Chartreuse and Shadows

Lilting lilac laughs and peppers down
Her golden morsels, feeding upturned faces,
Fresh and frothy, Peeking through the
Melting mists of nature’s chilly robe.

Morning shadows shiver and slide
Beneath the mossy mirth,
As chartreuse shines and shimmers,
Kissing the golden droplets.

Delicious, dancing pulses beat
To move my slippered toes
And tread among the mist-kissed
Chutes unfurling to nature’s song.

Ah, no, a dream, perhaps a promise,
That wakens in the dark as Midnight’s
Chilly curtain draws itself away, revealing
Icy fingers to clutch another day.

JB 01/28/07

IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS

Thirty six years on Monday - that means the old man and I have known each other a bit over 37 years. There are few who have known or cared for me any longer. I am always a bit sentimental this time of year and cannot resist looking backwards at the trail of life behind me.

My mind is flooded with memories and the images are of skinnier days and laughing girls and my wonderful Hero Honey who wrapped my life and limbs in his. I love this man and am grateful and consider myself lucky that God let me blindly stumble into that relationship.

The first time he remembers seeing me was at TCU. He was visiting a mutual friend and I was bounding across a field between the Music Building and my dorm, racing to tell the mutual friend the news about the choir list and who didn't make it. He thought I was a funny little thing, racing across campus and hollering about something nonsensical. But he actually saw me 3 months earlier, when our eyes met, I felt a jolt, and I knew he was going to be mine.

It is funny how I knew that and it stayed with me. Though he will tell you I did, I did NOT ask him to marry me. I didn't have to coerce him. He fell for me too, but I think it was not until he heard me sing that he lost his independence, in March the following spring. He says he sat there and couldn't believe that sound came from that little girl and he was sold.

I know you know this history, you who have known and shared all my inner thoughts. But I keep coming back to this thread that runs through my life. The enchantment of finding someone with whom you can laugh, and scream, love and hate, and still stay tethered by that magical bond that reasserts and reinvents itself, stronger each time, still amazes me. We have the most incredible ability to talk and study and together manage to comprehend the changes that life presents - our babies, their childhood, teenagers, young women, young mothers, his retirement, my insanity, and of course the electronic age!

Too, I have decided that what really exists between us is not magic but our mutual determination that what we have is worth repeating, and saving, and recommitting on a regular basis. It is not hard to stay together - the magic reasserts itself periodically because we want to have magic. It is a stronger drug than any we could ingest or smoke or guzzle. There is no feeling like reaching this height of the mountain and realizing that you have a partner who knows when and where you are going to stumble and is willing to push-pull you up the path.

I love you, Mikey, in all that that encompasses. That word is all I can say and it is NEVER enough.

It's a Beginning

January 17, 2007

Well, here goes. Welcome to B-Days. I have started this space at the urging of my two wonderful daughters, who are afraid their mother is allowing herself to age too quickly. One says "Get a Blog - post your writings". The other says "Let's work out, Ma!" So I know they think I am on the downward slide into reverting to dust!

I will use this as a journal, reporting my writings and my workout plan - how's that? And from time to time I will post some pictures for your enjoyment. I have to admit I find the possibilities to be somewhat stimulating and a good alternative to staring at the tv or sleeping. Ok let's try this on for size.

Housebound

We are in the midst of the worst ice-storm Central Texas has seen in quite a while. Most of us have been housebound for 4 and a half days. Mike and I are lucky, we think. We went to the store before it got bad and hauled in enough food to keep us fed for a week. We have been hangin' in the kitchen trying out heart healthy recipes and he has enough leftovers to last until I return from work in 2-3 days...that is if I even get to go to work this week. The temperature has not risen above 28 degrees for 4 days now and doesn't look like it will make it today, either.

We have been entertaining ourselves appropriately, with several bottles of inexpensive but tasty red wine and lot's of nintendo 64 Mario Brothers, a good book and lots of cooking. I have been dashing outdoors in my flannel pajamas and wool coat to photograph snowflakes as they appeared and this morning we have a healthy array of icycles hanging from the roof and various yard objets d'art. There is a smattering of snow and ice on the ground across the slough and the heated air in the house carries a constant chill as though the heating system just does not know what to make of this event.

Phoebe twinkle-toed down the steps for her morning constitutional and tried to squat in her usual place, with her feet on the grass and her back legs hovering over the sidewalk brick. She paused for only a moment, allowing her puzzlement to take over and lead her tottering off to the side of the porch, where she usually can find a nice area of gravel that doesn't disturb her underbelly when she dips to relieve herself. This, too was rather unsatisfying for her, since the gravel was covered with a layer of ice and she kept skidding and sniffing to figure it out. Mission finally accomplished, she hopped on the porch and pranced into the house, proud of her success.

The weatherman still maintains that we shall not rise above freezing until just before the sun sets and the temperatures start to plummet again, so I will remain at home today, I guess. And I will hope that tomorrow the sun will rise and melt the ice so I can escape this cave for something a bit more stimulating. I mean, I love being home, of course, but being housebound for so long has dulled the senses somewhat, can you tell?

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