Woman about town - New Library Carpet - Story idea for the Times / Poem: Misery at the Pennypack Park

Dyou know I actually drove over to the Upper Moreland Library this morning to see their new carpet?

The libe was closed a week for installation.

And whom should I meet but David Robertson, head of Pennypack Trust and Richard Booth, board prez of Pennypack Trust, our number one favorite 800 acres of trees and wildflowers, turtles and turkeys, and Mike's Hikers from our support group.

When I got home I saw that my article on Authorized Camera Repair had been published on Patch.com.

Then I remembered I had unfinished biz.

I'd contacted the NY Times about a story idea. I wrote the query to three different people, but never heard from em.

This is a fantastic story idea and I should do everything I can to ensure they write about it.

I ain't famous, I ain't got no money, I write poetry that only Iris and Carolyn like, and I take 14 antirejection pills morning n nite (some of the pills are antiviral or whatnot).

Here's what I wrote to a Gardiner Harris, who has covered kidneys in the past. He did acknowledge my email. I made one typo in it.

Dear Mr Harris,

I'm a 65-year-old woman who was on the drug lithium for nearly 17 years for bipolar disorder.

This April, 2011, I received a new kidney from my daughter b/c I was in end-stage renal disease.

I run a support group for bipolar d/o here in suburban Phila and know numerous men and women who have had kidney transplants due to lithium toxicity OR who are on dialysis.

I believe it's high time lithium is exposed for the dangerous drug it is. Altho it certainly does help folks w/bipolar, there are many new drugs from which to choose.

Psychiatrists still put patients on lithium. Unfathomable.

Thanks for considerating this story idea, Mr. Harris.

Ruth Z Deming, MGPGP
Willow Grove PA
215-659-2142
New Directions Support Group

For Father's Day Scott n I drove to his family's in NJ to celebrate. Above are the leftovers, including a tender morsel of steak you could cut with a plastic fork.

We ate outdoors in the cool breeze. I wore a dress cuz dresses are cooler in the summer.

Here are some photos I took on the way over.

For the first time I realized how b'ful Roosevelt Blvd is. This is a huge 12-lane highway with islands of trees in the middle.

Scott, who was driving, told me that they used to have Park Guard Houses every so often. They took c/o the park.

When we passed a particular corner, he said a huge Wawa will be installed there. A death trap, he said. Read below.

The road is notorious for two intersections which have been designated the second and third most dangerous intersections in the country by State Farm Insurance, at Red Lion Road and Grant Avenue respectively.^[4] The dangerous reputation of the road led to installation of the first red light cameras in Philadelphia in 2004. The road has been the scene of numerous pedestrian casualties and studies are underway to allow pedestrian traffic to be separated from vehicular traffic

Oh well, what are a few pedestrian casualties, including children, for the opportunity for corporations to make lots more money? If the City had any sense, they'd hire full-time crossing guards to get those kids safely across the street after they buy their gum and candy and sodas at Wawa.

We headed for the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, which is a fairly narrow bridge and painted green.

By now I'd pulled out my book-discussion book Fordlandia but Scott and I were so busy talking I never had time to open it.

We never tire of talking to one another.

I do love trucks, esp. nicely painted cabs.

Dig the photographer in the side-view meer.


I've been getting around just fine w/my aching sciatica. I believe a person simply habituates to the pain. Was standing in line waiting to check out books when a seizure of pain went up my left leg.

You get used to it. Easier, of course, cuz my back surgery is scheduled for August 3.

Lying in bed trying to sleep is the worst pain of all. Ever see the Stephen King film w/Kathy Bates? She hates this particular man and keeps him in bed by bludgeoning his legs w/a club.

That's how my legs feel. Pity me! Pity me! Pity me!

I wonder if people w/fibromyalgia feel this way.

Dunno about you, but I'm ready for a nap. Just checked out the Rockford Files from the libe. That's the old detective show w/James Garner playing Jim Rockford.

Scott and I will watch it and snore together.

MISERY AT THE PENNYPACK

the sinned-against

floated in from a bergman film

marched down the steep green glade,

a path the deer had made

and the Indians too

in pennypack park

studded with maiming rocks

and tree roots that tripped the hapless

the last of the wildflowers, cried sally,

bending to cradle a tiny orange

something in her palm

it only opens when the sun’s out, she announced

to the sky

the threesome had left their

baggage in the station wagon

post-traumatic stress disorder

voices on the pillow

scenes of falling off the roof after hallucinating

steve survived an overdose of nembutol

and a padded cell at norristown

ernesto wished he’d had the courage

to take a stab at calling death

but earthly obligations

kept him tethered to his life

los miserables walked the pennypack

chained together by love and need

ernesto pointed to a picnic table on the right

laughed while nudging the others

the diners were of a different stripe:

five silent turkeys

tails spread open like fantan dancers

strutting across the table

because the world is theirs.