It’s the third Thursday of the month which means it is time to join Bonny and friends for a bit of poetry! I read poetry every day… I listen to a poetry podcast weekdays… and in general, poetry has become a vital part of my daily life. Last year, I settled in with Poetry of Presence II and as you can see, the book is very well loved. I have tagged pages, written notes on pages, and noted poems that I shared here on this blog. When I finished the book, I immediately began the first anthology of poems, Poetry of Presence. I really love the poems that Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R. Wilson gathered together in their anthologies. I am only a few pages in to their first book, but you can see that I have already “tagged” some poems!
I love the dedication:
“to the poets who help us be mindful in a world that has urgent need of presence
Amen! I give thanks daily for poets… they absolutely improve my days!
The poem I am sharing today is the invitation poem that Phyllis Cole-Dai has set at the beginning of the anthology. It is simply perfection… because, for me, poetry is just this delightful… a feast for me… and you!
On How to Pick and Eat Poems
by Phillis Cole-Dai
Stop whatever it is you’re doing.
Come down from the attic.
Grab a bucket or basket and head for light.
That’s where the best poems grow, and in the dappled dark.
Go slow. Watch out for thorns and bears.
When you find a good bush, bow
to it, or take off your shoes.
Pluck. This poem. That poem. Any poem.
It should slip off the stem easy, just a little tickle.
No need to sniff first, judge the color, test the firmness—
you can only know it’s ripe if you taste.
So put a poem upon your lips. Chew its pulp.
Let its juice spill over your tongue.
Let your reading of it teach you
what sort of creature you are
and the nature of the ground you walk upon.
Bring your whole life out loud to this one poem.
Eating one poem can save you, if you’re hungry enough.
Take companions poem-picking when you can.
Visit wild and lovely and forgotten places, broken
and hidden and walled up spaces. Reach into brambles,
stain your skin, mash words against your teeth, for love.
And always leave some poems within easy reach for
the next picker, in kinship with the unknown.
If ever you carry away more poems that you need,
go on home to your kitchen, and make good jam.
Don’t be in a rush, they’re sure to keep.
Some will even taste better with age,
a rich batch of preserves.
Store up jars and jars of jam. Plenty for friends.
Plenty for the long, howling winter. Plenty for strangers.
Plenty for all the bread in this broken world.
It has been A Week here in the south hills of Pittsburgh… rain… so much rain. All day rains, overnight rains, misting rains, hard-rapping-on-the-window rains, and… of course… rain that makes the weeds grow like mad! Sigh.
It has been eons since I checked in with a TGIF post… so let’s get started!
Treasuring —
Each word in Ocean Vuong’s latest book, The Emperor of Gladness. I am about halfway through and I am entirely immersed in the world of Hai and Grazina… and really, I want to stay there with them. Even more so since listening to this interview on NPR… pro tip, have a Kleenex™ handy! If you are looking for a book to get lost in… look no further!
Gaining —
My son called me this week with some incredible news… my daughter-in-law is expecting…. and because my son does nothing by half measures… ever, lol… they are expecting TWINS! It is early days and my daughter-in-law is having a very rough time with morning all-day sickness… thankfully, there are medications for this now, which is a good thing. I joked with my son that I better get knitting (except, I really wasn’t joking! haha!) There must be something in the wind… Thanks to you all I have a blanket pattern and a sweater pattern to add to the knitting queue! I have knit a Baby Surprise Jacket for each of my grandkids and I am very excited to knit a matching pair for these babies!
Inspired —
This morning marked a month of PT… and my appointment this morning showed great improvement! We talked about those improvements… which was incredibly helpful for me! I will continue on for at least another 4 weeks. I also have a recheck with Dr. Napoe in a couple of weeks and my hope is that there is improvement that she can see as well!
Flashy —
Sometimes that entirely over-the-top, and yes, so SO flashy thing is exactly what one needs to end the week. And if that flashy thing is inspired by a Beatrix Potter story… well, even better in my book! I think you all will enjoy Rajiv Surendra’s video!
And, with that I am going to go take advantage of the saturated soil and do a bit of weeding to usher in a long weekend!
I will be back on Monday with a check in on my word post!
This morning, serendipitously, a Maggie Smith poem was “up”… and it was full of the exact reminders I needed to continue on navigating the Tsunami of Chaos that seems never-ending. I thought you all might need dear Maggie’s words this morning as well.
Good Bones
by Maggie Smith
Life is short, though I keep this from my children,
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand deliciously, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half t terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, corps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.
And in case you’d like even more Maggie Smith in your day… beginning Monday, February 3rd, she will be guest hosting The Slowdown for two weeks. I can’t think of a more delightful way to begin February!
Have a good weekend, everyone! See you all back here on Monday!
September is just flying by and I need to get my fingers in gear if I expect to get the pair of September Socks finished!
While I don’t have a picture to share, I do have a few thoughts about the Jaywalker pattern… I am remembering now why I have never knit it. I cast on the “size I normally knit” and got several pattern repeats done and was quite confounded by how small the leg of the sock looked. I tried to pull it on and it might work if my goal was to knit compression socks I’d be right on track because they were so tight I could barely get them over my heel… without an actual heel in the sock! So I ripped back and cast on the next size up… I am almost back to the point I was when I restarted (and this was my Read With Us knit last night, so I did make the tiniest bit of progress!)
My main focus since last week has been “scratching the itch” of cast-on-all-the-things! I pulled out a skein of hand spun yarn, paired it with a strand of KSH (IYKYK) and cast on a Honey Cowl. I have expectations of needing a bit of a neck warmer in the coming months as I will be housebreaking a pup! I really wish you could feel how soft this cowl is… it is delicious! It has me wishing for cooler weather!
I am ever so happy with this cowl! (it almost makes me wish for some chilly weather!)
Once that “itch” was scratched, I returned to that Gnome Hat of All Gnome Hats! (This gnome hat is so tall I could not get it all in a photo!!) And though there were LOTS of rows, I did manage to complete it. I am well used to fiddly gnome knitting, but this was Fiddly Knitting On Steroids!! Oof, I am glad this bit is done! This morning I will get it blocked and get to work on the next part of the mystery!
And, as you can see above, I have a start of a book! I broke down two full watercolor sheets and while I do not have an awl, I used something similar and I think it worked fine! I do not have any waxed linen thread, so I am planning to do a bit of a work around with some craft thread. I will wax that with beeswax and begin stitching the pages together this week! I need to figure out a work around for c-clamps… so I likely won’t be glueing the spine this week.
I am about halfway through Rosamunde Pilcher’s September… which seems quite appropriate given the date! I am enjoying this story… there are some fascinating characters and, of course, there is a bit of drama! It has been keeping me good company as I have puttered on projects this week!
I had three finishes since last week… Adam Bede (which I loved almost as much as Mill on the Floss!), The Order of Time (which I have seen a few of you read) I thought this book was okay… it certainly gave me lots to think about! And, a Netgalley ARC Fabled Earth, which I thought was also okay… it will be published October 1, 2024.
But!! What about you? What are you focused on this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Debate over the Vintage Mixer continued on Friday evening and we made a plan for Saturday morning. Our plan… if and when it became too full to move around and still maintain safe distancing that would be our key to leaving. We arrived a little after the doors opened, hoping to avoid the initial rush of opening, but we still got hung up in a bit of a line. And from roughly 10 am to noon we had a wonderful time. We looked at so much fun stuff! We people watched all the “Vintage-dressed” people! (They are just so fun!) We had a beer and some Pie Bird Potato and Leek Breakfast Pie (yes, beer for breakfast!) and we did a tiny bit of shopping before it became almost impossible to move at all. It got so busy and so full. I have to confess that the female portion of the attendee’s seemed to have major issues with keeping your mask on correctly, despite there being signs EVERYWHERE about covering your nose and mouth. The men did not seem to have this issue at all, and frankly… I was a bit outraged at the women (can you say stupid??)
I was sad that I did not see a number of vendors that had previously attended… and most notably, Rick Sebak was not there. And we only bought 2 things! But what fun things they are! We got a set of vintage cocktail glasses and a very old little cast iron pug. I have plans to put out the Dickens Village this year and I thought this little pug would be perfect companion for Fezziwig!
Last week, Patty expressed curiosity about my Cinnamon Syrup making so I thought I’d share my little concoction with you all! Years ago I found a recipe on Pinterest for Cinnamon Syrup but it was way too sweet for my taste… so I tweaked it quite a bit. My recipe: 1.5 cups of water, 1 – 8″ length cinnamon stick or 3 small sticks (note… I buy cinnamon sticks from Costco, they are larger, fresher, and less expensive that the regular grocer – but they don’t always have them in stock) and 3/4 cup brown sugar (not packed… just loose scoops). Bring the water with the cinnamon stick to a boil and once it is boiling, turn off the heat and cover the pot and let it steep for 20-30 minutes. Remove the sticks and add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Voilá, the perfect hint of cinnamon-y sweetness to add to your coffee. (And if you froth your milk and sprinkle it with a tiny bit of ground cinnamon, you have yourself an incredible treat!)
And finally… my question of the week involves those ever-present stacks of paper that live in a house. Sadly, Steve and I are both paper collectors… but different sorts of paper. I like to print out recipes because I can make notes on them, but the kitchen drawer is overflowing and so this morning, I am culling the recipe herd and only keeping the ones we really love and I will be putting them in a new recipe book. Steve’s paperwork is a bit more “all over the house” than mine – he is a receipt and coupon hoarder. He doesn’t know it, but they are all going in the trash this morning… but how long do you all keep receipts? (and I am not talking grocery or fast food receipts… and yes, he keeps those too… sigh) I am talking ‘big ticket’ items, warranty items, etc.
But really, I want to know… how do you battle the Paper War?
That’s all I have for this morning… the stacks of paper are calling!
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson
I am ending this 100 day journey from winter to spring where I started, but with a new understanding of hope.
Hope exists in us, it is always around us, it is whispering to us. And if we sometimes pay attention we discover that like the increasing minutes of light… hope grows more hope!
Perhaps it is easier to be hopeful when your friends and loved ones are getting vaccinated. Truly, I did not realize what a weight I was holding waiting for the vaccination damn to break. Today more than 100 million American’s are either completely vaccinated or are on their way to being completely vaccinated. And while I am sure there are a plethora of idiots like Rand Paul… I will feel less stressed encountering the maskless. (and watching Dr. Fauci take down Mr. Paul just made my day!)
Perhaps it is easier to be hopeful when there is an hour and 37 minutes more daylight than there was on December 21st. But I really enjoyed the gradual changes that happened in the world around me… from a hushed, quiet winter to a spring full of exuberant birdsong! From snow covered ground to snowdrops blooming! From cold winter winds bringing snow to open windows welcoming the warming winds and spring rains!
Cicadas are the ones that can really teach us about patience and hope! (Also a fun fact…17 years ago there was no iPhone)
An invasion is coming. This spring, trillions of cicadas will emerge from the ground around us, announcing their arrival with a cacophony of sound & piles of molted skin. Brood X – which arrives every 17 years – should appear sometime in May #nature#wildlife ???? pic.twitter.com/FMtEAcgIf1
Last thing… The New Yorker magazine tweeted this article written by one of my favorite authors, Paul Auster, this morning. He wrote it in 1995… and it is very much read-worthy!
“If nothing else, the years have taught me this: if there’s a pencil in your pocket, there’s a good chance that one day you’ll feel tempted to start using it.” Paul Auster reflects on experiences that shaped him as a person and a writer. #NewYorkerArchivehttps://t.co/fafYR1vzHY
