Caught on the Brink

BOOK NOOK - Aha! You thought I’d forgotten about this portion of “Squiggles,” didn’t you? 


I’ll admit that things in that department have been a little slow recently ... what with regulars being occupied with other things ... checking to see if the grass needs mowing ... noting the shapes of the clouds ... watching the tube ... maybe even loafing ... too busy, I suppose, to send me a note about their current subject matter.


Still, I know you’re out there ... and you’re still reading (you ARE reading this, aren’t you?) ... but it’s been a while since we shared tidbits about our reading.


I’m still reading, too.


In fact, I have books waiting for me to return to them all over the expanses of Brimm Manor ... even some stacks of magazines that get my attention when they go crashing to the floor (I just recovered ... thank you very much ... from one such avalanche).


But let’s get down to specifics, shall we? 


At present I’m reading ... among others, you understand ... a little volume entitled Memory Fitness Over 40, by Robin West, Ph.D.


That is, I’m reading it a little at a time (don’t want to overload my busy brain, you know) ... when I remember to get back to it ... and when I can remember where I last put it.


I’m just getting started on it ... but I can already tell it’s going to be a big help.


Now what was it we were talking about?


-S&G-


REMEMBER LAST WEEK ... when LOREE, Kansas, was expecting company, and kept waiting ... and waiting? She also talked to them on the phone several times ... first to advise them that they had accidentally gotten on the “scenic route” ... and then to give them suggestions on how to backtrack and get where they really wanted to be ... at Loree’s.


Well, those guests had a great visit with Loree ... and were apparently listening this time when she advised them on which routes to take in order to get back home.


Loree reports: “They called that evening from Cedar Rapids to say (happily, I might add) that they drove all the way with no wrong turns!”


And ... she adds: “Since then, feeling pretty proud of myself, I’ve been checking the want ads daily ... looking for a position as a ‘direction giver’! I think I could handle that nicely ... with the help of Map Quest, though I sometimes tend to disagree slightly with THOSE directions ... and substitute a lesser known highway ... “ 


Way to go, Loree! Professor Squigglee and I love those happy endings!


-S&G-


THIS FROM ... RUTH, Ohio ... Difference ‘tween North and South: North is a direction, South is a way of life.


-S&G-


FROM ... WALT, Ohio ... Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that’s falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?


-S&G-


TODAY’S QUOTE: “Poetry is energy, it is an energy-storing and an energy-releasing device.” - MIROSLAV HOLUB, Poetry Ireland Review, Autumn-Winter 1990


-S&G-


THIS FROM ... HELEN, Florida ... (courtesy of Burma Shave ... remember those signs?)


CAR
IN
DITCH
DRIVER
IN
TREE
THE
MOON
WAS
FULL
AND
SO
WAS
HE


-S&G-


TODAY’S POEM: Have you ever found yourself in "the twilight zone," that location which lies vaguely somewhere between sleeping like a baby ... and being fully awake?


Well, I have. Many times.


Thank goodness, it has only happened to me a couple of times when I was behind the wheel ... and without serious outcomes in either instance.


Oh, on one of those occasions ... one very dark night ... I was pulled over by a highway patrolman somewhere in Indiana ... but that's another story.


But let me settle into my favorite chair ... with a favorite book ... and it's like I've been given a knockout potion. Soon the words become blurry ... the room seems to melt away ... the book grows heavy ... my eyelids grow heavier.


Whoa! I'm getting ahead of myself here. I'll just step aside and let you glide right into the poem:




CAUGHT ON THE BRINK


Something I had just read
struck a chord with me,
sent sympathetic vibrations
dancing down the corridors
of my mind. I could feel
something stirring deep
within me, a new knowledge
coming like a rescuer's lamp
shooting fingers of light
this way and that,
drawing nearer in the murky
darkness, promising a sip
from the cup of understanding,
a way to come clawing out
of this abyss, into fresh air
and natural light. "Bob!" I
heard the distant voice calling.
"Bob! Put down your book,
take off your glasses, recline
your chair!" It was as though
the Thought Police had me
surrounded. What could I do?
What else? I surrendered.


(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