At the Doctor's Office

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