Saturday, December 8, 2007

A World War Two Reminiscence

On the day after Pearl Harbor Day (remembering December 7, 1941), here is a WWII reminiscence in limerick form:

I once dated a young bombardier.
(He aimed bombs from a plane, near the rear.)
World War Two was our worry,
But we felt no hurry
All summer, that long-ago year.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Fall Porcine Reminiscence

Reminded of summer and fall days over half a century ago by the present warm fall weather, I'm moved to share--though, reckon I should tell this?--my recollections of a little red pig and an electric fence.

Maple_Tree_on_a_Foggy_Morn_treatment_by_Joe_Russo_110106-1

Twice during our married life my husband and I kept hogs, and both times we began with young shoats who were just past weaning stage.

The first time, we were living out in the country, renting a farm house and adjacent acreage. The pigs were to help out with the food budget, as were the laying hens and the large vegetable garden. We were in our mid-20s, plenty of energy.

Being a substation electrician, my husband naturally chose to surround half a wooded acre with electric fencing. Besides the corn and supplement we were feeding, the pigs had the fallen acorns and hickory nuts, and, of course, a watering trough.

All went well with the three little pink pigs, but that little red pig persisted in jumping the fence. The shock he got when his little back legs hit the wire did not deter him from trying again, once we had caught him and put him back with his brothers. The hickory nuts were simply bound to be more delicious on the other side, I guess he was thinking, and he was wandering farther and farther.

By the time of his last jump he was too fast to catch and was rapidly making for the crest of the ridge. My husband had just come in from bird hunting. He raised the shotgun and peppered that little pig's behind.

Pigs are smart. Reddy immediately turned around, high-tailed it home, and jumped back into the enclosure, squealing all the way. I was quite shocked to see my husband shoot him, but he really was a farm-raised boy and knew that the small shot at that distance would not do the little pig much damage.

So, along with his brothers the little red pig lived out his allotted time. They were duly slaughtered, and the hams and shoulders were salt-cured in the country manner for 12 months. We took one of the hams to my parents' home the following Christmas, and my mother served slices of it for breakfast, with fried eggs, biscuits, red-eye gravy, sliced tomatoes, and peach preserves.

My father—farm-raised himself, a big man with a hearty appetite—had a whole slice on his plate. As he cut into it, three tiny little birdshot rolled out towards his eggs. "Son," he said, "this hog's been shot."

By happenstance, we were having one of the little red pig's hams for that Christmas breakfast.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Rags to Riches, Belmont Stakes Winner

It's been a week now since
the filly Rags to Riches
outdistanced Preakness winner
Curlin in a heart-stopping
flank-to-flank
full-out gallop
down the home stretch of
the Belmont Park
race track.

She was the first filly
in 102 years to win this
third jewel in
thoroughbred racing's
Triple Crown, and--
to further show the brilliance
of her achievement--she
is one of only 22
fillies ever to have
been entered in
the 139-year history
of the prestigious
Belmont Stakes.

Tanya took the prize in 1905,
and Ruthless won in 1867.

John Velasquez rode
Rags to Riches--a
beautiful chestnut filly,
with a white blaze
on her face--to the
thrilling finish.

Curlin had been the
favorite at post time,
and, further to make
Rags to Riches seem
a long shot to win,
she stumbled as
she left the starting
gate.

But she soon caught
up and ran the race
about the middle of
the pack until
the home stretch,
when she put on
the burst of speed
that brought the
cheering crowd of
fans to their feet
until well after
she had crossed
the finish line.

Street Sense,
the Kentucky Derby
winner, did not
enter the Belmont Stakes,
after losing
the Preakness to Curlin.

His next upcoming
scheduled race
is the Saratoga.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Street Sense Bows Out

The fine 2007 Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense,
will not race in the Belmont Stakes.

Having been narrowly defeated
in the Preakness by Curlin,
he would have no chance
at the Triple Crown.
Therefore, his next big race
will be the Saratoga.

Jockey Calvin Borel
made a brilliant ride
aboard this beautiful,
graceful black thoroughbred
in May.

Good luck to Street Sense in all his future
races and in all his equine life.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Amusing Amazon blooper

To read about an amusing mistake on the website of a favorite place from which to order on-line, go to:

Zuihitsu

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Mother's Day

To all mothers everywhere,
I wish a very happy day,
today,
tomorrow (Sunday, May 13)
and all the days of
their lives.

Tulips Beneath the Crabapple Tree

Photo © 2005 by Mary.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Kentucky Derby Day

Queen Elizabeth II
of England,
and her husband,
Prince Philip, will attend
the "Run for the Roses" at
Churchill Downs in Louisville,
Kentucky, this afternoon.

This is the first of three
races by thoroughbred horses
held in May-June every year--
the other two being the
Preakness and the
Belmont Stakes.
The winner of all three
receives the "Triple Crown."

The Nashville, Tennessee,
Steeplechase races are
also being held on this
Saturday morning,
May 5, 2007. The royal
visitors may fit
attendance at this
event into their
schedule, too.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Mid-April Honeysuckle

Here is a close-up of some honeysuckle blossoms by the back fence. They were fully bloomed out on the morning of April 18.

April Honeysuckle Near the Back Yard Fence

I have to confess that they are so small that I could not get zoomed in enough to frame the image as I've presented it here. I cropped the surrounding vines and blossoms heavily when I processed the photo in an image editor.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Photos from a Gifted Professional Photographer

There are some accomplishments
that a person can only aspire to.
Creating images as beautiful as
those of the blogger who writes
zuihitsu
falls in that category. Click
on the link above to view some
of the loveliest images of spring
flowers that you will ever see.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Blue Iris Bud, Saturday Morning Before Easter

Blue Iris on the Day Before Easter, 2007

This iris planting is under
a crabapple tree and exposed
to the wind on three sides.

Perhaps that's why the hard freeze
on the night of April 7, 2007,
blasted the blue iris bud, while
the yellow iris under the concrete
block wall survived.

To see the photo I took of the
yellow iris bud, go to my other
blog, the link for which is just
to the right of this post.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Easter Dandelion

Here's a dandelion,
gone to seed
among the iris
blades.

Just the thing
to make an Easter
wish upon!

Dandelion in Iris Bed

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Meticulous Mary

Ha!

I'm doing better with the camera.

Got my settings right and
turned the dial to the right place
and thoroughly enjoyed
what I captured by
meticulously
paying attention!

Dogwood, March 7, 2007

Dogwood Blossoms

Tulip, March 7, 2007

Tulip Under the Crabapple Tree

Friday, March 23, 2007

Camera settings

I took my Canon G2 digital
camera out the other day,
set it on close-up,
and snapped a lot of
pictures of spring flowers
like daffodils
and tulips.

Was so intent on looking
through the view finder,
neglecting to check the
image in the view screen,
that I failed to notice that
I had accidentally
clicked into Manual
mode when I switched the
camera on.

Lost all the daffodil pics
by this negligence. The
Manual settings were
not right for the daylight
close-ups I was making.

Well, a typical goof, for me.
But perhaps the memory
of it will help me to avoid
making that mistake
any more this year.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

OEDILF partially restored

The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php --it's back up, with only a few weeks of posts lost, and a few months of comments missing from the data base.

Virge, the programmer who volunteers his time to the care and maintenance of the site, worked heroically all weekend. The forum is running and the little community of limerick writers is posting more strongly than ever.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Peace

I'm resigned to
going on DLS
Sunday morning at
2:00 a.m.

An interesting blog
that got my mind off
this is at:
http://petersheil.livejournal.com/

Lots of great quotes
and comments
to bring one
some peace--
at least,
a small portion
of peace
at a time.
:)

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Daylight Saving

What a cockeyed idea!
Changing the clock
doesn't change
how many hours there are
between sunrise and sunset.
No daylight saved.

I hate this twice yearly
clock changing. It plays
heck with the body's clock.
Jet lag without the jetting!

That's today's
confession from me.

And now, the evil time
is upon us:
Sunday, March 11, 2007.

Congress sneaked this
"three weeks earlier"
time change in on us
two years ago, and
this is the year it
kicks in.

Like a kick
in the stomach,
the teeth,
or the body-clock.

Won't save any
daylight--or
any oil, IMO.

/Light Rant

Thursday, March 1, 2007

History Tutorial from a 7th Grader

It's here:
http://ancienthistorybuff.blogspot.com/

Justin's "Ancient History" blog.

No, not the Emperor Justinian, but the monarch of his turf, nevertheless.

What a shock to this old retired
schoolteacher to find out that
some of her favorite reading
is written by
a couple of young kids.

But I guess it figures--
I've always enjoyed
the younger crowd.

Justin says he's in
the 7th grade.

And Jeff, my other
favorite young blogger,
with his
"A Limerick A Day,"
says he's in 9th grade.

http://alimerickaday.blogspot.com/

Keep up the good work, Justin and Jeff!

You're both a delight to read,
in your own unique ways,
and I hope you'll be up
and running for many years
ahead.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

A Green Shade

"Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green shade."

From:

The Garden by Andrew Marvell

(Click on the words above to read the whole poem.)

In the Holly Trunk's Shade

No fair flowers or tree-buds are showing themselves on these mild late February days. So I wanted to write something about all the green shoots against sheltering walls and tree trunks: the tiny grass-like stems of grape hyacinths, the new blades preparing for the showy iris.

Green Iris in Green Shade

And up popped Andrew Marvell's line, except I couldn't remember from whom, from when, from where. (That's the confession part of this Winter Confession.)

Blessings on the Google search engine--found "The Garden" in two tries on the search words "a green shade poetry."

And right away I was in a 17th century landscape.

As good a place to escape to as any, I reckon.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

An On-Line Birth Announcement

Welcome to the world, Little Sam!

No, I'm not kinfolks,
or even a neighbor--
just one of your father's
recently acquired
blogger-neighbors,
and already a friend.

So I'm posting the link
to your birth announcement,
where everyone
can see your photo,
here:

Smart People in a Stupid World

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Clickable Links

I did a Google search and found a useful looking site:

Ez HTML

This is the main page
of the site,
but from there you can
navigate to the
instructions for making
clickable links.

Right-click on
the bold pink words,
above,
and choose
"open in a new window"
if you want to keep
"reckon i should tell this"
open while you're checking
out Ez HTML.

So, let's see if I've understood the instructions given there for making
a clickable link.

Mary's Musings

Yay!

It works.

Do a right-click on
Mary's Musings
with your mouse
and choose "open in a new window"
if you would prefer to keep
"reckon i should tell this"
open on your browser
as well as
"Mary's Musings."

Happy clicking,
and
Happy Valentine's
Day
to all who celebrate
it on February 14.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Too Many Named Mary

Really!

Try a Google search on 
the word "Mary."

Doubt that I'd even 
be visible among all the 
other straws
in the haystack.

Well, okay, I confess.
I was curious and did that
search.

Upshot: I decided to
begin this new blog.

Because I actually found
a double to my blog,
"Mary's Musings."

Seems to be a nice double,
too, although not very active
at the present time.

Here's the link--you'll have to 
copy-and-paste it--
to my own Mary's Musings,
which has been,
up to now,
pretty active.

http://mary-marysmusings.blogspot.com/

Next on my to-do list:
Learning to make clickable links. 

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