NaPoWriMo--DAY SEVENTEEN

NaPoWriMo PROMPT: Write a poem that features forgotten technology. Maybe it’s a VCR, or a rotary phone. A cassette player or even a radio.

Soundtracks 

I think Santa brought it. 

It looked like a small suitcase, 

But inside was magic. 

Place a plastic disk 

On the spinning turntable, 

Drop the needle 

And suddenly sounds! 

We bought more records. 

Most were black vinyl 

But some were bright colors 

Some even had 

Colored pictures 

On their grooved surface. 

We had a choice of 78, 45 or 33 rpm. 

Forty-fives had big holes—played one song. 

Thirty-threes had a gentle turn. 

Seventy-eights went fast, 

We’d have to be ready 

To flip or change. 

Dad was known to spin Mom 

Across the living room 

To dance tunes. 

We heard silly melodies, 

Funny stories, 

And adventures 

To open our imaginations. 

We listened until the grooves wore down 

But left grooves in our memory 

Which can still resonate 

When conditions are right.

OREGON COAST September 2017 – Part 2—Gardens and a Fest

In my plan to avoid all huge highways, I went on to Silverton, Oregon; a small town with plenty of history, architecture and home to The Oregon Garden. This part of the world has a perfect environment for growing things and there are 80 acres in Silverton with 20 different gardens including a rose garden, water garden, conifer garden, and a children’s’ garden.

The water garden alone with its mazes and bridges took quite a while to explore.

“Using treated wastewater from the city, the garden is one of only a few installations in the United States that reuses wastewater for a water feature. Even in the summer months, the garden does not draw on drinking water supplies, instead relying entirely on wastewater treatment plant effluent.” Wikipedia

I caught the open tour shuttle and listened to the driver tell us about the history of the land which was originally part of a horse ranch and Christmas tree farm.

A 25-acre native Oregon white oak grove includes a 400-year-old Signature Oak. 

Coming from high, dry Idaho, I loved seeing the varieties of trees and plants.

That afternoon I made a stop at Bauman Farms to shop for local produce.

There was an abundance of fall squash, garden vegetables and apples.

Their cider operation was in full production.

I couldn’t leave without Marion Berry pie and fresh apple cider.

The next morning I arrived early enough in Mt. Angel to find a parking place for a visit to their Oktoberfest. This community is largely composed of descendants of German and Swiss immigrants and their folk festival is a big one.

Many of the attendants wear Bavarian-inspired attire. There is plenty of bratwurst, sauerkraut, a biergarten and wiener dog races.

This young man was proud to pose by the polka bandstand to show off his lederhosen.

Beautiful children everywhere—

--and they just know what to do when they hear fun music.

Along with all the partying in the street, there was a concert in the historic St. Mary Catholic Church-

- 

--and at the top of the hour I waited with the crowd at the foot of the 49-foot-high Glockenspiel on the corner to put on its show.

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--Day Twenty Eight

A photo a day for thirty days.

View up Seventh South just before eight a.m. when all the traffic is students and professors on their way to campus.

 This tenor walked behind me for three blocks through campus quietly singing arias, probably on his way to vocal or choir class.  It was nice.

 Runners and walkers along the path in the park enjoying the spring weather.

TODAY

By Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.

IF YOU GO CHASING RABBITS YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA FALL

She was just out for a routine morning walk along the road by the river…

 …when suddenly a Black Rabbit ran close by her.

 There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did she at first think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say, 'Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' But then she blamed that bit of nonsense on the NPR radio station she was listening to and removed her headphones.

She walked quietly toward the big Black Rabbit, and watched it munching on the fresh green leaves of the nearby shrubs.

It moved a little out of sight and she thought about following it when she remembered something she’d heard a long time ago.

 “If you go chasing rabbits, you know you're going to fall.”

 She saw no caterpillar, large chessmen, or even a dormouse.  The only other creature about was a Canada goose swimming away down the river.

There WERE mushrooms but she knew she hadn’t had even a nibble of them.

She watched the Black Rabbit disappear into the darkness of the woods, reconsidered following it and walked on toward home to find something she could feed her head.

IN THE MISTY MORNING FOG

A bicycle morning is coming your way.

 So forget all your duties. Oh yeah.

Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today

So look out for those beauties. Oh yeah.

Put on your helmet, watch out for the dog.

 Ride down road in the sweet morning fog.

Ride, ride, ride it’s a bicycle morning!

(Can you name any of the three songs used for the inspiration for this mash-up?)

THE DANCE (again)

Don't ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive.

and go do it.

Because what the world needs

is people who have come alive.

Howard Thurman

QUESTIONS AND A CONCERT

Have you ever wondered why---
•  does a toaster have a smoking charcoal setting
•  don't we ever hear about a psychic winning the lottery
•  didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes
•  it doesn't gross us out to eat chicken embryos that come from a hen's butt
   --or to drink the excretions of a cow's mammary glands
•  a dog gets angry when you blow on his face but he loves to ride in a car with his head out the window
•  brain cells die but fat cells are forever
•  the sun makes our hair light and our skin dark
•  there is a light in your fridge and not in your freezer (but there is a light in your big freezer)
•  does mineral water that has "trickled through the mountains for centuries"  have a 'sell by' date
•  we are IN a movie but ON television

If you are still there please enjoy my grandchildrens' concert.

Mom and kids and strings last year.

 This year taller

Still practicing

Getting better all the time

I may be prejudice but they sound superb

With even more talent waiting to be discovered

Daddy time