Month: November 2020

Thanksgiving month — Thursday, November 19, 2020

91. Mainly because we never ate in restaurants,
I did not experience farmers’ tables
until I worked for Uncle Daniel,
catching chickens at night and later stopping to eat. 

But now, what with Covid isolation,
I feast each Thursday morning
with beloved campus colleagues via Zoom.
We talk much as I imagine farmers at the table talk.
We tell stories, we dig each other, we laugh.

92. I see, on a four-miler this morning, a tree planted by the water. 

93. Yes, Irvington folk now practice social distancing,
some of it happening on our streets.
If two walkers happen upon each other,
one steps out usually more than six feet.
This morning I come upon a baby carriage
pushed by a big person and a little person.
The big person said I could take a picture …
from the other side of the lawn. 

94. Here’s my daughter Lali, and here’s blueberry cobbler.
Both rate very high.

95. Tonight we watch Peter Souza’s
“The Way I See It.”
A non-political photographer becomes political
through seeing the character of President Obama.

Thanksgiving month — Wednesday, November 18, 2020

86.     The southern sun is able to light the garden
in ways the northern sun can’t. 

87.     Neighbors! How kind and helpful.
Here is James, of course wearing a mask,
sealing several cracks under the eave. 

88.    Currently each time I open the computer,
the desk top photo brings good memories;
my childhood home is pictured.

89.    My woodworking friend directs me to a Mary May video
on how to carve a flower. With my friend’s help
I shall tryout something far less complicated than a flower!

90.     After reading the painful book “Caste; the origins of our discontent”
by Isabel Wilkerson, I turn to an intriguing old favorite
“My Antonia” by Willa Cather.

Young Jim, after the death of both his mother and father,
goes to Nebraska to live with grandparents. On his second day
he lies in the garden after his grandmother returns to the house.
“Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen.
I was something that lay under the sun
and felt it, like the pumpkins,
and I did not want to be anything more.
I was entirely happy.”

Thanksgiving month — Tuesday, November 17,2020

81.    No, I no longer read the comics related to kid and youth antics.
Rather, my motor is oiled by “Pickles” and “Crankshaft.”

82.    Sunny and cold and breezy and exquisite — mid November! 

83.    Every other week Republic picks up our recyclables, 

84.    While drying the bowl, I remember that day in Spain in 1973. After lodging with a Spanish family near Madrid, we head south to Talavera to see the widely known pottery makers where we ooh and aah and can’t resist purchases which we have never regretted. We came out of the building to discover that our Fiat was covered —as in swaddled — with bird poop. Not until the car was cleaned could we continue toward Extremadura. 

85.     The first lighted fireplace of the season.

Thanksgiving month — Monday, November 16, 2020

76.    I am grateful to be delivered from boredom, from ennui,
from the panic associated with having nothing to do.
It seems that I am always being invited by a genie or two
to walk, take pictures, “play” in the garden,
listen to classical music, read, write,
interact with friends (via phone, Zoom,
correspondence, or in person “at a distance of six feet”)
or try to prepare a meal.

77.    A morning hello from the southern sun. 

78.    One of my favorite autumn sights —
milkweed where Monarch butterflies lay their eggs.  

79.   Ingrid calls me from Massachusetts, ”Dad, be sure to see ‘MANK’
when it comes out. I remember
that you liked ‘Citizen Kane.’”
Meanwhile here at home
Joy puts me into ‘Caste’ by Isabel Wilkerson,
the best book I’ve read about Blacks and whites in America.

80.   John Roberts is a wise person;
I’m grateful that he is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
at present.

Thanksgiving month — November 15, 2020

71. I turned on November 1 to reasons for gratitude as a way of confronting anxiety. I thought I would have to pay close attention in order to find such gifts. Would you know, stimulants for gratitude are all over the place. Here was an initial scene in my morning walk today.

72. I saw a most inspiring Zoom — a Sunday school presentation by a pastor, Dan Yoder, in making contact with youth through a program of worm cultivation. His youthful team collects kitchen waste from participating families that is fed to the worms. Here is a handful of worms. As a composting enthusiast, I honor this project.

73. “Who can see the wind? Neither you nor I: but when the leaves hang trembling, the wind is passing by.” (Christina Rossetti)

74. Now that I occasionally prepare lunch, I wonder with gratitude how a homemaker can prepare three meals a day plus laundry, cleaning, etc and etc.

75. How ever do squirrels build tree nests that survive high winds such as we have had today?

Thanksgiving month — November 14, 2020

66. Early morning frost

67. Midmorning ice 

68. Late morning the sun plays a soft tune on the wires. 

69. Next, the wind

70. And now in the late evening, rain. 

Thanksgiving month — November 13, 2020

61. A pleasant surprise: BMV renewed my driver’s license within an hour of my arrival. Oh, and what a stunning photo! Actually she took two pictures, possibly one to keep. After all she doesn’t see such a fresh and youthful, face every day.

62. The canna bulbs are now in hibernation in the southwest corner of the office.

63.The nearly horizontal evening sun rays find their way into the house making patterns we would not have imagined.

64. Minnesota Public Radio offers the right kind of classical music for the office.

65. Friday night — Brooks and Shields. Thank you. This includes Judy.

Thanksgiving month — November 12, 2020

56. After another invigorating Zoom with emerita colleagues, Joy and I went to Harrison Center for the Arts. These Covid days we don’t attend First Friday shows, but we wanted to see Kyle Ragsdale’s latest work. His artistic sensibility leaves me in awe. While he works in modes one might define as well beyond post-modernism …

I connect more fully with his nature studies.

57. The ponytail palm loves the southern window.

58. Fig Newtons — for me, bliss bites.

59. This morning’s heavy frost and this evening’s chill were aye votes for an evening patio fire.

60. And a bedtime cartoon sent this evening from Del.

Thanksgiving month — November 11, 2020

51. Although I am conscientiously opposed to participating in war, and although wars do not seem to solve anything permanently, yet today — Memorial Day — I think of those millions who have died in battle.

52. The morning walk with Roger takes us through the beautiful southern sector of Irvington.

53. It’s a lot cooler today, but I don’t see any leaves shivering even though some of them to catch southern rays.

54. Not a pain at all to move indoors and more particularly into the office in the basement, that’s decorated by art from family members.

55. Thank you Governor for the new restrictions that may help Indiana reduce Covid deaths.

Thanksgiving month — November 10

46. I am grateful for the work of  Circle City Clubhouse. My friend Jay Brubaker directs this program that helps people with mental illness to recover meaningful and productive lives. This morning Jay led a zoom fundraiser.                                                                        

     

47.  How pleasant to have grandson Ben with us at breakfast. Baked French toast, 
smoked turkey, fruit and coffee. After hefty conversation Ben helped get storm
windows down from the high garage shelf. Before he left he said, “Call me when you need help.”

48. I came in from final autumn garden work exhausted, needing time to rest. How fortunate am I to be able to do physical work. I love to work, to work hard. What you see in the photo below is a former canna bed, now covered with leaves and stems.

49. James recently lost a beloved brother-in-law and a sister; now another brother contracted the virus and is in a coma. Yet another sister is near death. He and I shared a patio communion (beer) late afternoon.

50. Interests change. I do not use television much. But I delight in Atlantic magazine, Google News, New York Times, Politico and several newsletters including a keen farm report (daily). And books.