Thursday, June 30, 2011

Forgotten Memories

Last night before going to sleep, I grabbed my iPhone from off the bedside stand and began to write frantically. I was remembering things and people from my childhood, and I didn't want to lose them. So I wrote notes in Notepad in the dark with only my iPhone's screen for illumination. As soon as I was done writing about one person or event I'd think of another and would have to write some notes about that one, too.  The print was small, and it was dark, so I couldn't read it back to check it.  I was so pleased with myself when I finally shut down Notepad and closed my eyes. I haven't looked at it in the light of day... hope I can read it! 
It was funny how suddenly so many remembrances came to mind.  I've been bemoaning the fact that my brain hasn't retained many memories, but I'm finding that as I start writing stuff down, even insignificant stuff, more comes to the surface. It was like a little snow flurry last night in my brain. 
It was somewhat like remembering dreams. When you first start wanting to remember dreams, you can't. But the more you concentrate on remembering them the better you get at it. 
I'm going to start jotting down memories this summer. There were some good ones...I've just forgotten what they were.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Potato Fields, a Mountain and a Brown River

Haystack Reappears
I am trying my hardest NOT to write poetry today, but it is so difficult for me somehow. It seems my brain wants some structure to follow or try to conform to in my writing lately.  I'm not going to succumb to the poet's voice inside. I want to just write like plain old sentences.
I awoke too early.  The sun is up early here owing to our more easterly location in Maine. There was too much light filtering in through the bedroom blinds nudging me.
The other problem that wouldn't necessarily come to mind until you try to sleep in a peaceful little farming town with one main road is, if you live on that main road, the farm trucks, 18-wheelers and log haulers must go by your house.  With our windows open, the trucks rumbled past the foot of our bed. This was a bit harsher nudge.
So we got up early...5:14 AM ...turned on our computers for awhile before breakfast, and then went exploring in the car.
The first half of the day was spent riding around the countryside of northern Maine looking, for me, and reminiscing, for my husband.   The sky is big here.  Rolling hills of potato country make for expansive views.  It was a mostly cloudy day, but the views were still awesome (in Maine we might say the view was "wicked awesome" which is a step above "way awesome").
After our return to the house, we sat and watched a storm move in over Haystack Mountain. For something called a mountain, it is pretty small, but still not quite small enough for me to climb.
Most storms approach from the west, right in line with Haystack.  Today being cloudy, we watched as the mountain captured a cloud with its peak.  And pretty soon a whole herd of clouds gathered around, encircling the peak.  As the clouds melded into one huge cloud, they completely enveloped the mini-mountain. At that point we knew that rain would arrive in a matter of minutes.
And rain it did. It poured and poured. For awhile we sat with the dog and enjoyed the rain from the safety of the covered patio. The thunder and lightning that arrived shortly thereafter made us change our minds and head inside...the dog was nervous anyway!
From the comfort of the living room we looked out and watched a newly born brown river flowing between the fields and in the ditches...someone's nice topsoil and fertilizer heading somewhere else to surprise some unsuspecting weeds with a free meal.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Maple Sunset

Ah, the quiet, the long views, the setting sun.  We arrived in time to see the sunset and have the cooler night breezes beginning.  I never tire of Aroostook County.  So here's an Etheree for last night...remember an Etheree is 1 to 10 syllables increasing for each line.


Tree
Shadow
As sun sets
Flowing growing
Cool shady fingers
Stretching, reaching warm ground
The sun probes leafy branches
Piercing through to the dark green side
One last bright spot before sun’s rays slip
Below to grace someone’s morning coffee

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Ebb and Flow of Good-bye and Hello!


Good-bye!
    I break the tie
       It's time to fly
          Who am I?
I was a kid
I ran
I fell
I got up
I danced
I went to school
I baked purple muffins
I pretended my bike was a horse
I learned anything that caught my fancy
I realized that people were watching me pretend
I loved the ocean and collected rocks and shells
I taught my dog to jump through a hula hoop
I was a singer of folk songs and hymns
I learned the names of butterflies
I was a dancer en pointe
I was a guitar player 
I was a gymnast
I grew up
I married
I was a college student
I was a mobile home dweller
I was on a farm far away from my ocean
I was a writer of stories and poems
I was a rider of Arabian horses
I was a terrible piano player
I was a gardener
I was an artist
I became a mother
I hid presents
I was a bread baker
I watched soccer games
I tucked little ones in bed
I made Christmas tree cookies
I made animal shaped pancakes 
I read The Tawny Scrawny Lion 200 times
I ran behind weaving two-wheel bikes
I applied ice and bandages
I sewed dance costumes
I cried at graduations
I was a teacher
I assessed
I tied shoes
I zipped coats
I talked to parents
I gave presentations
I saw fingers in noses
I cooked with 21 helpers
I read "Miss Rumphius" 22 times
I sang "I Love Mud" with enthusiasm
I wrote with colored markers and crayons
I cut snowflakes and hearts
I found lost snowpants
I read soggy notes
I wiped noses
I assessed
I retired
I will sew
I will write
I will draw
I will drink tea
I will bake bread
I will photograph beauty
I will make jewelry I like
I will be a happy grandmother
I will be a singer of soft lullabies
I will read "Miss Rumphius" again
I am still the someone I used to know
    But I will learn and grow
        In this new flow
Hello!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Dump Date Day

Saturday is Dump Date Day. First the dump, then breakfast out somewhere, then anything else that strikes our fancy. I'm hanging out at Starbucks with my husband and our iPads presently.
It's my second day of retirement. Another couple was at the table beside ours with their iPad. They were our age and began doing a FaceTime with their daughter in DC who was just starting breakfast with their granddaughter who will be a year old on August 11. We chatted about our situations and how great it was to be able to see the grandchildren and how they'd seen her first steps quite by accident just then! How remarkable and wonderful! I'm so anticipating being able to keep tabs on our grandchild's life from too far a distance.

I fixed my dog's leash this morning... A sure sign that I'm retired! That's been bugging me for some time. I've looked into buying a new leash but couldn't find the right one. The retractible leash was fraying about 18 inches from the handle so it wouldn't retract all the way and it was getting weak in that spot. So this morning I looked at it closely and said to myself "Hey, it's broken anyway, let's see if you can fix it". And it was easy. It's just a tad shorter now. Now that I'm retired I'm getting inspired to do different things. I may even cook again. We'll see.

I want to get back to writing too. I've not had the energy to write for so long. Writing end of year reports and filing and all the whatnots that happen when you end the school year and retire kind of take it out of you. But I almost have my room all packed up, and I'm almost done taking my personal belongings home. One more day at school should do it!

Then what will I do? Good question. I'm sure something will make itself known. I'm starting to get refreshed already. I'm writing...that's a good start. Anyone need a leash fixed?

October

Poetry Friday... Go enjoy some great poetry by clicking links on Poetry Friday's host Matt Forrest Esenwine's page : My poem for Oct...