shoutout to the post office
for supporting my love
of letter writing, shipping, and receiving
they are my heroes
even on a less than perfect day
here’s to them for keeping it going
in spite of everything.
—
“postman’s bag is always heavy because it carries the life itself:
it carries all the sorrows and all the joys, all the worries and all the hopes!”
-mehmet murat ildan
—
“You inherit your environment just as much as your genes.”
― Johnny Rich, The Human Script
—
cartoon credit: Mitra Farman,The New Yorker
with the absence of so many humans
the animals have reclaimed their territory
and even branched out to try things that might be new
when i saw this goose standing full of pride and bravado on top of the bridge
all i could think of was that scene from ‘titanic’ when jack said to rose:
“i’m the king of the world!”
and he believed that for a little while.
—
“the higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly”
– friedrich nietzsche
neighborhood totem created from perfectly balanced pieces of a cut-down tree
—
“art doesn’t transform. it just plain forms.”
-roy lichtenstein
(not me or my shoes, but she wore them well and they were clearly essential)
way back in march
when quarantine suddenly began
for some reason
the first things i immediately ordered were
a cherry blossom doormat and a pair of glittery shoes
(both are always good to have on hand during a pandemic)
the mat arrived quickly and is happily living outside my door
the shoes however have not yet made their way to my door
as it was determined that they are ‘non-essential’
and therefore will be delivered sometime late in june
one woman’s essential is another’s folly
all a matter of perspective.
—
“the first essential, of course, is to know what you want.”
Robert Collier
—
image credit: MGM, The Wizard of Oz
after a busy day
spent teaching, singing, walking, grocery shopping with a mask, writing new plans, meeting, and conferencing
i finally sat down
one last time
all of it behind me
settling in for an evening at home
picturing myself like the image above
and then
the mirror
came into play
where it was revealed
that i was actually
more like disheveled barbie
but she probably has more fun anyway.
—
when you have a vision of where you need to go,
it sounds uptopian. but when you get to the tipping point,
your understanding switches.”
-christiana figueres
—
Watercolor painting credit: An Evening at Home, 1888, Sir Edward John Poynte, Bourne Gallery, Reigate, Surrey, UK The Bridgeman Art Library
Michigan football wide receiver Ronnie Bell has an epic quarantine workout
Ronnie Bell had a unique routine while quarantining back home in Missouri.
To stay in shape, the Michigan receiver would go outside … and push his family’s Chevy Tahoe around the block.
“I’ve been pushing the cars with my little brothers,” Bell told MGoBlue’s Ed Kengerski. “We’ll take the car outside and put it in neutral and just push it around the neighborhood. “They push the little Lexus and I push the Chevy Tahoe.”
Like many of his teammates, Bell went home for a spell after the coronavirus outbreak forced Michigan to cancel in-person classes and athletic activities, including the Wolverines’ spring practices.
“We were probably a week out from spring ball before everything happened,” he said. “Just kind of had to shift mindsets from getting ready, mentally, for spring ball, getting all excited for spring ball, and then having that taken away from you. You’ve got to adjust and adapt to your different circumstances.”
Bell, who is majoring in creative writing, says the shutdown made his academic life more difficult, as it prevented him from participating in office hours with his professors. But he did appreciate the opportunity to go home and spend time with his family, calling the experience “the best thing about” quarantine.
Bell is back in Ann Arbor, where he lives with running back Hassan Haskins and linebacker Cam McGrone.
Does he miss football? “Of course.”
“(I miss) just being around the guys and being around the facility with all the coaches,” Bell said. “Everything about it. You don’t realize how much you were going to miss it until you get it completely taken away from you.”
For now, Bell and his teammates have connected with each other and the coaching staff through Zoom. He says the team has tried to install the offense as best it can through virtual meetings.
Bell, who had 48 catches for 758 yards and a touchdown in 2019, has been watching film on a consistent basis in hopes of improving upon his breakout sophomore year. He says he has gone over film of himself looking at situations in which he could’ve done “something different” or “something more.” He is hoping football will return in the near future.
“Everybody’s just unbelievably excited,” Bell said. “You could tell everybody was just getting antsy and itchy, just to get back to it. Everybody’s on edge because nobody really knows when everything will somewhat go back to normal.
—
“whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately.”
-andrew carnegie
—
credits: orion sang, detroit free press, ed kengerski, mgoblue.com
—
“love your whole story even if it hasn’t been the perfect fairy tale.”
-marilyn moushigian koulouris
—
image credit: m.e. mcnair
happy national cocktail day
in this era of zoom happy hours, the quarantini, and more than lots of stay home time
what have you been mixing up in your quarantine cave?
do you find yourself using
whatever you can scrounge up in your kitchen?
is your go-to
a cornhattan, pickled okra and tonic, dandelion/parsley wine, a salsa sour?
what have you managed to blend, shake, mix, mash, stir, or sling together
to create your new signature drink?
all cocktails and mocktails welcome here.
—
“life is a crazy mixture of intoxicating cocktails.”
-ken poirot
—
image credit: lisa zador
sharing the park
with front-line workers
needing a respite
making their way through another day.
—
“when people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home.”
-betty bender
I didn't have my glasses on.... 