She's started kindergarten

all day kindergarten

No more nap rugs

I wonder if they still play?

She is organized like my youngest daughter, sarah

This shall serve her well

and, she is athletic and a budding artist

and loves numbers and letters

how you make things ....important things

out of them.......smart girl

I wish I could be in California to see her

see all of them......the heart is a lonely grandma

right now......

Maybe I can talk grandpa into flying

flying out there for her birthday

roll the dice grandpa...I"ll say

surely a-fib won't happen again

It's not California's fault

or the airplanes

and you are on meds now

and your veins are whislte clean

Go.....or maybe I'll go by myself

ohahoahoh.....can't believe I said that

: )

132 magpie tale

warm winter sunlight
two apples left in a dish
clock ticked toward midnight

big stone fireplace
 my dreams held in lonely room
I knew he would come

 his bag filled with  gifts
cold and dampness forgotten
 Father slid down hearth

http://magpietales.blogspot.com

A Finn Day

I'm spending the day with Dennis the Menace
aka Finn
wish me luck
He might kiss me to death

:

Ah, Galena
At the last minute we decided to head for it
Blue skies, puffy white clouds, sunshine
80 degrees

The landscaping is in pretty rough shape
no water for quite a while
but good golly...the weeds didn't get the memo
they are everywhere
but the house always says home as we pull in the driveway

 

 

This vine keeps growing..and I keep pulling it
I think it is a grapevine...but different than the one at home
that is taking over my familyroom window
Chipmunks live in this rock wall
and I adore seeing them..rascals

 

We visited our favorite shopkeepers...they said they were glad to see us
now that was nice...
I bought some new red readers and  jar of Amish dill pickles
yum
I had a caprese salad...didn't think they knew about caprese salad here
in the country....:)
I shopped on my own a bit while hubby chewed the fat a bit
political fat......ugh...with some locals
and I found two gifts for a few friends.had their names on them
Red......I hope I can find your address...boy did I find you a hoot of a gift
and April....you'll love him
It was a gorgeous day..just me and hubby
just wandering around..taking in the views
Bought some farm stand...real farm stand...tomatoes...
some Wisconsin sharp Cheddar
peppers, apples...heirloom ones
and we had filet for supper
oh my goodness....now that is how meat is supposed to taste
...don't tell me it came from an animal..or I'll cry
sometimes one needs to be ignorant to get through life
We bought a bottle of California wine
and we plan on sitting on the deck and watch night fall
...it sort of a joke between my husband and myself
He loves saying night fell
....did you hear it?

goof

Magpie tale # 130

 

You've got to be kidding
This time she has really gone over the edge
The challenge to
  push the envelope in costumes at the annual staff Halloween Ball
 - didn't mean showing up
like some exhibitionist sex starved nymph
holding her needs like some damn conch shell
Put your ear here...she just about begs
Really,that's no way for a Principal to act
Her aging deflating breasts out there for all the world to see
fool
wait till she sees herself onYouTube


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Tonight is my writing group
sigh...not good sigh
I have been having computer problems..again
but it doesn't really matter
I have brain freeze, brain drain
My story is about an obsessed man
a stalker, a killer
Nice topic , huh?
But I had it going a bit..and then my computer froze
and I hadn't yet saved what I had written....gone
stupid,careless
I am not given to fits of anger, but today I wanted to
heave the computer out of the window..for good
Now, here is the important thing
I think I have lost my writing brain
really...
ever since I went wheat free...my brain won't write
my creativity is down
and so am I
So what did I do.?....I went to the grocery store
and tortured myself...past the bread aisle
past the pretzels
past the spaghetti
Now I am back home ...the computer is unfrozen
but my brain still doesn't want to go back to John Sloane
and his obsession
only mine-
wheat.

 

Cleaning out a dresser drawer, I came across this picture
of me and Amelia
The daughter who has been through so much this year
Soon, in a few weeks, it will be her 39th birthday
Where did those years go?
How did they slip away so quickly?
Back then I thought I could protect her from everything
or die trying
I still would like to spare her from life's unfairness
life's lessons
life's heartaches....she's my little girl
But, she is doing fine...so I guess those lessons
are worth learning
must be learned
As I learned mine

Love, the glue that holds it all together
binds us still


lesson today: don't start the week cleaning out drawers

 

It's rained a few times lately, stormed
lighting, thunder...the angels bowling kind of sounds
Oh, I enjoyed remembering that from childhood
I believed it
Took away the fear of storm

The garden earth soaked up the rain eagerly
the trees lifted their leaves again
like in prayer
So needed was this rain

I have been writing all week
working on flash fiction for an upcoming workshop in September
Working on my memoir.....not my favorite
Working on short stories for my writing group
taking the stories to some dark places
writing to the edge.....seems our leader likes 'em dark
likes them gritty, likes them topical
Not sure I do.....when you I write like this it stays with me too long
disturbs my thinking...sticks to me like spilled syrup
explores territory within me that I know
either directly or indirectly...hurts like walking on glass
The only thing that helps this sticky stuff is reading
other's work...I get lost in their sticky stuff
The current issue of Glimmer Train Magazine
has a few good stories....that stayed with me over my own thoughts
had that power of a good story


Last Saturday, Finn came over and we went to a restaurant that delivers your food
by train....What fun
This Saturday, it will be quiet
I dug out some poetry books.....I forgot how much I love poetry
Poetry delivers it like no other kind of writing
I bow to good poets (that be you, Brian)

I am eager for autumn...me
autumn has always been dreaded by me
for winter soon comes
winter..that season of emptiness
no color, no green especially
dark gray skies mostly
icy street and drifting snow in my driveway
and we are getting too old to clear it ourselves
and good reliable workers are hard to find
even in this terrible state of our country's economy
So I usually dread winter's coming
But not this year.
I am eager for the cycle to go onward
I need this rest period, this warmth from hearth and home
Though I am eating a low carb lifestyle
I still think I can make meals comforting
I need comfort in all its forms
So reading through an anthology
I found this wonderful poem that graced me,
by Nikki Giovanni, called -

Winter Poem

once a snowflake fell
on my brow and i loved
it so much i kissed
it and it was happy and called its cousins
and brothers and a web
of snow engulfed me then
i reached to love them all
and i squeezed them and they became
a spring rain and i stood perfectly
still and was a flower

I had a discussion with someone about baggage.
As she was talking about traveling items,
my mind wandered off to another kind.
These thoughts would have been lost on her...
but I rather like sharing my thoughts with myself....
so I continued to think about baggage into the night
and I even dreamt about it
Going somewhere....with.my baggage
and as I walked through the airport my legs got heavier and heavier
until I could hardly walk so weighed down were they
hmmm
I think I am focused on the suffering
and resisting healing
I thought I was traveling light
but yesterday I started to cry for Isla Maeve
Such a beautiful summer day it was
that I thought of her as I watched my neighbor's daughter
walking with her grandmother

luggage of the heart filled with lead
I am heading to the airport of days
carrying every bag I ever had
I need to travel light
need to have dog mind
Isla is with the Lord and her mother and father loved her
to the point of letting their hearts break to let her live
as long as she could...
Holding her was a moment I will never forget
and yesterday she came to me in a summer breeze
and I remembered her
But I cannot stay here
I must let go of my sadness..

not of her.....she is in glory
and  drop this suitcase of tears
and walk on ...

 

Animals can teach us this
today my arms are free
I can move within myself
twirl around and settle in to the joys that are my life
turn my suitcases into a resting place
of quiet places


images from google

#128 MT

 

lad commands the dog to sit
dog mind is still chasing squirrel
both have tails tucked

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