why does the dove sit and visit
day after day
her answer is
this rustic nest
built atop the rail
tucked way beneath the tomato plant
a safe and shaded home
for the baby doves
soon to be welcomed into the world.
—
“and there my little doves did sit
with feathers softly brown
and glittering eyes that showed their right
to general nature’s deep delight.”
-elizabeth barrett browning
yo!
rainbow
hello
don’t go!
—
an original, in honor of bad poetry day
which i just missed
but now
it’s very nearly national poets day
and before too long will be national poetry day.
and so
see below.
—
Hard on the heels of Bad Poetry Day on August 18
Comes National Poets Day on August 21
Presumably we celebrate good poets for this day.
Although Poets Day could certainly refer to any poets, good or bad.
It could even mean you! If you’re a poet …
So on August 21, celebrate the poet in you. Or in your friend. Or your favorite poet. It’s all up to you.
This day is different from yet another day celebrating poets and poems: National Poetry Day in October.
( a reblog, in honor of ikea’s 80th anniversary)
—
after a long while
and a lot of swedish kaffe
i made it
through
the ikea rat maze
but not before gathering
as usual
all kinds of ‘domgjingos’
and other unexplained things along the way
along with the one item I set out to buy.
I was feeling victorious
when things took a turn.
I left my cart at the end of an aisle
to get a closer look
at an exciting ‘grushlbonker’ of some sort
and my cart went missing.
I first thought that maybe I had misplaced it.
no luck.
I then looked for someone ahead of me
who may have mistakenly grabbed the wrong cart.
still no luck.
I watched for someone to suddenly do an about face
and hurriedly return with the wrong cart in hand
a bit embarrassed and mumbling an apology.
still no luck.
maybe it was my giant blue used $1.49 bag
I had in there that was so appealing?
what could anyone else possibly
find any use for, or value
in the odd collection of things I’d snagged along the way?
I couldn’t even remember most of what I had in there
but now I felt I needed each of them for some reason
and was somehow missing them.
I decided to consider it a small gift to the universe
someone must have needed it all more than me.
I hadn’t paid for anything yet
so no loss
other than time and energy
and of course
that fancy blue bag
but most of all
I had no desire to rerun the maze
so I grabbed a few new things
I didn’t know that I needed
along the route to the register.
and threw in
a shiny new blue bag
along with
a 6-pack of cinnamon rolls
just for good measure.
—
“why would anyone steal a shopping cart? it’s like stealing a two year old.”
-erma bombeck
what a joy it would be to hang out on this tiny balcony.
—
“she wasn’t doing a thing that i could see,
except standing there,
leaning on the balcony railing,
holding the universe together.”
-j.d. salinger
my costa rican t-shirt
celebrates the country’s 1948 disbanding of their military
when they chose to give the money to education, culture, and social programs instead
there is a country-wide celebration each year
when i heard this as a visiting american
i was left gobsmacked.
(see the story below)
Peace consists, very largely in the fact of desiring it with all one’s soul.
The inhabitants of my small country, Costa Rica, have realized those words by Erasmus.
Mine is an unarmed people, whose children have never seen a fighter or a tank or a warship. – Oscar Arias
every august 16th it’s national tell a joke day
not my best holiday
i’m a horrible joke-teller
i’m more of a story-teller
a whole other skill set
all i’ve ever been able to remember
is my one go-to joke
(and even this is iffy, as i often add part of the answer into the question part of the joke)
“what animal loves summer the best?”
“a hot dog!”
(i learned this years ago when my daughter was in a kindergarten talent show and did stand-up comedy)
she got an amazing response perhaps because she was a brave kinder doing stand up and the audience ate it up
i decided it would be my standing joke from that moment on
sure to get a laugh
though when i tell it, in whatever convoluted manner it manages to be delivered
i generally either hear groans or silence from any audience of any age or any number
so i guess the joke’s on me.
“i’m gonna fix that last joke by taking out all the words and adding new ones.”
-mitch hedberg
—
credits: “hot dog” by doug salati (caldecott award winner), penguin random house, google images
the restaurant of mistaken orders employs waitstaff with dementia
and you can never be exactly sure what you will be getting.
below is a statement from the restaurant to potential patrons and to the world.
—
you may think it’s crazy,
a restaurant that can’t even get your order right,
all of our servers are people living with dementia,
they may, or may not, get your order right.
however, rest assured,
that even if your order is mistaken
everything on our menu is delicious and one of a kind.
this we guarantee.
“it’s okay if my order was wrong, it tastes so good anyway.”
we hope this feeling of openness and understanding
will spread across japan, and through the world.
—
We ask for your continued support of The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders in Tokyo, Japan.
Our mission is to spread dementia awareness and to make society a little bit more open-minded and relaxed.
—
“gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”
-lionel hampton
—
source credits: https://www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2019/winter2019/restaurant_of_mistaken_orders.html
the government of japan
here are the only ones allowed to park on the closed-off street
look at them making the most of it and taking all the good spots
they must know someone or have special licenses.
—
“when i get real bored i like to drive downtown and get a great parking spot,
then sit in my car and count how many people ask when i am leaving.”
-steven wright
my very creative and talented niece
just on the cusp of teenager-hood
presented me
with this lovely fairy
made on her way to come for a visit
with plaited hair
a hand-painted face
and fashion-forward attire
she was such a joyful surprise
due to her acorn cap beret and sense of style
i’ve decided to give my new fairy the french name of ‘brie.’
—
“the world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.”
-neil gaiman
“sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years
when they could just say, so what.
that’s one of my favorite things to say. so what.”
-andy warhol
I didn't have my glasses on.... 