Irene Latham's Blog, page 137

ONE DOOR A DAY

Our Dream House...until our dream changed. :)
I did lots of painting in that house too... and I
still wear the same painting attire 20 years later.
Yay for scrubs! So, on the topic of the joys of home ownership: the other day I heard a dripping noise, just as I settled in my favorite chair to write. I got up to investigate and discovered a crack along the entire left side of the toilet in our half-bathroom. I shut off the water and mopped up with towels.

Later, my husband I went shopping for a new toilet. Who knew there were so many varieties! And me feeling time-crunched... so we pointed and picked and brought our new baby home.

When the plumber came to install it, he was pulling the old toilet off the wood flooring when a terrible odor invaded the house. He, in his gloved hands, poked around, and said, um, I can stick my finger through this flooring. No new toilet until the flooring is replaced.

Turns out, those three little boys who all potty-trained on that toilet? Well. They left behind enough of their "misses" to irreparably damage the wood! This should tell you something about my housecleaning. Hmm. In my defense:

"a clean house is the sign of a dull woman."

SO... next we had to decide on new flooring, which we did, which had to be ordered.

Meanwhile, I decided I wanted to paint the walls. Which I did. Which revealed how long it had been since we painted the trim.

THAT led to a gallon of trim paint, a new angled brush, and my new mission: paint a door a day (and the surrounding trim). It's only an hour of my day... and in a month, we'll be all spruced up around here!

Bonus Flashback Photo:
Potty-training days!

Movie Monday: THE WAY WAY BACK

So it's been a while since I've posted a Movie Monday -- not because I haven't been going to the movies, but because I haven't seen anything lately worth blogging about.

That's right: I save this space for only the movies that really REALLY speak to me. THE WAY WAY BACK is one of those movies. We took the whole family to see it, and it seemed to hit a chord with each of us. Why?

Well, without giving too much away, it's about Duncan. He's 14. He's the unwilling participant in a summer trip that's been orchestrated by Trent, the man who is dating his mother. This man is the King of Say the Right Thing But Do the Opposite. Duncan is on to him and doesn't understand why his mother isn't.

Duncan escapes the awfulness by taking a job at a local water park where he meets true friends (Owen! LOVE HIM. There is this moment at the beginning of the movie where he does the most unexpected and telling thing... I want to be more like Owen!) and learns a lot, and yes, there's a little romance involved. But mostly it's about a kid finding a way to create a good life in the midst of circumstances beyond his control. Funny moments, sweet moments, break-your-heart moments. Go see!

SCAFFOLDING by Seamus Heaney

image found hereHello and happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit fantasy-loving, postcard-sending, poetry-writing/teaching Laura at Author Amok for roundup.

Such sadness to hear of Seamus Heaney's death. So many of his poems speak to me... my favorite perhaps ever is from his Glanmore Sonnets. Scroll down to "X." LOVE.
When I read that his last words were a text that included a Latin phrase for "Do not be afraid," it reminded me of this poem. And then I read about a gift he'd given to a newly engaged couple and simply had to share for PF! Listen to Seamus reading the poem here.... and here's to poets performing unexpected kindnesses.Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,Are careful to test out the scaffolding;
Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.
And yet all this comes down when the job’s doneShowing off walls of sure and solid stone.
So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to beOld bridges breaking between you and me
Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fallConfident that we have built our wall.

GONE WITH THE WIND SKY

I took these pics in my neighborhood, and okay, this sky is more pink than red, but the silhouette-at-sunset totally reminds me of Tara, and of Scarlett's father telling her the value of land, and of Scarlett vowing never to go hungry again.
Also, this, after a busy start to the school year:
"I am restored in beauty, I am restored in beauty, I am restored in beauty."- Navajo prayer

I'LL BE CHARMED

Our youngest son wanted to start a business. He brainstormed all sorts of things and, after our trip to the make-your-own jewelry place in Auburn, Alabama, he settled on making charms for necklaces. He's made some sales at his school and hopes to reach out to a broader audience at his etsy shop: TastefulTrinketry "Nothing But Necklaces"

Here's a pic of his newly-listed pieces, just before we poured in the resin. I bet there's something here you'd like for yourself or a friend!

VALERIE WORTH POEMS ABOUT ODD THINGS

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday. Be sure to visit the every-inspiring Tara at A Teaching Life for Roundup.

Today is the final post in my Valerie Worth summer series. Thanks so much for reading! It's been such fun to share her work with all of you. We'll revisit Valerie with a "fall things" post later in the year, but for now I want to focus on some poems that I found unusual in subject matter, which automatically made them stand out. (Good tip for we who like to write poetry... go for the weird!)







amoeba

Never wondering
What shape to take,
But with a
Slow shrug
Making a start
In any direction,
And then following,
Flowing wholeheartedly
Into the fluid
Mold of the moment.

- Valerie Worth

What to say about amoeba? What an inspiring way to live: "Flowing wholeheartedly/ Into the fluid/ Mold of the moment."

rags

Stuffed away into
An old pillowcase

Dragged forth again
In crumpled clods,

Torn to wash windows
Or tie up tomato plants,

Thrown out at last--
Poor sad gray wads

That once were faithful
                                        Flannel pajamas,

                                        Favorite pink-
                                       Flowered underpants.

                                      - Valerie Worth

As a seamstress, I can attest to the glory and usefulness of rags, otherwise known as "scraps" or a quilter's stash"... love me some rags. :)









telephone poles

Close by,
They're stolid
Stumps, sweating
Black creosote,
Scarred with
Bolts and tin
Numbers, clumsy
Old dolts
Of lumber;

But wandering
Away, they
Lean into
The cloud's
Drift, the
Swallow's slant,
The graceful
Influence of
Grass; and
Lifting up
Their long
Electric lines,
They hand
Them on
And on, in
Gestures of
Exquisite
Gossamer.

- Valerie Worth

Most people would say telephone poles are an eyesore, but no, Valerie worth gives them "Exquisite/ Gossamer." I will never look at another telephone pole without thinking of that bit of unexpected wonder.













soap  bubble

The soap bubble's
Great soft sphere
Bends out of shape
On the air,
Leans, round again,
Rises, shivering, heavy,
A planet revolving
Hollow and clear,
Mapped with
Rainbows, streaming,
Curled: seeming
A world too splendid
To snap, dribble,
And disappear.

- Valerie Worth

How great is "Mapped with/ Rainbows" ?? Perfect!

*All photos today courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Do YOU have any  poems about odd things? Tell me!

STREETLAMP SKY

For as long as we've been married (22 years!) Paul and I have reserved Saturday night as our date night. Usually this involves supper and a movie, as it did last Saturday night. We ate at P.F. Chang's and walked down the gorgeous outdoor staircase that leads from B&N to the fountain (and Sur la Table!) below.... and we took this picture of the streetlamps just coming alive in the darkening sky.

We mosied along, in no particular hurry, as our movie didn't start until 8 pm. Or so we thought... when we got to the theater lobby, the guy said, no, the paper was WRONG! Sadness. We were not able to see Woody Allen's BLUE JASMINE. Maybe next week! (Why oh why didn't we cross check on Fandango? Sigh.)

Oh! Of course I always check the B&N shelves for my books. No sign of Whit, but I did find LEAVING GEE'S BEND face-out on the "New" shelf. Three and a half years old and still new... gotta love it!

THE SKY BETWEEN US

I've just completed an extensive round of edits on my next collection of poems for adults. It's entitled THE SKY BETWEEN US. Rather fitting for my "sky" year, don't you think?!

To give you an idea of what the book is about, here's a word cloud I created from the draft before this one:


Those of you familiar with my work will recognize themes of love, loss and longing... and this collection is strongly rooted in ocean and forest and (yes!) sky. 
The collection actually started in response to photographs from the National Park system archives (originally titled INTO THE WILD CATHEDRAL), but after a number of editors took it to acquisitions meetings only to have it rejected, I took their advice and pulled it away from that photographs, opened it up and let it become what it was always meant to be. 
Don't you love when that happens? 
More on this as the January, 2014 release date approaches!

VALERIE WORTH POEMS ABOUT FARM ANIMALS

Hello and happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Betsy at I Think in Poems for Roundup.

So, farm animals. I may be live in the suburbs, and I may lovelovelove the energy of big cities, but my heart is and always will be in the country. At the start of our marriage, my husband and I tried on the country life with 40 acres, a garden, a chicken coop and goats. Alas, as soon as the children began to arrive, the country girl gave way to the city comforts. I love where we live now, with all its conveniences and don't have any desire to return to country living full-time. I do, however, love to visit! These Valerie Worth poems gave me an opportunity to do just that:

horse

In the stall's gloom
His back, curved
Like a high sofa,
Turns on unseen
Legs, looms closer,
Until his long
Head forms above
The door, his face
Of thin silk over
Bone: to be stroked
Carefully, like
Fine upholstery
On a hard chair.

- Valerie Worth


scene from the movieThere's never in the history of the world been a more horse-loving girl than I was. I knew everything there was to know about horse. I lived and breathed and dreamed and hoped horses. Some of the best hours of my life have been spent in the company of Daisy, Starfire, Rusty, Honey, Cherry, Cinnamon and her foal, Sugar. I've never met a horse book I didn't like, and if I could have traded places with Alec Ramsey on that deserted island with the Black? Oh, I would have, snake and seaweed and sunburn and all. One of these days I'm going to write (another) horse book. (Pretty much all my childhood writing centered around horses!)



cat

The spotted cat hops
Up to a white radiator-cover
As warm as summer, and there,

Between pots of green leaves growing,
By a window of cold panes showing
Silver of snow thin across the grass,

She settles slight neat muscles
Smoothly down within
Her comfortable fur

Slips in the ends, front paws,
Tail, until she is readied,
Arranged, shaped for sleep.

- Valerie Worth

For the love of cats! I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't have a cat. Our current cat-residents are named Maggie (for my paternal grandmother) and Bobby (for my mother-in-law, whose name was Bobbie). 



duck

When the neat white
Duck walks like a toy
Out of the water
On yellow rubber-skinned feet,

And speaks wet sounds,
Hardly opening
His round-tipped wooden
Yellow-painted beak,

And wags his tail,
Flicking the last
Glass water-drops
From his flat china back,

Then we would like
To pick him up, take
Him home with us, put him
Away, on a shelf, to keep.

- Valerie Worth




I have fed lots of ducks in my day, and geese. I can't think of a better way to use up the last of a loaf of white bread! A book that often comes to mind is David Shannon's DUCK ON A BIKE. Leave it to a duck to start a farmyard trend. :)






pig

The pig is bigger
Than we had thought
And not so pink,
Fringed with white
Hairs that look
Gray, because while
They say a pig is clean,
It is not always; still
We like this huge, cheerful,
Rich, soft-bellied beast --
It wants to be comfortable,
And does not care much
How the thing is managed.

- Valerie Worth




Of course, who can think of a pig without thinking of Wilbur in CHARLOTTE'S WEB? Also, I was born in the Year of the Pig, which is considered good fortune. For a long time I was a bit annoyed that I should get "Pig" when I would have chosen a different animal for myself. But, you know, I've grown to love this about myself.



cow

The cow
Coming
Across the grass
Moves
Like a mountain
Toward us;
Her hipbones
Jut
Like sharp
Peaks
Of stone,
Her hoofs
Thump
Like dropped
Rocks:
Almost
Too late
She stops.

- Valerie Worth

I can't think of cows without thinking of my mama. During her childhood she was very involved in 4-H and raised both beef and dairy cattle. Her prize-winning dairy cow was a Jersey cow named Penny. I love this picture of my mom and Penny(with her 4-H sponsor and a slew of awards!):




tractor

The tractor rests
In the shed,
Dead or asleep,

But with high
Hind wheels
Held so still

We know
It is only waiting,
Ready to leap--

Like a heavy
Brown
Grasshopper.

- Valerie Worth

Okay, so this isn't a living farm animal, but it's pretty essential to farm life... and it can be something of a beast. My father has taken some amazing photos of old tractors, most recently in North Dakota (where he lives). Here's one I like a lot:

How do YOU feel about farms and farm life and farm animals?

AND THE GARDEN KEEPS GIVING

One of the great things about living in the south is how the growing season is so very long. Just yesterday, my dear friend Pat brought me more bounty:

homemade salsa!

 okra!

   farm fresh eggs! (don't you just love that teeny tiny one?!)

here it is, a bit closer up:

tomatoes!

green beans! (not one, but 3 piles as big as this one!)
...and that's not even counting the many tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and watermelons (oh LORD, the watermelons this year!) my brother-in-law Carl has given our family. :) 
Eating is SO MUCH MORE FUN this time of year.