Autumn

A dew drop clings as
morning sun lifts the fog —
Last morning glory

Eskimo Song

Cleaning out some old papers, I found part of an old letter containing this poem, attributed as an Eskimo Song. Still seems appropriate as we near midsummer.

What anguish
To feel the winter
Entering the wide world,
To see the moon
Once half moon, once full moon
Following its course of old.

What joy
To feel the summer 
Entering the wide world
To see the sun
Once the sun of day, once the sun of night
Following its course of old.
Ijaija-ja-ja.

Everything Leads to Poetry

Research on typography and layout

http://issuu.com/inpublisher/docs/green_thumb_issue/1

led to a similar publication

http://issuu.com/upstategardenersjournal/docs/ugj_march__14

which led to an article on hard pruning

http://issuu.com/upstategardenersjournal/docs/ugj_march__14/20

then to a website by a rose specialist in upstate New York

http://www.derrosenmeister.com/

and to his blog

http://derrosenmeister.blogspot.com/

then to this post about chickens in his garden

http://derrosenmeister.blogspot.com/2011/02/chickens-in-rose-garden.html

and this poem by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens

Summer License Plate Game, Final Results

Not too bad! 

It was such a fun distraction that we started a new game, going from Autumn Equinox 2013 through Spring Equinox 2014.

The State License Plate Game: Collect Them All!

"Vermont!" I called out. We were driving down E Street.

"Missed it. I'll drive around the block."

We cruised to the next intersection, then rolled around to the right. Two more right turns and we were back on E Street again, looking for the parked car with the Vermont plates. I pulled out the map and the highlighter.

"Vermont: The Green Mountain State. Got it." And another state got highlighted on the map.
   

Last summer our summer Driving Distraction Game was "Box Car." (Remember "Punch Buggy" or "Slug Bug"?) Each time we saw a Scion XB we'd call "Scion!" and "box" the other person. We decided it was potentially fatal to punch the driver, so we changed that rule to only poking or tapping the other party. This summer we decided to collect sightings of state license plates.

Here are the rules to our Summer Driving Distraction State License Plate Game:

1. Game period is from Summer Solstice (June 20) through Autumn Equinox (Sept. 20). Or thereabouts.

2. Both of us need to be present in the car and see the license plate at the same time.

That's it, although we've begun to take note of handicapped plates and possibly might keep a tally of vanity plates. It could get out of hand.

We keep a map of the U.S. and a highlighter in the car. As we see new state license plates we highlight them on the map. A little less dangerous that hitting the driver, and a lot more exercise for our geography-related gray matter.