Then One Day, Spring

"Winter is almost over here in Ohio and we can see the deer wandering around now." - Illustration courtesy of WALT (Ohio)

-S&G-

AT LEAST one reader of S&G has admitted that she forgot entirely about DST! "I finally figured it out Sunday evening," she reports. (Her name is being withheld on the theory that she may be an ally, albeit an involuntary one, in my one-person campaign to bring an end to DST foolishness).

-S&G-

I DON’T KNOW if the fault is DST, but it could be ... the days are flying by so fast! Here it is Friday again (as this is written) ... and it seems like only yesterday that it was Friday a week ago ... and I was "sprinting" to collect my thoughts and others' (mainly others') for another installment of S&G. My, how time flies when you're ... well, whatever ...

-S&G-

LAST WEEK’S poem about my old hat reminded LOREE (Kansas) of the one her Dad wore to "important events" ... "so old, with a tiny feather in the band for decoration, but alas, which also served to draw attention to the dark discoloration around the hat ... caused by sweating ... and the hat had its own unique odor. But I knew when he dressed up in a suit, and put that hat on, that our destination was going to be something special!"

-S&G-

BOOK NOOK - Word from KELLY (Colorado) is that she’s reading "Deep Survival," by Laurence Gonzales ... and she says: "Don’t let the title fool you – it’s about much more than extreme wilderness or war scenarios. It’s so good, the first pages are giving me chills (the good kind!).

-S&G-

PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE would like a show of hands ... yours, that is: How many of you came through Friday the Thirteenth unscathed? All, I hope ... or maybe something ... not really bad ... but funny, happened to you. OK?

-S&G-

LOREE (Kansas), who has administered so many electronic pats on the back via S&G (I long ago lost track of exactly how many) ... has a site that I recommend:

http://www.poetrybyloree.com

When you visit, pay particular attention to her poem, "Dear JT" ... which marks the second anniversary of her youngest son’s death. "I try to do a poem (for him) every year," Loree says, "though words have a way of being inadequate for describing my feeling this day."

She adds: "The graphic is a photo of him, at 4 years old ... he was a happy-go-lucky kid ... just like me!"

She has lots of other poems ... and music ... on her site. Have a good look around.

-S&G-

TODAY’S QUOTE: "The world’s drivers seem to be divided into two groups ... the SPEEDERS ... and the HEEDERS ... of speed limits, of course. The first group seems to operate on the philosophy that "a little bit" ... doesn’t really matter, as long as you don’t get caught – like a little bit of shoplifting, a little bit of cheating, while the other group (a very small number, it would appear) seems to accept that those roadside/streetside signs are meant to convey a message: The safe LIMIT - not an option, but a LIMIT - on forward motion on a particular stretch." - Professor Squigglee.

-S&G-

TODAY’S POEM - I’m always glad when spring arrives, as is evident in today’s poem. Oh, I don’t spend the whole winter in a countdown of the days until that happier, warmer season arrives ... but I do look at the calendar occasionally, and do some rough calculations as to when the ice cap might start retreating.

Where I grew up, the arrival of spring was a happy occasion, indeed.

The poem:

THEN ONE DAY, SPRING

After the long, gray parade
of frozen winter months,
there eventually came a day

unlike others in our valley,
when the sun seemed brighter,
warmer, the breeze softer,

clearer, carrying birdsong
in floating crystal notes,
snow beginning to inch back

from the steaming roof edge
of a nearly-empty coal shed,
sending tear-like trickles

of water drip-drip-dripping
onto earth where daffodils
soon would be punching

slender fingers through,
reaching for the warmth.
Then high along the ridge,

at the bluffs where a stream
would struggle with thirst
in July, there issued

the robust song of water
newly freed from the cold,
tumbling head-over-heels

to reach the rocks below
and come racing toward us
with the great good news.

(originally published in Capper's)

-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