At the Flower Show

You have probably heard of Phyllis ... long-suffering Phyllis, in some circles (because she’s put up with me for ... ummmm ... a l-o-n-g time) ... well, she’s also a good citizen. 


I’m sure she was a good citizen long before she knew me ... and has remained a good citizen, despite my corrupting influence over the years. She stops at STOP signs ... she obeys speed limits ... and she doesn’t jaywalk, even when I do.


Being a good citizen, and knowing that our public servants, busy as they are, can’t keep up with all the details of their jobs without a bit of help from the rest of us ... she sometimes gets on the phone to be helpful.


For example: There’s a street light a few doors down from Brimm Manor which occasionally starts acting up, as though it might have an accessible switch on the pole ... and the neighborhood kids might be playing games with it.


Phyllis called the proper number and found herself addressing a representative of the utility company:


Phyllis: Yes, I’d like to report a street light that keeps going off and back on.


Utility Rep.: Oh, that’s called ARCING.


Anyway, off and back on ... or ARCING ... the street light was fixed, and worked fine for a few years. Then recently ...


Phyllis called the utility company again, taking care to be quite precise as to the problem, and the conversation went something like this:


Phyllis: Yes, I’d like to report a street light that’s ARCING.


Utility Rep.: Oh, you mean it’s going on and off?


-S&G-


At this point, if Professor Squigglee weren’t so deeply involved with an afternoon nap, he probably would jump in with the observation that ... while we may all seem to be speaking the same language ... there are many times when we really aren’t.


-S&G- 


“TALK ABOUT frantic Fridays,” says an e-mail from LOREE (Kansas) ... my own frantic day can be any day of the week, when I get enough warning that company is coming.


“And last week I spent the entire weekend cleaning, cooking, making everything just right for guests again. Had company from Tuesday through Friday, and when they were gone, I felt like a deflated baloon.


“What I fell short on for entertainment, they made up for. We had a great bunch of card games ... in fact, seemed we were either eating, playing cards ... or sleeping both of those OFF!


“A bit of extra excitement ... when he locked BOTH sets of keys inside the pickup ...


“Inspiration struck when he told us that he could open the door with his cell phone. Well, imagine a deflated sail when the wind dies completely down ... for the code for doing that was on his OLD cell phone ... what was INSIDE the truck also! The new cell phone, in his hand, was minus the code.


“An early morning phone call, though, to the agency where he had bought the truck, finally bore fruit ... but not until he answered enough questions to fill out a resume ... in an effort to convince the lady on the other end that he really WAS who he said he was ... “


-S&G- 


TODAY’S POEM: Because of the grandmother who always raised flowers ... and reared me ... I have always had a certain connection with blossoms.




There is just something about being in the company of flowers ... the memories they stir with their scents, their color.




"At the Flower Show" is about one of those special occasions, a gathering of flowers ... and people ... a flower show.




But it's not so much about the flowers. I felt that my collection of words, picked up here and there along the way, would be inadequate to describe the flowers.




Ah, but the people. I was one of them. I could jot down something about the experience of being at a flower show. It would be something to remind me of that sunny day, that beautiful setting ... the realities of being there.




Of course, I couldn't resist the temptation to compare the visitors to flowers themselves.




The poem:






AT THE FLOWER SHOW


Visitors blossom in bright lines
when day begins, but start wilting
under the sun, and throngs
slowly surrender, settling
like long rows of potted plants
along the wooden benches.


(originally published in Sisters Today)


-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