Deer or other personnel sent by God to delight us - Cheesesteaks - Poem: My Sister in Red

  This is a woodcut by the famous artist J J Lankes.

Sherwood Anderson, author of Winesburg, Ohio, wrote about Lankes in The Virginia Quarterly Review.

Here I am awake at 4 in the morning. My sister Donna is asleep upstairs. She sent me an email asking me to turn down the volume on whatever I was watching. That was hours ago and I didn't receive it until she had fallen asleep.

When Donna is here I do things I wouldn't ordinarily do.

Did I tell you about the cheesesteaks?

Her idea..... Let's order some cheesesteaks from Silvio's in Hatboro.

Are you kidding, I said, and immediately got into cheesesteak mode.

I'll have a chicken cheesesteak.

What? she said. They can't be any good.

She was on the phone ordering them. Here's my chicken cheesesteak which was outstanding.

 Donna cuts the steaks in half, so we have one of each.

I drove us down and also took some choc chip cookies they had baked.

You don't want these, said Donna.

At home, she ate one of mine. I took a sample bite. Delicious! Figuring I'd eat the rest after I got home from a ND meeting.

After I had eaten my cookie, I put on my walking shoes and began walking around the block.

My, but I was exhausted, so I just went halfway down.

Donna is worried about Security in my house. Are you sure you lock every door, she asked.

We've been watching the Republican National Convention in our hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

This pic was taken when Donna and I drove to Cleveland a few yrs ago. Wade Park near the Cleveland Museum of Art.

We joke about the trip. Was it just me - or was she included in what could've been a tragedy. Falling asleep at the wheel.

Scuse me a sec. Gonna look outside.

Just went outside. Able to see the myriad of stars. The "Buck Moon" had traveled to the side of the house.

No shooting stars.

Always look at the stars. And listen to the sounds of the night.

 Why oh why oh why-oh
Why did I ever leave Ohio

That's a song.

Why, we wondered, do the above coffee filters waste so much paper.

 Cheese omelet with olives.

 Much better photo... listen my laptop is screwing up... I'll leave the odd letters alone

Donna said she always sits there when she comes over

We went shopping at Walmart.

Why? Bc I wanted to return my GPS. The lady said it was not purchased there.

Oh, I said. I got it at Kohl's.

Said Donna, oh, Kohl's will take it back. Let's go now.

Too tired, I said, Don't forget I've got a meeting tonite and I've gotta take a nap. I nap downstairs where it's cooler and have choice of using whirring fan.

"Rosemary sits near whirring fan" was a woman I knew when I worked in Houston for Mr. Herbert Tigner. Talk about racists!

Boy! he'd say to the janitor.

Ruthie! Stay on track.

Donna and I each bought groceries at the Walmart. I cannot stand using plastic bags so I got a woman to give me small boxes that my groceries were put in.

 Chuck Close was just the cover story of the Times Mag so I thought I'd AGAIN try to sell this autograffed copy of his book.

Here's the Times story.

uck

 Oops, sorry Chuck...my aim isn't very good. Read story here.

 Years ago my family went to NYC for an opening at D C Moore Gallery of my cousin Mark Greenwold. Afterward we boogied on to Chuck's studio.

I honestly can't imagine asking Chuck for his book. Oh! I think he had extras so he gave me one. It's in Spanish.

I'll tell you something. That photo above of Chuck, the hairs on his beard and his old-fashioned glasses are simply gorgeous to me. I would buy that photo and hang it in my living room, yes sirree, Bob!

Mon dieu, did you see ole Bob Dole they dragged to the RNC.... they had to hold him up by his armpits.

Donna had a burst of energy and cleaned out the weeds from my front garden.

Now we've gotta get free mulch from the township to 'define' the spaces.

She removed the horrid prickers that I once thought - you damn fool! - were red poppies. Rick Collins, the gardener, chopped them down. You never forget murderers.

The prickers were so sharp they went thru my garden gloves so I put on a second pair and threw the damn things away behind my shed.

Hellloo! I yell when I'm back there.

Deer or other personnel sent by God to delight the earth.

Hard to make out..... calendar from Boys Town, which I keep beneath the laptop.

Now what should I do? I'm not even tired.

Suggestions gleefully taken.

MY SISTER IN RED - she had bought a red bathing suit at T J Maxx

No one is quicker than
my sister Donna. Soon as
I woke I was drinkin
her Starbucks Breakfast
Blend, good to the last
muddy drop.

She loved my cheese omelet
with olives but said, "I gotta
go" and left for a shopping
bo-nanza.

A red bathing suit, a cloth to
mop thy hot furrowed brow, red earrings
for her darling Nikki's birthday

You know, she said, if I could have it
all over to do, I'd be the mother of
young Nikki and Mel again.

Think on it, Dear Reader.
What would YOU redo? Nada's
my guess as the Staples Singers
press onward in the Glory
of the Lord.