What a sublime poem - I do not read enough poetry anymore. As someone who started out writing lots of poetry (I think it was the rhythm of it that first attracted me), I read too little of it, and if this gem is any indication of what is out there, I am obviously missing out.
I'm so glad you had a lovely trip - when I lived in the UK and would come back here for infrequent visits, it was family that I longed for and grew homesick for, not the hometown or the conveniences of the US.
By the way - I was thinking about you this morning. Would you mind if I picked your brain about a couple of things in The Toils of the Just? Weird question, I know, but it's been on my mind for a few days.
I do love good poetry -- one of my favorite parts of Tolkien was the songs and poems :) And of course, my brain is yours to pick here or via PM, whichever you like.
*squishes you tightly* What a wonderful trip! I'm so happy your family is doing so well, and congratulations to the newly-minted PhD! As a native midwesterner, I hear the rhythms of spring and summer so clearly in the poem you shared, complete with flickers of fireflies and the whine of insects and choruses of frogs. Just wonderful- thank you so much for sharing it!
And nothing says summer like homemade strawberry shortcake!
Good food and good conversation FTW!! It really was just a lovely trip, though too short. There was a Frida Kahlo exhibit we didn't have time to see, and Dad wanted to take us to the new Superman movie. Well, one can't have everything, I suppose -- but we came pretty close. Glad you liked the poem!
So glad you had a great trip. It's always nice to travel, but equally nice to return home. :)
Loved the poem, for some reason, for me it evoked childhood memories of all the neighborhood kids gathering after dark to play Ghost in the Graveyard (Do kids even do things like that anymore?), telling ghost stories in the dark with flashlights, and other games involving scaring ourselves witless. Of nights, racing around catching fireflies in a jar, or lying on our backs in the yard staring up at the stars. Or when I was older, a teenager, coming home from a date and sitting in the car in the driveway in the dark kissing, neither one of us wanting the night to end. Then his unending embarrassment at HIS mother (he lived just kitty-corner from our house) flashing the porch light on and off to get his attention to "get your butt home, boy!" Oh yes indeed, good times those were. :D
"Me too" to all of those, though for us it was just Tag or riding our bikes like the next Mario Andretti. Ghost in the Graveyard sounds spooky-fun, wooooooo...
LOL I had to google it because I couldn't quite remember how it went. It was a bit different from what we did but I suppose it's a regional thing. We called it red light-green light. It was a kind of reverse hide and seek, but in the dark. One person would hide-he was the ghost- everyone else waited together for a specified amount of time, probably counting to a hundred or something. As you left the home base to look for the ghost everyone chanted "a red light a green light, I hope the ghost won't come out tonight." I can't quite remember how it ended, it seems like if you found the ghost you went screaming "ghost, ghost, ghost!!!" back to the home base which was safe, once revealed the ghost had to catch someone who then had to be the ghost for the next round. It was especially scary because it was in the dark and you never knew where that damn ghost might pop out of. ;D
Oh, not just two cats, a dog and four rats -- we've also got six tarantulas, three scorpions, three degus and a tank of fish. We are quite the menagerie. Mathematically speaking, on average there are 3.3 legs per creature in our house. Without the fish it would be 5.5!!
Well, for one thing they're all in one room with a door that is always shut, and most of them are too big to get under the door. Wait...that doesn't sound like something that should make me feel better, does it??
But srsly: Mr Psmith is an awesome bug-wrangler and takes very good care of them, including making sure they never escape. (And trust me, if by chance one did escape I would be at a hotel so fast you'd think I'd apparated!!)
I'm just glad we don't have the scolopendra gigantes any more. That one really did make me nervous...
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I'm so glad you had a lovely trip - when I lived in the UK and would come back here for infrequent visits, it was family that I longed for and grew homesick for, not the hometown or the conveniences of the US.
By the way - I was thinking about you this morning. Would you mind if I picked your brain about a couple of things in The Toils of the Just? Weird question, I know, but it's been on my mind for a few days.
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And nothing says summer like homemade strawberry shortcake!
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Loved the poem, for some reason, for me it evoked childhood memories of all the neighborhood kids gathering after dark to play Ghost in the Graveyard (Do kids even do things like that anymore?), telling ghost stories in the dark with flashlights, and other games involving scaring ourselves witless. Of nights, racing around catching fireflies in a jar, or lying on our backs in the yard staring up at the stars. Or when I was older, a teenager, coming home from a date and sitting in the car in the driveway in the dark kissing, neither one of us wanting the night to end. Then his unending embarrassment at HIS mother (he lived just kitty-corner from our house) flashing the porch light on and off to get his attention to "get your butt home, boy!"
Oh yes indeed, good times those were.
:D
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(Glad you had a nice trip!)
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But srsly: Mr Psmith is an awesome bug-wrangler and takes very good care of them, including making sure they never escape. (And trust me, if by chance one did escape I would be at a hotel so fast you'd think I'd apparated!!)
I'm just glad we don't have the scolopendra gigantes any more. That one really did make me nervous...
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