Shovel? Maybe Later

Poor guy, he’s probably wondering: What happened to all those signs of spring I saw yesterday? Where are those blossoming cherry trees? And where is everybody else? - Photo courtesy of KELLY (Colorado)

SUDDENLY, it’s wintertime again in Colorado ... writes KELLY: Last week trees and flowers were blooming. Then we had this crazy blizzard. Now next week, the temps are supposed to be back in the sixties.

There is over 20 inches of snow on my patio in only the last five hours. It is still snowing. The governor declared a state of emergency. More than 100 miles of the interstate, many highways and many main roads are closed.

There is only one highway and one two-lane road to my town; they are both closed.

But, KELLY continues ... the blizzard is actually good ... because my town gets 100 per cent of its water from the mountain’s melt-water. But ... it is not so good for all the trees and flowers that began blooming last week.

And concludes: I think I’d better go out now and shovel a little, or tomorrow it will be even deeper and heavier shoveling!

-S&G-

WEATHER WAS certainly a matter of concern to LOREE (Kansas), too:

I have this habit of listening to my NOAA weather radio ... much more like getting it from the horse’s mouth!

The forecast for tomorrow (at the time she was typing an e-mail to me) ... and especially tomorrow night, doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun ... storms and possible tornadoes!

I don’t need a crystal ball to let me know what kind of a night I’m in for with Psycho dog. It’s reached the point that I make sure she isn’t around, even, when I listen to NOAA ... for they do NOT spell words like "deadly lightning, wind, rain and tornadoes," which are now all a part of Dixie’s vocabulary!

(Loree confides that it has reached the point that she almost feels like they ... her canines ... have taken HER in, the way they rule the roost around there)

Anyway, Loree continues: with the dread of tomorrow night building in my mind, I typed "thunder and lightning make my dog go CRAZY" into the Google search line and hit "Go"! Well, it seems I am not alone, for that brought up page after page of the very same complaints from other earthlings, as well as possible "help" steps for surviving those episodes.

(She found a remedy that seemed promising ... and I’m awaiting further developments as she puts it to work. Particularly since it’s supposed to be good for people, as well ... and, Loree reports ... honest ... "I ordered two bottles ... one for the dog and the other for me ... in case hers doesn’t work!")
-S&G-

LOOKING BACK - All the way back to Monday, Nov. 11, 2002 ... when Squiggles & Giggles was a weekly e-mailed "newsletter" ... and I was dancing on the table in celebration.

Why was I dancing?

Well, Jo Ripley, artist/owner of The Itty Bitty Art Gallery in Waynesville, Ohio, had heard me read one of my poems about art (in this case a painting I had done) at an open mike session at Borders ... AND, on the basis of that, invited me to bring in some of my paintings ... she liked them, and they joined some very good company in her gallery.

Alas, "Itty Bitty" is no more, but I really enjoyed that interlude.

-S&G-

OTHER VOICES - In an e-mail entitled "Spring has finally sprung," HOMER (Illinois) writes: "Well, I think we have survived the winter, and now we have to prepare for ‘tall grass,’ fast flies, hungry mosquitoes, and humid weather. How y’all doing?"

(Oh, so far so good, HOMER ... but if we hear those flies and skeeters heading this way, we’re heading for the tall grass, in hopes they won’t find us there)

-S&G-

TODAY’S POEM: Snow is never funny ... really. It can be beautiful, particularly in the aftermath, but it can be devastating, too.

But funny? I don’t think so.

There was one occasion, though, when I thought the situation ... particularly my reaction to it ... might just bring a smile for the reader who has had the same experience ... and the same reaction I had ... to one snowstorm in particular.

The poem:

SHOVEL? MAYBE LATER

From door to street
Isn’t all that far,
But with a sleet-
And snow-bound car
Stuck in the drive,
I might just as well
Take another five
And snooze a spell.
(originally published in Mature Living)

-S&G-

COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to

rbrimm@peoplepc.com

... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)

-S&G-

UNTIL NEXT WEEK ... take care ... see ya!

-S&G-

© 2009