3X17=51 Hmmm

Here’s a 3-Song Playlist I put together for personal reasons just for today.

Desperately Seeking Annette

Leap and a net will appear.

Today I leaped [leapt? -- nah...].

I have been in Florida long enough. I moved here for the job. The job has been getting increasingly frustrating and decreasingly fulfilling. It’s no longer enough to keep me here. And my family has wanted me to return to Kentucky ever since I left. So today I turned in my resignation.

Given the current economy you might well think I must be crazy to become voluntarily unemployed. [As if you needed another reason to think I'm crazy.] That’s right, not only have I quit, I don’t yet have another job lined up. And I’ll have to sell my house down here. And… and… and… there is just so much more that I am overwhelmed.

Still, scary as it is, it feels right.

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. ~Robert Frost

P.S. For you sticklers [like YOU, you know] I know the quote I used at the top is usually stated, “Leap and the net will appear.” But that totally would have screwed the pun I wanted to use in the title. And my puns are often more important than total accuracy in quotations.

Fay Wray, King Kong, and Me Me Me

Last summer I went to Glacier National Park in Montana. See the big smile on my face here?

I wrote about the trip and posted some photos, most notably here and here and here. During the journey we passed through the small town of Cardston, Alberta, Canada and I noticed some signs on main street with the name Fay Wray on them.

Turns out, Wray [best known for her role in the 1933 King Kong movie] was born near Cardston and they have some sort of park named in her honor. [Regrettably, our schedule didn't permit an unscheduled stop to explore there.]

Tonight I was watching an episode of Jeopardy and Fay Wray was one of the answers. [I often wonder if celebrities measure their fame in part by when they become an answer on Jeopardy....] I didn’t know that her autobiography was called On the Other Hand. [I learned that in the Jeopardy question.] I just checked Amazon and the book, which got really good reviews, is out of print. [I can buy a used copy for as little as $6.00 though and apparently someone has a new paperback copy they're willing to let go for a mere $129.94 plus $3.99 s&h. Um... no thanks. I'll buy a used one.]

So now I feel like my little otoh blog here is just threee degrees of separation from King Kong. [Imagine me standing and beating my chest with my fists... coughing... sitting down now....]

What?

otoh emerges from a comma

I still have to get through final exams this week but I expect to be posting [ir]regularly again. I’ve missed this place. And I’ll have a special announcement [actually, a few of them, but only one at a time...] really soon!

Wild Blue

Love arrived
from out of the blue
danced a while
and sang

Love departed
leaving
only the blue

Me, the Trees, and the Sky

In my hammock I lie
Just me, the trees, and the sky
I swing in my sling and I try
To salve the sting of goodbye
To halve the us into I
I feel what I feel and I cry
And deal until tears are dry
Bereaved, I heave a sigh
The leaves all whisper, “Why?”
She leaves just me, and I
Am alone with the trees and the sky

A Night at the Animal E.R.

Of course, now she’s trotting alongside the nurse to run some tests. An hour ago she couldn’t stand on her own. I’m glad I had the presence of mind to bring along a book to read. I’ll have gone through five chapters before I leave tonight. Don’t ask me what any of it is about. My eyes scan the words, but my head is elsewhere.

Through the closed door I hear the voice of the receptionist on the phone. “Are you in the car now? Is there someone there with you? Is he still breathing? It’s okay, honey. I need you to calm down. We have to get you here safely and then we can help. Is there someone there with you? Do you know where the exit is? Take a left. It’s okay, honey.”

I wonder, how can this be just another night at work for her? But it must be. Add it to the list of jobs I would hate worse than the one I have. The nurse brings my girl back to me. I remove the muzzle while we wait for test results. I look into brown eyes turned a little cloudy with age. Trusting eyes. Loving eyes. Eyes that have been glad to see me every. single. day. for nearly 14 years. Astounding.

“I’m not ready to let you go,” I tell her. She thumps her tail a couple times and then lies on the tile floor. I go back to staring at the pages of my book. And we wait.

The doctor shows me the EKG printout. Her heart is beating irregularly. “The chambers are like dancers listening to different songs,” he says. The familiar lub-DUB lub-DUB lub-DUB is reduced to lub-lub-lub-DUB lub-lub…DUB. Meanwhile my heart is beating wildly. We don’t know what causes it. Drugs are rarely effective in treating it. There are pacemakers. [Dog pacemakers. Really?]

I promise to make an appointment with her regular doctor. There’s nothing more we can do tonight. Come on, baby. Let’s go home.

The Elephant in the Room

There’s a series being published over on Vox Poetica called “Aspects of the Elephant.” It’s a poetic look at various viewpoints on love. You really should be reading it. And not just because one of my poems, Words on a Wire, is scheduled to be up there today. [But, if you want to use that as an excuse to check it out, who am I to complain?] It will be on the Today’s Words page today and then moves to the Poemblog page.

Vox Publishes Me Too

Well, I didn’t expect to have these announcements on two consecutive days. My poem “Reach” is now on Vox Poetica. It will be on the Today’s Words page today and then moves to the Poemblog page. I’m in such good company there too so make sure you take time to read some of the other great work when you visit.

POW, I’m Published

My microfiction piece “Valentia” was just published on Pow Fast Flash Fiction. Woo hoo!

Go look. And make sure you take the time to read the other fine fine work over there.