poem

Down By The Riverside…

I’m gonna lay down that atom bomb
Down by the riverside down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
I’m gonna lay down that atom bomb
Down by the riverside study war no more

I ain’t gonna study war no more
Ain’t gonna study war no more
— Pete Seeger

Hug me, squeeze me, love me, tease me
‘Til I can’t, ’til I can’t, ’til I can’t take no more of it
Take me to the water, drop me in the river
Push me in the water, drop me in the river
Washing me down, washing me down
— Al Green via Talking Heads

Couches

I needed a new couch.
I gave my old one away.
I found the perfect couch.
Super comfortable.
Perfect color.
Nice size.
I fell in love with it.
I ordered it.
I paid for it.
I had to wait two weeks for delivery.

It didn’t fit in the elevator.
Too big.

I know better than to fall in love with anything.
I usually don’t care that much.
But it was a really nice couch.
So back to square one.
And believe me,
there are not very many comfortable couches.
There aren’t even
very many nice looking ones.
And I know I won’t see that color again.
Unless
I want to pay 12,000 dollars
which I don’t.

I took a quiz
on one furniture store website.
It told me my style is
Contemporary Chic.
But then it didn’t give me any examples
or show me any possibilities.
What is that about?
They did send me a $25 off coupon though…

This is the picture they showed of what
Contemporary Chic looks like but
it doesn’t exist on their website.
I don’t really like it that much.

This is my old couch
in its new home.

So after sitting on many sofas,
I found this one.
It isn’t perfect but I got a
red chair to go with it.
And it is comfortable.

Now I have to wait another
two weeks for it to show up.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

It is St Patrick’s Day! Who doesn’t love St Patrick’s Day? The patron saint of Ireland who drove the snakes out of Ireland (even though there were no snakes in Ireland). Sub zero wind chills for the parade today. I think I’ll skip it.

I watched the film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles the other night. It is a three and a half hour film starring and directed by Chantal Akerman, first screened in 1975. What little dialog there is is in French. It follows a single mother over three days. It is slow and mundane. She cooks, she shops, she feeds her child, she does the washing up, she takes a bath, and she provides sex for money. It is mesmerizing in its monotony. But the changes are subtle, you have to watch closely to see her controlled behavior begin to unravel. She is a complicated woman trapped in her own world. Trapped by society? Very interesting film.

She cooked potatoes every day and some kind of meat. One day it was veal. I am feeling so uninspired. Nothing sounds good lately. I’ve been watching the Sopranos. They eat mounds and mounds of pasta at every meal. Manicotti, Ricotta, Salami, meatballs, Spaghetti, Ziti, Fagioli, etc etc. What I really want is a short rib bolognese but I’m too lazy to make it.

Requiescat by Oscar Wilde

Tread lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.

All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.

Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.

Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone
She is at rest.

Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life’s buried here,
Heap earth upon it.

Not a very happy poem but nicely done by an Irish son….

Have a good one!

Holiday Mail Friday

It’s that time of year… the holiday card, the holiday letter. It always includes travel, family, achievements, mostly positive stuff but sometimes includes losses as well. It’s the holidays, time to be upbeat and happy. Mine went something like this.

Happy Holidays!

We started the year off with an amazing trip to Egypt! I am still processing all the beautiful things we saw. Cairo, Abu Simbel, Aswan, and the boat up the Nile to Luxor. We highly recommend it.

In the spring I flew to San Francisco and had a lot of fun hanging out with old college friends. Golden Gate, Point Reyes, and Sonoma wine country.

I took a trip to Duluth and Lake Superior with my family. It is nice to be able to travel again. I also spent a long weekend in Washington DC with more old friends.

But the really big news is happening in January. I am retiring. Can’t wait. I have a million projects waiting for me. And Travel. Stay tuned.

Joy and Happiness to all in 2023

Nothing earth shattering but full of action and positive vibes.

I read today that a Radisson Hotel in Berlin boasted having the world’s largest Aquarium in their lobby. It had 1,500 tropical fish in it. And it broke, exploded, kaput. All the dead fish on the sidewalk. There is something just wrong about that. Is that entertainment? Looking at jailed fish on your way to your room? Ugh.

I watched the second half of the Harry and Meghan series as I’m sure many of you did too. I came away with some questions. What do they actually live on? So I looked it up. Apparently Harry’s father cut them off so they had to fend for themselves. They cut a deal with Netflix for $100 million. Harry got millions for his new book, Spare. Harry inherited some money from his mother and possibly from the Queen. So what they live on is their Name. They are selling their Name. Coming away from the show, I couldn’t help but think about the Duke of Windsor. I felt like they were both treated similarly. Is that a word? Anyway, way too much about that.

I watched a delightful film about Bhutan – Lulana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019). It is about a young man who is a teacher as part of his State service and he has a year of teaching left on his contract. He wants to go to Australia and be a singer and has no interest in teaching but they send him to the remotest part of Bhutan to teach. The experience changes him. I saw it on Netflix. A nice “holidays” film.

Good advice from Charles Bukowski….  

Roll the Dice
  by Charles Bukowski

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.

Now that is upbeat and holiday-sie, right?
Have a good week.

Friday in the snow

It’s another Friday. Down to my last month at work. Snow on the ground. Cold and windy. 

Nothing earth shattering in the news. Death, hate, war, celebrities, rich people, poor people, homeless people, bad politics, lawsuits, repeat. My crisis of the week? Didn’t have one. Actually I haven’t been out of the house all week. I’m reading a book called Up Like Thunder by Colin T. Nelson. A VIP’s daughter goes missing in Burma (Myanmar) and this Private Investigator goes looking for her. It is kind of slow moving but interesting. Lots of color on Burma. I’m about half way through, will finish it this week. 

St Paul is full of skyways connecting the buildings downtown. I use them all the time to get around out of the cold. They are all on the second floor of the buildings. From my window I can see one lone skyway way above the street that connects two buildings. It is thought to be the world’s first modern skyway, built in 1931. Merchants Bank and First National Bank merged and the buildings were next to each other. The floor heights were different so the skyway connects one building’s 16th floor with the other building’s 17th floor. It is a private skyway so, unless you work at the bank, you won’t be able to use it. It is the tallest skyway in the Twin Cities. And it is green.

I leave you with Poem VIII from Pablo Neruda’s Book of Questions:

What is it that upsets the volcanoes
that spit fire, cold and rage?

Why wasn’t Christopher Columbus
able to discover Spain?

How many questions does a cat have?

Do tears not yet spilled
wait in small lakes?

Or are they invisible rivers
that run toward sadness?

Ponder that…..

Friday Ramblings

Well, it’s another Friday. Another week. My countdown to retirement is jogging along. I am down to 67 more days. Probably time to start obsessing. Actually, I’m way past that. Forms, Dates, Signatures, meetings…. My head is swimming.

I keep trying to find happy, positive, funny things to write about. I always end up back at the gloom and doom of today’s headlines. I was listening to the news this morning and literally the only thing they mentioned as far as National/International news was… drum roll… Twitter. Elon Musk took over Twitter and fired the CEO. Then with all kinds of speculation about what will happen next. Will he unblock Trump? Will he get rid of all controls imposed?

I am on Twitter but I rarely look at it. I think you have to be focused in on a particular subject to really understand any of it. But ultimately it just feeds the press and the ignorant. The ignorant press? Who cares what Elon Musk does? He is in the top 1 percent. Probably the top idiot of the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent. Why am I even mentioning him? Ugh…

Speaking of the 1 percent… Another one with too much money: Jeff Bezos. He is the one who shot William Shatner (and others) into space, for a minute. Of course my thought was, what an incredible waste of money. Shatner released his book, Boldly Go on October 4. Apparently, he had an overwhelming revelation during that flight. He saw the vast emptiness of space and the beauty of the earth. It is a common thread with astronauts. How amazingly beautiful our planet looks from space. Many are overcome by it. Shatner took it a step further and was overcome with grief. He realized we were killing our beautiful planet. So my thought is, why doesn’t Bezos pour all his money into saving our planet instead of trying to colonize Mars? Who wants to live on an ugly red planet?

How about a Travel Tidbit? Apparently today there is a big festival every year in Oshogbo, Nigeria. It draws thousands of people from around the world. I went there in the last 1970’s. It was the center for women’s fertility ceremonies and shrines on the Osun River. We were allowed into their private area and led down to the river to witness a ritual. We saw many shrines in the area. An Austrian artist named Suan Wenger created sculptures in the area – weird things that looked like huts, or female forms. She revived the area and brought attention to it and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. When my friend and I went there, we were the only visitors.

This is an except from September 1, 1939 by W.H.Auden.

Somehow seems relevant today…

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
—-W.H.Auden

I made Tarragon Chicken this week that turned out yummy. Sorry, no photos this time…

1 lb skinless chicken breasts cubed
½ red onion chopped
8 oz mushrooms chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
½ cup white wine
7 ½ oz crème fraiche
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
24 oz small potatoes cut in half
2 Tbsp chopped fresh Tarragon

  • Cook chicken with onions and garlic in some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add the mushrooms.
  • Toss the potatoes in oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Pour onto a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until done.
  • In a bowl add the crème fraiche, mustard, wine and tarragon.
  • Add the sauce to the chicken and heat through.
  • Add the cooked potatoes and mix to coat. Or you can serve the potatoes separately.
  • Enjoy

I Wish I Were in Timbuktu

 

 

 

I wish I were in Timbuktu

In the middle of nowhere

with you.

I wish I were teetering on a

mountain top

stretching to see

your ship on the horizon.

I wish I were in thick jungle

swinging through the

trees

with you chasing after me.

I wish I were

selling pineapples on the beach

within your reach.

I wish I were a sunny sky

on your rainy day.

 

 

Wish Swish

Caught in the wind of

SANDY

wishes fly

away.

 

 

 

 

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

 

Sunshine Award

    Maggie Myklebust, author of Fly Away Home (a great book) has honored me with the Sunshine Award!!

Thank you, Maggie!!  This is a great way to start the week.

The Sunshine Award guidelines are:

  1. Link the award to the person who gave it to you.
  2. Answer the questions that come with it.
  3. Pass it along to other bloggers and let them know they have received it.
The questions:

Favorite color–  Ferrari Red

Favorite animal–  llama

The Lama

The one-l lama,

He’s a priest.

The two-l llama

He’s a beast.

And I will bet 

A silk pyjama

There isn’t any

Three-l lllama.

          Ogden Nash

Favorite number–     2     two,  me and you    2    

Favorite non-alcoholic drink–    Schweppes Bitter Lemon on a hot tropical day

Facebook or Twitter– dont do twitter…

My passion–

ART,

any kind – painting, drawing, needlework, writing, looking at art, dance, music

Giving or receiving– both….

,,, You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.  For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?  And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?  And what is fear of need but need itself?  Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have– and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.  And there are those who have little and give it all.  These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.  There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.  And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.  And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;  they give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.  Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smile upon the earth.

It is well to give unasked, through understanding; and to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.  And is there aught you would withhold?  All you have shall some day be given; therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.

You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”  The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.  They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.  Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else form you.  And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.  And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, any the charity, of receiving?  And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed  See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.  For in truth it is life that gives unto life– while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

An you receivers– and you are all receivers–  assume no weight of gratitude lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.  Rather rise together with the giver on this gifts as on wings; for to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.

                      from  The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran


Favorite pattern–

 

Favorite day of the week–  Saturday with no plans

Favorite flower– Rose

“I am not a weed,” the flower replied sweetly.

“Please excuse me…”

“I am not at all afraid of tigers,” she went on, “but I have a horror of drafts.  I suppose you wouldn’t have a screen for me?”

“A horror of drafts–that is bad luck, for a plant,” remarked the little prince, and added to himself, “This flower is a very complex creature…”

                     from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I’m passing this award on to:

http://expatiallymexico.wordpress.com/

http://globalanni.wordpress.com/

http://stumbleabroad.net/

http://newsofthetimes.org/

http://bringingeuropehome.com/

Congratulations!!

My ABC’s

About three days ago a fellow

Blogger nominated me for the Awesome Blog

Content award.  Her name is Maggie and she loves

Dogs and

Even wrote a book called

Fly Away Home.

Goodness Gracious, I said.

How can this be?

I wondered.

Just then I thought about

Kindred spirits and how easy it is to

Lose sight of

Many

New

Opportunities when

People

Question how things happen.  Does there need to be a

Reason for

Such

Things or can we enjoy our

Unique

Views of the world with

Wonder?

Xanadu can not be far off when we appreciate the

Years we spend together in this

Zoo

I nominate MoonBeam McQueen for this award because she is cool.

Happy Monday!!