Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A is for Airport

This is the Amazing, Astounding and Absolutely Awesome beyond belief A-to-Z April 2015 Challenge!!!!  And I am an A to Z Participant.

Again this year I will be writing a poem a day to celebrate National Poetry Month.  It's my FOURTH YEAR in a ROW of writing a poem a day for the A to Z Challenge. My first year theme was Animals, the second was lobster boat names, and last year was Maine authors.  This year my poems will be paired with photos of signs I've taken the past few years.  Signs have always fascinated me.  Sometimes it's the mistakes on them, sometimes the different ways the language can be taken, and sometimes it's the surroundings that go with it.

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/a-to-z-challenge-sign-uplist-2015.html
Click here to go to the list of Participants.
I am #1320 on the Linky List.  I thought I'd signed up a month ago, but no, my name wasn't there a couple of days ago when I checked to remind myself of my number.  So I quickly signed up (again?).  By clicking on the letter, you will be taken to the A to Z Linky List, so you can easily visit other participants' sites.  There are quite a few though, over 1600 signed up as of this minute...I'm number 1320 right now!  My number will most likely change, as people do drop out over the course of the month.

Amusing or Aggravating Side note: That's a good number..1320 can be rearranged to 0,1,2,3.  Then 3+1=4.  And 2+3=5. And 1+2+3=6.  So we can use these number to reach to 6, this way (0,1,2,3,4,5,6).  If you multiply 2 and 3 and then add the 1 we get 7.  Then 2 to the 3rd power is 8, and 3 to the 2nd power is 9.  Then put the 1 in front of the 0 and we get 10 (0,1,2,3,4,5,6, 7,8,9,10). There.  Did it.  I just wanted to show you what my husband and kids have to put up with when we are too long behind a car with good numbers on their plate.  Yes, I really do this.  I ApologiZe.  (Oh, great, I've just gone up to 1317 already!  Back to the drawing board...or abacus...)

At long last it's the first of April.  So let's get started...And Away we go!

A is for Airport!



Did you
need to get
to the airport fast?
Sorry, you're on ninety-three.

This won't
get you there
it's the wrong highway,
you need that one there, you see.

Just a
little jump
climb over the rails
get your wheels up really high;


The road
you're seeking
is on higher ground
that lofty route to the sky.

Go on
hop over
and then you will find
the airport is in that lane;

But now
I wonder
if you can do that,
do you really need a plane ?

©Donna JT Smith, 2015

Anecdotal Aside:
This sign was photographed on my way home from the front seat on a bus from Boston to Maine in a blizzard.  It was not a fun trip.  I don't usually care if I have my seatbelt on in a bus.  I put mine on.  But as my husband said, a bus in a snowstorm usually just ends up stuck in a snowbank.  That was reassuring, but he wasn't there, and the trip was over by the time he said that.  And I could see many cars we would hit first before any snowbank had a chance to stop us.  It was not a fun trip...but I repeat myself.  Let me stop here before I say it was not a fun trip again.  Because it wasn't a fun trip.  At all.

AAA (Another Anecdotal Aside):
Do you see where the center line is?  Yes, that is where we were, too.  Often that was not visible.  For a while we just followed a blinking orange light in a cloud of white.  I realized after a while there were actually two blinking lights that were on a snowplow, but you couldn't always see both lights, and only could see the snowplow when we passed it.  Passed it?  Yes.  Why would he pass it?  I don't know.  Maybe he thought it was going too slowly in the blizzard.

Oh, before this turns into B is for Blizzard...

A is for Airport - it was closed that day.

B will be here tomorrow and it won't be for Blizzard.

30 comments:

  1. Huzzah! Let the A to Z party begin! And look at you! Waxing lyrical about airplanes ... and snow ... and flying cars ... and numbers. Rock on, Donna! Great A to Z start for you from one of AJ's wHooligans! :O)

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    1. It's pot hole and mud season in Maine now! Buckle up for a bumpy ride! Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Great poem… scary photo! Yikes.
    You were brave to sit through that drive. I would have buckled up too.

    Awesome start to the A to Z Challenge.

    Sent with smiles, Jenny
    2015 A to Z Challenge Ambassador
    @PearsonReport

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    1. I so wished that I'd been on the next day's bus!

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  3. My A is for Anticipation: http://www.maryleehahn.com/2015/04/po-emotion-anticipation.html

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    1. I'm not sure what is more fun in this post -- your poem, or the various asides!!!

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    2. Hi, Mary Lee! Good to see you! Thanks for stopping in. I'll keep checking back on your po-emotions and see how you're feeling! Ha!

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  4. Donna -I look forward to your poetry -I don't drive or ride in the snow unless it sneaks up on me :)

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    1. I really try not to also! But this winter it was hard to find a time when there wasn't a snowstorm happening! Absurd amounts of snow - like when I was a kid!

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  5. Looking forward to your poetry. I dab in poetry from time to time. That bus ride was scary. I was almost holding on to my seat reading this!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! There will be plenty of poetry here this month. Just finished up a month of -ch words poetry for March. I have a feeling I'll be crashing in May!

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  6. Fun idea! Look forward to seeing your other poems and works. Thanks for stopping by my blog, too. (Oh, there may be a "mini" dog or two in there in the coming days. haa!) GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie - In Miniature Style II

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    1. I'll drop in again and see what other treats you have there!

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  7. A is for 'awesome' start, Donna. I've been in a few 'blizzards' like that, but never in a bus-sounds awful. (Now you have me looking for all the A words! Will find you even at 1320!

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    1. No, the bus wasn't the best...young driver, too. He just didn't seem to act like he had a lot to lose in his life! I kinda felt like I did...

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  8. This is my first ABC and I already love the challenge. I'd never found your blog as I'm mainly reading cat blogs.

    I really love the theme of your A to Z challenge. I've a thing for signs and take pictures too. I like your poetry as well, so I'll stay here for at least 26 days. :)

    www.whenthecatisaway.com Participant number 1459

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    1. Sticking with one theme is good, but branching out to read some others is so interesting! There are so many topics. One I read years ago was just about unusual place names in their area, and another had the pictures and history of abandoned places. I found there were topics I didn't even know I was interested in! I'm glad you dropped by! Hope to see you again.

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  9. There is so much to enjoy and to learn from here, as in all of your posts. Reading your writing makes me want to have a conversation with you face to face. But I wonder if I could even keep up. You must be always thinking and planning! Looking forward to the A-Z signs this month!

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    1. Oh, I'm sure we'd have a great time talking! You know, in real life I'm often "quieter", most everything is going on in my head. Even if I do get going, I have to stop a number of times to remember what I was saying! So someday when you visit Maine...cup o' tea on me! Well, not literally...that would hurt.

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    2. That would be a treat - the tea and mostly the visit with you. SO glad you did the open mic night. Good for you! Hope you find some more opportunities to share your poetry, too.

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  10. Fantastic...I love the poem and your anecdotes--so funny!

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    1. You know, some of the most terrifying things become almost humorous after a suitable length of time!

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  11. Very cute and there was so much bad traveling weather in those parts of the country this year.

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    1. Though it was a miserable trip, I was still grateful that I wasn't driving. There were too many days we couldn't drive anywhere or even leave the house this winter. Snowbound for 3 days for one storm. And that meant a mile of unplowed road before you could get to a semi-plowed road.

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  12. Ha! A sign put there just to say "Sorry... you lose!" Doesn't look like a fun day for travel any way you slice it!

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  13. I would've put on my seatbelt, too. I spun off an overpass once due to ice. I'm a bit gunshy when it comes to snow and ice now.

    Your poem was funny.

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    1. I can understand why. Last April we totaled our car when someone rammed us from behind, almost hitting an overpass as we spun around. That always changes your confidence level!
      Thanks for stopping in!

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  14. Love that poem and the picture! Whoever put up that sign obviously didn't take a step back and reevaluate their work.

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    1. I don't think I ever found out what it was supposed to be telling you. I thought it was maybe to turn off to the left to get there somewhere up ahead, but the arrow doesn't usually point down then. Very strange.

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