What’s on your mind?

[Matz]

I hated poetry and history in grade & high school. In college that changed. Now it’s nearly all I read.

As a student and as a young man I had a hard time connecting with poetry, with few exceptions (Poe and Robert Service come to mind). I don’t recall ever reading poetry outside of school, where it was required.

I still don’t read it often, as most poetry doesn’t do much for me. There are exceptions. But as I think I mentioned before, I went through a stretch about five years ago when I actually wrote some poetry. Wrote one, then another, and then it was like turning on a tap. At last count, I’d published/posted 111 poems on a poetry website. And I think a few of them are pretty good.

For me, the exercise of choosing words to create something that fits within that admittedly broad structure referred to as ‘poetry’ is like no other writing. Haven’t done too much with it for a couple of years, but lately I’m finding myself looking at some the drafts I started, and revising some of the published/posted ones I wasn’t quite happy with. Fun, in an odd sort of way. Hard, too.

 

[LizKat]

Issue with most fruit trees on private property is they were never grown for outward development and simply left alone. With the right tools, you can harvest as much as you want. A basketed pole pruner is one of the cheapest methods at under $100.

Cheaper and far more entertaining, if you don't mind sharing the harvest:

​

(Baltimore Oriole)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sometimes, poetry offers a compelling yet succinct way of expressing something that pure prose simply cannot equal for power and emotional truth.

How about the incredibly powerful (yet moving) words penned by Seamus Heaney from The Cure at Troy - subsequently quoted by Bill Clinton a few years later when he was in Northern Ireland while the Peace Process was underway:

"History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme".

 

[yaxomoxay]

Spent a day at a nearby waterpark. It's pretty cool to see the inner child of my now grown up kids... and of the other adults at the park.

 

[hawkeye_a]

I miss experiencing the four seasons (especially autumn/fall).

 

[0388631]

Spent a day at a nearby waterpark. It's pretty cool to see the inner child of my now grown up kids... and of the other adults at the park.

Your children are still children, though.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Headache.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Headache.

Take something for it.

Rest and plenty of hydration.

What triggered it, do you know?

Headaches differ, and so do their remedies; I have had migraines, and hangover headaches, and stress headaches, and headaches that developed as a result of an infected impacted wisdom tooth. All required different remedies.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Take something for it.

Rest and plenty of hydration.

What triggered it, do you know?

Headaches differ, and so do their remedies; I have had migraines, and hangover headaches, and stress headaches, and headaches that developed as a result of an infected impacted wisdom tooth. All required different remedies.

This week my sleep pattern was everything but a regular pattern, so I assume that is the cause.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

This week my sleep pattern was everything but a regular pattern, so I assume that is the cause.

Fair enough, but rest and dehydration will probably work wonders.

 

[LizKat]

Summer. It's only a week or so to calendar summer, yet we're still with the rain and 40º mornings. I give up on the weather already. I have relied on it in the past to know when to switch around from (nice warming) oatmeal for breakfast to (nice cooling) Cheerios for supper. Now I'm starting to think I should just short General Mills and go long Quaker Oats all year round... and so have oatmeal at both ends of the day with a hot (and spicy-hot) lunch in the middle.

Maybe I can grow rice in my yard next year if this rain keeps up.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Water.

Arrived home from a shopping expedition to find that the water appears to have been cut off.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

As of yesterday, my finals are complete and my third year of college has ended (grades will not be available for another couple of days, but I'm not concerned. Semantics was my toughest class this quarter, but I know my professor liked my paper on the semantics of case. And that's a big chunk of the grade). On two of the days of finals, the temperature here was 102 degrees. I was in class in shorts and flip-flops.

This summer, among other things, I will be spending a couple weeks in Provence, visiting relatives. I also hope to get to Yosemite and possibly visit a friend in NYC (and that's in addition to my goal of reading 12 books in these few months).

Fun times ahead.

 

[AngerDanger]

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Summer. It's only a week or so to calendar summer, yet we're still with the rain and 40º mornings. I give up on the weather already. I have relied on it in the past to know when to switch around from (nice warming) oatmeal for breakfast to (nice cooling) Cheerios for supper. Now I'm starting to think I should just short General Mills and go long Quaker Oats all year round... and so have oatmeal at both ends of the day with a hot (and spicy-hot) lunch in the middle.

Maybe I can grow rice in my yard next year if this rain keeps up.

Cold and wet and dark enough (for mid June) here, too.

I still have the heat on for an hour or so in the morning and at night, and I am sitting indoors wearing a wool (and cashmere) jacket over a turtleneck.

My food purchases still include rice, potatoes and pasta - for warming meals.

So, yes: While the calendar says June, the thermometer says a cold spring. And I know which I believe.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Rain here as well. I have gardening and painting to do outside, but zero chance in this weather.

 

[0388631]

Rain here as well. I have gardening and painting to do outside, but zero chance in this weather.

I'm sure B&Q have a tarp to cover the entire exterior of your house allowing you to paint and breathe in those heavenly intoxicating paint fumes.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I'm sure B&Q have a tarp to cover the entire exterior of your house allowing you to paint and breathe in those heavenly intoxicating paint fumes.

Thanks but its only a little bit at the front. Plus the fences. Oh and the shed. When will summer start?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

........ When will summer start?

Sometime after the solstice, methinks.

Perhaps. Maybe. Hopefully.

But, perhaps not.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Sometime after the solstice, methinks.

Perhaps. Maybe. Hopefully.

But, perhaps not.

I think we had it all last year.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I think we had it all last year.

Yes, last year was a proper summer.

Local stores even ran out of electric fans during the hot spell - and some local shops introduced a rationing system, and stocked some rather expensive brands of fans.

Well, needs must: I didn't want Mother suffering unduly, and - above all - I didn't want her to be afflicted by any sort of heat stroke.

So, whatever fans I could lay hands on - the carer was brilliant, running around to do the needful - were acquired.

 

[chown33]

View attachment 842891

Worm sign!!

 

[Gutwrench]

View attachment 842891

You’re pregnant. Congratulations.

 

[0388631]

Peed on many of those sticks yourself then, Gutty?

 

[LizKat]

Water.

Arrived home from a shopping expedition to find that the water appears to have been cut off.

Well that's always a joy. Happens here once in awhile but hardly ever when they say it's going to happen for scheduled village water maintenance. I think they just do it when they can manage to get a crew together, and the "appointed date" supplied in advance is just for show. Hope your water supply has been re-established. Hate it when I get caught out in taking things for granted (like a functional car etc.) but having running water in the house is pretty basic, and losing it without notice is pretty annoying.