Day of Splendor of the Month of Knowledge

Kansas: it was clear blue sky cool today.

Not much accomplished other than having supper with Janette and doing my other blog. At least I renewed my library books that were due! Tuesday is a night to hang out at Henry's and see who is out and about.

Retired poem:

Moments wasted

Your life's more precious than silver or gold
yet some will sell it for crack.
And ignore the lessons their elders told:
you can never buy it back.

© Kåre Enga 2007

Thinking of you:

70º in DC where Gastón resides. When will I visit?

70º in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Talked with my Aunt Dot on Sunday.

56º in Missoula, Montana. Thinking about going back come December. Brrrrrrr.

Day of Beauty of the Month of Might

Kansas: 69 º and cool and rainy.

Well, life is dull at times. The Saturday football game was a romp: 62-0. Sunday was sitting at Z's and working on my blog and old poetry. I've gone through about half of the 500 pictures that I got developed from old film going back 3 years. Some photos were a bit of a surprize. Nights have cooled off; good sleeping weather. Reading some Burroughs.

ODD THOUGHTS & COMMENTS:

A flock of cows in closed formation, flying ...
Telepathic cow power (how they move in unison)
Cow show girls
Cashew Inn (cash you in)
Wingbat, Wyoming?

Does anyone know anything about Gillette, Wyoming? I'm stuck there for a couple hours on the 21st. I spend all day on the 9-21 and 10-3 cruising and perusing the landscape of Wyoming. Any thoughts? Snoozing has crossed my mind ... as has reading Annie Proulx' short story collection, "Close Range". I'll be in Missoula, Montana on the 22nd and then Monroe, Washington.

IMAGES:

Counting along the path to Z's:
2-4 inch willow leaves
19 1/2 inch deep crack in the soil.
24 bricks high canna lilies.
3 cm. petals of crabapple flowers in bloom
1.8 cm grey lichen on an ash
8 bricks high, the Pine Tree Townhouse sign
7 inches, dry pine needles
1 fresh pile of dog poop (didn't count the flies)
2 balls, one blue football, 1 red-white-blue basketball
22 leaflets on a locust leaf
5 points on the sweet gum leaf
1 nest on the ground, another in a tree
6 cm pine cone
4 cm cigarette butt
20 slabs of walkway concrete to 21st Street.
7 concrete road slabs to Miller Drive
3 spouts on the yellow fireplug
innumerable shards of broken brown glass
1 bag of trash
1 man in pink riding a red lawn mower, turning the corner of S Silicon
24 mailboxes with 4 feet
1 green cooking pan
2 ladders atop the silver Muzak.com van
2 car garages everywhere, the house turning their backs to the street
3 ridged black water drains
7 inch oak leaf, 7 inches wide
2.2 x 1.8 cm acorn, the cap 2 cm by .6 cm deep
1 green mailbox (#1600)
4 red reflectors (#1605)
2 purple curly cabbages 1 m high
9 white portulacas among a sea of yellow
2 covered motorbikes
1 flag waving in front of the silver water tower
2 green hook and ladders
2 red-leafed trees in the island by Z's
8 heliopsis in bloom, mulched by coffee grounds.

thinking of you

68º Diane in Buffalo, New York. Call mom!

87º Shelley in Monroe, Washington. I'll see you soon.

78º David in Missoula, Montana. Will it snow when I visit in two weeks?

Day of Speech of the Month of Names

Kansas: 89 degrees and not one cloud!

Fortunately it has been cooler at night. Even had to cover up.

Football

Will Applachian State get some deserved votes in the National polls? I guess the AP won't allow it ... . After beating Michigan, they proved they can play with the best and deserve any recognition they get.

I went to Kansas U's 52-7 win over Central Michigan. Not an exciting game. Amused myself by playing with a 2 1/2 year old, Max, and his trash truck, two cars and dinosaur.

IMAGES:

Picked and put in my pocket: sweet pea, violet butterfly-bush flowers, yellow rose. In my bag: 2 bottle caps and feathers.

The fall of brown pine needles (evoking sadness); oak leaves, chestnut leaves, ginkgo leaves; chestnuts, their balls spiny and green, and big enough to make The Hulk jealous ; chewed up remains of a walnut husk (no squirrel seen).

Thinking of U:

82 degrees and clear in Bellefontaine, Ohio for Lee Ann and Larry. So much nicer than the extreme heat or floods.
79 degrees for my nice Lee Ann in Cheektowaga, New York. She's only 12, but she'll be taller than me in a couple years.
57 degrees for Kathy in North Derbyshire, U.K. Can't wait until I hook up with Skype and can talk with her and Anna Lisa in Lund, Sverige: 55 degrees.

Day of Knowledge of the Month of Names

Kansas: 86 degrees and warm. It was nice and cool last night!

IMAGE THIS!

Hey, I looked good yesterday! I really did and today, I got an 'aircut. Yep. Been years ... can't remember the last time. Malcolm cut it at the Amyx barbershop.

"Mondays at Munchies with Malcolm Miller till Midnite"

On Mondays Malcolm does donuts.

Heard outside of Starbucks: "Caffeine and nicotine, the everyman's diet.

I've been entering and editing poetic sketches from December 2005. Weird reading 'old' stuff.

And last night ... I had to cover up! Cool.

tHiNkInG oF yOu:

75 in Kyoto at 7 a.m. where Deb wants to go and study some day. Me, too.

93 in Hot Springs, Arkansas where McPike is from. Haven't seen you yet today, Frank!

56 in Eureka, California. Same temps in New Zealand where Anabel is originally from. 57 in Aukland, for example.

Bruce who prefers alligators to grad students: 79 in Missouri City, Texas.

Day of Names of the Month of Names

Kansas: 96º, but nights are cooler.

44 years ago on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King mesmerized an audience from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and inspired all of America with his "I have a dream" speech.

Link: http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

For 15 years (1988-2002) I had picnics on this day to bring people together as a commemoration, in keeping with the vision of Dr. King. Even though I did not have a gathering today, I try to keep the dream alive.

My most successful event was when friends came to play blues and jazz and I was inundated with 150 guests. Then in 2001, my friend Cory was the dj with every one dancing out in the 'parking lot'. Yep. Or the year the Wasehs cooked chicken kabob out at the curb and we had the whole neighborhood salivating. We shared, of course!

Yes, we had some good times bringing all types of folks together.

Thinking of U:

Sally who grew up around Carbondale, Illinois: 95º Four years ago we were both having a tough time. Hope her life has moved on.

Krista from Wamego, Kansas: 95º who is moving to Reno, Nevada: 81º. She'll miss the green, but the paycheck will be greener.

Gayle Ranney who grew up in Wichita, Kansas: 91º ... hmmm ... wonder where thou art?

Brandon from Washington, Pennsylvania: 82º Still have your stuff, Spike! Wish you were here.

Last week's retired ditty:

Bug hug lesson #1

Out in the grass,
I found a bug.
I gave it a hug.
It gave me a rash.

© Kåre Enga 2007

I somehow got up and saw the eclipse of the moon around 5 this morning. Big orangish moon, darker towards the top. Couldn't stay up to watch it for long. Earlier in the evening it was one of the biggest brightest yellow full moons I've ever done seen.

And tell my mother I ate all my meatloaf and all the beets too! She doesn't read this, but somehow mothers always know ...

Day of Mercy of the Month of Names

Kansas: 77 degrees and fair.

IMAGES:

In the International Park: trembling birch, white barked; white anemones; the air clear, no stench; white John, white socked, asleep laying on a bench; collecting tulip leaves and cherry leaves; pebbles, water, trees.

ME:

I've been writing more. Slogging through Murakami and have read poetry by Koethe , Koch and Ko Un recently.

It cooled off last night. Such a relief, albeit temporary.

I missed my bus to the nature preserve. So I went downtown instead. Met friends at Aimee's. Went down to South Park and listened to the fiddlers while I had some chocolate ice cream. They were very good. The singing and playing continues tomorrow.

I feel okay today.

THINKING of YOU

59 degrees and humid in Amstelveen, The Netherlands where Maria lives. Hope people are smiling at you.

83 degrees in Fayetteville, North Carolina where my aunt has had to stay inside because of the heat and poor air quality.

78 degrees in Bonanza, Arkansas. Not nearly so hot as I expected, Allen!

Day of Light of the Month of Names

Kansas: 79º and cloudy at noon.

We had a breeze blow through last night. Temperatures dropped and there are no triple digit days in the forecast. The heat has worn me out. I didn't sleep well and now I feel like a nap. Perhaps tonight will be cooler.

Yesterday, I went to Tea at Three and saw Richard, Paul, William and Douglas. I read some poetry of Kenneth Koch and Ko Un. I wrote a bit. But I'm still listless. The walk home was pleasant though.

RAMBLINGS based on IMAGES:

Such a storm, gathering up its skirts to do a tarantela, barely working up a sweat. Such sweet fury, so little rain. The plastic pot lies fallen of its perch, moss-rose resting among the mallows. No shallow puddles, no movement of stone. Just strewn leaves blown about. This noon the grass is barely damp. This coolness brief relief. The dirt still opens up its crack of widening mouth and cries for its return. But once the dance is spent, the relentless sun reburns. And all life huddles in the drying breeze, this dying day.

Thinking of you:

71º in Green Lake, Wisconsin, which is cooler than the 88º in Bellefontaine, Ohio, Lee. Hope you and Larry are enjoying the cooler weather. Of course, Bellefontaine being on top of a 'mountain' won't flood. It's wet in Wisconsin.

80º in Texola, Oklahoma. Hub just called me today and he's a Tex-Okie.

46º in Mendoza, Argentina. Had house guests from that area years ago. I miss Mario.

66º in Arequipa, Perú below the snowy cone of El Misti. I remember the sparkling river that runs through it ... and I wish I were there.

93º at 8 in the evening in Izmir, Turkey. Daily highs have been near 100º so Sarah, her dogs, her wild kedis and the tortoises are all baking in the heat.