Some Of The Pix From The Hardcover Mother’s Day 2020 Photobook I Made For Mom.

“They Took Us In” a poem of gratitude for angels

they took us in like
a doorstep basket baby,

like a hatless hitch-hiker
into a February car.

they anonymously paid our
first and last month’s rent

and keep slipping hundreds
and hamburgers under our door.

we hail from a northern
nation of funny words

and funnier traditions, like
sky painting and snow gambling,

yet, they see something
in us, something similar

to themselves — love maybe
trust, hope, loyalty, goodness

or possibly we remind them
of church supper smiles they
haven’t thought of in years.

~~ end of poem, posted for no other reason than Poetry Rocks, and so do YOU!!

Photo #2 from an hour ago, the pets all facing in my direction to remind me it was almost dinner time.

And since I like threes, one more pic!

Kelly with besties in Dallas last month, just before she was to accept 2 gold medals, first on bars and first on vault.

xoxooxoxoxooxoxoxooxox

p.s. For those of you with whom I don’t do FaceBook / Instagram, the top photo was taken Feb. 22nd, our 23rd wedding anniversary.

“Married Lady” The Lyric

Verse 1
she is a married lady in love with a married man
they are together now daily, you see them holding hands
she writes him cards and letters, he writes her beautiful poems
she packs her wedding dress away and makes their house into a home

married lady with shiny pots and pans
brand new china and decorating plans
married lady…

Verse 2
she is a married lady doing her best each day
with two little boys and a baby, one more on the way
tricycles turn to bicycles, bicycles turn to cars
she sees those babies fly, spread their wings to the stars

married lady with wash on the line
she’s cooking and cleaning all of the time
married lady…

Bridge
everyone who meets her, they all agree nobody is sweeter
she is a special kind of rose that only grows in the springtime
i will never know another
quite as nice as this beautiful lady — she’s my mother

(8 bar bridge of CSNY-esque harmonies)

Verse 3
she is a married lady still in love with that man
now they have three grand babies and she still has decorating plans
fifty-five years gone by now, they’ve been side by side
he’s still writing poems, she still looks like a bride

married lady, her name is Mim
i do appreciate she married him

married lady, the very best lady i know

she is a married lady
in love with a married man…

~~ end of lyric.

Mom and Dad — August 20th, 1959.

So, I wrote that song for Mom, eh, and sang and played it on guitar at her and Dad’s 55th wedding anniversary party this past summer. Cousin Helen took some pix of me presenting it, I’ll have to ask her for those.

As the party danced on, Mom and Sister Rosie treated us to dueling harmonicas.

That’s Dad to Mom’s left.

Earlier we gathered outside.

Now…

as to the first photo in this post… about a week ago Kelly conceptualized, set up and took that photo for her Instagram photography account.

(fyi, she just reached 23K followers on her gymnastics Instagram account!)

But back to this story…

I added my pack of Christmas cards to the mix and took the following… (with not such a good camera as Kelly’s)

(If I still had my working photoshop I’d ‘ve made those art residue stains on the table disappear.) 🙂 Alas, I’ve been technically-sideswiped again by the Universe.

It’s all good tho, eh?

I’ll soon be sending one of those cards to cousin Helen and other dear ones up in Canada Land.

As per the above lyric — true, Mom loves to decorate and redecorate, has ever since I’ve known her. She’s got that special touch.

Here’s the interior of that little porch she and Dad added to their beach cottage a few years ago…

Mind you, Jim, Kelly and I only had THREE days to visit with my side of the family this summer, so running around snapping House & Style photos was not on my mind as much as communing with real humans, and photographing them.

I like the cottage. They bought it in 1979.

Dad’s Christmas pressie from us this year is a framed photo of the 3 grand-babies on the beach.

Mom’s present is an old Wedgwood “Jasper Blue” bowl that’s in this box I wrapped yesterday…

Jim bought the blue bowl and an identical “rosewood” tinted one at a yard sale a few months ago.

Mom loves blue dishes and I rose, so there we go!

My bowl is currently upside-down, used as a shell stand, as you can see.

But here’s how it would probably look if a Normal Person 🙂 owned it ….

(fyi, that’s not spider poop on my shelf — it’s golden sparkles from a votive candle that was sitting there before I snapped the pix.)

Yesterday Kelly chose the following card for Nanny & Poppy…

That’s a shot she took, trying out her new-used Fuji Finepix.

And today — Monday Dec. 8th, 2014 I set out those and other pressies to Canada in my shipping bin, along with my eBay parcels…

So AWESOME I don’t even have to go to the Post Office to mail Internationally! All done online, with labels and customs forms printed out at home, cool!

I’ll be sure to tell Mom & Dad not to look at my blog until after Christmas so their pressies will stay a surprise!

And I’m sure I’ll be posting here again before Christmas. Been writing poems lately! Well, 1 or 3. Edit — Nope, more posting didn’t happen. 🙂

Posted with love and wonderment,

Jannie

xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxooxoxo

What Do These 5 Summer Vacation Photos All Have In Common?

(my feet at my parents’ cottage.)

If you’re thinking “Hey… Jannie is in every one of those,” you’re absolutely right! And you win a prize!!

The prize is… I’ll write you a short poem on any topic you want in a comment below.

So give me a word or short phrase, and I’ll totally write you a poem. Totally, totally!

And even if you weren’t thinking “Hey, Jannie’s in all those” you still get a poem if you want!

🙂

xoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo from Jannie, who recently had the privilege of going HOME with Kelly and Jim!!

If You Find This Poem

If you find
this poem
one day

in
some
attic

in a
cedar
chest,

maybe
stuffed into
a book, or

wedged
between
old lace

and photos
of yourself
as a child,

please read it
and smile, knowing
that long ago

we got to
play 55, a game
Galen invented

that
brought
so many
together
forever
in love.

Could it be true — G-Man’s final 55 after 7 years?!?

AWESOME run, dude!!! Thanks for inviting so many and keeping the party rocking.

We all love you, Galen! And glad you’ll still be keeping up your blog.

EDIT on April 3rd : Shay Fireblossom of Wordgarden and The Zen Of Motherhood (a.k.a Mama Zen) will be taking over the 55 hosting, with Shay starting off the festivities soon.  I shall edit-in the date and time of her hosting inauguration here very soon.

xoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Top Photo: Me with my brothers on our front step. I was just about to or had just turned 5.

And next week I’ll be turning TEN times that old. 🙂

xoxo