Monthly Archives: October 2019

People in Politics Today

Lydia’s blog post is the best assessment of the current impeachment process facts that I’ve seen to date. If you have become as bogged down with details as I have, have a look. It is all here, organized and easy to read. There is a link to the whole story below.

alotfromlydia's avatarA lot from Lydia

This morning we learned the shocking news of the untimely death at age 68, of Congressman Elija Cummings.

Representative Elijah Cummings, was a Democrat from Baltimore, a civil rights advocate who became one of the White House squatter’s fiercest opponents in Congress and was frequently on the receiving end of his racially undertoned barbs. It is unfortunate Cummings won’t see the end of this lawless and illegitimate administration.

Speaking of our commander in thief, his excuse du jour to justify his decision to withdraw troops from Syria, and his part in the slaughter of the Kurds—’Democrats want us to stay in the Middle East forever, guarding other countries’ interests. He failed to mention that he simply relocated the troops from Syria, where they were assisting our allies, and containing ISIS, to Saudi Arabia, where they’ll now protect Saudi oil.

POTUS also leaked a letter that he wrote to Turkey’s President…

View original post 924 more words

Hop Scotch (Don’t Worry. Be Happy!)

                       Click on photos to enlarge.

 

                                  Hop
Scotch

                      “How green is blue?” the child asks,
“What is the taste of pink?”

                        A prodigy koan-master
 with a novel way to think,
                        such problems keep a child’s mind
engaged in matters other
                         than all the daily problems
of a father or a mother. 

                         No spider ever stumbles
when spinning out her strands,
                         for the feet she walks around on
are really only hands.

                         No specter of a problem
ever plagues a goat.

                          He simply feeds upon the world
and lives his life by rote.

                       And so it is with children.
They go from thing to thing

                      with no worries of the outcomes
that their acts might bring.

                       They leave to human adults
the worries of such things

                        and simply live with pleasures
that every new day brings.

Prompts for today are “How green is blue?spider, stumble, specter and goat.

Water, Water Everywhere

 

Click on any photo to enlarge all.

For Granny’s WWE Challenge

Unfortunate Signage: Last Apartments

Last Apartments

The Lake Chapala, Mexico area where this apartment building has been going up for over a year is home to the largest group of American and Canadian expats in the world—most of them over 60 years old. That taken into account, I don’t think its sign sends the correct message to their targeted renters. I’m sure the name “Last Apartments” is a rather unfortunate translation of “Ultimos Departamentos,” and for the superstitious, it is definitely not a great selling point. (Most probably, their intention was to convey that they will be the latest or best in design, but the translation from Spanish to English leaves the impression that no renter will be leaving the premises alive!)

Please post your own example of unfortunate signage on your blog, pingback to this page and use the tag “Unfortunate Signage.”

Blue Orchid: FOTD Oct 17, 2019

 

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Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge.

Asparagus Fern: FOTD, Oct 16, 2019

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They might look delicious, but don’t try to eat them. The berries of the asparagus fern (not really a fern) cause stomach upset and the foliage is a skin irritant. Enjoy the sight of them, but avoid other sensory usage.

For Cee’s Flower of the Day prompt.

Kittenish

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Kittenish

Happy child with brand new kitten,
fully rapt, besotted, smitten.
Length of yarn a perfect toy
for kitten, pulled by playful boy.

Every toy another gimmick,
child on floor, a playful mimic.
Rolling over, willy-nilly,
feeling loving. Feeling silly.

All day long, antics and fun
in the house or in the sun.
Inside, outside, all the same.
With a kitten, life’s a game.

Sundown creates a sleepy-head
tucked under covers, snug in bed.
Mom and Dad survey the scene.
Gentle snores. Quiet. Serene.

Window open, curtains billow.
Kitten curled up on the pillow
nested in her master’s hair.
Two creatures in their common lair.

 

Prompt words today are mimic, silly, smitten and happy.

Mountaineer

 

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Mountaineer

I am a mountain waiting to be climbed,
its slopes slippery and rough
with fortifications.
This poem is the face
I am inviting you to scale,

not taking the clearly defined path
that prose would provide,
but a harder course with handholds and footholds
that will not give way if you
use your mind to select a wise course.

If I did not trust you so, I would give you a secure railing
like one provided in showers and bathtubs
for the elderly;
but I know, if you have made it this far,
that you have the stamina to make it on your own.

Every mind is a majestic mountain waiting to be climbed
and also a climber sometimes bent on climbing,
at other times, content
to stand at the mountain’s base,
waiting for the scree to come to him.

 

This is a rewrite of an earlier poem For dVerse poets pub. Majestic

Leftovers

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In honor of Canadian Thanksgiving and looking forward to ours later this month, this poem is dedicated to Morrie and Diego, who profit from all culinary events in my house:

Leftovers
(Dedicated to Two Hopeful Dogs)

Crying for our leftovers won’t bring you any favors.
You will not taste their textures or masticate their flavors
if you stand there begging. Those winsome looks aren’t working.
Nor are your lapsing manners—your twisting and your jerking.

Hunger doesn’t justify your unwelcome behavior.
Before we even sat down, we saw Grandpa was your savior,
slipping you a turkey leg he had dipped in gravy.
(That leg I’d saved for leftovers–a turkey sandwich, maybe.)

Our home-cooked meal? Delicious. That you already know.
When I cooked the pies, I fed you scraps of dough.
The turkey giblets boiled for gravy, later went to you.
When I cooked the cranberries, you even ate a few.

You licked the pumpkin bowl so clean. You licked the beater blade
when I whipped the cream for pies. Dear ones, you had it made.
So when you beg for leftovers, I’ll just ignore your fuss.
You ate before the guests, dears. Leftovers are for us!

Prompts for today are winsome, manner, justify, leftovers and home.

Midnight Swim

 

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Midnight Swim

I love this dark and quiet night
far from the loud and glaring light.
Solitary in the dark,
no mewling cat or warning bark.
The whole world in conspiracy
hides and holds and cushions me.
I move through water, side to side.
Through liquid currents, I freely slide.

Palms backlit by an opal moon
that’s dulled by clouds too soon, too soon.
The silence sliced by mosquito’s whine
mars a night no more divine.
Invader of my private night,
I fear its subtle stinger’s bite.
It moves in circles through the air
from shoulder to my neck and hair.

I swat at where it was until
it, alas, has had its fill.
Then it is off, leaving me
the pleasure of my company
devoid of interloper’s claim.
I wipe out memory of my name,
my age, my talents and my ills.
Suddenly, the pool fills

with the spreading whole of me
becoming part of all I see
and touch and smell and feel and dream.
I am, at last, all that I seem.
I float toward light, then climb the stairs,
free of worry and of cares.
If I can only fall to dreams
before old niggling prods and screams

invade my memory to call
me up against the judgment wall,
my whole intent will be fulfilled.
I’ll have achieved just what I willed.
Such are the charms of veiled nights
that cover over daylight’s frights
and lull us to our sleep and dreams
convincing us life’s what it seems.