwined that it's hard to distinguish which branches belong to which tree. You can still see the kissing part.

Overheard and Spumoni

2009-02-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

I used to listen for hours to the Sunday afternoon/evening discussions of L. Grampa (Papa/Paul), my Omi and Opi (Rose and Otto Wilde), Opi's twin brother Onkel Willie (William Wilde), his wife Tante Vickie (Victoria), their brother Onkel Emil (Emil Wilde) and his wife Tante Lieschen (Liesel) at Onkel Emil's dining room table, while drawing or coloring in the front room. I'd listen to L. Grampa and his closest friend Onkel Herbert toss around ideas till all hours of the night in the living room of our house on Brohl Street. I'd fall asleep on the floor of my bedroom, listening from under the door to L. Grampa and Uncle Wilmer, or this other friend of his--a brilliant mathemetician, in the kitchen of our house on Susilane.

L. Grandma always hung around with Tante Lieschen and our favorite great-aunt, Tante Frieda (Wilde) Dressel, when we were at Onkel Emil's or at Tante Frieda's house in Detroit. Onkel Alfred Dressel, her husband, was gruff, and smoked cigars downstairs while the rest of us would stick around the dining room and kitchen for the great food, cookies, and table games. There were always fresh flowers on the table. When Onkel Albert would come upstairs, turn on the TV, and watch a ball game, he rarely talked. He always kissed us goodbye, though. His breath smelled like Sen-Sens, and I think he let us help ourselves to the tiny licorice squares when we were there. We could smell the Italian confectionary on the corner from her house, and Tante Frieda (her name means "peace") sometimes gave us money to go get some pistachio, black cherry, vanilla spumoni--a child's fantasy request. Mmm . . . Alinosi's.

Pennies from Heaven

2009-02-05T21:33:00.001-08:00

Cracked blacktop, dirty, gritty ones,
From muddy gutter water ones,
Surprising, under sidewalk shoes
Seen but left, for whom to choose.
Sunny, windswept, sanded ones,
Streetlight neon-flashing ones,
Coppershiny ones in pairs,
Paired with quarters on the stairs.
Mostly next are tiny dimes,
Found in moonlight's guiding ray.
Then, at least expected times,
A lonely dollar greens the day.
Oh! The grateful thanks in taking,
Ah! Love's hopes are not forsaken.