“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.

She Doesn’t Come To My Blog Anymore

She doesn’t come here anymore

but I think of her now that turtles

have taken to sunning on logs again

and philosophers are back in lost cafes

filling up the chairs of loneliness with

husks of poems that drifted out to sea.

She doesn’t come here anymore

tho I see her over at others’ sites

drinking fine wine and living it up,

her head tossing around those

fluffy Shirley Temple curls she knows

I’d gladly trade my straightness for.

Why, I haven’t seen her here since

Harry Truman wore those socks

and Bette Davis danced fandango!

What happened?

Did I drizzle one too many or too few

x’s and o’s along the blogging trail?

Did I mistake her for another?

Forgot to double-check a comment

posted one day, my words to her lying

on the ocean’s floor, still unread?

Whatever happened, if  you see her

say hello. She might be in Tangiers.

Or out chopping wood with the axe

she learned to grind far too young,

when all the other kids were out running

through the sprinkler spray and laughing.

Posted with love to all by

Jannie

xoxo

P.S. (Edit at 12:33 p.m. Texas time.) I MISS her! (That’s all.) 🙂

Thank You, Alopecia Areata

If I hadn’t developed a few bald patches on my scalp in the past month

I wouldn’t be sharing the interior of the beautiful new Westlake Dermatology building with you.

Took these a few days ago after my alopecia areata diagnosis and initial treatment.

A nice lady shot my scalp up in several places with something to hopefully restimulate hair growth.

Apparently, my own immune system is messing with my follicles.

Very naughty of it.

This could be stress related. So I’ve identified a couple little things bothering me and let them go.

Plus, I’m going to get my thyroid, iron and blood count checked next week, have a look-see.

I bet the patches will fill in just fine and dandy. Eventually.

And won’t lead to alopecia totalis, or universalis.

(Hopefully.)

“Regrowth could take a year or two,” said the needle lady.

I see her again in a month.

You ever hear of or experience this hair loss thing? (Feel free to e-mail me, if you prefer privacy.)

Anyhoo,

I look at it this way —  I don’t have anything life-threatening.

I’ve had almost 47 really great hair years.

Yep, I’ll be 47 tomorrow, April 4th. (Happy birthday me!)

And with a “comb-over” on top, and the back patches hidden under my long locks, you can’t even tell I’m missing hair!

Whoooohoooo.
 
Thank you, alopecia areata for keeping me humble, making me thankful for all the great things I do have, and for giving me these lovely photos to share.

xoxooxo

The Great Jannie

The Great Jannie who never gets sick is sick.

Rats.

Achy.

Sore eyes.

Sore throat.

Sore head.

Congestion.

But on the brighter side, the cuts in Jannie’s fingertips from the tree branch run-ins are healing up nicely!

Above is a nice sky photo Kelly took last fall.

Jannie did soothe herself with her blue guitar today.

And Jannie does not have any broken bones, gushing wounds or toothaches, whooohooo.

Day at the beach, really!

Poor little baby Jannie will be resting up for the next couple days. Please wish her peace and happy dreams.

And give yourself a hug from Jannie.

xoxo

The Unknown Mom — World Premiere

Four things I want to tell you about this…

1. Turtle necks come in very very handy for sun protection.

2. The Unknown Mom is perhaps not at peak singing voice at 7:30 a.m.

3. Yes, the lucky blue hat had indeed gone missing again recently, but was retrieved by a stroke of fortune during a rare burst of mysterious activity I’ve heard called house-cleaning.

4. My fave part is The Child’s final note of the song. LOVE that! And her.

And you.

WAIT!!  I must edit in this number 5 to tell you I was in an automatic tranny car, with one hand firmly on the wheel, the other holding out the iPhone to tape — so don’t worry! I had my driving under control.

Posted with Love, by Jannie (close friend of The Unknown Mom.)

And please, for blogging improvement, I’d SO appreciate your vote in the poll below…

THANKS!!

xoxoxoxo

I am at the library, but not for long. Gotta take The Child to gymnastics soon.

I had a bath today.

I washed my hair.

I did 10% of the dishes. (Still no dishwasher, but who really NEEDS one?)

I had only to add a bit of lettuce to the salad, whoo-hoo! No onions, radish or tomatoes to chop.

After I drop The Child at gymnastics, I’m heading somewhere to meet Mardi and Tracy for a few hours of beer-ment and song.

I may not be posting again for several days. Gonna get hopping on Christmas. All our family is in Canada.

And mailing the remaining blog give-away prizes — oh but first Kelly must choose which 5 winners get which of the 5 books. She’s gonna put on her cute little baby leopard blindfold to do that.

I will videotape, of course!!

🙂

And somewhere in all this I’m going to renew my soul on a walk or two by the river.

I look forward to getting around to read your blogs at some point too!

xoxoxo