Sharing Poetry

I don't always like to read poetry unless I read about it first - but I do write poetry once in a while. I re-read it a year so later and decide if it makes sense. If it does - I call it good and if it doesn't I wait a few more years and try again. If the second time it reads dumb or poorly written or meaningless - I toss it. Once in a while I have a keeper that each time I read it - the application or nuances increase in value to me - so I declare it good.

Here is one of my favorites - because I use the imagery of one of my favorite things. It has many applications - personal awareness, temptations of infidelity, the loss of your young daughter to adulthood and how it feels to you, or just what you see is what you get - protecting your beautiful pet from the change that happens once the horse has had the opportunity to foal. When that happens, the mare may not returns to that sense of freedom and innocent passion for the wind and the ride and for that fear you want to protect her. Hope you like it too.

THE FOAL

My foal promenades the corral,
And like a sail in a hurricane her mane whips the wind.
The passion in her eyes belies her lighthearted prance.
Her beauty, her innocence I must defend.

From the stable I beckon her "Come!"
Sweet oats to assuage her; she halts. She quivers her flank.
What beckons her beyond my gates of harbor and home?
"She's going to leap." My heart sank!

When did I lose her? No time for assessments,
She knows not what lies in the mirage of ecstasy she senses.
Have I not endowed her with abundant provision?
My boundaries her security, seem now only fences.

"Steady Girl!" My warning scatters under hoofs;
With a virgin lunge she chases the whinnies of the wind beyond.
Unbridled, untamed, naïve - and I unprepared
For the pain of forever reaving our bond.

A lasso, a sugar, a ruse I will plan.
Before tempest’s lusty stallion seduces her virtue
And salacity awakened she gallops like a gale.
Finally I grasped her tho' she restively withdrew.

I reassure her with whispers through the gates.
She neighs a shudder and cantors away, tenuous, her fidelity.
I must keep constant watch for now her eyes will be
Always on the wind that whinnies temptingly!

Thomas Edison's Guests

Thomas Edison gained about 1100 patents on products he invented! We learned a bellyful of such facts about Tom and his good friend Henry Ford on Friday. What a great vacation day. We got the idea a few years ago from Channel 8 News to do a Florida road trip on a tank-full (of gas)with the grandkids.

We have had some adventures – to see the Lippizaners, to the ride the steam engine, to see Solomon’s junk castle and more. We took off to Ft Myers on Friday.

We learned how deep inflation has affected our lives when we realized that Thomas Edison bought his 13 acres of coastal paradise for $20,000. – with a house on it! Of course that was almost 100 years ago – and wages were $1.00 -$5.00 per day so guess you need to put it into perspective.
The sky was cloudy most of the day and it only got hot near the end. Then the thundering rain shower rushed us to the car for a cool and sleepy drive home. I was most impressed with my 8 and 12 year on grandkids who did indeed soak it in. Andrew was impressed with the Model T and 1937 roadster, the movie projectors, and the number of times Edison failed before making the light bulb work.

Emma was impressed with the first talking doll that you crank up in the back. We learned that if she was dropped – the talker broke because she was so fragile. She was astonished to hear that upon her market failure, they buried all the dolls in a big hole near the factory where they likely rest to this day. She wants to know where that factory is.

Bill and I were amazed at the opulent lifestyle of the wealthy – even in the early 1900’s – and knowing the anti-Semitic sentiment both Edison and especially Ford maintain, supporting Hitler’s rise to power, and the cruel task mastery of their sweatshops made quips about their generosity or character slightly distasteful.

Edison did a great deal of research in rubber. Supported by many, including Harvey Firestone. No joke! Thus his very large banyon tree – second largest in America only to one in Hawaii.
The kids enjoyed the individual guided tour on little ear pieces. You dialed the number on the phone of the spot you were in and got a 45-90 second little talk about it. Emma enjoyed the kitchen and guest room. Andrew the library and

the lab.

Memorable Day

What makes a day memorable? Something phenomenal? Extraordinary? Unexpected? How about something ordinary? Like an ordinary July 4th. That’s the memorable day we had today It was hot and in the sticky rush to finish household and outdoor chores, the yard got mowed, the lanai swept, the groceries purchased and then the rain came.
We spent some time scratching our heads and looking for yet another solution for the doggies. Jack has learned to jump over the 4 ½ foot fencing we have set up in our bedroom to give the dogs a nice-sized pen. Last month he learned to push the fence to the side and get out. We had to add zip ties to tie the fence to the bedroom desk. Now he jumps right over the top of the pen… Ebbie, our mini schnauzer is always glad to follow Jack’s example…but she can’t jump - thankfully. So we now have a fenced- top.

We grilled out burgers and my youngest son and his wife came - they are carrying baby Nolan who is our grandson yet-to-be born. Christy and her hubby and two kids came so we had a quite the affair. We play Balderdash – and laughed and had hot home-made biscuits with strawberries and whipping cream.

We wore American flags and USA stickers, and sipped all-American cola through decorated red and blue straws . We wore glow-in-the-dark necklaces and watched the boys grow chest hair for an hour and a half – lighting June Bugs, Flaming Rockets, Star Dust, and the Big Rebel. A great 4th of July fireworks show.

We had watermelon smoothies, took photos, watched the history channel special on the Revolution and watched Emma dance to Hot Buttered Popcorn. A memorable day just because……