My Maternal Grandmother

She embodied contentment.

Day 8: I am grateful for my grandmother.

Grandmother's House

The old house, emptied
of Grandmother's presence,
sinks slowly into a spirit

of disrepair,
welcoming comfort
from the scurry of field mice
and the coo of doves,

whose eerie song spooks
nerves of the living,
who are alone
in this darkened house,

searching.

Searching for essence
of Grandmother. With tender
longing, we breathe her scent
on dresses left hanging,
shoes left below.

Waiting for her return,
for her to slip into them
and walk away,

longing to be useful
once more.

In the kitchen, pots and pans
also wait, barren,
wanting biscuits to rise and swell
again like pregnant tummies full
of hope, affirming life.

Only stillborn memories survive
as the old house
slips quietly into disrepair.

I Got Nothin'

Day seven of this project and I have no funny stories to tell, no insights to share, nothin', nada, zip!

Well, here is this little thing I did in Photoshop. I don't much like it as it is, so I might redo it on canvas some time. I kind of like the words and the man in the photo is my maternal grandfather. He really was not much of a fisherman. I am not even sure how this photo came about. I wonder who had the camera?

Day 7: I am grateful for my grandfather.

Still Life

Grandmother cooked on a wood stove:
peas, butterbeans, cornbread, biscuits.
For desert, we ate canned peaches.
When everyone left the table,

Grandfather winked and smiled at me
as we divided what was left
of the peach juice into our bowls
and drank life's syrupy sweetness.

It's True, I'm a Weirdo

Just got in from the bookstore and then the library, where I checked out one book and put another on order. I love to be able to borrow books from the library. Every time I go, I look around to see what other adults (non-student types) are there and I wonder to myself what kind of weirdo goes to the library for no particular purpose and then I remember I am there for no particular purpose!

Day 6: I'm thankful for libraries.

Well?

A recent collage from my journal. Mindy, do you recognize any of the elements? I have enjoyed digging through my box and finding ephemera to use in my collages.

Day 5: I'm thankful for the gift of creativity.

Seeing? Or Observing?

I'd hate to have that old fart, Sherlock Holmes, on my case about the distinctions between seeing and observing. I think I will work on my observing this week.

Holmes: "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently see the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."

Watson: "Frequently."

Holmes: "How often?"

Watson: Well, some hundreds of times."

Holmes: "Then how many are there?"

Watson: "How many? I don't know."

Holmes: "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed."

From: "A Scandal in Bohemia" in The Complete Sherlock Holmes (New York: Doubleday, 1927)

Day 4: I am thankful for the "cheerleaders" in my life.

30 Days of Thanks -- Day 3

Thanks for cooler weather. See? I knew I was going to have trouble with the thanks giving! And I really am a grateful person. I'm just not an expressive grateful person! I have trouble being specific. I can talk in generalities all day long (and that is a problem in more ways than one). Surely I will get better if I practice every day!

Here is proof that I really have seen snow. This was the house I lived in from the time I was two or three years old until I went to fourth grade. Maybe one of these days, it will snow again like this in these here parts. I am always grateful when it is cool enough that we do not have to wear shorts on Christmas Day!

Here is How it Went

His appointment was on Thursday. When he got to the office, no one was there except for one male secretary who knew nothing other than that the office was closed for All Saint's Day (can you imagine that?). It was very frustrating. The decision was made to stay another day and try to catch the man in the office on Friday. My husband and I were the naysayers on this decision. We figured the guy was taking a long weekend. Bottom line? The attorney was in on Friday and my son was able to meet with him. Things went well and the attorney told him he liked working with people who were doing what they needed to be doing. We still don't know how things will actually turn out yet, but this is good news.

(Also, I had briefly started emailing my comments when I responded to comments in my blog. I ain't doing that no more! It's too hard for me to keep up. My computer is running slow these days and trying to keep up with writing something every day is enough of a challenge for me.)

In addition--Re: 30 Days of Thanks-Day 2-- I could not post yesterday because my mouse was not working properly. Yesterday I was very thankful that I was wrong about my belief that the attorney was taking a long weekend!

Day 3's thanks will have to wait until more of the day has passed so I can see what I am thankful for.

Sometimes I wish I had these two guys on hand to help me keep up with myself....