Poetry Month, Ada Limon: she must be reading my mind

 Give Me This
~Ada Limón

I thought it was the neighbor’s cat back
to clean the clock of the fledgling robins low
in their nest stuck in the dense hedge by the house
but what came was much stranger, a liquidity
moving all muscle and bristle. A groundhog
slippery and waddle thieving my tomatoes still
green in the morning’s shade. I watched her
munch and stand on her haunches taking such
pleasure in the watery bites. Why am I not allowed
delight? A stranger writes to request my thoughts
on suffering. Barbed wire pulled out of the mouth,
as if demanding that I kneel to the trap of coiled
spikes used in warfare and fencing. Instead,
I watch the groundhog closer and a sound escapes
me, a small spasm of joy I did not imagine
when I woke. She is a funny creature and earnest,
and she is doing what she can to survive.

Copyright © 2020 by Ada Limón. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 16, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.

Come at me bro

I live near a lot of woodland creatures.

On the nights when I walk the dog, I generally see deer, fox and rabbits. All of these creatures excite the dog. I should, perhaps, write incite the dog.  For several nights in a row, said dog has either tried to add resistance training to my walk or just doesn't care if he pulls my arm out of its socket.

So far, I still have an arm, actually two. I am sore, but not broken.

The interesting part of the encounters is how the parent woodland creatures behave with the dog.

At first, I noticed one deer stationed in full view. Standing stock still and eyeballing both me and the dog, the deer seemed to say, "Chase me!" but not is a playful way.  It took me a few minutes to really be present enough in my surroundings to see that she was trying to pull all of our attention her way.  On the other side of the street were the juvenile deer and fawns, probably with a mother standing guard.

Once we were safely past, with me holding the dog back and the mom finally running off in the opposite direction of the deer family, the rest of the family leaped across the street.

The other night, I had a similar encounter with the fox. I have always called the fox, Mr. Fox or Fox in Socks. [Yes, I speak to the creatures when I see them. No, they do not speak back, at least not in words.]

The dog had been trying to pull me all over the place that night. When we were approaching the corner to cross the street, the fox streaked by. Usually, the fox would dip into the trees, but this time, it (he/she?) stopped. Staring down the dog, who standing at attention but not pulling at me, with an expression that really read, "Come at me, BRO!"

It wasn't until the fox dropped its gaze and slipped into the trees that the dog remembered he wanted to chase a fox.

I wasn't sure what to make of the encounter except maybe the fox was tired of being chased.

The very next night, in the same spot, we saw TWO small foxes run across the road. Neither of these two stopped to stare us down. I decided that they were babies, or juveniles. And so not Mr. Fox but Mrs. Fox who had dared us to chase her.

Guessing that like her deer counterparts, she was standing her ground to give her babies a chance to get home safely.

Motherhood... apparently not easy for any species.

views from the run

As I did a turn around the field next to the lake, I spooked a great blue heron. I hadn't noticed the bird in the brush near the lake. But it noticed me and flew off across the lake. I watched the huge bird and its long wings glide along the surface of the lake, choosing its next landing spot.

It was a welcome pause to my long run on a humid but overcast morning.

The spot it chose, finally, was directly across from where it had been, in a little area that appeared to be an inlet to a creek or just an area protected by some logs and trees. As it landed, another great blue heron swooped over. It had been hidden alongside that lake shore. Obviously, this spot was already taken.

The second heron vocalized, rushed the first one, furiously flapping its wings while in mid air. I have never seen more than one great blue heron in the same spot, perhaps this is the reason.

The interloper did not really fight back, it just picked up and swooped away gracefully.

Afterwards, the one that had claimed the spot, swam around its area proudly.

And I had to get back to my run.

Scenes from my life right now

I keep wanting to write about what's going in my life right now, but then I don't do it.  Not that there is really anything going on ... I haven't applied for more jobs, my current job is giving me less and less hours, I am picking up other gigs on the side, trying to outfit my apartment.

So those are lots of things that are actually happening and it is all my life.

But this is not what is going on for me right now.

A lot of what is going on is being sad, crying, grieving... sometimes to the point of paralysis, but other times just as a release.

I try to keep honoring this process, but I am getting scared about how long it will take ... particularly about how long my savings will allow me to follow the path before I need to just get a job, any job.

I am spending too much time in my space alone ... perhaps too much, maybe just right.

It means most of these pictures are scenes from the doorway of my aparment.

This one is detail on the rain we got a couple of weeks ago... this is the little lemon tree my friend bought me!

[Non sequitur, I want to name it.  I am feeling it is a "him" and the name that always pops in my head is Elroy.  Not sure why, but I haven't really committed to it, yet. Your comments are welcome.]

The view from my apartment is really gorgeous... sunny or cloudy...

 even rainy and with ominous clouds threatening...

And I have been recording the animal visitors...

I guess the good news is that I have been getting out more this past week ... today actually marks day 7 of exercising out of doors ... next picture scenes from my life will reflect that change.

And maybe I will even start writing regularly again ... I can't predict.

Still traveling ... days 3 & 4

Denver to Lincoln, Lincoln to Overland Park
Four states...two days... and now I am only three states shy of my 50 state quest!

 last bits of Colorado

 Welcome to Nebraska ... Home of Arbor Day?! Who knew?

 Mysterious museum in an arch over the freeway. We were on a mission, so we didn't stop...

 the many skyscapes of Nebraska

 Itsy bitsy spider on the umbrella in Emira's backyard, Lincoln

 In Bosnia, this is the kind of warnings they put on cigarettes... I asked why they were in English ...apparently, American cigs, English warnings...

 This is Medde...he's a little on the wild side, so Squintz decided to do his best impression of a super calm dog. It worked.  Squintz charmed everyone, winning himself homemade dinner, breakfast and treats... he misses Lincoln.

Not exactly a national park, but a historic site nonetheless... we walked the nature trails

blurry frog picture

 who lives in there?

 This is about all we saw of Iowa... it still counts

 This is about all we did in Kansas... there was also some food, a lot of people and many dogs...

Peacock!

Met this beauty on the wine trail in Paso Robles.

We only made one stop.  It was obviously the right one.

This guy greeted us at the parting area.  He had been following another man who though flattered started to worry about how to get away.  So we started talking to the lovely peacock.

He was interested as well as interesting. 

And he walked all the way to the tasting room with us... all tasting rooms should have this kind of usher.

Unexpected Beauty

 Taking pictures with the iPhone while on the beach means never knowing exactly what I am capturing.

I pointed at the birds and the surf.

But I didn't imagine the mirror image in the sand.

What a lovely surprise!

Barely processed one day of pictures.  Working back from Saturday (11/28), so there are more treasures to come.

Enjoy!

F.O.C.

Friends of Cupcake ... maybe more like obsessions than friends.  But she did spend hours watching these guys run up and down and around the trees.

Beauty after the storm

Sunday morning at 3am, I woke to thunder and pouring rain.  It had already been raining since early evening.  I worried it would be too wet for my nephew to play soccer or for me to take my run.

I know, I know... we need the rain.

But by morning, the sun was bright and we had these lovely clouds promising more rain at some point.

I decided to take my run on the beach ... and was rewarded with a friendly sea lion, dolphins and a majestic great blue heron.

 

This is where I meditated after my run.