the 9th coming

 

 

 

shocked this morning
to see Handsome at my door
it has been over a year since I have seen him
He ate two bowls of chicken
a bowl of dry
and a can of wet food
Where has he been?
,.....my beloved feral cat?
He's not telling
Good thing I kept his igloo
and his heat pad
Maybe....I will get him in this year
let him live out his life in luxury
and safety
and surrounded by loving humans
praise be!

Early morning walk through the garden
gave me a sense that the season is packing up
getting ready to leave
It's chilly this morning and the goldfinches
are squabbling and the bees are searching through the flowers
as is the hummingbird....oh I hate how the hummer
just darts around, not long enough on one flower
to get a photo....
but the spiders don't dart...they patiently wait
oh dear.....

How I love these oxalis...these happy little flowers..that if I take them in
they go on blooming through the winter's long dark days

and can you believe this vinca....it growns from my basement window well
all through the winter it is green.....

Oh my lovely little Miss Kitty
she is following me around the house this morning

"Oh that?" I answered my husband
....golly he sure has eyes for stuff like this
the leaking sink....not so much
Don't you just love the big acorns...I just had to have them
....well, I don't drink, gamble,swear much
just a little addiction to HomeGoods

Warning , warning !Will Robinson.....a mouse has been spotted

 

The end of September I head North to Ellison Bay Wisc
for a week of writing Flash fiction
and micro fiction
.....this year two friends are going along
we are having to stay in the 5 bed dorm....yuk
but I believe things happen for a reason...somehow
I think I'll starve up there
all the things on the menu are bread, bread and more bread
and pies and desserts
and oatmeal and pasta
oh my...what can a low carb, no wheat eating woman possible find to eat?
maybe I'll cheat
just maybe
yeah, that's what I'll do
:)

 

 

I'm headed Downtown for a much needed haircut.
This will take up most of the day....sigh
I missed my appointment about a week and a half ago
due to getting sick at a 40th birthday party at a bar
I'm too old for bars.....it was the food....not the adult beverages
for those of you laughing
But that extra week and a half
has left me at the point of disastrous hair
can't do anything with it
I wish I could cut my own hair....
We spent the weekend in Galena
...it was gorgeous
saw lots of turkeys and buzzards
and a little milk snake
The fields were beautiful with golds and purples
heaven...pure heaven
Let's hope Tom, my salon guy
cuts more , talks less
because then he will cut right
not more..... of the I'm never going back there again kind of cut
wish me luck

 

I've never seen a gray owl.

They are a  very large bird that some call "ghost owl"

There is poem I love about the gray owl.

Poet Ted Kooser likes it too. He says,

"To touch our hearts, a poem needs to rise above mere anecdote

and reach into something beyond, something greater, or, as the Chinese poets said,

'a poem must lift its eyes.'

A Sighting

by Connie Wane

The gray owl had seen us and fled

but not far. We followed noiselessly,

driving him from pine to pine:

I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

He flew as though it gave him no pleasure,

forcing himself from the bough,

falling untill his wings caught him:

they had to stroke hard, like heavy oars.

  

He must have just eaten

something that had, itself, just eaten.

Finally he crossed the swamp and vanished

as into a new day,hours before us,

and we stood near the chest-high reeds,

our feet sinking, and felt

we'd been dropped suddenly from midair

back into our lives.

Reading this poem I became part of the "we"

part of the experience

I think I will put spotting a gray in flight

on my bucket list.

 

I seek joy today in the smile of my grandson
so happy to be going to preschool
He's already showing signs of an independant spirit
like his pop
and that is a good thing

But just beneath my happiness for Maverick
is sorrow
 still
for all those innocent people
murdered by terrorists
on a beautiful blue skied sunny morning
in September eleven years ago
and I am certain, that I will always
carry this sorrow for them
it could have been any one of us
or our loved ones....as it almost was for my son in law
that day...that sunny day
But I wonder...what will they teach him in his school life about that day?
or will they even mention it.

Breakfast/Fernand Leger... Magpie tale #134

 

The usual breakfast of blacks and whites
a hint of daylight behind us
the warmth of old wood ajar to our left
the same beans ground at dawn's break
pepper, no salt...or no seasoning at all
it works somehow
this banality
of patinated love

http://magpietales.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a wonderful time.
I met some interesting people..one lady from Viet Nam
who struggled to understand a monument that had the words
Tree Magie on it
The large headstone stood in a clearing with tall oak trees framing it
She thought it was a magic place of trees
...I think she was right...oh I adored her...so fascinating talking to her
And then there was this woman talking photos ...like me
only she had a real camera....she drifted my way and began talking to me about
what I took photos of.....what interested me through the lens
light-shadow-angles-art-light
this pleased her.....she actually invited me to visit her camera club
and encouraged me to join the one in my area
....ha....I wouldn't know a f-stop from the Elevated stop
It was very difficult to take photos while keeping up with the group
I will need to go to cemeteries alone.....wait for the light to be just so
look for the details.....so purposefully put there on every stone

Every big shot from old Chicago is there indeed at Graceland
poets architects mayors business magnates
big shots with big graves
except for Mayor Daley...he's buried in an ordinary catholic south suburban cemetary

The experience yesterday was peaceful...it is...
Like most big city cemeteries of this era
they are built like parks...big gorgeous parks
I loved every tree I saw...collected many acorns...for which I was laughed at
bah..who cares....some people have no magic in their souls
But I do....

I even tarried over a grave.....
..a story....came to me
I asked our guide...who is a history  prof...What do you know about the battle of Stone River?
He didn't know.....
.But this young man died of his wounds there
Battles are always horrific for those who fight in them
and there stories are forgotten...their pain, their sacrifice
the history
forgotten
I came away from my day at Graceland Cemetery
haunted.

 

 

I'm going on a field trip
with my mother's senior group......
you know...she said.....you're a senior
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My girlfriend said to look at it this way:
You'll be the hottest chick there
.....some friend
We are going to Graceland Cemetary in Chicago
where the who's who of Chicago's history are buried
I'll bring my camera

 

-May Sarton

summer night #133 magpie tale

sit in a summer night

 your head tossed back

 into the given light of the moon

and listen to the creatures speak

the cicada, the coyotes,the owl

lift your head to the silent flight of the bat

whose sillouette you see against the evening sky

while sweat beads over your body

sweltering in season

the air thick with moisture

 and lightening bugs

signaling silently for love

and you become

part of it

as a salty drop hits your lips

and you close your eyes

let spirits of the summer night

beguile you to sleep

http://magpietales.blogspot.com

Miss Kitty O'Shea

has a new bed

She's been limping a bit on her front paw and won't go upstairs....doctor visit soon

She seem very happy, eats well

too well.....roast chicken

She hogs the patio door with her entire bod

forcing Boo to sleep on the hard floor

about 4 ft away from her

as she growls at him

She can't stand the wipper snapper

LEAVE ME ALONE....she tells him all the time

But Boo just wants to play

all the time

I really have an appreciation for her attitude
It seems the older I get, the less I choose to tolerate
It is my time to have fun and dabble in delight
....and having a few extra bucks that we don't have to spend on tuition
makes it all possible
But we enjoy the fruits of our life
knowing that our children went forward in life with no debt
...and good jobs
and they also rewarded themselves with excellent spouses
like their mom and dad
hmmmm.....funny how that works