Frozen Flight

(One of the views Phyllis and I enjoyed on a recent day trip)

A FEW DAYS AGO ... Oh, you know how time flies, so it may have been just a smidgen farther back ... but it seems like just a few days ago that Phyllis and I rolled out of bed before sunrise, dashed out the back door and hopped into The Little Red Car. 


We were heading off for a day of adventure. Little Red seemed to sense that, too, for we zipped right along, and were at the Senior Center in practically no time at all. Still, the motorcoach was waiting when we arrived.


Up until that time, I think, Little Red had assumed we’d be a threesome on this outing. But when Little Red saw that motorcoach, well ...


I screeched into a favorite parking place, Phyllis and I got out and headed toward the building. Then I looked back and saw that Little Red’s brake lights were on. I knew I had turned off the lights, so I went back, got in, and tried a few things ... none of which worked.


We didn’t want to miss our trip just because Little Red had gone stubborn on us. So we boarded the motorcoach and headed off.


All day, though, as we visited a beautiful park where sparkling waters cascaded over the rocks and went dancing on downstream ... as we had a wonderful lunch at nicely-appointed tables on a covered bridge ... as we strolled through a country store (ah, the memories that brought back) ... as we visited the orchid farm ... as we enjoyed the sugar camp so far out in the country I had thought   we were lost ...


All day, I was thinking about Little Red. 


And when we returned that night ... late ... about 15 hours after we had left ... sure enough, Little Red’s battery was dead.


So what did we do? What else? Phyllis and I walked the remaining five miles home. 


No, no ... I’m kidding. We didn’t do any walking ... and help came to us.


First, Kathy, our tour director, seeing Little Red’s hood up as the parking lot emptied, came over to offer assistance. 


At that point Phyllis was calling a reliable source of help (I can provide the name, on request), so Kathy, reassured, pulled away. 


But then she came right back ... and provided us with cold drinking water. Mmm, good!


Phyllis and I waited, oh, thirty minutes or so, until our rescuer arrived, got Little Red started again ... AND (this is the best part) fixed the problem with the brake lights.


But the story doesn’t end there.


If Phyllis and I were singers (and I’M definitely not), we probably would’ve been singing all the way home. Instead, we kept marveling at what a happy ending we’d been treated to ... I, in particular, had been thinking all day about other kinds of outcomes.


Finally, we pulled into that long driveway at Brimm Manor, and there, staring back at us ... wide-eyed and open-mouthed ... was a possum ... as though he were saying to us, “Hey, I heard you guys were having car trouble ... and I didn’t expect you home until morning, at the very least.”


Well, Mr. Possum, we found some good help, and here we are, so skedaddle.


He skedaddled. 


-S&G-


LOREE (Kansas) is still settling in after that move into town ... says in a recent e-mail, “I’m STILL looking for all the stuff I so carefully packed so I could find it when I got here. And just as sure as I take  pains to put something where I CAN find it, then that is the thing that is HARDEST to find when I need it.”


Loree concludes: “Must be human nature ... just think ... squirrels would starve to death if they were like us and forgot where they buried their winter supply of NUTS!”


-S&G-


As Grandma always said: No matter what you’re looking for, it’s always the last place you look.  


-S&G-


TODAY’S QUOTE: “Can you believe? Seems only yesterday we were in the middle of June ... now we’re at the end of July ... next thing we know, it’ll be August.” - Professor Squigglee


-S&G-


In response to my story about the mouse chewing a hole in the pocket of my robe (don’t worry ... I wasn’t wearing it at the time) and stealing a piece of candy, LOREE offers this suggestion: “To keep mice from chewing holes in the pocket of your robe, or elsewhere as well, store the robe in your deep-freeze! I guarantee you that both the robe AND the chocolate will be safe in there!”


(To borrow a phrase from the younger generation: What a COOL suggestion, Loree)


-S&G-


HELEN (Florida) sent this along: Grandma was in the bathroom, putting on makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she’d done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, “But, Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!”


-S&G-


WALT (Ohio) shared this: Why, WHY? Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are almost dead?


And this ... Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?


-S&G-


RUTH (Ohio) sent this along (a long time ago, as a matter of fact): “I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven’t lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.”


-S&G-  


TODAY’S POEM - Sorry, I don't have a picture of a sweat bee to go along with the poem. 


Those rascals are too tiny, too unpredictable, too fast for me and my camera.


The poem itself is almost a haiku moment, a tiny flicker of activity broken off even before I became fully focused on what was happening.


But it became a little more than that ... and it carries so many memories of all those places this kind of "stare down" has happened to me over the years.


Originally published in Capper's:


FROZEN FLIGHT


A sweat bee
hovers in my face,
wings invisible
in the heavy air,
then, satisfied
at having won
this stare down,
darts away.


(I know, regular readers will remember having seen this one fairly recently ... but ... go figure ... our auto predicament somehow brought it to mind ... the "frozen" part, I suppose ... so here it is 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


 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-


If you’d like to see what’s up with my other, DAILY blog (no, this is not my “Home Page”),  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

The Mouse

(The photo, which I took on one of my recent "shade hikes," has nothing to do with "The Mouse," but I liked the arrangement when it caught my eye, so I snapped it)



Where shall I begin? Ah, that is the question. I’ve threatened to start in the middle and work in both directions, but that never seems to work, does it?


First of all, it’s not easy determining where the middle is ... when you’re as muddled as I am ... and I’m not indicating that YOU’RE muddled. Don’t get me wrong on that.


I’m the one who’s muddled. Don’t ask me what day of the week it is, for example ... unless you give me three guesses, minimum. A little hint would help, too.


So here we are, approaching the home stretch on July ... right? ... the time is flying so fast. That’s my excuse. The days whiz by in such a blur, who can be expected to identify each one?


But I do know this ... It’s Saturday again (It is, isn’t it?) ... time for another installment of “Squiggles.” How can I be sure? Professor Squigglee has stopped shuffling papers, and he’s peering at me over his glasses. THAT’S how I know it’s time for me to get moving again.


-S&G-


REMEMBER JOHN (Florida)? He used to be a regular contributor to “Squiggles,” back when it was an e-mailed “newsletter” instead of this weekly posting.


Well, I heard from him recently ... Earlier this year he celebrated birthday No. 90 ... last remaining member of his Class of 1938, which had 121 members (almost as many as my whole high school at that time).


“This past winter was severe,” John reports. “Our A/C heater unit froze over, and we had to turn the hose on the motor to melt the ice.” (Now THAT’S cold).


-S&G- 


TODAY’S QUOTE: “Do I dance? Never! And why not? Mainly because my feet don’t always follow instructions.” - Professor Squigglee


-S&G-


LOREE (Kansas) went to Wal-Mart recently ... “and found just how little self-control I have. They are marking down all the garden stuff ... annuals, perennials, you name it. Well, I ended up buying several boxes of annuals, since we still have probably close to 90 days of growing season left, and several perennials ... this after I swore I was through planting for the year.”


Then the fun begins: “Just digging a few holes, right after daybreak, will be quiet enough,” Loree says, and ... “Hope the neighbors don’t call the law when they see me digging at daybreak! I can just see it now ... law enforcement literally crawling all OVER the place ... some inside, searching for ‘evidence’ ... and some outside digging up those plants to see if I buried anything else there!”


-S&G-


WALT (Ohio), who has a great touch when it comes to writing formal verse (and I’ve enjoyed hearing his reading of many of his pieces) ... says in a recent e-mail that he has ventured into the land of short stories, a series featuring a family making its way in those years after World War 1. He’s also planning to go to Alaska again in September ... “Taking my long johns, too,” he adds. (Hey, Happy Trails, Walt)


-S&G-


YOU MIGHT want to mark your calendars for this event ... details passed along by HELEN (Florida): August 7 ... the whole world is waiting for ... Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting in August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will culminate on August 27 when Mars comes within 34.65 million miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky at 12:30 a.m. on August 27. It will look like Earth has two moons.


-S&G-


TODAY’S POEM: My computer had a little trouble waking up on a recent morning ... I guess we're becoming more alike ... I say "a little trouble," but that translates as BIG TROUBLE for me.




I'm still struggling to understand the electric typewriter (anybody remember those?) ... and, no, the first typewriter I used was not really a wood-burning model ... it was a standard, mechanical ... clackety-clack ... sturdy, understandable, non-electric typewriter.




When something got stuck, I could usually track down the problem and ... with the help of a paper clip or a brush ... perhaps solve it.




Computers, though, are a different breed. I know nothing about their workings. 




Well, I do know that this one seems to be working now ... (how many times have I thought that, though, only to be wrong?) ... and if all goes well ...




But I digress.




What I started out to talk about was today's poem, based, as are most of mine, on the material at hand ... you know, tangible stuff ... things I understand ... at least sorta ...




Now that I think about it, though, it seems that this particular poem kind of tells its own story, so here goes: 


THE MOUSE


I slept serenely one blustery night
while a timorous sweet-toothed mouse
stole into my house, chewed a jagged
hole in the right-hand pocket of my
old blue robe and took a foil-wrapped
chocolate by surprise.


Discovering the theft, I, Superior
Creature I, smiled at such waste
when my poor pocket was open
all the time.


But who has dined on prized chocolate?
And who stands here holding crumpled
foil while a finger waggles foolishly
from a hole?


(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-


If you’d like to see what’s up with my other, DAILY blog (no, this is not my “Home Page”),  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

Lost in Thought

FIRST, SOME HOT NEWS ... and, like some of the “hot items” offered by some TV “newscasts” ... it’s not really news, but it is HOT in Ohio.


So here I sit with a tall drink at my elbow ... a glass of diet soda, mind you, for, as the designated driver, I may be called on at any moment to make an emergency run to Wal-mart, or K-mart ... or one of those other marts where everybody else in the universe seems to head when they sense that I’m headed there, too.


I don’t know (sip) how those parking lots can appear so empty (sip-sip), when I’m just driving by and (sip-sip-sip) then fill up so quickly just as I decide to whip in, too.


But that’s a topic for another ... perhaps cooler ... day.


-S&G-


AS SOME OF YOU may know ... if you’ve read your travel brochures carefully ... Brimm Manor is not totally air-conditioned.
Even in the winter that’s true, too. Thank goodness for that. 


Oh, we have a couple of those window units that collect hot air and turn it into cool air (don’t ask me how ... but couldn’t we use something like that at political gatherings? - and don’t get me started on that, because I try to keep these “Squiggles” gatherings non-political, to cut down on the fights in the parking lot, if nothing else).


But this room? This place were I’m perched on a squeaky chair in front of an old, wood-burning computer? No air-conditioning here ... except for a little breeze being bestowed by a tiny fan.


Which reminds me ... in weather like this it’s good to know that ... even if I don’t have dozens of followers, I have at least one little fan.


-S&G-


AS SOME OF YOU may also know, LOREE (Kansas) moved into town recently. As some of you town folk may know, too, that can bring unexpected encounters ... guess it’s the closeness, maybe the “coziness.”


Well, Loree was mowing recently, and approached a rather hefty stand of weeds that were sort of in no-man’s land. No problem. She started mowing them, too.


It was then that her next-door neighbor, a lady she hadn’t actually met yet, came galloping out (my word for it) to chew Loree out for “intruding” ... and I gather that her language was far from polite.


Loree was a bit taken aback by the verbal attack, but didn’t retaliate ... didn’t even let her angry neighbor in on a little secret: Loree is retired from the SHERIFF’S Department.


Oh, and later ... Loree’s brother-in-law brought by a couple of construction stakes which now mark the boundary ... beyond which Loree intends not to “intrude” again. 


-S&G-


TODAY’S QUOTE (courtesy of WALT, Ohio): “Laughter is an instant vacation.” - Milton Berle


-S&G-


AND THIS (courtesy of HELEN, Florida): “How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you’re on.”


-S&G-


AND I DON’T KNOW ... who sent this one in: “I have kleptomania, but when it gets bad, I take something for it.”


-S&G-


SOME MUSINGS by, let’s say, a mature gentleman (not me, by the way) ... sent along by PATRICIA (Ohio) ... included the following:


“The world is getting too complex for me. 


“They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves, but this sudden ‘Paper or Plastic?’ every time I check out, just knocks me for a loop. 


“I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them with me.


“Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, ‘Paper or Plastic?’ I just say, ‘Doesn’t matter to me. I’m bi-sacksual’.” 


-S&G-


TODAY’S POEM: I sometimes like to take a figurative statement and pursue it as though it were literally true ...




I remember a teacher who pointed out the mental images brought up by "catching a bus," for example, if taken as literally true ... likewise with "taking the plunge," "beating the bushes," etc.




In this case, I considered "lost in thought."




Literal pursuit of that concept takes us rushing down the winding path toward several improbable possibilities, all the way to the somewhat illogical conclusion. Or is it?




The poem:






LOST IN THOUGHT




If I were to become
lost in thought,
would I wander forever?
Would anybody notice
that I hadn't come
home for supper?
Would search parties
form sagging lines, go out
into the darkness,
beating the bushes
and calling my name?
Would I be
on the six o'clock news?
Would I ever
be myself again,
or would I return
as someone completely
different, a person
I have never met?
(originally published in ByLine)




-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-


If you’d like to see what’s up with my other, DAILY blog (no, this is not my “Home Page”),  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

Summertime Blues

NOT MUCH going on around here these days. Too hot. Almost too hot for Phyllis and me to take our traditional daily shade hikes ... that is, we go out where there are some trees, then walk from shade to shade, ignoring the paved paths, and taking care not to pause too long in the sunny spots.


Oh, I did go out to do some watercolors with a small group of acquaintances a few days ago. Hot? It was horribly hot!


I ignored those people who were out frying eggs on the sidewalks as I drove past, arrived safely at the park, struggled to the nearest shade, staked my claim on a bench, and spent an enjoyable interlude there doing a small painting.


I might still be there, but I got thirsty ... and I’m afraid of the dark. 


-S&G-




COMES WORD from DEE (Illinois) ... and it includes a little story that I can identify with ... perhaps you can, too, if you’ve ever lost anything (as usual, names have been obscured to protect the innocent).


It seems that a gentleman of Dee’s acquaintance was mowing his yard and when he went around a cypress tree a branch hit him, and his glasses got knocked off.


No problem, really. There’s Plan B, right? All he has to do is go into the house to get his OLD glasses, since he can’t see without his good ones (I never throw anything away, either). 


Thus newly-equipped with the old glasses, this gentleman and a very close lady friend go out to look for the newer glasses. 


Nothing.


A good neighbor happens by and joins the search.


Nothing. 


But then ... aha! It occurs to the owner of the glasses that, since all that searching has not turned up a trace of them ... and, knowing that they surely hadn’t gone into orbit ... perhaps they’re in the TREE! 


He gets a rake ... and, a few careful strokes later ... there they are ... stuck on a branch. And what a happy reunion that must have been!  


-S&G-


THIS FROM WALT (Ohio):


A little boy opened the family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly something fell out of the Bible. 


He picked up the object and looked at it.  What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed  between the pages.


"Mama, look what I found," the boy called out.


"What have you got there, dear?"


With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it’s Adam’s UNDERWEAR!"


-S&G- 


BOOK NOOK: As I mentioned recently ... well, fairly recently ... I’m working my way through Earth Poems - Poems from Around the World to Honor the Earth, edited by Ivo Mosley. And now, in my spare time, I’ve taken up Slipping Out of Bloom, poems by Julie L. Moore.


And what’s on your reading table ... or, if that’s too old-fashioned, on your electronic “book” gizmo?


-S&G-


SPEAKING OF spare time ... I’ve recently been using a bit of it to construct a new Home Page. I still have a long way to go with it, but eventually it will contain some sample poems, some sound (I hope), and some pictures ... photos, watercolors, maybe even a drawing or two.


If you’d like to pay an early visit, before the tour buses start pulling in and the tourists start pouring out, here’s a link:


http://sites.google.com/site/robertlbrimm/




-S&G-


TODAY’S POEM ... I sometimes try to say a little something about the poem, by way of introduction ... and usually end up saying a little to much, I’m afraid.


Today, because of the heat, I suppose, I am definitely going to be B-R-I-E-F. Here’s the poem:




SUMMERTIME BLUES


I've got those
low-down,
good for nothin'
summertime blues.

My handkerchief
has wilted,
my shorts have
turned to glue,
my socks have
already melted
and run down
into my shoes.

Oh, I've got 'em bad,
as bad as they can be,
those prickly-pested,
heat infested
good for nothin'
summertime blues.


(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-


If you’d like to see what’s up with my other, DAILY blog (no, this is not my “Home Page”),  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