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Monthly Archives: February 2013

Valentine

14 Feb

The Giant's Heart in the pathway to the castle

In pre-dawn shadows I come looking for closure;
This day meant for lovers especially brutal.
For weeks it seemed best to maintain my composure,
But on the dark sand that effort seems futile.

When life was too hectic this beach was our haven,
Where rhythm of waves drowned out worry and stress.
You laughed when I noticed the circling raven;
My fear of death’s omen you refused to address.

I dream of a future that’s now out of reach
And mourn the soul mate too soon snatched away.
You’re not coming back no matter how I beseech,
So I must say farewell this St. Valentine’s Day.

Gulls ride the breeze on which your ashes are blown
The sea whispers back that I’m never alone.

Prompt from Writer’s Digest:  Write a Valentine’s Day poem of no more than 20 lines about spending a Valentine’s Day all by yourself. The only rules are that it must rhyme and the final line of the poem must include the title of your favorite song. I opted for a Shakespearean sonnet and chose the song “Never Alone” by Jim Brickman featuring Hillary Scott & Lady Antebellum.

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2013 in Poetry, Uncategorized

 

WTN?

13 Feb

100_1085

Dang this snow that’s been falling all day,
I’ll go see if the ponies can play.
“Can’t you see we’re unable
To get out of this stable?”
So I said to the mare, “What the neigh?”

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2013 in Poetry

 

Overkill

12 Feb

HPIM1604Okay, so a couple inches of snow fell overnight, but honestly, the roads aren’t that bad! I think bringing the tractor home and parking it in the driveway was a little dramatic. There are no HOAs to speak of in England, but the Brits are notoriously fussy about anything detracting from the visual beauty of their landscape, near or far. Neighbors complain if you don’t weed your flower beds, and rally to prevent brand new play parks from opening because the slide and jungle gym are too brightly colored and not in keeping with the muted tones of the village. A TV satellite dish can cause a row if the neighbor can see it from his conservatory (ask me how I know), cell phone towers rarely rise more than two stories lest they ruin a scenic vista (can you hear me now?), and you haven’t seen wrath until you’ve mentioned wanting to erect wind turbines in an empty field. So tell me, how is this guy getting away with parking an enormous John Deere in his driveway?  Maybe he’s on call to transport the homebound to and from the surgery (doctor’s office) next door…

 
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Posted by on February 12, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

Sly

11 Feb

snowy foxIn the past few weeks, I’ve seen foxes slinking around in broad daylight in several local fields, and the first thought that’s come into my head is, “I wonder if they have rabies.” Foxes are known for their skills as nocturnal hunters, and my perception of them as night creatures is reinforced any morning I drive to work and see a dead one on the side of the road that was not there the previous evening. But apparently it is not uncommon for foxes to be just as active during the day—guess the population is just denser here than I’m used to in Virginia, so I’m liable to see more. And besides, rabies has been eradicated from the United Kingdom’s animal population.

That doesn’t mean foxes are harmless, however, especially the 10,000 or so urban ones in England’s capital city.  Reminiscent of the infamous cry, “A dingo ate my baby,” a neighbor reported hearing a mum screaming, “A fox attacked my baby” just last week in the suburbs of London. A four-week old baby boy was reportedly snatched from his cot by a fox and dragged to the floor, where the infant’s mother kicked the animal until it dropped the baby’s tiny arm from its jaws and fled. For me, this story begs the question, how did the fox get into the house in the first place? The weather has been wet and cold for the past several weeks, so I wouldn’t think a conscientious mom would leave a window open in the baby’s room. (An window open to the summer—I use that term loosely—breeze was indeed the culprit in a June 2010 attack, in which nine-month old twin girls were mauled by another urban fox.) After much digging, I found one news agency that stated the fox had entered through a broken back door, and that the family has been rehoused by the council as a result. (Council housing is provided to low-income Britons, who often end up paying little or no rent thanks to a government Housing Benefit scheme, and with regards to upkeep and general aesthetic appeal, the properties generally fit your stereotypical image of low-income housing.) Happily, Baby Denny was moved from intensive care to a regular ward at the hospital today, where he continues to recover from last week’s four-hour surgery to suture lacerations on his face and arm and to reattach a severed finger on his left hand.

Experts say fox attacks are “incredibly rare,” but as more and more of the animals inch closer to humans and the easy food source of unprotected garbage cans, the likelihood of finding the cunning critters in one’s suburban home increase. Whether they are dragging last night’s chicken carcass out of the kitchen bin or hauling small children off to feed the kits waiting back at the den, it’s bound to be a nasty surprise. Just one more reason the Brits should consider adopting the American practice of putting screens on their windows!

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

Rats

10 Feb

Gong Xi Fa Cai (or Gong Hey Fat Choy if you speak Cantonese rather than Mandarin)! Happy Chinese New Year! Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake, which has not been a particularly auspicious year in past lunar cycles (2001-September 11 attacks, 1989-Tiananmen Square Massacre, 1977-Elvis died, 1965-Malcom X assassinated, 1941-Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, 1929-stock market crash). I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to take a shower this morning (apparently on the first day of the New Year it washes away good luck), so I’m hoping to recover by wearing bright red and setting out a bowl of oranges. In the meantime, TOMW suggested I consider my animal sign in the Chinese zodiac, and analyze which traits are true for me.

Back in high school, I learned from the paper placemat on the table of the first Chinese  restaurant in which I ever dined that being born in 1972 meant my Chinese zodiac sign was the rat (⼦). This did not please me, especially as my brother was gloating over his tiger sign, given that my only images of rats were as wet, squeaking, ravenous villains scampering through sewer pipes in horror movies or as red eyes and scaly tails darting around laboratory cages in my biology class. I could not see any qualities in common between us, but subsequent study does reveal that I do indeed possess several traits that the Chinese identify with the sign of

Here’s a list of rat characteristics from an online source:

~very charming (I like to think so, but not in a smarmy way)
~gets more done than most (on a good day, when I’m firing on all cylinders, I can be incredibly efficient)
~adapts well in most environments (yep)
~good eye for bargains/discount shopper (I love sales, coupons, and auctions–rarely do I buy at full price)
~intellectual (yes, I believe so–not on par with a rocket scientist, but I can hold my own)
~good at concealing or hiding things (not to be deceitful, and only if it benefits someone close)
~secretive (I can keep a secret, but I don’t think I’m sneaky or conniving if that’s what they’re implying)
~creative (yes, if you count writing and crafty projects)
~talkative (about 95% of the time I’d have to disagree with this one)
~always in “alert mode” (yes, but I get lax when I’m tired)
~analytical (I usually try to look at all angles before choosing the best course of action)
~seeks power (I don’t really seek it, but I don’t run from it, either)
~great debater/gets point across (I try to stand my ground and present my argument logically, but usually think
of something else I should have said after the fact)
~honest (if nothing else in this list is true, I hope this is)
~takes advantage of others/opportunist (I don’t see this in myself, and I hope if others do, they will point it
out when it occurs)
~argumentative (not just for the sake of arguing, but if I firmly believe in something, I will politely and
respectfully defend it)
~materialistic (not in the sense of being greedy…another website suggested that Rats love to surround
themselves with knick-knacks and mementos to create a warm home environment–that sounds about right)
~anxious (sometimes)
~nervous (sometimes)
~very observant (as long as I’m not overly tired)
~quick tempered (not compared to other members of my family!)
~little hotheaded (yeah, okay, I’ll cop to this one on occasion)
~stingy (looking back on our childhood, my brother would probably say, yes, but I hope I’ve outgrown it)
~worrier (yep)
~good advice giver (I do give it, but don’t know how good it is)
~great imagination (until I sit in front of a blank computer screen…)
~resourceful (yes, I take pride in this one…there’s not much I can’t do for myself, and I thank my granddad for
setting that example)
~avoids manual labor (NO…I’d rather not break rocks in the hot sun for a living, but if something needs doing
around the house, I’m all over it)
~loves to travel (yes, I do, and luckily I have a husband with the same love)
~thirst for knowledge (definitely…always reading, listening, watching and storing tidbits of information)
~perfectionist (*sigh* yes, I am…more demanding of myself than others,I hope–one day I’d like to be a
reformed perfectionist)
~difficult to please (I don’t think so)
~good organizational skills (always in my mind, but they don’t always translate into physical results)
~dominant (only if the situation demands it…I think I’m equally willing to be passive)
~aggressive (no, that’s not me)
~does not seek advice from others (not true…I often seek advice from many sources, then analyze the results
to make my own decision–which can look like not taking advice, I guess)
~quick witted (sometimes)
~a doer, not a talker (I strive to be, because it frustrates me when others don’t follow through, but I know I don’t
always achieve this)
~great writing skills (we’re putting ’em to the test this year!)
~likes seclusion or solitude (yes, “me” time is important to maintaining mental balance)
~socially active (not a party animal, but I enjoy quality time spent with friends and family)

I’m in good company as a Rat–Shakespeare, Mozart, and George Washington were all Rats. But, unfortunately, so was Jeffrey Dahmer, so I guess that horror movie image isn’t completely wrong after all.

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2013 in On Me

 

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Caution

09 Feb

100_0807Caution: Road Ends in Six Months

We are almost to the end of the road here in England–this week marked the start of our PCS (Permanent Change of Station) countdown. Well, we can’t actually count anything yet, as we haven’t received our official release date, but we know it’s coming in about six months. At Tuesday’s departure briefing, we were handed a binder full of pre-move to-do lists, which is currently lying next to the sofa, waiting to be divvied up this weekend into his and her responsibilities. The days are flying by, yet I still have a whole list of my own to work through before I am forced back into the “real world” later this summer, and become slave once again to the demands of a full-time job. I’ve got high hopes that with steely determination, careful time management, and creative multi-tasking, I can cross off every item on the PCS checklists, as well as my own, before we set sail for the other side of the pond.

Places to See/Revisit

  • Holland
  • Brugge
  • Northern Wales
  • Iceland
  • Paris
  • Germany
  • London
  • Oxford
  • Cotswold Villages
  • Portsmouth (Mary Rose Museum)
  • Sulgrave Manor
  • Highclere Castle

Things to Do

  • Organize/scrapbook Japan memorabilia
  • Refinish chair
  • Restore lantern
  • Restore shoe last
  • Organize pictures on computer
  • Sort/purge documents on computer
  • Purge emails
  • Take class/renew teaching license
  • Suss out job opportunities in US
  • Polish horse brass collection
  • Lose another 10 pounds
  • Crochet Aran afghan
  • Frame auction pictures
  • Shadowbox antique Monopoly game
  • Purge old magazines
  • Import folder of recipe clippings into computer program
  • Create inventory of household effects

Whew! That’s a lot of stuff to do! Not sure how I’ll fit it all in around the daily routine of work, laundry, house cleaning, cooking, and blogging, but I am determined not to leave England with a backlog of unfinished projects and a load of regret about not making the most of the time I had here. I’m about to buckle down and make the next six months ones I can look back on with pride and a sense of accomplishment. I’ll revisit this post from time to time to cross off completed items…feel free to nag, encourage, bully, and cheer in the weeks ahead!

Last Sunday while I was trolling The One Minute Writer‘s archives for something to spark my imagination, I came across “Six Word Saturdays,” an idea they had picked up from the weekly series over at Show My Face. The idea is to sum up your current situation in just six words, then expand as much or as little as desired.  TOMW hadn’t done a “Six Word Saturday” prompt since July of last year, but I thought that starting today I would adopt it as my own end-of-week tradition–an easy, no-stress way to wrap up the blogging week. Lo and behold, when I clicked over to TOMW this evening, today’s prompt is “Six Word Saturday!” Great minds think alike. 🙂

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2013 in On Me, True Life

 

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Home

08 Feb

101_0002Home is not a place of mud and thatch.
It moves in time and space, where a
Kindred soul can’t see my flaws,
But clearly hears my truth.
Warm arms enfold me.
Hearts beat in time,
Peace settles.
Now I’m
Home.

Tonight’s post was a response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Home at The Daily Post.

 
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Posted by on February 8, 2013 in Poetry

 

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