Sandwich

Enjoy every sandwich.

~ Warren Zevon

- - - - -

It's weird to think there was a time when certain things didn't exist.  Like spoons.  Or cameras.  Or punctuation.  Or sandwiches.

Sure, I know the story that the Earl of Sandwich wanted to hunt but he got hungry so he had his cook come up with something he could eat while riding and the cook put meat between bread and now we call them sandwiches.  Pretty clever.  And appreciated.  Who doesn't enjoy a good sandwich?

I'm just glad he wasn't the Earl of Jersey or Legge or Dalhousie.  I don't want to eat jerseys or legs or doll houses for lunch.  Or dinner.  Sam I am.

I do like to pretend that the Earl of Sandwich was best hunting buddies with the Earl of Mayo and maybe Earl Grey.  They seem like they might get on well together.

Chair

Everything from the little house was in the wagon, except the beds and tables and chairs.  They did not need to take these, because Pa could always make new ones.

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

- - - - -

I sometimes think that the next time I move I would like to sell off almost everything and take only what can fit in my car.  There are some challenges to this, however.  I do have some things - even large things that I would like to keep after my next move.

I am not discouraged, though.  I just am on the lookout for a moving van to buy for my new car.

Cemetery

Instead of working for the survival of the fittest, we should be working for the survival of the wittiest - then we can all die laughing.

~ Lily Tomlin

- - - - -

When Leslie doesn't necessarily want to do something but knows she should or needs to do it or that someone else wants her to do it, she says, "Well, at least it will be an anthropological experience."  I think about that sometimes.  About learning about the cultures and lives of different people.  It is pretty interesting.

Like when Leslie shared with me about the anthropology of some of her people - librarians.  She went to a librarian conference once time and was talking about the vendor fair and how people love free stuff.  She said, "You wouldn't want to be on Survivor with a bunch of librarians because they'd kill you over a Jolly Rancher."

I bet they would be fun to play, "Desert Island Books" with, though.  Unless they all just wanted to bring the Old English Dictionary.  I've read parts of it  There's no real plot...

Oh.  And I guess it's called the Oxford English Dictionary.  See?  I'd probably get voted off the island just for that!  Which is too bad because I think I could build a pretty solid bookshelf if I had to.  Their loss.

Language

Life has no plot.  It is far more interesting than anything you can say about it because language, by its very nature, orders things and life really has no order.

~ Erica Jong

- - - - -

I would be a good lyricist. I hear songs all the time and get frustrated when they miss opportunities for better lyrics than what they ended up with. Okay, "better" is subjective, but sometimes one's subjectivity is also "right." Some things are "worse," some things are "better" and some things are different.

(pause)

I can settle for "different." Which - in my case - is probably a good thing since I am maybe mroe than a little different from most people...

Anyway, the other day I was listening to "Don't Let Me Get Me," by P!nk. I accidentally sang the wrong word in one of the lines. And then realized it would have been a clever line and probably SHOULD be the real word. The original line is:

Never win first place, I don't support the team
I can't take direction and my socks are never clean.

I think it would be better this way...

Never win first place, I don't support the team
I can't take direction and my thoughts are never clean.

Clever, right?

Now, what I'm not sure is whether this singing slip reveals more about what I think of P!nk or just more about how I think.

Compose

We do not write because we want to; 

we write because we have to.

W. Somerset Maugham

- - - - -

I like composition books.  They represent possibility when they are unused and achievement in issues of reflection, meaning-making and (hopefully) critical thinking when they are filled.  I'm sure I also like them because I like to write.  Other people may not see them the same way.

I don't remember ever having to use a composition book, though.  I remember in college having to get blue books for exams in college.  I remember in high school getting spiral notebooks and three ring binders and even Trapper Keepers which - apparently - are too dangerous for schools today.  But I don't remember composition books.

I wonder if they make specialized versions of these books.  I hope so.  I would love it if they made decomposition books for people studying mortuary science.  I'm a simple person and it doesn't take much to entertain me sometimes.

Taste

Ask now what you can do for your country.  

Ask what's for lunch.

~ Orson Welles

- - - - -

I like to cook.  I'm just an okay cook.  However, I am pretty amazing with leftovers.  I had some food leftover and yesterday I made it into fried rice.  I had some for dinner and will eat the rest as a lunch this week.  It was good.  

The only catch to the whole things was that while I was cooking, I was listening to Radiolab.  Radiolab is an awesome show on public radio.  Yesterday's episode was about "Patient Zero."  Unfortunately, while I was cooking, they were talking about Mary Mallon.  Typhoid Mary.  I learned a lot - like the fact that Mary was not the only cook who carried and transmitted typhoid.  There were several other male cooks who were later identified as carrier / transmitters.  Mary Mallon was, however, the only carrier / transmitter who was quarantined on an island.

I'm not making a statement on the treatment of women or Irish immigrants here.  I don't know enough about the history of this situation to make that kind of observation or issue that kind of criticism.

No, what I'm saying is "Tales of Typhoid Mary," is not necessarily a good thing to listen to when you're cooking.  At least I was cooking, though.  If I'd been preparing Peach Melba, that would have really freaked me out.  

Exercise

I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting.

~ Mark Twain

- - - - -

Exercising can be difficult. Sometimes it's hard to fit it into one's routine.  Or to find ways of exercising which don't become redundant or tiresome over time.  There are lots of excuses and obstacles (real or perceived).

I think for me, though, much more challenging than doing physical exercise is exercising restraint.  I'm way worse at that.  You can pretty much ask everyone.

Imagination

Imagination is an almost divine faculty which, without recourse to any philosophical method, immediately perceives everything: the secret and intimate connections between things, correspondences and analogies.

 ~ Charles Baudelaire

- - - - -

I think imagination is unlimited.  I think it is at times restricted - by the culture or the classroom or the self - but I don't think there are any natural boundaries on one's imagination.  We can imagine most things and things which are not yet things.  How amazing is that?  To picture something that does not exist.  Amazing.

For example, when someone said to me, "That outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination!" I had to disagree.  I said, "I can imagine more clothes on that person."

See?  Unlimited.

Seeing

I have learened silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.

~ Kahlil Gibran

- - - - -

 

It is time for me to start a new journal.  This means I am going through my old notes.  I found the following which - upon my review - now have no context for me...

 

"Partridges in a pear forest couldn't see the pears for the forest."

 

"What is a wonderland?  Duh!  It's a land of wonder."

 

I think maybe they were from a holiday party.  I'm not sure.  I do think that the use of landscape in the imagery is good though.  A forest.  A land.  The partridges are unable to see what is right in front of them as is the person who doesn't know what a wonderland is.

 

Isn't that what we are all like at times, though?  We have amazing things in front of us - pears, wonder, beaches, money, yo-yos...  bright, shiny objects which we miss because we are either too focused on the big picture or so buried in our own heads that we miss them.

 

The bright shiny objects, the lessons to be learned...  they're just waiting there for us.  As soon as we are ready to receive them, they will become obvious.

 

Until then they are hidden like pears in a pear forest.  

Power

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters
cannot be trusted with important matters.

~ Albert Einstein

- - - - -

Truth is power.  The power to face reality with integrity and honor.  The power to know you have done right and been as good as you can be.  The power of honesty and forthrightness and character.

I know people who live lives based on falsehood.  We all know people like that, I suspect.  I struggle when I see those people getting success (or opportunity) rewards (or sympathy) when the realities they espouse and share with others are twisted and manipulated to relieve them of responsibility.

My job is to work with people and try to help them learn how to take responsibility for their actions.  I am glad that most of the people with whom I interact are good at owning their decisions and actions and - in most cases - learning from the mistakes they make.

Some people don't.  That is frustrating - not only in work, but in life.  Like when someone forgets to include the word "awesome" when they reference me.  That is so frustrating.  Not that they forget, but that they fail to take responsibility and give me a GIFT with the apology note.  The note is nice and all, but - seriously - where's the GIFT?!

Baked

I'm so happy because today I found my friends.  They're in my head.

~ Kurt Cobain

- - - - -

If you were absolutely forced to choose between being a pothead and a chicken pot piehead, which would you choose and why?  And who is it forcing you to make this choice?  And HOW are they forcing you to make the choice?  What if you just had to choose between those two or simply being a chicken head?  And would they mean chicken like you were afraid of things or chicken as in you had the head of an actual chicken?

Basically, what I am saying to you is that you should not do drugs.  And don't let people bully you.  And also that I loathe chicken pot pie.

Nice

Love is supreme and unconditional;

like is nice but limited.

~ Duke Ellington

- - - - -

 

I don't like the words "nice" and "good" as descriptors.  They don't really say anything.  And I think our language is big enough that we can do better.

 

That said, sometimes you can use "nice" to convey a simple plainness.  I think "nice" is fine as an umbrella term, but it's good to go further and explain what we mean when we use it.

 

For instance, one might start a book or a chapter or a short story like this:

 

The judge was nice.  He was nice in court and played well with the other justices on the court.  But no matter what, he always agreed with the majority.  Even his handwriting was nice.  He wrote in concursive.

 

Or, one might choose not to do that...  since now it would be plagiarism.  And plagiarism is a lot of things, but it is not nice.

Record

History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstances.

~ Donald Creighton

- - - - -

The other day I saw some old records for sale.  Someone started a business selling old records.  Included on their list was an Elvis album and the soundtrack to Cats - both of which I own and have at my parents' house.  They were selling these for $78 a piece.

Rather, they were listed for $78 a piece.  The fact that they had not been purchased might be an indicator that people were not willing to pay that much.

Anymore you see album covers framed as wall art.  You see old albums melted and made into candy dishes or change holders.  Or people buying because vinyl is back.

It is kind of cool how you have to actually engage with a record player.  And you have to be still when the music is playing.  Unlike with headphones where you can go for a jog or paint a house or chop a tree down while listening to music.

Maybe the resurgence of vinyl is about going back to when we focused on something.  When we were patient and put forth effort and listened.

Listening should make a comeback.  That would be great.

And let me know if you're interested in the Elvis or the Cats album.

Listening

I like to listen.  I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. 

Most people never listen.

~ Ernest Hemingway

- - - - -

 

I sometimes am not sure if I am not a good listener or if I have a hearing problem.  Or both.  Or just a lack of attention.  Which could mean I am not a good listener. 

 

Anyway, the other day Patty came in and I swore she said, "So, lyin' sack-a..."

 

I said, "WHAT did you say?!"

 

She said, "I said, 'So, July second.'"

 

I laughed and said that I had misheard her and told her what I thought she said.  And then she said, "Butt wipe--!" but I interrupted her and I asked, "WHAT did you say?!"

 

She said, "' 'Bout like--'"

 

I'm not sure if this says that I am a bad listener or if I just think that Patty has a potty mouth and likes to call me names.  Probably some of each.

Cakes

All the world's a birthday cake, so take a piece,

but not too much.

~ George Harrison

- - - - -

The other day - okay, about a month ago (which technically IS an other day from today) - I shared that I do not like the words "cuke" or "cukes" as short for cucumber.  Ginny posted, "Cake, very cute."  Then immediately posted, "Let's try that again: cuke, very cuke! (damn autocorrect!)"

Then I realized that if there was plant called a cakumber plant and it grew cakes that I think it would be a very popular plant.  Unless it grew exactly like cucumbers with those little microspines on it that get in your fingers and itch like crazy.  Then the cakumbers might be popular, but I bet the plants wouldn't be.

And I wouldn't imagine that dill cakumbers would be very popular.  Just like I don't think cupcukes are very popular.  Or at least I haven't heard about them.  And I'm on the cutting edge of culinary stuff.  Which is what we who are on the edge call food - "culinary stuff."

Understanding

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

~ SØren Kirkegaard

- - - - -

Okay, so I know I've mentioned this before, but I don't blog a lot about my work.  I love my job and I really, really love the people in my area.  Which is good. Since I hired them and explained their primary responsibility is to make sure I enjoy myself and have fun at work every day.  And they meet or exceed my expectations most every day.

One of the things I think makes us such a strong team is that we have different interests and talents, but our core philosophy is the same.  We do our work well and communicate well with one another about opportunities and challenges.

Yesterday Joe and Sara and I were talking and Joe jumped from my question about why we still have young men reigster for selective service to a commentary on the raisin industry.  Sara remarked that I am very patient with Joe and with her when they jump from one seemingly disconnected concept to the next.  Joe explained that raisins and selective service were connected because they were government programs which grew out of the Great Depression.

I did not know that.

I told Sara that I am fine with the two of them jumping topics frequently.  "Listening to the two of you, " I shared, "Is like reading a Kurt Vonnegut book.  It doesn't make sense in the moment sometimes, but I know it's all going to come together in the end."

I have a good life and very good people in it.

Moms

If writers write, then rangers range.  And I'd like to wake up every 

morning and be a mother, so I could eat my own clothes.

~ Jarod Kintz

- - - - -

One of the most important things a mom can do is to listen.  To hear what is said and what is left unsaid.  To know when to ask.  When to encourage.  When to be silent.  Really that is true of all of us - not just moms.  We would all be better served and serve others better if we listened well.

Like when Leslie kept talking about the "Creepy mom / soccer mom."  I listened to her.  And then I challenged her.  I told her, "I think it's weird that you equate creepy moms and soccer moms."

She paused and thought about it.  I figured she was reflecting on what I said.  And then she replied, "Not SOCCER MOM -- STALKER MOM."

I like that she took the time to clarify.  Listening is important.



So is enunciation.

Ideas

Take up one idea.  Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea.  Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone.  This is the way to success.

~ Swami Vivekananda

- - - - -

I have an idea.  I have an idea to combine a couple of old TV shows into one NEW TV show.  Here are some of the shows I've thought of so far:

* The Wild, Wild, West Wing

* Gilligan's Fantasy Island

* 21 Sesame Jump Street

I'm sure you all can come up with some even better ideas for shows.  

I have lots of ideas.  Not just for TV shows.  For LOTS of things.  

(pause)

Which is why I will never achieve Swami Vivekananda's idea of success.  Fortunately, that is not my idea of success.  I have LOTS of ideas of success.

Clouds

If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.

~ Lemony Snicket

- - - - -

I was thinking about filibusters the other night.  Regardless of how you feel about Wendy Davis or Rand Paul or other filibusterers, the act itself is interesting.  That someone could be effectively doing her or his job by standing and talking for hours on end.

I thought about trying that at work this week.  Just standing and talking for 8 hours or so.  Just to see what people would do.  Then I thought about how filibuster is derived from the Dutch "vribuiter" meaning robber or someone who wages an ad hoc war on another.  And how the term was coined in the 1850s in reference to Abraham Watkins Venable.  And then I thought about how venable sounds like venerable which means accorded a great deal of respect, but how I don't think that is what Albert G. Brown meant when he was talking about Abe Venable.  

And then I thought about how if Abraham Venable actually went by "Abe," that you could recreate his last name so that it was both his first and last name in one:

VENABLE

But then I thought that maybe people weren't ready for that sort of thing in the mid-1800s.

And then I thought about how I would be really good at filibustering, I think.

Imagination

Everything you can imagine is real.

~ Pablo Picasso

- - - - -

Jared, Kirk, Leslie and I were having a FB private message conversation about a fictional character.  I won't say who the character is.  If I were to name said fictional character, it would stir up a lot of emotion and outrage on the political, religious, and cultural stages.  And I don't wanna.

Anyway, Leslie was argued that the character is an oxymoron.  I said, "Don't call him a moron.  He hates that."  She responded, "It is a figure of your imagination."

I said, "An ACTION figure of my imagination, thank you very much!"

Much like a teen fashion action figure - or in the case of the image above a DOLL - named after me would be a bit of an oxymoron...

Why is it that all of these, "I can't tell you the entire story" entries involve Jared?  Coincidence.  Probably not.

Meters

Aspire to Inspire before you Expire!

~ Eugene Bell, Jr.

- - - - -

We all have limited time in our lives.  Each day which passes is one less day than we had the day before.  I don't dwell on that too much, but eventually we run out of time.  We are at the end and - if we are lucky - we have some good days to reflect on what we have contributed or the joys in our lives.

I sometimes write my blogs in advance.  I'll get an idea for a specific post for someone's birthday or a seasonally-appropriate topic.  I then look ahead and schedule the post.

I have wondered recently what it would be like if something happened to me, but these posts kept coming.  I'm not trying to be morbid or overly dramatic or even a bummer.  I just wondered about it. 

I bet people would keep reading them.  They would want to see how many ahead I am.  And then maybe they'd think the posts were over, but they wouldn't be because I had one for Thanksgiving Day 2097 and that will be a big surprise to the grandchildren of people who read my blog today. 

Knowing my friends, though, they would still feel comfortable saying (to themselves since I wouldn't be there), "Wow.  She must not have had much going on to blog about.  This is not her best work."

I like authentic and honest people.  Especially when they say instead, "These blogs just get better and better every day!  I love this blog!"

Handrail

'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.

~ William Shakespeare

- - - - -

There are lots of kinds of handrails in life.  There are the literal ones.  They provide us balance going up or down steps or ramps.  There are...  well, mostly there are the literal ones.

I like to think that we each are a handrail to others, though.  Or have the potential to be.  We can offer stability, reassurance, confidence.  We can make navigating something difficult just a little bit easier for someone.  He can be there to lean on when someone needs a break or to give them the knowledge that the can move forward and someone will be there for them.

I just like to know when I'm serving as a handrail.  I don't like it when someone grabs me suddenly expecting me to steady them and be there for them.  Especially if we're on an icy sidewalk.  I don't want you to bring me down, buddy.  I'll be your, "Help you up after you fall on your butt," handrail instead of your, "Cushion my fall," handrail if you don't mind.  Besides, who wants to land on a handrail if you fall down?  That's not what we're for, my friend.

Turn-On

We all possess certain talents and gifts that are unique only to us.  You already have everything that you need to start living an extraordinary life.  It's up to you to turn on the switch and let your light shine.

~ Randa Manning-Johnson

- - - - -

I think language is so interesting.  It can also be confusing.  Words and phrases can mean very contradictory things.  Sometimes we don't even realize it.  We understand each context and don't notice the dramatic difference between one use and the next.  The idea of "turning on" someone, for example.  It can mean to attract them and entice them and appeal to them.  It also can mean to do an about-face and betray or attack them.  

It can also mean to put their batteries in if they are a human-like robot you built.  Or flip a switch to get them going if they are a solar robot.  Which is the more globally responsible kind to make.

8

For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours 

supposedly left after eight hours of sleep and eight of work.

~ Doug Larson

- - - - - 

I like the idea that numbers have special meaning.  The links between trinity and three.  The idea that a zero looks like a hole into which all the other numbers fall.  The fact that 12:34 is my favorite time of day.

I looked at what the number 8 means. It seems to mean mostly good things.  It is an infinity symbol on its side.  Completion.  Continuation.  Never-ending.  It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

I two of-ten one-der what I eight four dinner last night.  Not really.  That would be asi-nine.

Words are fun.  And numbers as words are fun.  But not funner.  Because that's not a word.

Cookies

I've never been very cookie cutter.  If I choose something different from the status quo, it's my responsibility and my choice to live my life that way.

~ Sara Ramirez

- - - - -

When I was a kid my favorite Sesame Street muppet was Cookie Monster.  He seemed pretty straight-forward:  Him liked cookies!  You knew, eventually, if Cookie Monster was in the scene, there was going to be a cookie reference.  It was predictable.  Stable.  Reassuring.

Now, though, I think my favorite muppet from Sesame Street is Grover.  He is frickin' hilarious.  I'm not usually one for physical / pratfall humor, but I love it when Grover does that stuff.  He's near.  He's far.  He's exhausted from showing you the difference between near and far.  How can you not love that guy?

When we were little I had a Cookie Monster puppet and Erik had a Grover puppet.  There was a slot in the back of the Cookie Monster puppets throat where you could shove cardboard cookies.

Know whom I don't like?  Elmo.  Elmo is for babies.

WIndow

Strange things blow in through the window on the wings of the night wind and I don't worry about my destiny.

~ Carl Sandburg

- - - - -

I like to look at windows and think about what might be going on behind them.  I think it is interesting to imagine the people inside navigating their lives and tragedies and successes and dramas. 

Rear Window is one of my favorite movies.  It is such a snapshot of one building and what happened there.  And the fact that Jimmy Stewart is witness to it all.  And he's not a creeper for watching everyone.  Mainly because he's Jimmy Stewart.  Also because he is bored with his broken leg.

But, as we all know, you shouldn't go around looking in people's windows.  You might see things you wish you hadn't.  Or things you shouldn't have seen.  And then you have Perry Mason coming to get you.  And no one wants that.  Perry Mason is scary when he's angry.

Not as scary as Charles Mason, though.  I mean Charles Manson.  That guy is scarier than Perry Mason. 

Eavesdropping

I've often stood silent at a party for hours listening to my movie idols turn into dull and little people.

~ Marilyn Monroe

- - - - -

I may have posted this already, but I looked back and couldn't find it.  If I have, my apologies.  If not, here it is...

Much of my blog comes from things overheard or my observations about things seen.  There are lots of good places to overhear things.  It used to be you could only overhear things - mostly - when people were in groups.  NOW you can overhear things when people are alone.  Talking on their cell phones.  Which is good for me - at least when it isn't annoying to me.

Anyway, this isn't about that.  This is about me overhearing three people talking about movies in Target.  We were in the DVD section.  A young woman was talking to her two young men friends.  She said, "I need to start my movie collection. Because I have - like - two movies.  I have 'Bridesmaids,' so that's a pretty solid start.  And 'The Ringer.'"

Now, I have not and will not see The Ringer.  I have seen and enjoy Bridesmaids.  I would not consider these "a pretty solid start" on a film collection.  I have little faith in her cinematic parti pris.

That said, I think people can have their own opinions.  Do they have "right" to those opinions?  No.  I don't know that it's a "right."  Are they "entitled" to their opinions?  Well, I think we have enough entitlement to deal with as is.  I'm not about to expand the range of certain people's entitlement.

I think my point is that eavesdropping is fun.  And sort of sad at the same time.  At least that's what Marilyn Monroe and I think.

Relationships

You can talk with someone for years, everyday, and still, it won't mean as much as what you can have when you sit in front of someone, not saying a word, yet you feel that person with your heart, you feel like you have known the person for forever.... connections are made with the heart, not the tongue.

~ C. JoyBell C.

- - - - -

 

Connecting in a significant and vulnerable way with another human being is one of the bravest things you can.  Brave or reckless.  Both, I suppose.  Or maybe it depends on how you go about choosing the other human beings with whom to connect.

 

And the connecting is only the beginning.  It takes work and maintenance to have a good relationship of any kind with another person.  Especially if you are in it for the long haul.  People have bad days.  Bad months and years, even.  Relationships aren't just about the time you have with that other person, they are about the real lives outside of your connection.

 

A good human connection then is not simply a relationship.  Instead of "to lationship again" a solid connection with another person is actually a realationship.

Cry

Cry.  Forgive.  Learn.  Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.

~ Steve Maraboli

- - - - -

 

It's okay to cry.  Sometimes things build up and you have to get it out of your system.  Or you have to let it come to the surface so you can make meaning of what you are going through (or have gone through or are about to go through).  Crying can be a part of healing.

 

Crying can also be annoying.  Like when Erik cried because I hid the Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces hand puppet in the bathroom so it would be staring at him when he turned on the light. It wasn't that the crying he did was annoying so much as it was the crying I did when I got in trouble for scaring him.  It annoyed me that that happened.

 

It's hard to be the oldest and to try and teach your younger siblings about the harshness and scariness of life, only to get in trouble for it all the time.  Does it make me want to cry?  No.  It does make me want to find that Hugo puppet, though.

Building

A building has integrity just like a man.  And just as seldom.

~ Ayn Rand

- - - - -

I like going down alleys and looking at the backs of buildings.  The front is - often - where people focus their attention.  Putting forth a good image.  Making a positive first impression.  Some people are like this, too - focused on the surface, but not the depth.

But I'm much more interested in what is behind the facade.  What is the quality of the entire structure?  What is there to back up whatever that superficial image is?  Does that image run throughout the building?  Or the person?

Also, sometimes there are free things behind buildings.  Or things that look like maybe they're free.  And no one is back here anyway, so they won't mind if I take a few of these.

Ghosts

It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight.

~ Patricia Briggs

- - - - -

I took this photo on June 23, 2013.  So far as I can tell, these ghosts are on the tree all the time.  Now, it could be a sapling for a haunted forest and it just hasn't branched out yet, but I don't think so.  This is in a very residential part of my town. 

I could go to the house where this tree is and ask the people who live in the house why they have ghosts on the tree in their front yard all year round.  But I think the stories I would make up would be better.  That is, if I took the time to make stories up.  They would be good.  And probably a mix of grown-up and children's literature.  Maybe some poetry.  Of course a haiku or two. 

What ARE you, ghost tree?
Terrified or petrified?
Maybe some of both.


And it's possible that the reason for the ghosts on this tree is really sad, and I'm not in the mood to hear a sad story.