107/365 Explosion

Overnight, it seems,

Buds burst spewing vibrant hues

In all directions.

106/365 Sweet Cacophony

Children’s voices arc

With the climbing sun, filling

The air with bright hope.

105/365 Satisfaction

Dirty hands and face

Bear witness to work done well

As the day’s light fades.

Sunday Evening

We enjoyed a beautiful day.

 

A lot of very

important

and

necessary

work was accomplished here today.

 

The list includes

(but is not limited to)

the following:

 

Post holes were dug.

Posts were set.

 

Mulch was spread. 

 

Columbine were relocated.

 

Chicken was grilled.

 

 

 

The hammock was hung.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

104/365 To Donna and Libby

Conversation flags

As two friends soak their cold bones

In the warm sunshine.

Quick Catch-up

So many things running through my brain tonight but

I still need to write a poem so this will be quick.

 

Who am I kidding? 

 I'll natter on here for much longer than I ever intended...

It makes me wonder why I bother to attempt

these quick just-check-in-and-get-right-back-out posts...

Never works that way...

 

I returned, earlier this evening, from a couple days in FD.

My mom and sister had been planning a yard sale

and ( for a variety of reasons) I agreed to help.

So I made myself available, driving up on Thursday, 

and returning home today.

That covered set-up to clean-up

and divvying the loot.

We managed to play a couple games of scrabble.

Crossed paths with old acquaintances.

Managed to stay warm in the mornings and then

 - later in the day -

peeled off sweatshirts in the sun.

 

So on the drive the array of color was breathtaking.

I was entranced by the barest blush of color the trees were sporting.

It seems that everything is in bud right now

and it creates an almost fuzzy effect on the bare branches against the sky.

Not leaf green but, on many, a pinkish glow.

(For instance - the maples in our back yard have a deep burgundy bud case.) 

And the weeping willows were a fluorescent yellow.

And the red-twig dogwoods along the fence lines were a treat to see.

Quite lovely.

 

 So I'm driving and listening to
Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio
 a-more-than-fascinating-book.

The numbers are mind-blowing!!
10s of thousands every year for soooo many years!
They reported 40+000 cases in 1950.
40+000!!!
That's (almost) in my lifetime.
What happened to the young victims who survived?
How long did they live?  Are they still alive?
I asked my mother if there she knew area families
from her childhood that had dealt with polio.
She could think of two incidents.
Living on a farm she said "you just didn't hear much..."

The process of the medical research is riveting.
The prevailing methodology of the time was to use
 live -but greatly weakened -
virus for most vaccines.

Salk had been successful in creating a "killed"
influenza  vaccine for the Army
and wanted to bring that same approach to polio.

I can remember going
 to the high school one night, as a kid,
to get a sugar cube with vaccine.

I learned today that means we ingested live virus.
(unless the next few chapters explain that they found a way around that...)
I see much more reading about this in my near future.

 

Tim and Charlie were glad to see me.

I am glad to be home.

 

 

 

 

 

103/365 Budding Romance

A kiss of sun brings

The first blush of color to

Trees flirting with Spring.

102/365 Going Home

Familiar rhythms

Transcend age, and distance to

Seal our connections.

101/365 Long Night

Cold tremors assail

The restless sleeper vainly

Seeking warmth, repose.

Milestones

Just a few quick observations to go with today's

 100th (100th!!) haiku.

 

Recent conversations with my sister

and a local friend

have reminded me how fortunate

 I am to be where I am,

involved with

family

and friends,

to have work I enjoy,

time to call my own,

to be healthy,

happy,

content.

 

Here's hoping the same for you...

100/365 Contentment

Simple pleasures, kind

Words, helping hands make smiling

Faces at day’s end.

99/365 Springtime Lullaby

Lilting birdsong drifts

Through open windows coaxing 

Drowsy eyes to rest.

Monday Morning

Busy weekend.

 

Tim caught the gardening bug.

I caught the respiratory crud bug.

We'll see who makes the most progress.

 

We picked up some fencing the other day and

Tim worked on creating a

 dog-free section

of the back yard so he can garden in peace.

There is a nifty little gate that

 calls out for an arch with clematis.

He planted peas, beets and

 a variety of lettuces and spinach.

 

google images

 

I had plans to putter out there a bit today

but overnight rain

and this cough have me re-thinking my plans.

 

Later this week I'll head to Fort Dodge.

We've convinced my mother that she/we all

have too much stuff laying around.

She/we should have a yard sale.

She/we will have one.

This weekend.

I've been gathering my contributions

and need to get things marked

and ready to go.

This is probably a good day to do that.

98/365 April Morning

Sparkling frost graces

My morning walk.  Chill air stings,

Quickening my step.

97/365 Commitment

Is any distance

Known so great as that traversed

By the seeking heart?

Friday Morning

Sunshine!!

And 31 degrees - but

Sunshine!!

 

I love this room in the morning sun.

I also love it cozy and dim in the evening.

Add a fire? Heaven.

 

Right now Charlie is enjoying a patch of sunlight on the floor.

His coat is glowing.

And in desperate need of a trim.

 

We had 2.5 inches of rain - on Wednesday.

Yesterday was a combination of rain and sleet.

At times it came sideways in the wind.

 

But today we have sunshine.

And laundry.

Mending.

Bleak House with Gillian Anderson.

96/365 Good Morning

The day holds promise

As sunshine, feeble but true,

 Greets rising sleepers.

95/365 Rainy Day

Rain stops – birds appear.

Rain starts – they hide again.  So

It goes – all day long.

94/365 Rainy Day

Drumming and dripping,

Great drops fill the air - chilling

Soaking, renewing.

93/365 Boston

Fostered in darkness

Hatred’s cunning madness seeks

To despoil the light.

92/365 A Moon

Waxing crescent, faint

Gold in an ink-black sky, skims

The dark horizon.

91/365 Blustery Day

Surging winds push clouds

Across the sky, as we wait

For the rain to fall. 

90/365 Familiar Haunts

Tired thoughts slowly

Meander on well-known paths

Relishing the pace.

89/365 Today

Bitter winds assault

Tender buds as birds huddle

Together, shiv’ring.

88/365 Soporifics

Snoring dog, dripping

Trees, ticking clock whispering

“Naptime” in my ear.

You Have to Laugh

I brought this book home from the library recently:

Overdressed
The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion
by Elizabeth L. Cline.

 

Of course, the next day,

JCP had a flier in my mailbox promising

everything I need for summer

for $20 or less.

 

I already shared the opinion

(and have tried to be responsible in my attitudes and consumption)

that there was something amiss in

the way clothing is

 perceived,

marketed,

produced

 and/or procured

so it won't be a life-changing read.

 

 

One comment, on page nine of the introduction, elicited

a "Seriously!?" when I read Ms. Cline's

earnest exhortation to

"...develop more of a relationship with the things we wear."

 

While I understand, and agree with the

basic premise,

I couldn't help but think that I have

family/neighbors/co-workers

with whom I need to develop relationships!

Please don't add my wardrobe to that category!!

 

 

 

 

 

87/365 Spring Rains

Slender earthworms, freed

From wintry beds, glisten on

Cool, rainy sidewalks.

86/365 Relief

Long awaited news

Brings peace to the anxious heart

Eager, now, for change.

Still, small voice...

This is always a fun time of year.

There is something new to enjoy everyday.

 

The wisteria made it through the winter and has buds!

The sun sets later each day.

Birds are singing.

People are opening their windows

(I can smell coffee on my morning walk).

 

We sleep with a window open year round which leads

 to an convoluted process of

 trying to find the right mix of sheets

and/or blankets.

For these few weeks

temperatures climb and drop so much from

sunrise to sunset and back again.

Thus, today's dilemma:

If I take the flannel sheets off I can leave all the blankets on.

If the flannels stay I need to eliminate

or exchange at least one blanket.

 

 

 

Here's hoping that the quiet whisper I hear, now, saying

"you should have stuck with the flannel sheets" 

doesn't become  a wailing

"YOU SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH THE FLANNEL SHEETS!"

when I crawl into bed tonight.

85/365 Grief

The ebbing of time

And loss follows no schedule

In a grieving heart.

Sunday Morning.

A fire is lazily conversing behind me.

Tim is on his way home from Minneapolis

so it is just Charlie and I getting a slow start to the morning.

Delightfully slow.

 

 

I had company yesterday.

 

My mother and a sister scheduled a visit as they would be

 "in the neighborhood."

I wouldn't be home from work 'til 3:30 so I told

 them the door would be open and

please let Charlie out,

 if they got there first.  It wasn't too much of a

surprise to see their vehicle

in the driveway when I turned the corner to come home.

 

They came about 2:15.

 

They sat out on the deck, chatted, relaxed, waited.

They brought cute things for me.

We visited.  I fed them.

 We laughed.

They left.

 

A good visit.

 

 

84/365 Sunday Morning

The wet gloom of fog

Hovers while a cozy fire

 Creates welcome cheer.

83/365 Smile With Me

Those endearing quirks

Cheer, bright’ning a weary day

Like Spring's warm sunshine.

82/365 Fresh Air

Thoughts gambol as Spring’s

Lilting air invigorates

The patient dreamer.

81/365 Qiuet Warmth

Ticking clocks, drowsy

Dog, streaming sunlight, bring joy

To early mornings.



Happy Birthday Aidan!!

80/365 On Display

Tall trees reach to touch

Pendant stars strewn, glittering,

Across the night sky.



79/365 Dawn

Together light and

Song slowly fills the chill void

Of early morning.



78/365 Coin Toss

Brilliant sunshine warms

The drowsing earth and highlights

My dirty windows.