Category Archives: Life

May28

tchau.

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it’s official

before the summer is over

i’ll be traveling

on my first trip as a retired person

 to visit portugal, the oldest nation-state in europe.

tchau.

—

‘if there is one portion of europe which was made by the sea more than another,

portugal is that slice, that portion, that belt. portugal was made by the atlantic.”

– hilaire belloc, french/english historian and writer.

 

 

—

*And the award for oldest nation-state in Europe goes to… Portugal. In 1139, Portugal appointed King Afonso Henriques as its king. Lisbon is said to be four centuries older than Rome. Due to its excellent trading location, the Phoenicians settled in Lisbon around 1200 BC.

 

—

 

photo credit: planetware, the perched village of azenhas do mar at sunset, sintra, portugal

May27

lest we forget.

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    “heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory.

    sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history.”

    –mary roach

    —

    there are very few families in this country who have not been touched in some way by the military conflicts, both current and past. thank you for your sacrifice. “LEST WE FORGET” is so very important for a reason. it implores us to be wary as a nation, because a nation that forgets runs the risk of losing freedom or repeating mistakes of the past.

    May26

    just his luck.

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    while ringing up my groceries at a self-checkout machine

    another register finally opened up

     a friendly store employee waved over

    the gentleman who had been waiting behind me in line

    directing him to the machine

    but at the last second

    he balked

    saying that he wanted to wait for register #2

    to become open

    as that was his lucky register.

    he turned with his cart

    went back in line

    and waited.

    —

    once again

    i have questions.

    why does he feel that one is lucky?

    is he thinking that he is in a casino?

    what kind of luck can one have at a check out register?

    did he get cash back, a deal, freebies, extra coupons, better bags, spend less?

    why don’t i have a lucky register?

     

    —

    “luck is believing you’re lucky.”

    -tennessee williams

     

     

     

    —

    photo credit: google images

     

     

    May25

    don’t dis my gruntled.

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     gruntled on this long weekend.

    —

     

    ‘gruntled’

    adjective: pleased, satisfied, and contented

    examples:

    1. after a long walk and a few treats, the dog was gruntled.

    2. despite tom sawyer annoying those around him,

    he always managed to keep his guardians gruntled.

     

     

     

    —

    art credit: ‘roaming cat” – etsy

    May24

    ‘imagine sisyphus happy.’ – albert camus

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    one
    digs out the sand with his shovel
    as the other
    fills in the sand with her feet.
    both are happy
    both work hard
     continue on endlessly
    until it is time to go home.
    —
    The Myth of Sisyphus ends with the sentence, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Why must one imagine Sisyphus happy? Because he accepts that there is no point in pushing up the boulder up the hill forever and yet he chooses to do it anyway.
    May22

    cuckoo.

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    when we walked into a store

    filled with nothing but cuckoo clocks

    i really had to wonder

    how long would it take before this made the workers a bit cuckoo?

    who has to reset them all and keep them running?

    do they dream of the little birds popping out, and little people dancing in a circle?

    do they hear the sounds every 15 minutes even when not working?

    do they use their employee discount to buy clocks for their homes?

    do they have any long term employees?

    do they give you a cuckoo clock when you retire?

    —

     

    ‘since both of its  national products, snow and chocolate, melt,

    the cuckoo clock was invented

    solely in order to give tourists something solid to remember it by.’

    -alan coren

    May21

    new sheriff in town.

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    if i had to be a sheriff

    i would like to be the kind

     who rescues people

    who fall in the water

    run out of gas

    get lost

    need help

    love sticker badges for their kids

    i would not like to be the kind

    who pulled us over one summer on a lake

    because we were guilty of:

    dancing.

    i would rather be one

    who throws frisbees to people on the beach

    like the one we met on the weekend

    who likes music and smiling and dancing.

    —

    ‘if time were the wicked sheriff in a horse opera,

    i’d play for riding lessons and take his gun away.’

    -w.h. auden

    May20

    big shoes to fill.

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    on our visit to holland, mi
    so many shoes to choose from
    at dutch village
    some more challenging than others
    no one goes without shoes here
    no one  walks alone.
    —
    “shoes can’t walk on their own! they therefore are grateful for the feet!
    Be grateful for everything that brings you life!”
    ― mehmet murat ildan
    May19

    this face.

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    got to spend some time with this face yesterday

    –

    “there’s a story behind each face we meet”
    ― charmaine j. forde

     

     

    —

    holland, michgian, usa – spring 2024

    May18

    magical capacity.

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    where does the tree end and the child begin?

     

    —

    “as a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth;

    to see the land as an animal does;

    to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee;

    to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us;

    to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unselfconsciously to the soughing of the trees.”

    ~valerie andrews