This little daisy-like vine seems to be creeping toward my wall. Perhaps by next year it will have crept up and over and into my garden.
For Cee’s FOTD
Vernacular Confusion
When he says I have puissance he means I have power.
Why must he go on like this, hour after hour?
I don’t understand his schoolbook French.
In Yiddish, I cannot tell shiksa from mensch.
I fumble with Spanish and flunked at Italian.
An onion’s an onion. When you call it scallion,
it’s all Greek to me and I don’t have the energy
to combine languages. What’s with this synergy
that creates Tex Mex, Pig Latin and Spanglish?
I have enough problems just pronouncing Anglish.
I don’t catch your meaning when you say “Que tal?”
This method of talking means nothing at all
to one not versed in languages. So, when you call,
please don’t say,”Salut!” Just say, “Howdy, y’all!”
Prompt words today are fumble, synergy, catch, puissance and method.
I snapped this photo years ago before I started blogging. I was back in Santa Cruz/Boulder Creek California for a visit and took a walk with my friend Linda Levy on the high cliffs above the ocean. Wildflowers were aplenty and I took a number of photos that I stumbled across yesterday. I have no idea what this flower is, but I can tell from a different photo where she had her hand near it that they are rather small. That was a lovely day. Glad I have these flowers to remember it by.
Janet of the Simret Blog recognized this flower as a wild radish and both Martha Kennedy and Cee agreed, as do I, so it is official. Thanks, Janet and all.
For Cee’s FOTD
Remembering Grandma at Christmas
The years have chosen to abrade
the paper angel Grandma made
that year when Christmas cheer was thin,
because for weeks we were snowed in.
Even Santa ceased his action
for his reindeer had no traction.
Weeks of snow and sleet and fog
even kept the catalogue
from providing a Christmas doll
when Santa couldn’t come at all.
And so the holidays that year
did not reflect our usual cheer.
No tree, no lights, no heavenly choir,
our only heat a roaring fire.
We kids complained to Mom and Dad
and by Christmas Eve, they’d had
as much of kids as they could stand
and that’s when Grandma took a hand.
Her silver scissors nipped and flew
creating something that was new—
a Christmas angel feathery light
that floated that December night
above our heads in fire glow,
hung by a string, rotating slow
around the room with wafting wings
descending from above on strings.
And from the dark a heavenly song
prompted us to sing along.
My Grandma led, with timorous voice
that song that always was her choice:
“Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, and all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Sleep in heavenly peace.”
One by one, we entered in,
our voices first halting and thin,
but when my Grandma chimed a bell,
our family choir began to swell
up to the ceiling, throughout the room,
dispelling darkness, cold and gloom.
Mom made cocoa on the coals
while Dad made popcorn, filling bowls
we strung on thread to deck our halls
from curtain rods to lamps to walls,
along with paper snowflakes that
twirled on their strings to tease the cat.
In the firelight’s magic glow,
they made things magical and so
every normal Christmas since,
we love our turkey and pies of mince,
Christmas presents to poke and squeeze,
bubble lights and towering trees,
but what’s most special is when Pop
puts Grandma’s angel on the top
of the tree covered in flakes
and popcorn strings the family makes.
And when we sing her special song,
if angels sing, she’ll sing along.
Annie, of the “Annie Asks You” Blog, posted this essay today and I’m reblogging it. I think too many people want sensationalism and entertainment over sound government. Biden just isn’t as newsworthy as Trump because he’s too ordinary–not bigger than real life. Reality acting has become more salable than reality, selling newspapers more important than selling the truth. Rupert Murdoch has done more to tear down legitimate news reporting, both in Britain and the U.S. and to push news as an entertainment commodity than anyone I can think of. I’m afraid the future of our world has been sold to the highest bidders and they are not acting in our best interest. I hope you read Annie’s essay and respond with your own thoughts.
That’s the troubling charge that longtime Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank made in his December 3rd column. (I haven’t linked to the essay because it’s behind a firewall.)
His observations meshed with my own perceptions about why President Biden’s poll numbers fail to reflect his highly productive first year. (Yes; rising inflation is a big concern—worldwide, I might add. And though Biden’s taken steps to control it, I understand that the President “owns” the issue, and people will respond accordingly, despite other very promising signs of economic health.)
Milbank backed up his assertions with data. Here are key passages.
“Artificial intelligence can now measure the negativity with precision. At my request, Forge.ai, a data analytics unit of the information company FiscalNote, combed through more than 200,000 articles — tens of millions of words — from 65 news websites (newspapers, network and cable news, political publications, news wires…
View original post 1,498 more words
Drone Study
When it comes to a crunch, you’ll find he’s not there,
for he’s sleekit and stealthy and silent as air.
Indignation won’t faze him. If you say he’s to blame,
he’ll suggest you mature and get back in the game.
He won’t give you a hand when you’re down on your luck.
He’ll just say you lack courage, endurance and pluck.
If you peel back his surface, there’s not a next layer.
All out for himself, he’s not a team player.
When it comes to friendship, he hasn’t a clue.
He’ll ask for a favor, but will he help you?
It’s not likely for when it is time to repay you,
you’ll usually find he was just out to play you.
So get rid of this fellow—this slick opportunist.
It’s best if done quickly, in fact at the soonest.
How to get shed of this ultimate jerk?
Just produce a shovel and ask him to work.
Prompt words today are sleekit, silence, crunch, indignant and mature. Image by Sammy Williams on Unsplash.
An Objective Perspective
Bosses who choose to use invective
might not be half so effective
as those who ask for the perspective
of other folks in their collective,
making decisions more elective.
Here are five word prompts Forgottenman gave me. That Turkey!!! Anyone want to play along?
The words are: invective, effective, elective, perspective and collective. Image by Julien on Unsplash.
Sadje also chose to accept the challenge HERE is her poem.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 