Thank You

A Blue Corner, 2013

I noticed an older man waiting at my bus stop. He looked familiar. It was the way he stood, he had such a sweet humble way about him.

We boarded the bus and he, with his face of patience and calm, sat down for several stops. When he stood I realized what was so familiar about him. He moved like Kermit the Frog, in the best of ways. His kind, unassuming expressions, and his stance.

He had a folded green shopping bag in his jacket pocket. I assumed he was making his way to the market, sure to pass an array of people, leaving each one with the same feeling of contentment he left me.

Duck and Camouflage

Near Sunset, 2013

"Poetry, the human feeling, the 'kitten', is so crowded out of the humdrum, rushing, mechanical scramble of today that the man who would preserve them must duck and camouflage for dear life to keep himself from annihilation."

-from a letter Hart Crane wrote in 1921, quoted in Madness, Rack, and Honey by Mary Ruefle

In 1921 it was 'mechanical scramble', today it is being 'plugged in'. The preservation was and is worthwhile.

Sick Day

Stanley with flower, 2013

It is the first day of summer, the sun is shining, and I am sick. Sigh.

Sniffling, sneezing, and slumped on the sofa. It just isn't right.

To make myself feel better I am making a list of good things in my life. Here's what I've got, so far:

1. Feeling better than I did when I first woke up.
2. Muesli with peach compote and raspberries.
3. Our new cactus, Stanley.

How about you? What's been making you happy lately?

Mornings

Iris, 2013

Someone recently wrote of her practice of reading something beautiful each morning. She liked to begin her day by remembering how beautiful writing can be.

I wish I could recall who wrote this. I think of it often. If you are reading, thank you.

Today it is Brooke's piece, The Wren, that reminds me of such beauty.

A Surprise Visit

June, 2013

I unplugged for a while and it has left me with so much running through my mind. I selected the above photograph this morning with hopes of writing something profound to match the mood of the image.

But as I was ordering my coffee I heard The Big Bopper singing:

Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a pony tail hangin' down
A wiggle in the walk and a giggle in the talk
Make the world go 'round.

A presentation of a fairly condescending 1950s female stereotype. Horrible, right?

No. Not for me.

I return to my little girl self for a moment, laughing with my young dad as he walks through our old kitchen singing this song from his childhood. He ridiculously swings one hip and snaps the fingers on his giant hands at lace, his other hip and snap following strong with face. All of it accompanied by a silly grin.

I hear the joy in his voice. I don't think about the lyrics. Or do I? Hmm.

Anyway.

I haven't seen this act of Dad's in a very long time, but the picture in my mind is crystal clear. I wonder if he still swings and snaps. I bet he does, probably post shower, wrapped in a towel, while looking in his bathroom mirror. The same mischievous look on his face.

Oh well. Profound is often tiring, no?

Chantilly Lace (song)
Chantilly Lace (video)