Simple Poetry

In honor of National Poetry Month, I will be posting a favorite poem then and again during April. As you might guess, most of them will be works from Theo's early years. However, today I'm going to share a poem by someone else that impressed and surprised me when I first heard it as it still does today.
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I was in sixth grade in Mrs. Greathouse's English class and we were writing poems. I dutifully wrote my totally unmemorable poem that I then read for the class.  I was pleased with what I had written until Jon stood up and read his. Jon was one of those boys who was smart enough, but was always horsing around instead of doing his work. He tried to get away with the least amount of school work that he could. So not surprisingly, he only wrote a few lines. His poem went like this.

The thunder roared,

The lightning flashed,

A tree fell down, 

And a frog got smashed.

Even though the poem was very simple, I was impressed. With only a few words, he told a story that brought very clear images to mind. And it had a surprise ending. I was also impressed because he had spent most of the period goofing off while I slaved away at the assignment. That that was the day, I developed a crush on Jon. The crush didn't last long, but the memory of his poem did.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Apr. 12, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This week's Food Waste

I threw away the remainder of these dishes.

This has been an unusual couple of weeks as far as food is concerned. My father passed away and I was gone for a week to be with my mother and other family. I left food in the fridge that I didn't feel comfortable eating when I came back because I thought it was too old. So out went some potatoes and green beans. Luckily, just by chance, we froze extra ham we had the day before we left. I don't think there is any more new waste, but I haven't given it a good look.

This Week's True Food Confessions

We are still trying to get into the swing of things food-wise after our return from the trip. Hopefully, next week we will be able to focus more in this area. In the meantime, here's a bit about the food we had while visiting my mother.
 

The comfort food started to arrive at my mother's house just a few hours after my father passed away. First came ham, deviled eggs, yams, and green beans with apologies that they didn't know how to cook any way but country. No need for apologies here. Next to arrive were freshly baked raisin bread, a bean salad, potato salad and a vegetable tray. Somewhere in there fresh fruit arrived, and the next knock on the door brought more freshly baked bread and a rice salad. This was followed by chicken soup, another ham, and chocolate cake. The next morning a crock pot full of chicken and dumplings was added and that afternoon an apricot salad* was delivered. (Still to come were the sandwiches offered by the church ladies after the services.) Soon the refrigerator was full. But not to worry. Fourteen of us had made it into town by this time and despite our sadness, we were hungry.

When something painful happens to another, it's human nature to want to make them feel better. But often there's not really anything tangible that can be done except to feed them. That was what was done for my family and for that I am truly thankful because it really did make us feel better.

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*Interestingly, the neighbor who brought this salad had to spend the day with a friend who was in the hospital and didn't have time to make it. She took her special recipe to the local deli and had them make it. Something I would never would have thought of doing.

Taxes

Oh Happy Day! 

The taxes are done!

A Second Look--April 10, 2013

We've had unusually warm weather recently and new things are sprouting and blooming every day. Some of the crocus are still flowering, and we have had three different varieties of daffodils bloom so far. The deer are enjoying the tender shoots of the growing day lilies (darn). The bluebird has come back and sits on top of the bluebird box from time to time. One time it actually went inside check it out. However, still no nest.

Here's what I found this week during a Second Look.

Purple crocus with insect in pollen.

Day lilies eaten by deer.

Some of the deer that have been eating the day lilies and other things.

Daffodils

Blue jay in maple blossoms

Squirrel on dogwood tree.

Daffodils

Male cardinal

Bluebird examining box

Daffodils

Leo and Annie taking a second look at me doing a Second Look.

It's the thought that counts.

Recently, many people did kind things for my family during a difficult time, and we want to thank them with a note. Should be easy, right? Well it is, but that doesn't mean that my sisters and I didn't have a discussion about it first. It seems in this day and age, none of us uses handwriting for more than making a quick list or jotting down a phone number, and the quality of our penmanship has declined quite a bit--meaning any piece of correspondence can be sloppy and full of mistakes despite our best efforts. We thought of many different ways to combat this problem, that we may use, but decided in the end not to worry about it. This really is a case where it is the thought that counts.

Have you found that your handwriting has declined over the years with increased use of keyboarding?