Saturday, December 31, 2016

Sewer Raccoons around the world; Don't worry; An esteemed visitor; Gourd work; 2016 Christmas manifestations





Sewers, Raccoons, and water



http://www.jacquielawson.com/ecard/pickup?code=6628067009318&source=jl999&utm_medium=internal_email&utm_source=pickup&utm_campaign=receivercontent



^,^

As we approach the new year
and some portents thereof: 




be happy





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWXUWepSak4


and THIS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUSVALW_Z4#t=218.804659
If this one does not start at the very beginning
just run the time bar all the way to the left, to zero, start.

Take the time to listen to this lovely series of songs
'PLAYING FOR CHANGE'
Just let your PC run...


^,^

Hawk Mahoney

A noble warrior sort of fellow
paid an unannounced and very welcome visit
dropping in out of the kind of skies he soars

struggling to make a landing
here at The Odd Fellows without its means of entrance
- the door bell and intercom systems
do not work, much to our liking
but certainly not to other residents -

bumping into Dee luckily
in the building lobby
making her exit.

After a couple years of no contact
Hawk came bearing a gift
at Christmas time:
Brad Hawiyeh-ehi crafted
bread-warming gourd.



It has occupied a happy space
on top of our fireplace heater.

A gourd due to its nature
is an insulator
like wrapping a down vest
around yourself.

It keeps warmed bread or rolls warm longer.




Raccoon readers will remember Hawk
from this posting and others ~


http://raccoonnews.blogspot.com/2011/10/at-st-pauls-hubertus-wi.html


Friends as this Hawk I tell you from my experience
do not just fall out of trees.
They fly from skies.

Good luck to you in finding your own.


^,^

Gourd work




Morticulture

Gourd vines unfurl on the trellis
So fast now that a pulse is nearly felt
at the growth tips

Little buds that will be flowers
emerge from nothing
Up the wire mesh go the vines
a rung or two at a time

and the tendrils wave
and writhe in air
seeking purchase
Wire to bend

Finding something to grab onto
they kink up
in tight spirals
like octopus tentacles

Twelve plants started from seed
in my south window sill indoors
fragile they were and now

They have enough
collective force to produce
a bin of future horns, rattles
bowls and dippers

or to make good on a sci-fi
nightmare
and do me in
I will not turn my back on them

At night through the open
bedroom window I hear them
growing
muscling their way toward me

I could have stopped them once
but now they have
harnessed the sun
and they want to grow
all over me

I have to make a run past
this trellis in the morning
when I go to work
They might snatch an arm or pantleg

but I close the door on
the offending tentacles
and back down the drive
a struggle between an auto
engine and photosynthesis

So far the car always wins
and the tendril ends whimper
when their connexions to the mother vine
break
and come bungeeing back
at the windshield

Neighbor's pets
have begun to disappear
 The vines have a way
of beckoning innocently
like a benign cobra

You have to stare at them
and  you want
to move in for a closer look
because you are curious
aren't you?

Don't



[ãDavid Zep Dix 2001]






^,^


Christmas manifestations 2016



Dee in a shopping trip picked up a box of surprise 'crackers'.
We tugged at them on Christmas day dinner.

Erin and Ben were here.
These holiday novelties took two people to explode,
one at each end pulling vigorously.

When the cracker blew up it spread
a variety of delights:

A paper hat; an Origami figure with instructions
on how to fold; jokes, riddles, etc.

Here, Ben attempts a folding jumping frog:
























^,^


                                                                               Wm Blake



...to be continued