(It came, and went)
Thanksgiving Day 11-28-13 dawns chilly
in No. 311 at the Odd Fellows with some
lights turned on outside the bedroom zone
and the heat turned up. Presently it is almost
up to 68 according to our weather central instruments
designed for taking measurements.
My breathe is no longer seen.
The ice no longer rims the cat water bowl.
When I arose ahead of Dee
- who turns the heat off at night -
bu not ahead of KD who already paced
waiting to be fed her morning ration,
the temp was approaching satanic
at 6-6-
and I uttered a W-o-o-o
at the cat who immediately broke
into her Halloween dance.
Her fur was supple, unfrozen, bristling.
.......
Last Sunday
a woman appeared in church enroute on
visiting her brother in upstate Wis from her home in
Hattiesburg, MI. Her name, she told me after service in the coffee room
was Nedra.
She said she had grown up in Waukesha and at this church
which she wanted after all the many years, to visit.
"Oh?" I said. "When was that?"
"Well, I was born in 1938....."
Hmmmm. I was born in 1936.
"Good heavens! We are contemporaries!" I said.
"Did you happen to go to Hadfield Elementary?" I asked.
I remembered her faintly.
She smiled and answered YES.
'That's where I went, too,
and you are Nedra!"
I've only known one Nedra in my lifetime
and here she was plopped down in a chair next to me
after 70-some years.
We exchanged addresses and I took her picture
with my lower crustacean cell camera,
the only camera I had with me.
I sent her this postcard the next day:
Later, I went to the internet to look up the name Nedra.
Your First Name of: Nedra
- Your name of Nedra gives you a clever mind, good
business judgment, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation of the
finer things of life.
- You are serious-minded and not inclined to
make light of things even in little ways, and in your younger years you
had more mature interests than others your age.
- Home and family mean a great deal to you and
it is natural that you should desire the security of a peaceful, settled
home environment where you can enjoy the companionship of family and
friends.
- Whatever you set out to accomplish you do your
very best to complete in accordance with what you consider to be right.
- In the home you assume your responsibilities
capably, having the self-confidence to form your own opinions and make
your own decisions.
- Others can rely on you; once you have given
your word you will do your utmost to fulfil a responsibility.
- However, there is a tendency to be a little
too independent in your thinking and it is difficult for you to accept the
help of others when you should.
- Due to your strong sense of responsibility,
you could experience worry and mental turmoil through assuming more
responsibility than you should.
Friction could arise
through others feeling that you were interfering with their rights and
privileges, even though you are only trying to help.
...........
This could be the start of a fine correspondence.
Time will tell.
.......
...........
This could be the start of a fine correspondence.
Time will tell.
.......
What the Heart Cannot Forget
Everything remembers something. The rock, its fiery bed,
cooling and fissuring into cracked pieces, the rub
of watery fingers along its edge.
The cloud remembers being elephant, camel, giraffe,
remembers being a veil over the face of the sun,
gathering itself together for the fall.
The turtle remembers the sea, sliding over and under
its belly, remembers legs like wings, escaping down
the sand under the beaks of savage birds.
The tree remembers the story of each ring, the years
of drought, the floods, the way things came
walking slowly towards it long ago.
And the skin remembers its scars, and the bone aches
where it was broken. The feet remember the dance,
and the arms remember lifting up the child.
The heart remembers everything it loved and gave away,
everything it lost and found again, and everyone
it loved, the heart cannot forget.
cooling and fissuring into cracked pieces, the rub
of watery fingers along its edge.
The cloud remembers being elephant, camel, giraffe,
remembers being a veil over the face of the sun,
gathering itself together for the fall.
The turtle remembers the sea, sliding over and under
its belly, remembers legs like wings, escaping down
the sand under the beaks of savage birds.
The tree remembers the story of each ring, the years
of drought, the floods, the way things came
walking slowly towards it long ago.
And the skin remembers its scars, and the bone aches
where it was broken. The feet remember the dance,
and the arms remember lifting up the child.
The heart remembers everything it loved and gave away,
everything it lost and found again, and everyone
it loved, the heart cannot forget.
"What the Heart Cannot Forget" by Joyce Sutphen, from Coming
Back to the Body. © Holy Cow! Press, 2000
.......
Joy at the Odd Fellows
The past week saw the beginning of the installation
of two leaking thermopane windows facing Main Street. Berg Management
'officiating', per promise. The Jewel in the Five Points Crown
does not/ will not slide into disrepair, despite the blanket negative inferences of our
present mayor regarding "certain landlords".
We captured a texted image with our Lower Crustacean cell camera
in of our effort to recall and record the downtown Milwaukee Christmas windows
of our youth: a gaily-illumined unicycle in our middle window that turns,
just like Gimbels and Boston Store
If you or Billy the Brownie rides it upside down and pedals.
(WHISHHHH says the radio sound effects man,
I think I hear Santa's sleigh!
Santa! Can you read me through all the wind?)
That image, true to its rude origin, was just a capture of the better
photo following, but it was easily sent via Email in that form.
Above in the loft, Festoon Fox has his new lights also on.
KD wants to wait a while longer before wearing her lights:
.......
Other photo opps
presented themselves from our Odd Fellows windows
at the festive Xmas parade downtown last weekend.
A stilted man;
stilted man whirls;
Mickey and Minnie wandered
to wave at children
while candy was tossed.
As the evening darkened, the bright blasts of orange flames
from a tugged Remax balloon heater drew ooohs and aaahs
audible from our high perch in the Odd Fellows.
We felt the momentary heat even through our new window
as the gas ball rose into the cold atmosphere;
I was warm just for a second.......
.......
and finally
this:
today's date, W/A
.......
Joy at the Odd Fellows
The past week saw the beginning of the installation
of two leaking thermopane windows facing Main Street. Berg Management
'officiating', per promise. The Jewel in the Five Points Crown
does not/ will not slide into disrepair, despite the blanket negative inferences of our
present mayor regarding "certain landlords".
We captured a texted image with our Lower Crustacean cell camera
in of our effort to recall and record the downtown Milwaukee Christmas windows
of our youth: a gaily-illumined unicycle in our middle window that turns,
just like Gimbels and Boston Store
If you or Billy the Brownie rides it upside down and pedals.
(WHISHHHH says the radio sound effects man,
I think I hear Santa's sleigh!
Santa! Can you read me through all the wind?)
That image, true to its rude origin, was just a capture of the better
photo following, but it was easily sent via Email in that form.
Above in the loft, Festoon Fox has his new lights also on.
KD wants to wait a while longer before wearing her lights:
.......
Other photo opps
presented themselves from our Odd Fellows windows
at the festive Xmas parade downtown last weekend.
A stilted man;
stilted man whirls;
Mickey and Minnie wandered
to wave at children
while candy was tossed.
As the evening darkened, the bright blasts of orange flames
from a tugged Remax balloon heater drew ooohs and aaahs
audible from our high perch in the Odd Fellows.
We felt the momentary heat even through our new window
as the gas ball rose into the cold atmosphere;
I was warm just for a second.......
.......
and finally
this:
today's date, W/A
I Get a Kick Out of You
VERSE
My story is much too sad to be told,
But practically ev'rything leaves me totally cold.
The only exception I know is the case
Where I'm out on a quiet spree
Fighting vainly the old ennui
And I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face.
REFRAIN
I get no kick from champagne.
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all,
So tell me why should it be true
That I get a kick out of you?
Some get a kick from cocaine.
I'm sure that if I took even one sniff
That would bore me terrific'ly too
Yet I get a kick out of you.
I get a kick ev'ry time I see
You're standing there before me.
I get a kick though it's clear to me
You obviously don't adore me.
I get no kick in a plane.
Flying too high with some guy in the sky
Is my idea of nothing to do,
Yet I get a kick out of you.
My story is much too sad to be told,
But practically ev'rything leaves me totally cold.
The only exception I know is the case
Where I'm out on a quiet spree
Fighting vainly the old ennui
And I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face.
REFRAIN
I get no kick from champagne.
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all,
So tell me why should it be true
That I get a kick out of you?
Some get a kick from cocaine.
I'm sure that if I took even one sniff
That would bore me terrific'ly too
Yet I get a kick out of you.
I get a kick ev'ry time I see
You're standing there before me.
I get a kick though it's clear to me
You obviously don't adore me.
I get no kick in a plane.
Flying too high with some guy in the sky
Is my idea of nothing to do,
Yet I get a kick out of you.
