(I'm intrigued by reflections ... the various ways in which they mirror real objects ... in this case providing squiggly images on the water)Looking back ... I don’t do a lot of that, for fear of bumping into things (I do enough bumping into ... when I’m looking straight ahead) ... but I’m looking back now to Monday, March 24, 2003.
And what was so memorable about that date? Nothing. It was just the date on a printout of an e-mailed installment of S&G ... and I guess some of you remember what that was like ... I’d put together a "newsletter," set it up to go out to three special mailing lists ... and send it, via a certain online service, to numerous states ... and a couple of countries abroad.
Oh, those were the days! Until that certain online service brought it to a sudden halt ... without any notice ... no explanation ... no recourse ... despite the fact that all of those on the mailing lists had ASKED to receive the FREE e-mailed S&G.
Meanwhile, I kept receiving all those e-mailings, via that online service, that I hadn’t asked for, and didn’t want to receive. Go figure.
But that was another day, another issue.
S&G went homeless for a while, stopped, started, stopped ... and finally started again ... HERE.
Now where was I? Oh, yes ... Monday, March 24, 2003. This is part of what I said then:
Moderation in all things.
I’ve long preached that. Especially as it applies to others. And now I’ve begun to practice it myself. Not in all things, perhaps, but in some. Well, a few.
Shoveling snow, for example. I used to approach snow as the mortal enemy, and I didn’t stop ... often didn’t pause ... until that last intruding flake had been cast aside.
As I’ve become older, I’ve become more sensible, thanks to the intercession of my own reasonably good brain, and some very persistently good advice from my best buddy, Phyllis.
Now I take shoveling a little at a time. If I don’t get all of the snow shoveled, it will eventually melt anyway, right?
-S&G-
PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE ... (I know, he hasn’t been around much lately ... hope you remember him) ... would like a show of hands on two matters: 1. When do you normally take your weekly peek at S&G? (Actually, I guess an e-mailed response would be better than a show of hands on that one) ... and 2. Would you be in favor of an occasional "update" of S&G, say mid-week or so? (Maybe an e-mailed response on that would be better than a show of hands, too, if you don’t mind).
-S&G-
MODERATION? I’m afraid I’m a little late with that piece of advice, as far as LOREE (Kansas) is concerned.
When I last heard from her, she was expecting company from Iowa (one of her fans just had to meet the person writing the poems on Loree’s web site).
So-o-o-o-o ... That called for sprucing up the farm a bit. Loree explains:
"I held off on the mowing until the last minute, so yesterday did the whole pasture, PLUS pressure washed the main deck off the kitchen. On brief breaks I did the laundry, and a few fun things like that.
"This morning at 7:30 I was applying the water seal to the deck. The sprayer didn’t want to work at all, so I got an old sponge and applied the water seal by hand. The deck seemed to be MUCH larger than it was when we built it!
"But, in addition to having a deck now that looks almost like new wood, I found out there is nothing wrong with the pores in my body ... every one of them is open and working! Not a dry hair on my head, and my clothes were sopping wet. How can a little old lady sweat like a 230 pound construction worker?"
-S&G-
YOU KNOW you’re a Floridian, if ... You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer. - Courtesy of HELEN (Florida)
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM ... It’s another poem about writing, this one triggered by a supply of brittle paper given to me by one of my sons. You know me ... I can’t just throw something away ... I have to find a use for it ... use it up ... get that last ounce of value from it. This paper ... well, if you tried to fold it, it broke ... that’s right, broke! ... it was that brittle. And if you forgot and put a piece of it in a shirt pocket, what you retrieved amounted to about a hundred ... maybe two hundred tiny pieces. Was it ever BRITTLE!
That was the beginning inspiration for this little poem ... and here’s the final result, as originally published in Capper’s:
BRITTLE POEMS
My poems
are written
on brittle
paper, little
thoughts
that blink
like fireflies
scouring
summer nights
looking
for someone
with a jar,
a quick hand,
someone who
will catch
them, enjoy
them, let them
fly again.
-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
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 TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
OOPS! Earlier this week ... or was it last week? Let's just say ... um ... recently, Professor Squigglee indicated that he'd like to know if readers would like an "update" on S&G ... say, somewhere around mid-week.
Well, the response came pouring in. The final tally showed one vote for ... none against. I guess you could call the unanimous, right?
At the time I thought it might be nice to add a few words to S&G, say, around Wednesday ... and then I forgot.
So here we are ... a day late ... and I forget what the rest of the saying is, but I'm sure you can fill in the blank.
Professor Squigglee? He says, "I always remember EVERYTHING ... but my timing is sometimes off a bit."
And that's the way it is on this ... well, whatever day this is. Maybe we should try this again sometime. What do you think?
© 2009
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