The new blogger is here. Will I get used to it? Of course you will, silly girl!

Hurray! I'm at the new blogger.

May I express my appreciation to the drying blue hydrangeas which are all over the house, my boyfriend, the newspaper which lies askew on the floor, where I am still reading it. 

I received my new credit card in the mail after someone stole my old one. Where dyou spose they are? We won't even guess.

Hot and muggy day. Dyou like these weather reports?

Oh, while listening to the radio in the living room, I heard the voice of Brandy Carlile. Sensational. My late friend David Kime loved her voice.

I had a silent moment with David this morning asking why he did the deed. Was there any way to stop him. Yes, had he called someone.

Often, if you simply stop and wait, the 'urge' will pass.

Here's Brandy Carlile now. Oh, I can't figure out what to do, so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8pQLtHTPaI&list=RDEMPgR0Vz525-XuZ5xwv3hDsA&start_radio=1

Oh, you want a poem?

MOM'S FRIEND LENORE OSCAR

We spoke a short time on the phone

Her husband, Oscar, her darling

developed dementia and I finally

persuaded my now dead mum

to send a contribution to their synagogue.

Procrastination.

Is fine sometimes. Me, gonna

sit on me old back porch

where the wicker furniture

of the late Judy Diaz still resides.

How I loved the old gal

We were in the wars together

at Bristol Bensalem Human Services

where once she said to me

Oh, Ruthie, you are so lovable.

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE NY TIMES

Florida Teenager is charged at MASTERMIND

of TWITTER HACK. The authorities arrested

a 17-yo Florida teenager who they said ran

a scheme that targeted the accounts of

celebrities and former President Obama

and Elon Musk. 

Poem: Lady Kenmore

Eddie Mueller, be with you in a moment.

Before I forget, here is Verdi's Requiem.

Click here.

Once at Tower Records I refused to buy it, fearing it was awful.

Didn't feel like walking this morning so I road stationery bike while watching a program about Asians.

It was awesome!

Gotta be at Scott's for film noir at 10 am.

He came over to remind me.

I had just finished my back and leg exercises downstairs.

Finished a huge load of laundry including a bedspread I use here on the red couch.

My very old Kenmore has rust spots on it.

LADY KENMORE

She may be aging
but she is fit as the queen she is
her hair is up in a silver pompadour
she holds a monocle in one dainty hand
and when she smiles - with one missing
tooth in the back - the world smiles
with her.
Lady Kenmore.
Who can do more than most folks can
in an entire year.



After the most excellent film noir, I stayed at Scott's to watch some of A STAR IS BORN with Janet Gaynor, then came home.

Ate a dozen raspberries from our garden, bathed in almond milk.

Delicious.

Now my timer is set for 14 minutes.

The usual Jiffy corn muffins were not there, so Scott bought me a can.

It's baking now in the oven.

Hoping it will look like this.



Beethoven's Symphony No. Five - the Eroica - is on WRTI FM.

Very loudly.

Conducted by Yannick. Now No. Six is on.

THE CORN MEAL MUFFINS are perfecto!!!

A little too sweet.

Oh, if only I could tell Mommy!

Poem: Pounding Through the Mist

Twas a misty moisty morning and surly was the weather, or something like dat.

Just came home from early walk huffin and puffin

I awoke to radio station WDRV which played great music all night long.

The time was 5:45 am.

After I eat breakfast gonna write one more short story, othan The Red Exit Door, this time inspired by one of the obits in the Times Chronicle.

POUNDING THROUGH THE MIST

This little slip of a girl
wearing Lynn's seersucker dress
her Clarke shoes that dead Aunt Hy loved
parted the curtains of the mist
so others could pass by.

Others like baby robins
chicodees
and gnats

Swipe swipe!

I LEARNED on Kathy's corner last night that all spiders have 8 legs including gnats.

View Wiki on spiders.

Found clothing - New Phone Pal

She's 84, her husband is 83. They own a laundry in Taiwan. When customers leave their clothes behind, the married couple wears them.

Sounds a lot like me. I'm wearing clothes my sister Lynn sent me through the mail.

Plus objects mom left me. Why add to the earth's planet load, although they say matter can be neither created nor destroyed.

Those are the first and second laws of thermodynamics. (I think.)

That's why it's important to view comet NEOWISE.

Stood by the screen door of my front porch.

What did I see?

A firefly.

How awful it would be if the firefly were attracted to me!

He'd burst into my house and ravage me on my red couch, which is filled with dust.

Who would bear the child?

Please. I don't wanna think of it.

Oh! I could call Planned Parenthood.

Hey, do you think I could finish my book, When the World Came to Gander, Newfoundland?

Photo below.



An Arab was on one of the planes. Folks thought he was a terrorist, so he was kept handcuffed right outside the pilots' cabin.

My sister Donna asked how I heard of the book.

From WOWBRARY, I said, which emails me their choice of good material.

Or materiel, if we're talking war.

Donna is my new phone pal.

Yawning now.

Cronyism in selection of US Postmaster General - Poem: My Blue Hydrangeas - Rosie the Riveter

We are aghast at the selection of the new Postmaster General, an African American who has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Trump.

• From Wiki - Louis De Joy Net Worth The estimated Net Worth of Louis De Joy is at least $37.4 Million dollars as of 2 January 2018. Louis Joy owns over 3,970 units of XPO Logistics stock worth over $37,361,938 and over the last 5 years Louis sold XPO stock worth over $0.

As for me, RZD, I am waiting for Scott to deliver my groceries.

Our tomatoes are doing great in our garden, as are our raspberries, thanks to Barry Bush.

My friend Marcy from California wrote me that grocery shopping has turned into a long fiasco, trying to find the right products.

She and mom Gloria will grow their own tomatoes.



MY BLUE HYDRANGEAS

Why does the face look like Louis DeJoy?
Hydrangeas aren't corrupt, that's for sure.
Banish that thought and get on with your day
Hydrangeas fulsome, happy, smiling, lack
only one thing.
Fragrance.



Mae Krier from Levittown, PA, is making masks for the pandemic.

She wanted to get a GOLD MEDAL from the president for her work, but that will not happen. Best to meet folks in person, but due to the pandemic, it won't be possible.

Keep up the great work, Mae, you're a young 94 and perhaps after the election, you will get your wish.



From my bus trip on Nov 17, 2014.

Longwood Gardens - Kids Corner discusses insects - Rem will be overworked by new Postmaster General

Meet you on the bench at Longwood Gardens, darling.

I have never forgotten you.

I'll bring ham sandwiches on white bread with mayo and moutarde and a bottle of Champagne mixed with Grenadine, which Curtis used to do.

...

NEWS BREAK from Rem:

       The new Trump appointee, PMG Louis DeJoy, has begun cutting postal customer service. As of 8/24, the Roslyn Post Office will only be open in the morning. In the afternoon I'll have to work the counter at Abington. Next up, DeJoy is expected to raise shipping rates, to help UPS and FedEx, major funders of Trump Inc., and he's expected to raise the rates on Amazon.

       Oh, and the BBC and NY Times are reporting that federal troops in Portland gassed the mayor of Portland.

       Have a pleasant evening.

       LOUIS DE JOY.

Return to sender, write critics on De Joy.

       --Rem       

Finished my short story THE RED EXIT SIGN.  Judy liked it.

Welcome to Thursday July 23 - Poem Ralstan Purina - Greeting Cards ready to mail

From the Times...

As President Trump deploys federal agents to Portland, Ore., and threatens to dispatch more to other cities, his re-election campaign is spending millions of dollars on several ominous television ads that promote fear and dovetail with his political message of “law and order.”

The influx of agents in Portland has led to scenes of confrontations and chaos that Mr. Trump and his White House aides have pointed to as they try to burnish a false narrative about Democratic elected officials allowing dangerous protesters to create widespread bedlam.

...

Don't forget Thomas E Dewey - who dat, Roofie?

Was out walkin very early. Learned that Bobby found a job in demolition.

GREAT !!!

He meets up with others at the train station and they go to where they're needed.

The name of the woman with those big white furry dogs is LEE.

I asked.

While walking came up with the title of a short story, THE RED EXIT SIGN.

WHY RALSTAN PURINA?

Easy to make
Use Helene's lovely Wedgwood Blue plate
Listen for the sound of the tea kettle
If it wakes the dead, I'll take that,
but who would I want back?
Who would YOU want back?
Speak quickly
I haven't all day.

...
Mailed cards to
Sarah Lynn Deming and Ethan Iverson
Coach Iris on Tunxis Ave
Rozzy Sobel in Solon, OHIO

I HAVE NEVER PAID FOR A CARD.

...

And YES I am hongry again.

Salad and then I'll go upstairs and read When the passengers from 9/11 arrived in Gandor Newfoundland.

Makes for good sleeping material.

- RZD

Daddy's Yahrzeit - Two new discoveries on this blisteringly hot day

I emailed the below to myself and my four sisters, Ruth Donna Ellen Lynn and Amy.

Daddy died on July 13, 1980.

Instructions from Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz say to light a candle at sunset on the evening before the date of Weds. July 22.

In my window sill, I have a battery-lit tiny candle which is on right now.

Oops, I forgot to say good morning to him.

Dad, good morning. I miss you and will never forget you.

As usual, I walked around the block early this morning.

I put an American flag out front as I know Daddy loved our country.

Love, Ruthie




...

Mailed 2 YES I CAN postcards. One to my new friend Debbie Morrison. Thother to Beatriz, who runs our zoom meetings on Saturday, when we compose new work.

Problem of the day: My fan which sits right next to me like a faithful dog, is not working.

...

When I was putting the laundry in my Kenmore Washing Machine I found a tiny Pocket Memo. On the front it said, Cowbell. In pencil. And later in forceful pen.

Can you guess who wrote it?

Mommy.

Shut-off valves for everything. Their locations. The name of an electrician is in there. And how to shut off the gas grill off the back porch.

Mom, if you only knew how my house is falling apart.

That's why I've hired Bob Walmsley to spiff it up.

TWO NEW DISCOVERIES ON THIS BLISTERINGLY HOT DAY

After I walked home in red dress from delivering Beatrice's postcard
to Dante, I looked up in the tree in the front yard and noticed
a stent-like thing stuffed there.

A huge fungus, I suppose. Dr Seuss could make more sense of it, if
he weren't stone cold dead.

Yes, I simply took my time, and looked!

A moment ago, from my hot perch here on red couch a black butterfly
sailed by.

Swallowtail, I'd say.



So wonderful it makes you believe in an Almighty.

What are your plans now?

I'll do a little reading and then write about my neighbor Eileen who escaped from her Brookside Rehab. I'm unable to think of how to start the piece.



Neighbor Eileen stopped over with her friend Jill Alexander. 

Orange Dress and I Walk around the Block

It's 6 41 says Kristin Kurtis on WXPN FM.

When I looked out my kitchen window I saw a large creature moving slowly.

Mayhap it was a coyote?

Nay, a deer with antlers.

I ordered myself to LOOK and not to shoot, with a camera that is.

Are the deer feeding at our compost heap?

Hope they like egg shells, my contribution from this morning.

This morning I'll make ...

Well, I've already injected. Remember, must do it painlessly.

ORANGE DRESS AND I DO THE TWO-STEP ROUND THE BLOCK

Hot outside, first it hurts as bad leg limbers up
Who do I meet?
One woman in shorts who holds smart phone
to ear, and sways to the side
all these neighborhood folks

Here comes the shepherd with its owner
who has dyed her hair a bright red
to blend in with Lassie's fur

Day Four of excessive heat warning
says L'Homme
Mosquitos are worse than lantern flies

But me, you know me, just glad
to be alive.
Venison, anyone?



Thank you sister Lynn for another one of your awesome photos.

When great philosophers are discussed hundreds of years from now, will Alfred E Newman be among them?

IF you could be buried with one object, what would it be?

I had several thoughts.

One of Helene's spoons with the faux wood handle at the end.

Pal, the pretend dog in the basement.

A chotchka from Judy Kroll which resides on my covered coffee table - it has Jewish items such as a menorah.

Am gonna sit on Scott's bench now and read my paperback about when folks visited Gander, Newfoundland, after 9/11.

Scuse em moi. I shall return.

Went out like a normal person to pick up meds at CVS - Poem: Fresh Eggs

My pal, Bob Walmsley, was here this morning figuring out the specs so I can live here the rest of my life, as long as I don't croak.



I needed tacrolimus,but CVS refused to mail it out. Some shit about Medicare not agreeing to send it out.

So Bob and I drove there together. And I picked it up.



He asked what the address was of CVS on the corner of York Road and Fitzwatertown.

Just drive, I told him, and I'll get you there.

Done!

He has one of those trucks that a short person like me has to climb up on. He told me where to hold on to get up up up.

On the way home we passed THE UPPER MORELAND LIBRARY.

Wearing a mask, I went in and found books I'd requested for months. Dorothy and Katie helped me.

Everything was behind a Plexiglas shield.

Shades of 1984.

Checked out six books.

The first I'll start is called THE DAY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN, 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, by Jim Defede.

Ah, the fan is cooling me off now.

LONG BRIGHT RIVER by Liz Moore.

MISTER NOBODY by Catherine Steadman.




YOUNG HEROES OF THE SOVIET UNION, a memoir and a reckoning by Alex Halbertstadt.

APEIROGON, a novel, by Colum McCann.

GOLDEN IN DEATH by J D Robb, with a poster behind the book jacket.

I AM really excited to start reading.

First, though, gotta grab something to eat.

How about some nice fresh eggs!

Sounds good to me.

FRESH EGGS

The Egg and I is a book by
Betty MacDonald, raised on a
farm near the Puget Sound
Me, I'm a suburban gal
in suburban garb who
loves her eggs, the way
some people love fancy cars.

My eggs come from Happy Hens
Yolks huge and beckoning
Listen for the sizzle in my
saute pan, then watch me
smacking my lips
as I listen to WXPN
where the announcer said
Stay inside! High of 98 today.

As my dad used to say, I'll time you.
Dad ain't here no more
So I'll take my time and
Do as I please.

Not anudder LO ! Poem: Hand Towels and Sue

Said goodbye to Scott who was driving to SEPTA and then I walked in the heat to a couple of houses, thinking, Get thee in the house, ain't no good for man or beast.

You can do it, I said, as I walked along.

Took blood sugar at home and was shocked to learn it was 47 so I chewed the tabs and then began eating pretzels which I'm doing now bc I wanna write two poems.

MOM'S HAND TOWELS

These Cleveland Jews
had a sense of class
down to the smallest details

She must have bought the hand towels
but from where I do not know

She's not here so I can't ask her.
Little beauties, one is pumpkin orange
the other robin's egg blue, they
sit side by side on the upstairs
bathroom rack, smiling at the guests
who use them. That would be one person
me.

***

Talking of beauty there's one young woman on our block who is quite lovely. Married, with two children, and Sydney the dog, I present to you...

S U E

The simple name lets us see how beauty is quite simple
if you've got it.
Are you made beautiful by life and at her age, 50, I'd guess, she's had
the usual ups and downs that accompany the journey of life.

A marvel to behold, she steps lively on the sidewalk
shoulder length hair tousling behind
as if going for a ride at the fair grounds.
Our Sue, I would think, knows nothing
absolutely nothing of what's she got.



Mary Cassatt  Mother and Child
1844 - 1926

Bean Soup is Delicious!

Earlier today I made bean soup in the crock pot.

It is GOOOOOOD!

Navy beans are a beige color. I added mushrooms, a beaten egg for protein, and chopped onion.

Just choked a little. Nothing Sirius.

Made a great start on my short story whose name I can't remember.

We're driving on the back roads instead of on the PA and Ohio Turnpikes.

You know, of course, I had written a very long story on the history of the PA Turnpike.

Where is it?  In the black trash bag in my upstairs hall.

Story due at 2 30 pm and we will zoom.

OK, Ree-ROW say something interesting.

Am sipping on Plantation Mint Bigelow Tea as I write.

Scott had no idea when he bought it that it has black tea in it. That means caffeine.

However, I am cutting it with Vanilla Honey Tea that Lynn gave me.

Mail man is here.

ADS.

Imperative, though, to open every envelope we receive.

Dad taught me that.

After story is finished, I will put all the clothes Lynn mailed me, away.

How good that will feel!!!!

Portland Oregon invaded by US Militia - Poem: The Many Iterations of Oatmeal

Heard an amazing chorus on WRTI FM by one Eric Whitacre. Listen here.

It's called SLEEP.

It was a little chilly when I walked around block in my sexy orange dress from sister Lynn.

When I woke up I felt unbearably lonely, as I do every single morning, since Mom died on April 21, 2020, at age 97.

Ate the worst oatmeal yesterday so dressed it up today with real maple syrup as well

Refuse to eat a single bite until I'm sure I won't burn my tongue.

Many of my blue hydrangea are terribly wilted but I think they can be dried.

Que pense-tu?

President A=hole has sent in Federal marshals to Portland Oregon to clear the streets. Imagine if your town were filled with militia.

This is America. Or what used to be America.

The crows are protesting outside.



THE MANY ITERATIONS OF OATMEAL

Maypo as a kid
Oatmeal at the seashore
in a restaurant we loved
that was gone the next year

And now, dabbling here and there
to make oatmeal not only acceptable
but downright delicious.

Right, tum tum tummy?

Go back to sleep! But Mommy I have to Go to the Baffroom - Flushy the Magic Toilet

Thank you Lynn for the various tea bags you gave me.

I've chosen Vanilla Chamomile Tea.

SCRUMPTIOUS plus it will make me fall asleep!

Awoke at 5 45 am and said This is ridiculous!

Nonetheless - is this a word, Dr Schwartz? - off I went, taking the very long way.

Now I'm eating my oatmeal mush with peanut butter, blueberries, whole pecans and those sunflower seeds that stick in your teeth.

Spoke to Sister Lynn this morning who was just starting her walk and told her I still miss Mommy and Daddy.

Should I write them a letter?

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

I love Camp Cardinal in Rome, Ohio. Would you buy me a horse when I come home?

One of the funnest things we've done - scratch that and make it - one of the most fun things we did was go skinny dipping.'
Say hello to everyone for me.

Love, Ruthie

We learned to write in script with the Zaner Blowser method.

I made a concerted effort - Concerto in C by Bartok - to remember Lynn's number. The key remembrance was the age that Daddy got sick with cancer, 58.

Shari just walked by with her dogs Moishe and Sasha.

Surprised Lynn when I said I still keep a diary. It's pink and I write as fast as I can. Also have a black one in which I write down ideas for short stories.

Am I enjoying my oatmeal?

Eh...
.

Weather, high 88 today. Thunderstorms on Sunday.

Ah, Bob Dylan's new record.

Goodbye Jimmy Reed, he sings.

I break out the grapes and suck out the juice.

OATMEAL POEM NUMBER TWO

A microcosm of health in every spoonful
Alight from red couch
and bring to Myers' front porch
sit on swan chair and muzzle the
damn dog inside. A sweet face
I'll tell you but when she jumps on ya
she bruises my lily white legs.

...

THE COLOR OUTSIDE is very strange.

Dark as if it's twilight.

Time is 7:26 am.

Catch up with ya later.

All my best,

July 17, 2020

FLUSHY THE MAGIC TOILET

Make yourself comfortable
Read a book if you've
got a long stay, meditate
for a quick visit

How far we've come
in the time we've been here
on the planet earth
outhouses, forget 'em
with the crescent moon
above the door
and the unforgettable smell

Porcelain the choice of
of emperors in China
to hold their hot tea with
their long mandarin nails

I'm made of the finest
porcelain, kiln-melted
in burning hot temperatures.
that rendered me
strong, white as the
falling snow, and durable
as a young girl's heart

We like visitors. Come prepared
with what you've got to offer me.
Take your time. We've got books
on the lid and a shower curtain
with trips you can take all over
the whole country.

And when you flush, listen
to the quick sound. The sound
of gushing rivers. Makes you want to
raft down the mighty Mississippi
withe Huck and Tom.

Do it, by God, before it's too late.

Who is this man and why is he important?

Is this a painting by Chuck Close?

Or is it the new campaign manager for DJT, Jr.

From CNN on July 15, 2020

Bill Stepien, President Donald Trump's newly minted campaign manager following a leadership shake-up Wednesday night, brings a vital understanding of data and metrics to the President's reelection bid as it looks to turn around sinking poll numbers in key battleground contests.

Stepien added more than a decade of campaign experience to the Trump campaign's roster when it first looked to course-correct in 2016 amid a slew of gloomy poll numbers both nationally and in battleground states.

As the national director for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign and New Hampshire political director on President George W. Bush's 2004 reelection effort, Stepien brought a heavy dose of campaign experience to Trump's operation. But he also injected some controversy into Trump's first run.

Stepien had served as campaign manager and deputy chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a close confidant and adviser to Trump in 2016. But Christie fired Stepien in January 2014 amid the Bridgegate scandal, in which Christie aides directed the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge as political retribution.

Photos and a fine poem about boris putterman

 Backyard deck attracts insects.

 Enlarge with a double click.

 So many bowls to choose from. Ate my pretzels in the glass bowl in front which I'd forgotten all about.

Glass. View previous blog here.

Nancy Myers across the street had called Verizon dozens of times to remove these huge telephone poles...

Lo, they finally came out.

Here's the big pot I got when I worked at Symphony Manor. I miss the place terribly. Glowing reviews for the place online. Should we believe them?

My pal, Bob Walmsley, with his dog, Champ in his son's car.

From  2016, methinks

Okay, just put the finishing touches on some 'haiku' for my Monday nite poetry class,assigned by teacher Bill Kulik.

MEDITATIONS ON MORNING
1

good morning train whistle
motoring schoolbus
and hidden sun.

2

open window brings
blue sky into my bedroom
the sun warms me as
we curl up together
in a hot embrace

3

eyes closed
the world wakes up
without me
continues though i’m not there.

4

a book lies closed
on my bed
ten thousand words asleep
until my eyes wake them up
caution: don’t all talk at once.

5

remote controls lie on the dresser
hardly things of beauty
they gather dust
the silent power-brokers.

6

small painting of a covered bridge
reminds me of its painter
a man whose wife visited catholic shrines
when i said bernadette of lourdes
he handed over the painting
no charge.

7

hot breakfast of
eggs and toast
at daddypops
warm smell of coffee
i eat alone on my
living room couch.

8

each day i will suck the juice
of the ruby red
leaving sweet marks at my corners
after april i can never eat a grapefruit again:
life-saving surgery and potent medication
until the day i die.
fuck grapefruit.

9

boris putterman can’t write
unless whipped
billy whips us with words
who besides me is working on
the assignment wanting to
finish first?

10

a huge puddle in the street
makes cars go slow
i listen to the splash as
my feet get wet.

DO NOT ANSWER PHONE IF...

Ruth, make sure you don't answer the phone if you don't know who it is. I was expecting a certain call so I thought...

Actually it was HEIFER to whom I gave a donation.

Gracefully I got off.

This is all I have to say.

AND the phone is ringing again.

I remain seated in my shorts and shirt.

And blue socks from the Sox Lady.

They went out of biz as no one knew how to make those soft socks.

Did I tell you they lasted me for 40 years?

Then I bought Mommy some socks but she didn't like them.

They're probly still under her bed.

SO I made that phone call this morning, carrying my one and only phone upstairs, and calling VG, where first I spoke to Paul Kelly and then to Steve Chen.

What a mistake I made this morning. It looked like my Times Chronicle had arrived, and then it vanished.

Went outside and it was indeed gone.

But Sharon Dietz has them deliver it in the afternoon, which it isn't yet.



Worst possible photo ever!

Looking f/w to finding out answers to the xword puzzle.

The FAB FOUR are on the Morning Program of WXPN.

AND postcards go out to Nancy Wolen, Carole Hodges, and Bubby Sherman.

WHAT IS MY NEXT BRILLIANT MOVE?

WHEN is it time to de-clutter your home? NOW - Poem Cleaning

If you're like me, RZD, you're gonna start de-cluttering RIGHT NOW.

Click on this link.

Highlights include

Clean for 10 minutes every night.

Put every item in its proper place.

Give away your legacy items so you can see your family enjoy them.

Pare down photos by discarding duplicates.

MY FAMILY doesn't want anything of mine.

When I die, my house will be an empty shell.



On my fridge, I have a bookmark of Raphael's masterpiece.

Read about the master here. He died at age 37, which was Jimmy Piersall's player number.

Coincidence - or planned by the Almighty, whomever that may be.



One of his sketches.

WXPN is playing a nice selection of songs.

Roberta Flack originally did Killing Me With Kindness.



Flack is 83 today. Has had some strokes.

Strokes of luck or in her brain.



What a beauty!

CLEANING

Turn the volume on high
Carry dust rag along
An old pink sock from
The Sox Lady in Furlong
which is no more
Never think your home
will be no more
We are here now
Now now now
sing it in your falsetto voice
smile to pretend you're happy
and then collapse.

Reprint of Hizzoner's Glasses

Just got home from early morning walk around the neighborhood.

Ya know what? The hill wasn't too bad.

The caw caw crows were out and about. They hang in small groups, just like us.

Garbage awaits pick up around 7 am.

Sad to say I threw out loads of old Compass mags.

Perhaps when they make park benches out of them you will see us peeking out.



Last night I drug myself out of bed where I was reading GOLDA to find out do I have Hizzoner's Eyeglasses and sure enough, here tis.

HIZZONER'S GLASSES

on the yahrzeit of my father's death

it wouldn't be fair to call you vain
you wore your hair short
so women would not think
of running their fingers through it
but did anyway

a master of disguise
you never showed your
freckled arms
beneath your proud uniform
of suit and tie of the day
o refugee from
a barefoot childhood of
torn pants and never
a bicycle of your own

nor did you think to
remove your eyeglasses
to show your keen eyes -
how they swept across a room
unbeheld
gleaning grains of knowledge
free to the daring observer

eyeglasses
at rest on ears like
succulent apricots
not like now
when they are no longer seen
nor used as cushions as
they were back then
to rest those very same
eyeglasses I hold now
in my hand

who deemed it thus
that eyeglasses
desk chairs with arms
Country Squire station wagons
and Schaeffer fountain pens with
refillable ink bladders
are all that's left
after the man is gone?

...


Here cometh that woman walkin along Cowbell with her two enormous furry dogs.

Shall we give them names.

Hello Shari, good seeing you and - hey let's honor the Jews - Moisha and Sasha.

POEM FOR GARBAGE DAY

All things are either created or destroyed
and then they are made into something anew
when you look to the heavens
beyond what we thought were the most recent galaxies
but discovered more and more and more and more and more
Give a shout of surrender and confess
We don't know nuffin, we don't know nuffin,
goddammit!!!!

Gosh, can I be hongry again? - Poem: Okay to make a mess while fashioning a postcard

Had my big bowl of Ralston Purina this morning. With peanut butter for protein and blubberies from the freezer.

Photo please? Looks like a dog bowl.



The earlier I awake, the more energy I have.

Walked around da block at 6:15 am, then came home and took my shitload of vitamins, my morning pills, and listening to WXPN, prepared my hot breakfast.

Mailed creative postcards to

Lynn
Donna
Max
Grace
Ada and Rich

For Lynn, I put her missive on the back of an Earl Grey tea box
Other folks I used the back of a Triscuit box



...

While watching the PBS Nightly News last night at Scott's, I noticed that one of the commentators on the Supreme Court had - in the background - BLUE HYDRANGEAS - just like my own.

Before it got dark I ran outside with a pair of scissors and snapped off the remaining blues.

I know. I can eat the applesauce I made in my slow cooker. A nice dessert.

Eggs I can always eat again.

My favorite food, you know.

The electrician came this morning. We each wore masks. He is a very tall man with a rather large belly.

Wonder what HE had for breakfast, probably the whole works, which I did smell while walking around the block this morning.

THE MAILMAN JUST CAME but I didn't see who it was.

Thanks, Harriet, for your REAL POSTCARD.

IT'S OKAY TO MAKE A MESS WHILE FASHIONING A POSTCARD

Stamps! Which shelf are they on?
Return address labels - do they have legs and run away?
The FLAG stamps are thin, so I like to use them.
And I hear Renee Fleming singing the National Anthem
at the Super Bowl.

Listen here.




My friend Cindy H, longtime member of New Directions who lives in a home, sent me a card with the lovely sentiment

HE HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Henry Miller, author of Tropic of Cancer - Poem: Saving the Hydrangeas

Do you remember the author Henry Miller? 



From Wiki:

Only 200 copies of Miller's 1972 chapbook On Turning Eighty were published. Published by Capra Press, in collaboration with Yes! Press, it was the first volume of the "Yes! Capra" chapbook series and is 34 pages in length.^[56] The book contains three essays on topics such as aging and living a meaningful life. In relation to reaching 80 years of age, Miller explains:

If at eighty you're not a cripple or an invalid, if you have your health, if you still enjoy a good walk, a good meal (with all the trimmings), if you can sleep without first taking a pill, if birds and flowers, mountains and sea still inspire you, you are a most fortunate individual and you should get down on your knees morning and night and thank the good Lord for his savin' and keepin' power.^[57]

Miller and Tokuda divorced in 1977.^[51] Then in his late 80s, Miller filmed with Warren Beatty for the 1981 film Reds, which was also directed by Beatty. He spoke of his remembrances of John Reed and Louise Bryant as part of a series of "witnesses". The film was released eighteen months after Miller's death.^[58] During the last four years of his life, Miller held an ongoing correspondence of over 1,500 letters with Brenda Venus, a young Playboy model and columnist, actress and dancer. A book about their correspondence was published in 1986.<sup>[59]R

RUTH DEMING IS BACK.

Why did I just eat hummus with pretzels dipped into it, loads of pretzels 
themselves?

I was low. Had Amy's Indian dinner at Scott's while we watched the
Nightly PBS News and injected too much.

One of the commentators on the Supreme Court's recent decisions
- a male of perhaps Indian American derivation - had a container of
blue hydrangeas behind him.

So when I got home I clipped the remaining hydrangeas and put em
in a huge pot in the kitchen, first washing them off in case of bugs,
ants in particular, and keeping it on the kitchen floor until I figure out
what to do with them.

The plants, not the ants.

SAVING THE HYDRANGEAS

Flop. They fall to the earth
like dying soldiers.
I run in the house and choose
a pair of shears to cut their drowsy
heads and see if they come
back to life.
The verdict is still out but
we do have hope.
Sadly, though, my George Schuler
and his wife Elinor are gone for good.</sup>

Some nice pictures for my readers - The New Broncos are Out - Poem - Scott's Valentine Gift

Bexar County, Texas.

San Antonio, Texas.

Why on earth do I know about dis?

I subscribe to the Rivard Report. I even sent them a donation.

Oh, have you seen the new Ford Broncos?

OJ will be interested in these.

Click here and then choose the one(s) you want.



I'll take the 2021 Bronco Sport.

Dyou know what I was just doing?

Sitting outside on my back porch reading THE DEATH TRADE by Jack Higgins. Sean Dillon just made an appearance.

My American flags were back there so I moved em to my laundry room.

At 10 am I must make an important phone call.

Wish me luck. Twill be hard for me to understand what he's talkin about.

In fact, I will feel like a nincompoop.

SCOTT'S VALENTINE GIFT

A lovely flower from Kremp Florist
it gathered mold on Aunt Ethel's covered coffee table
we put it out in the sun
and there it be
doing only what it can do
live or become another dead thing.