One spring, I was visiting in Tallin, Estonia. I was amazed to
meet up with, and make friends with a person who was a
professor of Russian/English at Moscow University. Slava
was so proud that his newborn child had been born on the
4th of July! At one point, Slava and I found ourselves comparing
customs and beliefs of our respective countries.
I spied a 3-leafed clover growing along the beach walkway, and asked
him if it was his belief that . . . if one found a clover with 4 petals,
that it meant you will be certain to have good luck? As children,
we would play a trick by carefully splitting one of a clover's 3 petals
so that it now had 4, and say: "Hey, look what I found".
Slava replied, "No we don't, but Clem, do you see that lilac over
there? The flowers have 4 petals, right? If you find one with
5 petals . . . it means lots of luck!" We kept on walking for a long
time along the beach and ended up at the once-distant lighthouse.
We stood there at the base of the lighthouse and looked across
at Finland, just eighty miles across the bay. The next day, we would
each return to our homes.
Slava's son would be 35 years old by now.
I trust that he has had lots of luck!
I always will wish we could have kept in touch.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
So What Now ?
Our earth must be
so frustrated.
Once, for a long time,
the seasons tended toward
regularity. And,
we took notice.
Plant potatoes in spring when
budding oak leaves are the
size of mouse ears.
The earth is older
and seems to wobble
just a bit.
Does anyone notice - or
is it me
becoming less stable?
so frustrated.
Once, for a long time,
the seasons tended toward
regularity. And,
we took notice.
Plant potatoes in spring when
budding oak leaves are the
size of mouse ears.
The earth is older
and seems to wobble
just a bit.
Does anyone notice - or
is it me
becoming less stable?
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
T H A N K F U L N E S S
This morning, as I opened the front door to bring in the morning
paper, I happened to spot a strange object lying in among the leaves
that had fallen from the old Schwedler Maple. It was about the
size of a Sunbeam Toaster, but was roundish and rather lumpy.
Intrigued, I went back into the house to put on more clothes.
Upon returning with tongs, a roll of paper toweling, and a heavy-
duty plastic bag, I realized that the object had moved to the northwest
just about 1 1/2 feet. I approached with extreme caution.
It looked harmless enough . . . so I picked it up and transferred it
into the kitchen and dropped it into our porcelain sink basin. Our
two cats, Pixie and Maggie, were very wary and they refused to come
within 17 3/5th inches from the object. They finally wandered off,
confident and relieved that, this time, someone else was in charge.
It was then I thought that the object looked vaguely familiar. It was
almost the size, shape, and had the lumpy surface of an old-fashioned
holiday fruitcake. I remembered, back when I was a kid, that those
creations would regularly make their appearance a few days before
Christmas. Now, that would make sense! Thanksgiving Day is just
a couple of weeks or so away and that means "Christmas can't be far
behind!"
I also recalled that those holiday fruitcakes would not mold, spoil, and
didn't need to be refrigerated. They just "were." And, very seldom
did anyone ever eat much of one. It was simply a tradition back then
to exchange them. I would not be surprised that many of them had
been close to 10-16 years old. And that was 60-some years ago!
But, that's history. I returned to the present and resumed examining
the object in the sink. What was discovered is hard to believe!
The surface was imbedded with various-sized chunks of something
hard and stone-like. It was as if, whatever this object was, it had been
quite hot. Its surface, while not waxy, seemed as though it had been
somehow fused together. I located our roast meat oven thermometer
and with some effort . . . inserted it.
The interior was still quite warm AND the temperature was rising
significantly!
It was then that I made the decision to rush the object to the university
and have it properly analyzed. (Still have not heard back.) I pay attention
to the local and national news for any live, late-breaking reports from
the field. Do you suppose that what I had found was one of the myriad
pieces of space junk circling around out there?!
I am so thankful at this season of Thanksgiving that it didn't fall on me
or, for that matter, on any living creature!
Always, there is something for which to be thankful.
paper, I happened to spot a strange object lying in among the leaves
that had fallen from the old Schwedler Maple. It was about the
size of a Sunbeam Toaster, but was roundish and rather lumpy.
Intrigued, I went back into the house to put on more clothes.
Upon returning with tongs, a roll of paper toweling, and a heavy-
duty plastic bag, I realized that the object had moved to the northwest
just about 1 1/2 feet. I approached with extreme caution.
It looked harmless enough . . . so I picked it up and transferred it
into the kitchen and dropped it into our porcelain sink basin. Our
two cats, Pixie and Maggie, were very wary and they refused to come
within 17 3/5th inches from the object. They finally wandered off,
confident and relieved that, this time, someone else was in charge.
It was then I thought that the object looked vaguely familiar. It was
almost the size, shape, and had the lumpy surface of an old-fashioned
holiday fruitcake. I remembered, back when I was a kid, that those
creations would regularly make their appearance a few days before
Christmas. Now, that would make sense! Thanksgiving Day is just
a couple of weeks or so away and that means "Christmas can't be far
behind!"
I also recalled that those holiday fruitcakes would not mold, spoil, and
didn't need to be refrigerated. They just "were." And, very seldom
did anyone ever eat much of one. It was simply a tradition back then
to exchange them. I would not be surprised that many of them had
been close to 10-16 years old. And that was 60-some years ago!
But, that's history. I returned to the present and resumed examining
the object in the sink. What was discovered is hard to believe!
The surface was imbedded with various-sized chunks of something
hard and stone-like. It was as if, whatever this object was, it had been
quite hot. Its surface, while not waxy, seemed as though it had been
somehow fused together. I located our roast meat oven thermometer
and with some effort . . . inserted it.
The interior was still quite warm AND the temperature was rising
significantly!
It was then that I made the decision to rush the object to the university
and have it properly analyzed. (Still have not heard back.) I pay attention
to the local and national news for any live, late-breaking reports from
the field. Do you suppose that what I had found was one of the myriad
pieces of space junk circling around out there?!
I am so thankful at this season of Thanksgiving that it didn't fall on me
or, for that matter, on any living creature!
Always, there is something for which to be thankful.
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