Evil Eye

Portrait of the artist getting mad at his computer because it is not doing what it was told to do! Don't make me come over there and pull your plug! I've had it with your smug indifference - your silly tantrums! How about a nice knuckle sandwich?!!!

This Morning by the River

Nightfall

It is finally here. I open the bedroom window. It is foggy, and a somewhat musty smelling breeze wipes my face. Its like breathing the dank air of mushrooms in some basement corner. And I am still feeling sweaty in the cool air. And listening to tree frogs. And crickets. And an occasional owl. Somewhere beyond that, I hear a nervous horse. Some even more distant dog barks. Solitary cars pass every minute or so. The rise and fall of the sound of their wheels on the highway is like a lazy surf on sand. The slow circling blades of the ceiling fan in the darkness sound like some fluttering bird wings. I hear the distant hum of the old refrigerator motor laboring and busy as a bee on a flower. I lay spread eagle on the sheets as though crucified by Summer. In a few months I will be cursing Winter under heavy blankets, curled into a shivering fetal ball.

Two Kinds of Traffic

Living along a state highway in the countryside, it is interesting, the parade past my front porch. Because it is a scenic highway, there are people in recreational vehicles of all kinds. Motor homes with families on vacation. Cars and trucks pulling boats behind them on their way to a lake. Bands of motorcyclists on tour along the winding roads. Bicycling clubs in bright jerseys glide by.

And then, there are two other forms of traffic. There are local farmers in trucks pulling trailers of hay, or cattle. Farmers moving painfully slowly along the side of the road with chugging tractors pulling their harvest equipment behind them. They seem like limping animals at times. Especially in contrast to quarry trucks loaded with gravel, and speeding, pedal to the metal, with loud menacing pipes; and the concrete mixing trucks are in the same hurry. They pass in a cloud of limestone dust on their way to advance the city to the North into these southerly lands.

Between me, and the city about an hour North, is a vast changing landscape. There is a stretch made up entirely of mega-malls and gleaming corporate headquarters of one kind or another. Of course, the people behind such enterprises want to live beyond it. they want the rolling hills and pretty pastures. so the path of progress keeps moving South in the form of McMansion sub-developments. Eating up the farmland. It is, after all, so old school that you would farm a piece of land. Best to leave that to agri-business.

So, this is the struggle I see here where I live. The little farmer has his back to the wall. He is plucky, and hopes to hold out awhile. To be in a five year drought doesn't help. The crops are not prime, the cattle not fat for market. No wonder that at some point he throws in the towel. All he needs at this point is some security with advancing age. But the burn is deep. We are talking often of his parent's land, and their parents. That is a lot of pride to swallow. But this is what I see happening.

My little stretch of highway, is already being thought of in terms of its commercial potential rather than its residential reality.l. It hasn't happened yet, but probably will. I may make a few bucks if it comes down to that, but then I will be abandoning my own homesteading, and hoping to do it further South. And at my age, how much heart do I have for starting over? But this seems some kind of writing on the wall of progress. To paraphrase Neil Young's song, "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st Century".

Sometimes You Have To Back Up to go Forward

I am all ready to work in the shop today. Unfortunately, my shop is not ready for me! This is why the idea of having an apprentice is a good one. If I had an apprentice, I would not have to clean up this work table myself. In view of the situation, and lacking an apprentice, this will require a second cup of coffee and some music!

Royal Mail!!!!

Today has been a really blah day for me...not sure why...I wandered about my house and yard in small circles pondering what to do. I wandered into the shop and looked around, wandered back into the house and looked at my cluttered drawing table, wandered back into the yard and looked at the garden that needed weeding, wandered back into the house and sat down at my computer. Maybe I should blog something. But nothing came to mind. Wandered out to the mailbox. It was empty. So, I hopped into my truck and took a long circuitous drive. Wandering in this larger circle, brought little to mind. Although, I did enjoy the breeze.

So, I rented a movie. A Harrison Ford film I hadn't seen, even though its been out now for some years. "Presumed Innocent". It was interesting to me because it centered around the theme of infidelity. Recently, I have been reading some fictional writing from a blog-friend on this same theme. Harrison Ford, a lawyer, has an affair. The woman is subsequently murdered. He is put on trial as the one who did it. I won't tell you the rest in case you haven't seen it. Anyway, this kept me sufficiently distracted into the evening, and I was just about to turn in, when there was a knock on the door. A rare occurrence where I live. It was someone who was lost and needed directions. As I turned to go back into the house I noticed a package on the front porch. I picked it up. The postmark said "Royal Mail". Being the mayor of Pottsville does bring me some small fame, but I never thought that the Queen of England would pay me any mind!

Then I saw that it was from my good blog-friend on the Isle of Wight! So this is why I have been listless all day, I have been waiting for this surprise! She sent me one of my favorite photos. A picture made by her dad when she was a little girl. And with that, a wonderful hand-made Birthday card with a little colored drawing depicting Venice, a place I think I may have mentioned on her site that I would like to see some time. The picture below cannot do justice to either of these wonderful gifts.

Anyway, in retrospect, its not been such a bad day after all. Actually, its been quite nice!



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In the Nursing Home...............

She was in her wheel chair in front of a glass-encased aviary of finches, I said, "Hi mom, are you watching the birds?" She nodded, then added, "They are going to cook them for lunch." I said, "Mom, they are not going to cook these birds. These are little finches, canaries, and some parakeets." She looked at me and said, "They put me in a big black car this morning full of little birds. They all had names like something you cook." I looked at her for a moment, and said, "Like fried chicken, or stuffed turkey?" She looked at me and nodded quite somberly. "Mom, these are not chickens, or turkeys, they are little pet birds. and no one is going to eat them." As I got ready to leave, I told her lunch was coming soon. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans. She looked into the glass cage and said, "Those poor little birds." I bought some beer on the way home. This is my mom lost to Alzheimer's.