Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them. And, as promised, a poem. This one is by Dorothy Parker: Comment Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, A medley of extemporanea; And love is a thing that can never go wrong; And I am Marie of Roumania.

The rain and cold temps continue. It was unfortunate that the icy weather ruled the day yesterday; only three people attended my book launch. It was okay, though. We had a nice conversation about things all throughout and after. And the Coop put out nice pastries and coffee, and I got to take home a pretty vase of tulips as well. I sold one book! All in all, not too bad. Now that the book launches are done, I can focus on other things. April is National Poetry Month, and I want to rededicate myself to the creative process. I will write a draft every day. They won't amount to much, at least at first, but a steady date with the Muse is required in order to get anything written. And I have not written diddly squat except this blog and cranky social media posts in a very long time. I have books to review, too. Time to get back at it and stop mourning the news cycle. My summer weeks are filling up, too. I have registered for the AP Summer Institute that will take up five days straight i...

It's raining and 31 degrees. I'll be watching church on the livestream today; I don't like ice, and every road to the church is a hill. Seems like a metaphor of some sort, but I'm not really ready to plumb the depths of that one. That said, my book launch is still on for later today; it's supposed to warm up and just be rain. I sure hope so. I don't want anyone to risk driving in bad weather, and I don't want to reschedule (not sure I could, anyhow)-- so, we'll leave that up to fate. Have you ever bought a new article of clothing for an event, and then it doesn't happen? I have a pretty new sweater for today. I hope I get to wear it. In the meantime, I'm just trying to wake up. I did a ton of house stuff yesterday, and today I'm feeling a little groggy. I also binge-watched a series on Netflix; Mid-Century Modern . Now, I like Nathan Lane, and I loved Linda Lavin (her last work was this show). It was okay--not great, some funny bits, but I pr...

I am so glad I decided to get groceries yesterday afternoon. Typically, I don't like doing that on Fridays; I'm tired, and there's a bunch of people I have to navigate around clustering in the aisles. I much prefer Saturday mornings. That said, the predicted snow is upon us, four inches already and snowing hard. Yuck. I'll be home all day, and that, my friends, is fine by me. I have some smallish chores to do anyhow-- vac/dust/wash floors/fold laundry... domestic orderliness.  I may watch a movie. I may read. I will likely do both. I might send out some poems. I already cleared my academic desk pretty much this week, so I don't have grading stacked up. I'm hoping that this weather yuck clears so that my in-person book launch party at the Coop goes okay tomorrow. I would like that off my mental desk, as well. Fun, yes, but it's time to move on and do some new things.  I've procrastinated a whole bunch on getting into the next poetry collection I'm sup...

Ahh, spring.  About 2:30 this morning, I woke up-- what is that smell??  Yeah, a skunk had discharged right beside the house. O my goodness. The lingering aroma still permeates the first floor. I'm just grateful I was able to get back to sleep.  It's not as cold this morning-- almost 30 degrees-- but we have some sloppy weather coming in, according to the forecast. I'm grateful for forecasts, actually. And now that the accuracy and availability of those prognostications is under threat, I'm curious just how things are going to work. Yes, we can look out the window, but longer range planning might get a bit tricky.  The effects on business, on travel, on just about every aspect of commerce and daily life will be felt keenly if we have to subscribe to a service in order to get warnings of extreme weather events. I see X is on the spot for this, too-- shouldering their way into NOAA, and monetizing every damned thing in sight. Couple that with the proposed (and POTUS-ap...

It's unusual for G's bees to make it through these north country winters, but somehow, at least at the moment, one of his hives survived. He's feeding the bees; there are no blooming things for them to forage, and the temps have dipped back into the 30s and 40s for daytime highs. Ah, March. What a tease. The other two hives did not make it, but they are chock full of honey. It's been a good many years since we've had any to process, jar, and sell, but we have a few, and it's a lovely amber glow in little half-pint jars.  We certainly do not process honey to make any real money on it, but I've already promised out three of the first five jars. Local honey is good for you, especially if you have allergies, and this is the least-processed form: G takes chunks of laden comb, puts it in a hand press, and lets it drip into a bowl. The process reminds me of Keats' " To Autumn ," where he, speaking of a "cyder press" says, " with patient...