Crawlies

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for One Deep Breath ~ Haiku Journal

North of Summer, A Decade of Poetry available at Lulu Publishing

Coeur d'Alene Loses Service

Coeur d'Alene faced another loss this month. Its only full-service gas station closed.

Many people with a wide assortment of impairments cannot perform those seemingly simple duties offered by a full-service gas station attendant.

Each withdrawal of such a service takes a new toll on people who are already challenged by daily living.

I wonder if there is a gas station in town that could offer full service on one day (or more) each week by hiring an intern or a church teen. Or maybe a car wash that could offer a full-service gas pump.

Strangely, a driver can remain in his car to gather dry cleaning, truck through a car wash, pick up bread and a cup of soup, bank, pick up prescriptions and attend church sermons, but must get out of his car to perform basic car requirements. Strange indeed!

If you've not yet walked in these shoes, congratulations! When it happens to you, may there be more options than there are now.

It's That Kind of Day

The dawn sneaks in
despite a wink of moon,
shadows of silence
gather early birdsong
before the wailing sirens cry.
I count on my fingers
several times around
to place each one I know.
Several are beyond my tally.
Fear sprays the shut of day
and still I listen for
that other shoe.



The Next View, watercolor by Sue

North of Summer, A Decade of Poetry available at Lulu Publishing

Surf Lurkers at Depot Bay

Perched on the sea wall with my legs dangling in the warm sun, my mind drifted with the seaweed as the ocean tide took it out, brought it back.

The Pacific Coast Highway runs along the ocean where diagonal parking brings car bumpers to the sea wall. The east side of the widened two lane road is commercially developed, chock-full of sole proprietors’ tiny shops offering memories to go and several small restaurants with superb fresh seafood. At the south edge of town lies a well protected harbor where sport fishing boats dock to disgorge the days catch.

Depot Bay has its own gray whale that returns year after year to entertain the locals and visitors with breaching and snorting plunges. I watched carefully for the water spout that would mark his presence and at the same moment the spray came, a sedan’s doors slammed behind me with the startling racket common to overactive teenagers.

Two middle-aged couples approached me as my heartbeat returned to regular and I saw they were in a hurry with miles to go before sundown.

‘What’s that?’ They yelled in my nearby ear while pointing at the surfbound seaweed.

Before I could tell them, the devil took my tongue and said, ‘Those are octopuses. It’s mating season. You’re lucky to be here today. Very few folks have seen this.’

‘Wait til we tell ‘em back home, ‘they yelped and with one more glance at the seaweed, they re-entered their car. Four slams later they burned rubber to get underway to the next exotic view.

I looked back at the whale, shrugged and laughed as I imagined them telling their friends of witnessing nocturnal octopuses mating in broad daylight in the tide of Depot Bay.

Fib 'n a Fractal

pines
swing
move with
morning breeze
sling pollen and seed
rouse membranes to spasm'd sneezing

Fractal created in Fractal Explorer by Sue

Think Geek Dot Com

I don’t know about you, but I’m wild about gadgets. I love robots. I prefer the kind that work. I’m crazy about possibility and not so fond of reality.

Today I opened a box, delivered by the UPS lady, from thinkgeek and found a water-powered clock. I read the directions -- add water (or coffee, soda, Gatorade, beer or any thin liquid). Water? I poured a little tap water into the cylinders on back of the clock and watched the date and time appear in the face. Wow! I read further and went on to set the clock to the appropriate time. Amazing!

The next item in the small box was a T-shirt claiming, ‘blogito, ergo sum’ and as I giggled, a packing slip with greetings cropped up. ‘Hi Gramma, I hope you like this geeky stuff. Love ya, Bre.’ The kid with whom I share the new and unknowable had sent me a gift straight from the incredibly fun thinkgeek site.

Here’s a picture of the clock… The booklet advises that the water cylinders on back of the clock can hold flowers as well, so if something blooms in my yard I’ll have décor for this incredible time keeper.

Thanks, Bre!!! I love it. Can you see I’m wearing the Blogito T? No? I’ll send you a pic. Let me know when you find the magic cell that fuels cars with water or beer.

Titan

Crossed by acid rain
hand rubbed ego
sheds a copper patina,
hovers over crowberries
and ornamental plum.

The age-neutered titan
in time-worn dreams
remakes his past
divorces doowop tunes,

fog settles in the valley
upturns quantum cells
grants the mist of passing.


Copper Spring, Abstract Watercolor by Sue ~ Books and art available at Lulu Publishing

Haiku Trio and Fractal

red canvas
puffs with summer breeze
blowfish yearns

childlike game
summer peeks, then hides
spring's bluster

government
gone mad, spins a web
no retreat

fractal by Sue, created in Fractal Explorer


Tumblewords' fractal, haiku, poetry books available at Lulu Publishing

Mobius Chamber

Eternity’s flimsy veil
blurs the stairs of likely
and Chessie cat kicks ash
over dulling bones.
Forever stops here
quiets Cassandra
when silence waltzes
on this cusp of Friday.

Sunday Daisy, Digital Photo by Sue

A Near Year of Tumblewords Blog AND North of Summer - available here

Open Letter to USPS

Dear USPS

You say it's not your fault that four checks I mailed from one of your lovely royal blue collection stations didn't arrive at its intended destination. They disappeared into space much as missing e-mails might but without a spam folder to search.

Questions to local supervisors reveal there's no way to trace these missives unless they were certified. Okay, maybe I got a little querulous when I suggested that Star Wars containers, always new images on a bazillion stamps and wild-about-consumers TV advertising have taken your eye off the ball. You say these things are necessary for competition. Competition? Who?

Last week, I took a homemade CD enclosed in a birthday card to the postal substation for delivery to Hayden and found the new rates increased that few mile trip by more than one-hundred per cent because CD's don't bend. In early May, CDs were easily sent by regular overpriced first class mail. Did they bend then?

What is it, exactly, that you self-proclaimed heroes of hail, sleet and snow want?

I know what I want. When I send mail, I expect it to be delivered or sent back to my return address. When I ask why it wasn't, I expect a straightforward answer and a resolution. How many times will I re-write checks, cancel payment, pay increased credit card rates before I take everything online?

Am I the only one? Are others experiencing this lack of follow-through?

Signed,
Disgruntled