Dialog

hey a door . . . lets go through

looks scary over there

but theres flowers

just remember the last time

wasnt that bad, we only died once!

true, but I didnt like it

but here we are safe and sound once again

lets keep it that way

im goin in

bye



Wild Garden Gate
by Ginger Cook
A Houston artist who uses stucco
and other media for a nice depth-effect

Bent

Bend I will if bend I can
said the sapling tree
to the asking man

But once arched
beyond a yield point
permanent distortion remembered
the reasons forgotten:

seeking the light
faded hopes
broken friends
pointless deaths
missed chances

weight of endless time


Entropy is taken
dissipated like skittering leaves in the spreading wind

a permanent tell

Solace

Something warmer is called for: Mortlake Terrace oil by JMW Turner (1775-1851)
Mortlake is a London suburb on the Thames river and looked to be a peaceful place back in 1827.
Those are lime trees along the walkway with what I believe is ivy growing up the trunk for the wrapped effect. I always think of the colors being muted yellows in the olden days because you rarely see a bright blue sky in the old depictions. I just read that he pasted the dog cutout into the scene since it added interest and he was rushed to get the painting to a showing. Those could be people in the background? May have to visit the National Museum in DC to be sure.



Thanks rdg

Icy Fracture

What you don't like to see the morning after the power goes

out during an ice storm. A corner pole in back of this one
also was broken off near the ground.
14,000 houses were affected in the county, we for four days. Fortunately we had heat with a Canadian fireplace insert which uses outside air for combustion and inside logs for heat; of course the fan didn't work and heat was mostly by convection. Cooked on a coleman stove with window cracked for a little ventilation (these stoves are still not ready for prime time, in my opinion!). Light by candle in every room (carry matches), reading with kerosene lamp (keep fresh kerosene) and a coleman lamp hanging outside the window from the deck roof. Enough for some scrabble with light shining through the dining room window.
Note to self: get one of those 1.6 gallon flush toilets---carrying water from the lake in 5 gallon buckets to flush the john gets real old.
The main survival problem was keeping the tropical-fish warm. A normal 75°F water temperature quickly fell to 60° and would have continued down had I not added warm water and heated the tank front with the campstove. Still, 62° is chilly if you are a fish and used to waters off the coast of malaysia. Thus: three fish (lost one through PTSD I suspect), four ducks, five pigeons, two dogs, one cat, and two souls, depending on how you define "souls", survived for another day.
So now its cleanup time with nary a tree unaffected. Broken branches everywhere including still up in the trees. Natural pruning; we'll see what results.
Nearby local town of 14,000 decides to burn its branches rather than the logical solution of chipping the stuff up for mulch and recycling. Well: we never claimed to be ahead of the curve environmentally here in midwest U.S. . . . In fact we don't claim to be ahead of the curve environmentally here in U.S. , for the most part. What canya do?