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FRIDAY FRENZY - Whew! What a week this has been, right? It started out with “Sunday Paper” ... and ended ... almost ... with “The Banana Test.” Actually, it’s approaching the conclusion with today’s effort ... “Friday Frenzy.”
And frenzy it is. To make a long story short (how uncharacteristic of me, eh?) ... I thought I had stretched myself to the limit by resurrecting “Squiggles & Giggles” in the form of a weekly online posting (quite a leap from the days of the weekly ... well, almost weeky ... e-mailed newsletter).
Then this week ... I don’t know what possessed me, but I managed, with a lot of help from my friends, to add something each day. I know I’m repeating myself, but WHEW!
And now for the big finish ... for this week, that is ... here I am, facing a self-imposed deadline of Friday evening for pulling something together to be posted early Saturday morning ... and I haven’t the foggiest idea of what I’m going to write.
Any suggestions?
-S&G-
THURSDAY’S POP QUIZ - courtesy of RUTH (Ohio), who passed along a beautifully illustrated piece via e-mail. Unfortunately, posting it here, intact, doesn’t fall within the area of expertise for Professor Squigglee ... or me.
But, minus the trimmings, here it is:
THE BANANA TEST
There is a very tall coconut tree, and there are four animals: A lion, a chimp, a giraffe, and a squirrel.
Got all those details? OK, read on: They decide to compete to see who is the fastest to get a banana off the tree. Who do you guess will win?
I guessed the giraffe ... obviously, because of his long neck, a most decided advantage.
Professor Squigglee, after some careful thought, went with the squirrel as most likely, not just because of its climbing ability, but its cunning and curiosity, too.
And what was your guess?
Doesn’t matter. A lion, a chimp, a giraffe, and a squirrel ... all wrong! Why? A coconut tree doesn’t have bananas.
Ruth’s e-mail concludes: Obviously you’re stressed and overworked ... You should take some time off and relax. I think I will, Ruth ... at least for the rest of the day. And I thank you for the diagnosis ... and remedy.
-S&G-
WEDNESDAY WANDERINGS - "Better hold your cup level," a concerned friend advised Professor Squigglee.
The Prof glanced down ... just in time to keep his coffee from bounding over the lip of the cup ... but couldn't help observing: "Hey, it's not easy, the way the Earth is tilting these days."
-S&G-
"This is a sad time for me," said the subject line of a recent e-mail from LOREE (Kansas). Inside I found "For my son" ... and this link ...
http://www.poetrybyloree.com/437.html
I clicked on it ... and I hope you will, too, for I found a most touching tribute, written with the magic that Loree coaxes from mere words in her polished, structured poetry. So, if you have a few moments for quiet, reflective reading, do take a look.
-S&G-
TUESDAY TATTLINGS - I've heard rumors ... some of them seemingly well founded ... that spring is just around the corner. Which one? Oh, that is the question.
There's word from Kansas, at least, that spring is on the way ... and let's let Loree tell about that:
"Got the mower out, hooked a trailer onto the draw bar, got the BIGGEST pruners I own, and went to work. Cut about 30 feet of trumpet vine back almost to dirt level. That stuff takes over the whole north side of my garage in the summer ... But the hummingbirds love it!
"Got my step-daughter's hubby to help me lower the purple martin apartment houses, clean out the nests in those, and hoist them back up. Should probably see the first of them coming in about the middle of March. And I'm ready for them!"
As if that weren't enough ... Loree also dispatched two loads of laundry ... all done, folded and hung up ... and put away.
And, after all that, I wouldn't be surprised if she settled in for a long winter's nap ... with a dream or two about spring thrown into the bargain!
-S&G-
MONDAY QUOTE - "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes, because I know I'm not dumb. And I'm also not blonde." - Dolly Parton
-S&G-
SUNDAY PAPER - courtesy of Ruth (Ohio) -
"WHERE is my SUNDAY PAPER?!"
The irate customer, calling the newspaper office, loudly demanded to know where her Sunday edition was.
"Madam," replied the newspaper employee, "today is Saturday. The Sunday paper is not delivered until tomorrow, on SUNDAY."
There was a long pause, followed by a ray of recognition as the customer was heard to mutter, "Well ... so that's why there was nobody at my church today."
-S&G-
WHEN A HUSH settles over the countryside on a Friday evening and I feel the hot breath of a deadline on the back of my neck (time to pull another installment of S&G together, you know), my fingers start dancing across the keys.
Problem is, I’m not sure whether to begin at the beginning ... like here ... or start at the end ... like way down there ... with the inevitable poem, and work my way forward.
Professor Squigglee, that tried and trusted authority on all things, would probably recommend that I start in the middle and work in both directions.
You’ve heard about my self-prescribed approach to things now ... “sprinting” ... that is, working intently on some project for 15 minutes ... then slacking off, perhaps taking a quick nap ... or just kicking back in my easy chair for some “meditation” ... then another 15 minutes of intense activity ... then a break ... etc.
But both directions? I don’t think so.
-S&G-
LET’S BACK UP a few days, though ... I was sitting, talking to my doctor (don’t worry ... just a routine pit stop on the raceway of life) ... and I caught a glimpse of the inside cover of my thick, thick “chart.”
There my favorite physician had stashed a copy of my poem, “At the Doctor’s Office.” Whoa!
I really had to dig out my copy when I got home, and I’m sharing it with you today, near the end of this installment.
-S&G-
“Loved the poem,” says LOREE (Kansas) ... and I’m pretty sure she’s referring to LAST week’s “Play Ball!” for she continues:
“Ah, the good old days of playing ball ... I had two big reasons for doing so ... one was because I loved playing ball of ANY kind ... and it was the best excuse in the world to escape milking the cows, if I had to play ball somewhere.
“My Dad was a great ball player, and I think passed that on to me in my genes.
“My last year of playing basketball and softball was the year I was FORTY years young. It was at that point that I heard someone in the crowd at one of our games yell out, “Let her hit it, ‘cause she sure can’t run any more!’
“The sad thing was it was true ... the abuse of years of sliding into bases, or being knocked down and skidding on the hardwood of the basketball court had taken their toll.
“I reluctantly gave up both softball and basketball ... but I still have trophies for my ‘adult’ efforts, from tournaments played all the way from Wichita, down into Oklahoma, where those players don’t mess around!
“They are dead serious, and even as young, inexperienced players, would give us a hard time.
“How nice it would be to have all those fun years, when my three older sons were my own private cheering section, on tape for posterity.”
-S&G-
TODAY’S QUOTE: “Every time I hear the dirty word ‘exercise’ I wash my mouth out with chocolate.” - courtesy of RUTH (Ohio)
-S&G-
TEST FOR OLD KIDS - courtesy of HELEN (Florida): “The story you are about to see is true. Only the names have been changed to ... “ (Oh, OK ... “protect the innocent” goes in the blank)
-S&G-
REMEMBER? (courtesy of WALT, Ohio) ... Lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, “That cloud looks like a ... ”
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM ... came to me on a routine visit to the doctor's office ... I was, indeed, perched on the end of an examining table ... waiting ... watching the rain ... waiting ...
Then, just to kill a little time, I reached for the folded scrap of paper I always carry in my hip pocket, and started writing. The result: "At the Doctor's Office," which was originally published in Potpourri, was subsequently nominated for Pushcart Prize honors, and is now part of a manuscript in search of a publisher:
AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE
Random needles of rain
start darting diagonally
like the silent scratchings
of cat claws on the window
where the traffic is zooming
and sizzling past, hauling
away the remains of Thursday,
blurring beyond the sycamore,
its mottled gray-green trunk
whispering of a deep-forest
stream while seeming utterly
misplaced here where concrete
suffers the presence of so few
trees, where my strongest
efforts at contiguous thought
produce only fragments too tiny
to mend, unleavened images,
lacking all savor of meaning,
where I perch, dry-mouthed
and nervous, my legs dangling
from the end of this table,
and wait, as I always do,
for a door to open softly,
carefully, into this silence,
this sterile, stifling silence.
© 2001
-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-
And if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2010
WINNER of the magical, mystical, mythical Gold Star for being the first to respond to this week's posting is ... Anonymous! Congrats, Anon, and (blush-blush) thank you for those kind words. Oh, and coming in a close second ... LOREE (Kansas) with an e-mail. What the hey ... let's just say it was a photo finish, and each receives a Gold Star ... on the attendance book, that is.
---
PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE ... cautious soul that he is ... frequently reminds me that mixing politics and ... well, almost any other topic ... generally results in an explosive mixture.
So I try to be careful.
I hope you won’t mind, though, if I report that it appears that Global Warming may be on the verge of resuming in Ohio. I detect signs of melting ... though that could be my sun-starved imagination playing tricks on me.
I believe though that we’re about to witness the doffing of the Ice Cap in our direction, a sure sign that spring, if not just around the corner (always a question of WHICH corner, of course), is at least another day closer.
-S&G-
TODAY, for example ... that being a Friday, naturally, when I shift into high (or low) gear and start moving in the direction of pulling together another installment of these forgettable words ...
TODAY, as I started to say ... the sun is shining brightly in Ohio. I’m pretty sure it’s the sun, though I didn’t recognize it at first (it’s been a long time).
It’s so beautiful here this afternoon that I’m tempted to go outside and lie in the sun.
However, my grandmother taught me never to lie ... especially in the sun (danger of a bad burn, you know) ... and I wasn’t even to think about chopping down a cherry tree so I could tell the truth about that.
-S&G-
WORD from LOREE (Kansas) ... “I loved that poem (“My Three Loves, posted here last week), and it reminds me of my own third grade teacher ... her name was Miss Nelson. I think I loved her.
“She smelled so pretty, she was pretty, and she read books aloud to us. I would hang onto every word that her lovely and expressive voice used, and she made the characters and the words in whatever book she was reading to us come to life for me.
“I could see each character and enjoyed so much watching their antics ... Miss Nelson is responsible for planting, tenderly caring for, and promoting the growth of my imagination.
“Many years later I had a journalism teacher in high school who continued to prod my imagination.
“The exact opposite of Miss Nelson, who had been a slender beauty (really!) ... Miss Burkett evidently led a busy life, with no time for personal grooming.
“Short, stocky, her gray hair always askew, and daily, the same coffee-stained blouse with the ugly frill peeking out of the lapels of the same old suit!
“But what a great lady she was ... for she kept my writing interests growing. I owe a debt of gratitude to both.”
-S&G-
TODAY’S QUOTE: “I believe ... that we don’t have to change friends, if we understand that friends change.” - courtesy of RUTH (Ohio)
-S&G-
LOOKING BACK ... AGAIN ... all the way back to Monday, April 14, 2003:
“Two completely unrelated news items caught my eye recently:
“1. Our state, like a lot of others, is having money problems. Among programs that may be affected are our libraries, which receive a portion of their funding from the state. There is talk of having to cut services.
“2. There’s a waiting list of 4,000 people who want to buy season tickets to watch the local minor league baseball team.
“As I say, two completely unrelated items.
“Please don’t read any politics or religion into this. I religiously avoid the subject of politics. I do, however, religiously patronize the libraries ... around Christmas and Easter, certainly ... and almost weekly in between.
“And sometimes I wish people could get as excited about new books ... or old ... as they do about baseball.”
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM ... comes to mind as I try to forget those ice-encrusted winter months and look forward to daily walks "in the neighborhood" ... past those ball diamonds waiting patiently for the crowds of kids ... or would-be kids ... to return to the base paths.
It also comes to mind with the onset of nippy nights and chilly mornings ... a reminder that the things of summer will soon be put aside while we search for the leaf rake ... and the dreaded snow shovel.
I like to store away sunnier memories ... something to tide me over in less inviting times, weather-wise. What better memory than a sun-drenched ball park?
There's one ball park in particular that holds a certain fascination. I guess it's because there's seldom anybody else around as we go strolling by.
I do pause there ... sometimes approach the backstop, and my fingers do grip the wire mesh like "some abandoned vine" ... while I think of days long, long ago, when I actually ran the bases a few times.
There's still that momentary urge to try it again. But I'm a little smarter now ... and a lot slower ... and I never do.
The poem:
Play BALL!
Standing behind
the sagging backstop
at the deserted field,
my fingers gripping
the wire mesh like
some abandoned vine,
I'm tempted to go
tearing around second,
sliding into third
in a cloud of dust;
instead, I linger
a few moments more,
enjoying the quiet,
just imagining that
roar of the crowd.
© 1998
(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-
And if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2010
I believe it was Professor Squigglee who once - or maybe twice - said, “I’m not against looking back. Go ahead, if you must. But I try to avoid it if I can ... because I never know who I’m going to bump into - and vice versa - while I’m doing it.”
-S&G-
I try to avoid looking back, too, but not necessarily for the same reason. I also try to avoid looking too far ahead.
And how far is that?
Oh, it varies. Let’s just say that I scan the immediate terrain - especially when I’m driving. But I don’t spend much time studying the distant horizon and trying to guess what’s on the other side. It will likely change before I get there anyway.
Even trying to plan the whole day sometimes opens up a whole can of surprises.
But I do sometimes take a peek at tomorrow.
Tomorrow? Why, unless my calendar and I are both mistaken, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! So-o-o- ... HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY (a little early, but I hope you won’t mind).
-S&G-
And now, I hope you won’t mind, either, if we do a little looking back down the trail. We’re not driving and talking on the phone - or texting - while sipping on our morning coffee, are we? Fine. I think we can do a little looking back without suffering a resounding WHACK!
-S&G-
Come with me, if you will ... all the way back to MONDAY, July 28, 2003 ... when “Squiggles” was a “newsletter” being e-mailed to willing readers all across the land (that was before AOL put a stop to THAT).
The leading item in that issue: “Well, hello, Kansas! Actually, hello to LOREE, who has just joined the growing list of readers ... she’s from Kansas, and, well ... she can introduce herself, if you’ll just pay a visit to her web site:
WWW,POETRYBYLOREE.COM
... but a word of caution ... hold onto your hat ... and maybe slip into your dancing shoes ... this is a happenin’ site ... I think you’ll enjoy it ... but don’t forget to come back, OK?”
-S&G-
Then on MONDAY, July 14, 2003, the QUOTE: “Happiness sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” - John Barrymore
-S&G-
Same 2003 issue: GOLD STARS - First to respond last week was John from Florida ... if this seems a bit disjointed, it’s because it is ... I just jumped out of my chair ... a nearby crash of thunder sent me running to close windows ... and then there was Marge, from Ohio ... Walt from Ohio came in loud and clear ... and Doris, from Ohio, too. Each will have credited to their account one of the Marvelous Mythical (did I say Coveted, too?) Gold Stars. And remember, when you’ve earned a sufficient number of Gold Stars ... well, you may, at the very least, take the rest of the day off.”
-S&G-
More recently ... Geography Facts from WALT (Ohio): Ninety per cent of the world’s ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy per cent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, ice), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
-S&G-
This from HELEN (Florida): You know you’re a Floridian if ... Socks are only for bowling.
-S&G-
This also from HELEN (Florida): A (fill in the blank) TEST FOR OLD KIDS - After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we “danced” under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the “__________________.”
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM: I think a love poem might be in order today ... this one mainly about my eighth-grade teacher, who stirred an abiding interest in reading in me.
It's also about the librarian I met at another time, in another town, as a result of my interest in reading. That librarian and I are still sharing a mutual interest in reading, and she is the one who listens patiently to the things I've written.
But, getting back to the main thread of the poem: I was so glad when I was able to visit my former teacher, Miss Pearl, a few years ago, to thank her for imparting her love for reading ... and to introduce her to that librarian, my wife, Phyllis.
The poem:
MY THREE LOVES
Could Miss Pearl have known
that her own love of reading
would so transform the life
of a hungering eighth grader
whom her gentle, healing voice
touched with daily readings?
Fragile fingers softly turning
the pages of her beloved books,
she made visions of mere words,
openings to worlds where people
could dream, hope, and achieve.
These, she told us, were worlds
where we, too, might go, in fact,
belonged. Did she know, or did she
merely dream the teacher's dream
that the tiny seeds might endure,
take root, flower? Did she know
that her devoted love of reading
would become my own, eventually
leading me to that certain library
where I would find you? How else
could she have sustained herself
through those despairing years?
Questions still seek answers,
but of this I'm sure: Her gift,
so freely given, became more dear
than I, or even she, ever dreamed.
(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-
And if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
Oh, and the answer to the TEST FOR OLD KIDS: The Limbo.
-S&G-
© 2010
