Time for another poem

Moonbeam

 By Louise Gluck

The mist rose with a little sound. Like a thud.
Which was the heart beating. And the sun rose, briefly diluted.
And after what seemed years, it sank again
and twilight washed over the shore and deepened there.
And from out of nowhere lovers came,
people who still had bodies and hearts. Who still had
arms, legs, mouths, although by day they might be
housewives and businessmen.

The same night also produced people like ourselves.
You are like me, whether or not you admit it.
Unsatisfied, meticulous. And your hunger is not for experience
but for understanding, as though it could be had in the abstract.

Then it’s daylight again and the world goes back to normal.
The lovers smooth their hair; the moon resumes its hollow existence.
And the beach belongs again to mysterious birds
soon to appear on postage stamps.

But what of our memories, the memories of those who depend on images?
Do they count for nothing?

The mist rose, taking back proof of love.
Without which we have only the mirror, you and I.

Foggy & Gloomy Day

This is what it looks like outside this morning!

State Capitol Pictures

We went to the State Capitol yesterday and wandered around the park. I wanted to show my daughter the statue honoring Junipero Serra as she has always been interested in the California Missions. There are nine plaques surrounding the statue for each of the nine missions Serra founded. I took a picture of them all but I'm only going to post  Mission San Francisco de Asís.

Statue of Junipero Serra and map of the 21 California missions.

View of the California State Capitol through a few trees.

I liked the way the sun came through the tree in this picture.

This rose is named Cary Grant! My all-time favorite actor!

The plaque for San Francisco mission.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Jill holding a rose!

Cool trees w/lots of leaves!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day however you choose to spend it! I'll be going to my sister's house so that means I don't have to do much work!

A few days ago I read a post on The Conscious Cat blog about the Thanksgiving ABC list she makes every year. I did do one of these a year or so ago but Thanksgiving seemed like a good time to do it again.

A - Anne of the Thousand Days - I know I used this last time for A but it's my favorite movie & I'm thankful for it!
B - Beads & books
C - Computers
D - Dreams
E - Embroidery
F - Family
G - Google Reader
H - Health - I recently had some tests done that, happily, came out negative. I'm quite thankful for that!
I - iPhone
J - Jill - my favorite daughter (my only child so she really had no competition!)
K - Kindness
L - Libraries
M - Mellifera -my cat
N - Night - I like nightime
O - Olives - cause I like them!
P - Pippin - my cat
Q - Quilting
R - Robin - that's me! I'm thankful for myself!
S - Serendipity
T - Trees
U - Unicorns
V - Vacation!
W -  Work - with so many people unemployed I'm glad I have a job
X - Xanadu - from Coleridge's poem "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure-dome decree." I remember my mother reciting that & I'm thankful for the memory.
Y - Yeats - I like his poetry.
Z - Zaftig - I'm thankful for the word. It means having a full, rounded figure. I'm definitely zaftig & I like the sound of the word!

I was going to dress my cats up like this for the day. Then I looked at their claws and decided it was a bad, bad idea. I've seen pictures of cats dressed up. I guess their owners are braver than I am!

A Nice Day!

I've had a nice, relaxing day so far. Even though it's the weekend this still counts as the second day of my vacation. I took Mon, Tues & Wed off work. Thursday & Friday are holiday days so I'll be off until Monday, 11-28, a total of 9 days!

I had to go out and get cat litter today. I'm trying to figure out why, in the grocery store, if I have two small bags, the checker will look at me like I'm 90 years old and say, "do you need help to your car?" At Petsmart, where I had a 40 lb box of cat litter they didn't ask me! Do I look younger there? Anyway I got it into the car and then put in on my little rolling cart to bring it inside. That was actually the boring part of the day!
 
Before I went to Petsmart I went to Beers Books, a lovely bookstore in Sacramento. I've decided to begin rereading, from the beginning, Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody mystery series. I thought I'd go to the bookstore and see if they had any. I was lucky enough to find nice used copies of the 1st and 3rd in the series for only $2 each! If you like mysteries these are great!

I love bookstores almost as much as libraries. The reason a library is better is because the books are free. Unless you forget to return them on time like I do. . . Anyway I can happily spend hours wandering around a library or bookstore and am always well rewarded for the time spent. Here's what I found today: The Complete Guide to Beading Techniques, Menopause with Science & Soul, the two Elizabeth Peters books - Crocodile in the Sandbank & The Mummy Case, and Biking and Hiking the American River Parkway. I ended up spending $40 but they were all used except the American River one. I've checked it out of the library a few times and have wanted to buy it. They just came out this year with the 4th edition and when I saw on the counter it seemed to saying "buy me, buy me." Books do that to me a lot.

I happily came home with my books and cat litter and had some soup, went for a walk and relaxed for awhile looking at books. So it's 5 pm now and I have a whole lovely evening with two cats, loads of books, and lots of beading I want to do! Oops just remembered I'm supposed to clean today. My daughter & her boyfriend will be coming on Tuesday to visit for a few days. Oh well they don't care if I clean or not!

A Thanksgiving cartoon

I thought this was funny. Although if I were a turkey it might not be so funny!

This is a good thought

The Word

Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,

between "green thread"
and "broccoli," you find
that you have penciled "sunlight."

Resting on the page, the word
is beautiful. It touches you
as if you had a friend

and sunlight were a present
he had sent from someplace distant
as this morning—to cheer you up,

and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thing

that also needs accomplishing.
Do you remember?
that time and light are kinds

of love, and love
is no less practical
than a coffee grinder

or a safe spare tire?
Tomorrow you may be utterly
without a clue,

but today you get a telegram
from the heart in exile,
proclaiming that the kingdom

still exists,
the king and queen alive, 
still speaking to their children,

—to any one among them
who can find the time
to sit out in the sun and listen.

Tony Hoagland

Trees, trees, trees, and more trees!

These were all taken on my walk yesterday. I love walking in my neighborhood at this time of year because the trees are so pretty. These are a small handful of the pictures I took! When I walk I also collect leaves and I want to identify them. Unfortunately I don't know what the different trees are. My daughter is going to be visiting for Thanksgiving and she doesn't know it but I'm planning on her taking a walk with me to identify the different trees for me!

Poem for a slow Tuesday

When You Go

When you go,
if you go,
and I should want to die,
there's nothing I'd be saved by
more than the time
you fell asleep in my arms
in a trust so gentle
I let the darkening room
drink up the evening, till
rest, or the new rain
lightly roused you awake.
I asked if you heard the rain in your dream
and half dreaming still you only said, I love you.

Edwin Morgan

A few pictures from a recent walk

Look closely - there is a leaf print on the sidewalk. I tried to lighten the picture but then you couldn't see anything!

A Poem for Veteran's Day

Tommy

by Rudyard Kipling

I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, " We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, go away " ;
But it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, wait outside ";
But it's " Special train for Atkins " when the trooper's on the tide
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's " Special train for Atkins " when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's " Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's " Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Chuck him out, the brute! "
But it's " Saviour of 'is country " when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An 'Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!