Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter

Saturday, July 30, 2005

I can't believe it's nearly August already.... we have already breezed through over half the summer and this past month has gone by way too fast. It's been a busy one with the animals at the Pet Shoppe and here at home; We've had some new litters with three of the guinea pigs and one of the rabbits had babies a couple of weeks ago. Everyone that comes through the back room nowadays heads straight to the bunnies..."Oh they're the cutest things in the world!" We had been worried that since it was her first litter, she wouldn't nurse, but she's doing much better than exoected, they're all thriving tremendously. One of them is a runt, the little guy was born with only one ear... and right away everybody's putting dibs on him to take him home once he's old enough, lol. Robert's been to see them once, before they'd opened their eyes, and I've been trying to get him back to the store to see how much they've grown - they're growing up fast, that's for sure!
And the conure, the one that's been driving everybody crazy with his eating habits, or more precisely, the lack thereof. Up till recently he's not been cooperating with our efforts to wean him off the formula mix... seemed satisfied to just let us keep handfeeding him (spoiled little brat) and totally ignoring the seed and dried fruit we set down for him... Last Monday he really gave me a scare. When I came in, he was huddled facing the corner of his cage, barely able to make a sound, couldn't stand, unable to hold his head up he was so weak... so I panicked and called the first person I could think of, one of the managers... by the time the owner came in, the little guy still couldn't take food... so he gave him some Enervite, which is a concentrated sugar solution for an energy boost, and that got him at least to where he was strong enough to eat something. And by the end of the day he was looking much better. So, I guess in the next few days he figured since he almost died from not eating, he finally started taking some of the seed on his own. Well... its about damn time! He really scared the hell out of me that day.. looked like he was gonna die on me any second.
As for the animals at home, it's been a busy month (and expensive) all starting with taking Sock in to the vet to get him fixed... they also noticed some irregularities from his bloodwork - so inbetween follow-ups and getting his shots current, Taz came down with a fever and just felt lousy there for a while... not eating, kinda glassy-eyed, and just basically hiding out from everbody... So its been Sock and Taz to the vet's all month it seems like. I'm just glad the little guy, Pablo hasn't gotten sick. Although, he's been having these sneezing-coughing attacks occasionally, but it doesn't seem to be slowing him down any... he's still terrorizing the other two the way he always has, lol.
With all this, I haven't written much and I've been kind of away from the groups.. its just been a hectic month.. Hope that now things have calmed down some, I'll feel more like writing... Just last night I had all these ideas in my head. Unfortunately it was right when I was trying to fall asleep and too tired and lazy to get back up and write 'em down. Let's just see if I can remember any of them, shall we? Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it, lol.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

The Future In A Crystal Ball

The Future In A Crystal Ball

Late evening and the moon
rose low above the roses
hanging bright in my line of vision
made that trek across so much closer
to our horizon, toward the next grove
of trees, to be hidden -
and then sunk into sleep until
tomorrow's dark sky to return
and be seen in full crystalline glory.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Having Made A Choice

Isn't there still some voice of reason
weathering the time past, oppressive with anger

impressed upon this grudge-holding obsession,
and stalking the same spot some remain for life?

How much is the waste worth those forgetting
time here is short enough as it is, isn't it

enough to be left behind counting minutes, days...
Those hours spend having proved nothing

when you have nothing left to show for it all,
save the hate you play like some game

of putrid hackysack, preening vain
in malevolent discourse intent to display

some legendary show of strength
because when words fail, there's always threats

and when threat fails, there's always force
even when force fails you can always collapse
the floor where you stand...

What separates from the rants of spoiled
middle-aged children or the stereotype
of territorial pissing is the choice
to move on.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

"No Green Day without Iggy"
I've been a fan for several years (seems like a lifetime) and last night I was lucky enough to catch performance footage from Belgium on VH1's Concert Classics... the songs went waaay back, some of the earliest Stooges stuff I ever remember hearing. Again, it seems like a lifetime ago, lol... Anyway, thought I'd share with you all one of my favorite albums of his. Not necessarily "commercial" but excellent work just the same. Check it out, I highly recommend it.
On a side note, the new kitten's full name is: Pablo Iggy Nukkinfutts... seemed very appropriate somehow.

A visit to the vet was in order for Sock... a neuter and current shots, etc.. He's been slowly recuperating the past few days and we've been trying to keep the other cats away from him... Maybe now he'll stop the incredible yowling late at night and the roaming through the house. Amazing how nice a full night's sleep is. Well I can only speak for Robert, because while he's getting to sleep, Pablo has been waking me up every morning at 3 a.m. either attacking my necklace or chewing on my earrings. Talk about a rude awakening, haha! The week before, Pablo's curiosity got the better of him while chasing a bee. Well he got stung a good one, and his whole neck swelled up to three times the normal size.. Robert said he was looking like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh... it was like he had three chins. Seemed alright otherwise... just kind of sore from it all, but he didn't have any other major reaction.

Robert's birthday is Monday, wanna do something special for him this weekend... fix a favorite dinner tonight. Still need to go shopping...

Well, with all decent news there must come some bad... my daughter's grandpa who lives in Boston, passed away on the 14th. She's doing ok, for the moment... Both her and her brother are going for the funeral, there's a group of them leaving for the airport this afternoon..

Sunday, July 10, 2005



Sometimes a picture says more...
My thoughts are with friends in and around London.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Got a phone call from my daughter last night. Went to the balcony outside with the phone as it was turning dusk to continue the conversation, and as I was talking something like this landed in front of me... I remember all the years spent in Fresno they never had these, never collected them in jars as kids, just seeing them on summer nights was something I missed the entire time I was there. Then after I moved back to the midwest, problems and life in general became so chaotic I barely got the chance to enjoy it... Now that I can relax, let down some defenses, it seems almost a magical thing. I know it sounds cheesy, lame, sensitive, emo, whatever... But its my cheese, lol.
Anyway, my daughter sailed through an important job interview yesterday... things sound very prominsing... Its for a position in the photography studio at a local retail chain. Something in her field, which she has been wanting for so long. I'm really hoping they do call back like they say they will, because it wouldn't be just a job for her, it would be the perfect start to a career. So I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for this. She should hear something good by Tuesday.. possibly to start Thursday.. :) My son is still training as a housepainter, I really hope he sticks with it.. the only thing is the heat... he's just gotta learn to deal.. this is the real world after all. Take the criticism, and all the good intentions that go with it - he's always had a problem with that... hope he sticks with it. Its a trade, a steady job.
Me, I'm still happy with my job at the pet shoppe :) I'm really getting attached to some of those animals, getting more in tune with their normal behavior, still learning... what it means when they do this... there could be a problem if they do that... All in all I wouldn't trade this job for any other in the world.
The weather here was rainy all day yesterday, heavy downpours courtesy of what was left of hurricane Cindy... I guess today the Florida Keys are feeling the effects of Dennis by now... hope everyone in the area doesn't get hit with too much damage.
Baby cat's doing great, little mischievious stinker! Always going after my necklace and earrings, trying to pull them out... Pablo, the kitten's name is Pablo... I like it better, and besides it was my first choice anyway. Maybe I'll post some pics of him one day.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Sand

I could write your name
in hieroglyphics within the dusting
of cricket sand on the floor,
let my fingertips become the paintbrush
creating hope in the moment's artistic design.
Let runes become symbols, become ancient
and changing as clouds protecting the evening
sun, let it become visual improv with
maybe a bit of the celtic thrown in
for good measure.
Cricket sand on the floor...
Would I eventually find some refracted
part of myself desparately competing
somehow for the you that isn't there,
the one that is missing inside your shell?
If I could come home to you,
love you the way I need to - not ever be afraid
of this inertia that happens when both of us
are unmotivated by fear.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

I've been busy putting together a second book, "Seasonal." Seems I've forgotten just how long it takes just to put a collection together. There must be about 70 poems... I think I'll leave it at at that... no reason to go overboard, lol.
All in all, I feel these most recent few days have been very productive... Maybe now I'm getting out of my rut, so to speak.

Then again, who knows? I've been wrong before...

Monday, July 04, 2005

Yeah... I changed my blog template. Every customizable feature is temporarily gone... I'll put it back whenever I get the chance. Funny how I feel like an expendable feature myself these days.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Just A Taste

Got dark... just like that, its
brewing now with cardboard boxes
prevailing across parking lots
into oncoming traffic.

There are storms due tonight
with twelve year old kids
waiting to
ride bikes in the rain,
going over to a friend's
before the power goes.

Gargoyles on the patio
and figurines reading books
by candlelight;
kittens batten down hatches

against the squall by knocking
shelf-top ceramic brothers
to the floor before running
off to hide under sturdy furniture,

while garden gnomes peer in
from the outside warning us
of active funnels spotted in the
next county - just the smallest
bit of what its like.

This is what's hanging on our wall next to the dining table... Robert told me they had some framed prints at the supermarket last week, so he alerted me also to the fact that there was only one of these in the whole mess of Elvis's, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Barbie, and I think there was even a Minnie Mouse if I'm not mistaken, lol. Turns out he hid it very well from anyone else but told me right where it was, so I brought it home the other day, after work. I've seen that pic before, years ago somebody had it on their Xanga, and I'd always liked it. So now it seems a stroke of luck that we actually have it there to look at when we come home. :)