Did I hear someone say it’s Friday already? And not just Friday ... but Friday night?
Oh, no!
People will be sitting up all night ... all across this vast continent .... waiting for rooster crow ... and the posting of “Squiggles ... and Giggles” online.
I need to get started. But I’m not going to start ... as I believe Professor Squigglee recently suggested he might ... in the middle, and work in both directions from there.
Not me.
From now on ... at least for the next few minutes ... I’m going to approach things in an orderly fashion (forget that starting in the middle stuff) ... one thing at a time for me.
The only question is, which one thing? Maybe I should start by selecting which LIST of things I should look at ... from which year ... or decade, for that matter.
I have good intentions. I really do. That’s why I make lists (well, OK, I also make lists because I have a poor memory). But sometimes I lose them. Sometimes I can’t figure out what it is that I’ve scribbled on a particular list.
Sometimes ... glory be ... things on the list have, over time, taken care of themselves.
Not so with “Squiggles.” Oh, it does get a lot of help from its friends. They send me tidbits from time to time that help to keep it going (unless, of course, I forget which stack I put the printout on/in) ... and I do rely on those gentle hands in the small of my back to keep pushing me along.
Still, bottom line, “Squiggles” depends on me to start stringing words together ... Friday night at the latest ... so there will be something to post for Saturday ... even if it’s just some random gabbing like this.
-S&G-
Who was it who used to say: “And that’s the way it is ... “? Some guy on television, as I recall ... but you know what trouble I have with names. Maybe you can help me with this one.
Well ... that’s the way it is ... on a quiet Friday evening when I sit down at the keyboard ... and have nothing to write about. I could go on and on like this.
But I won’t. I promise.
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM: Spring! It was a time of celebration, a time of emerging, at last, from the cold of winter into the beginnings of warmth, a time when kites were tugging at their strings, pleading for more ... when jackets were left lying on the school grounds ... when we gave in to the call of the hills in which we were growing up ... and went galloping down them.
And gallop we did ... a few "no brakes" strides and a leap ... strides ... leap ... strides ... all the way to the bottom sometimes.
Other times we'd fall to the softening turf well before reaching bottom, and lie there, laughing at the picture we must have made, long legs carrying us careening down the slope, with little hope of reaching the bottom still standing.
It was as if we could ... if we tried hard enough ... defy gravity, that if we gained enough speed we might fly. The descent felt like flying. The air seemed to be trying to lift us. And those leaps! They were almost like flying.
Even as we lay there, laughing, our run completed, finally rolling over to look at the clouds, we still felt we might somehow break free of gravity ... next time ...
We had been so close to doing it this time!
In selecting the poem's title, "Escaping Gravity," I wanted it to serve double duty ... to say something about running down the hill, yes ... but also about the need to take our minds off the seriousness of life, even if only briefly.
We all need to do that sometimes.
The poem:
ESCAPING GRAVITY
How we challenged gravity's pull then,
our lanky legs held captive so long
by the dull gray of winter months, but now
freed, carrying us in ever lengthening
leaps until we finally fell, exhausted,
on the wet, green softness of earth,
laughing, pained with the joy of what
we had done, resting, trying again,
each new leap seeming to take us
ever so near that unreachable dream.
(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
AFTERTHOUGHTS ... This from LOREE (Kansas): Hi, Bob ... what a great poem ...
(Oh, blush-blush, thank you, Loree ... please continue) ...
... few were as agile as my sister and myself ... for we practiced those leaps, not just in the early warmth of a warm spring sun, but year 'round ... over the cow piles in the pasture, the barn aisles, where some cows routinely missed the gutters designed to hold their offerings, but everywhere and all the time.
It was the ONLY way to 'go' :-)
Why, we even used dry cow piles in the pasture for our spur of the moment softball games. Neighbor kids, our Dad and the two of us could lay out a ball diamond with cow piles as the bases in record time.
The one cardinal and unwritten rule, though, was that one never SLID into a base. If you forgot, you did so at your own risk!
-S&G-
MONDAY MUSING ... from HELEN, Florida: Bumper sticker seen on a car in Wisconsin ... How many inches of Global Warming did you shovel this winter?
-S&G-
TUESDAY TOODLE-OO ... courtesy of WALT, Ohio (Professor Squigglee and I apologize for being late with this posting, but it took us quite a while to figure out how to do it; do scroll down to the lines below the picture):
-S&G-
WEDNESDAY WANDERING ... courtesy of RUTH, Ohio:
As we get older we sometimes begin to doubt our ability of "make a difference" in the world. It is at these times that our hopes are boosted by the remarkable achievements of other "seniors" who have found the courage to take on challenges.
George ________ (not his real name, of course) is such a person.
He says: I've often been asked, "What do you old folks do now that you're retired?"
"Well ... I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background, and one of the things I enjoy most is turning beer, wine, Scotch and margaritas into urine."
-S&G-
THURSDAY'S backward glance ... (this from the Monday, Sept. 1, 2003, issue of the e-mailed version of S&G): "Welcome, Alabama! Actually, let's have a round of applause for Roy, who's from Alabama ... and has just joined the S&G circle, this small gathering which is well on its way to having at least one reader from each state in the Nifty Fifty."
I believe the actual count showed readers from 13 states ... but I had hopes ... high hopes ...
-S&G-
FRIDAY quote: "I try to view each day as a new beginning. Forget the backlog of things to be done. It will always be there. Forget yesterday's setbacks. Viewed in this new light, they may not be setbacks at all, but opportunities for accomplishment. Today, this fresh new day, right now ... begin." - Professor Squigglee (and I hope to see all of you back here ... in your seats ... tomorrow, Monday at the latest)
-S&G-
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