It’s quivering
twisting
trembling in anticipation
waiting in a
golden gown
to tumble
and dance
with the wind.
anecdote-overheard in the classroom
“I know this guy
who chopped off all his fingers in a blender.”
What? Was he intoxicated? drunk? high?
“Nope.”
You’re kidding. Why would he do that?
“Well, you know, he wanted to prove he could touch
the middle of the chopping part without getting hurt.”
But he couldn’t, apparently.
Shrug. “I guess not.”
Huh.
“Yeah. People from Calgary are stupid.”
.
.
.
Sometimes, I am very afraid for the youth of today.
poem-cool October 14, 2014
Oh, back row,
You’re so cool.
Won’t do your school work.
Hang out at the smoke pit.
Drunk all weekend.
You’re
so
cool.
The front row
gets its work done,
laughs with friends,
finds healthy fun.
They will graduate,
get into college
and employ you
at minimum wage.
It’s never cool
to peak in
high school.
poem-ghosts October 13, 2014
Of course ghosts are real
Haven’t you felt them
swirling about you
like leaves in the wind?
Memories that haunt
spinning through your head
with joys and sorrows
that have no place in
tomorrow.
poem-destiny
It weaves around the sky
like jet streams tying ribbons
of air,
entangled trust
entwining wishes,
entrusting time
twisting you and me
into a braid
of mist.
poem-listening October 12, 2014
Last night,
screeching tires,
spinning in the intersection
racing engines roaring up
and down our hill
Luckily no catastrophe
except the community
mailbox.
.
.
(an irony- post 1-666 about local hellions!)
quotation- save yourself
“You mustn’t wait for someone to rescue you. A girl expecting rescue never learns to save herself. Even with the means, she’ll find her courage wanting. Don’t be like that… You must find your courage, learn to rescue yourself, never rely on anyone else.”
~Kate Morton in The Forgotten Garden
What do you think of this advice? Does it get in the way of accepting help from others?
poem- small
You were so very small
pulling your limbs inside yourself
wearing a vacant scowl,
trying to turn yourself inside out
to avoid notice,
when we were all there
for you.
So much trauma to hide from.
so many layers of armour.
Will we ever see you drop the ballast
so you can fly?
.
.
Probably a few too many metaphors here, but the sentiments hold true. May have to work on this one a bit more.
anecdote- colouring eyebrows October 10, 2014
Over heard in the staff room:
K- Even if I don’t wear any other makeup, I have to wear mascara: my lashes are white!
S- Me, too. I use it on my eyebrows, too.
D- What!? Why don’t you just dye your brows?
S- Meh. That’d take time for an appointment and money. Why bother, my hand’s up there doing my lashes anyway, it’s just an inch further to do a brow.
K- But mascara is so crusty!
S- So? It’s not like I want them billowing in the wind or anything.
🙂
.
.
(At work, they haven’t learned to say, “Don’t put this on your blog!” yet) 😉
Shawn L. Bird 
Centenarian! October 11, 2014
Tags: 100, biography, birthday, centenarian, Herb Duguay, hundred, questions
Dad’s 93rd birthday
My father’s 100th birthday is being celebrated at our Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow, though there are still 2 weeks until the official day. (Yes, I was a late in life baby). 🙂
Dad was born in Montreal in 1914. He had two older brothers, but he was the only one to survive to adulthood. He remembers the soldiers returning from World War One. He was run over by a (new!) Model T Ford when he was 3. He was an active member of Boy Scouts and saw Lord and Lady Baden-Powell when they visited North America in 1935.
He worked for Burroughs-Wellcome Pharmaceuticals in the 30s. During WW2, he tried to enlist, but they refused him, because the doctor heard a heart murmur. He built aircraft at Fairchilds in Longueuil, instead. In the 50s, he and a friend came to Vancouver and started Maco Industries, a building supply wholesaler. For the next forty years he worked for them, retiring finally around 70.
He was married twice. He had 3 adopted sons with his first wife who had tuberculosis and couldn’t have children. His second wife brought 3 children into the marriage, they had one biological child (me!).
He was an avid tennis player and table tennis player. He was playing tennis into his 70s. He was still playing table tennis when legally blind, into his 80s. He couldn’t see the ball, but he could see the shape of his opponent’s paddle, and knew where the ball would be. He walked several kilometers each day until his 90s.
Dad never passes a children’s drink stand without buying a cup.
For entertainment at his party tomorrow, I’m looking for questions for an Ask a Centenarian! event.
Here’s your chance. Leave a question in the comments, and we’ll ask him. If technology allows, we may even film him responding to your questions. If there are quite a few, I’ll keep asking over the next few weeks during the season of his birthday festivities.
So– what would you like to ask?
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