iamwriting

Shuffling life

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

I have been sorting through my digital and paper files, this spring, as part of our plan to evaluate, sort, and organize/toss what has been accumulating since my health hit a bad spot and I had to put aside my freelance writing, editing, and photo art activities.

I have started typing the poems from the mid-fifties through the end of the nineties that I want to keep. Basically, so that they will be available for me to read and possibly also for friends and family to choose from as keepsakes.  In case I become incapacitated or die before I can go back to make up a chapbook or two of my favorites to give to extended family in remembrance.  Many of the poems that I love the most are not those that have been published or reprinted. I want to read and remember and put safely aside the poems that have so much meaning to me. Those that I want to keep close to hand.

So many people…so much love…so many now gone. I want to remember.

  • large raindrop captured by cotoneaster branch, reflection in the water
    Raindrops, Cotoneaster Twig
  • blue wild flax flower behind plant leaves
    Blue Wild Flax, Rain and Leaves
  • Blue Wild Flax in Raindrops
    Blue Wild Flax in Raindrops

#WeekendCoffeeShare on Saturday, 27 April 2019 : Cold and bleak

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

All are welcome! Just add your link to the Linky-List, and be sure to visit others and join in their conversations! The link will be open from Friday April 19 at 7 am (Pacific Time) until Monday April 22 at 7 pm (Pacific Time) to give us a good range of “weekend”! From Eclectic Alli’s Weekend Coffee Share Post: Here. Please visit!

 

Welcome to my home! We’ve just gotten the Scampers tucked into their kennels for the night. I have yet to pick up the mud trail from the garage into Al’s room. I suspect that he will drop off to sleep in front of the television any time, now. I have had my quota of coffee for the day, and so I’m drinking hot oolong* tea, once I get the hot water kettle plugged in and going, again. Provolone cheese, Gouda, American, and a cheddar with herbs. Ran out of crackers, and haven’t remembered to get more. Maybe next time?

If we were enjoying a visit here, together, I would tell you about the Thursday night Sky Warn training that Al and I attended. Two and a half hours (plus “that clock is slow” run-on time of about 20 minutes), presented by a meteorologist from the regional National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It’s an annual event that we first started attending in the 90s. We were active storm spotters for many years. Our ham radio club works in conjunction with the NWS regional office. The presentation has been refined over the decades, and it’s fun to watch video of cloud/storm formations in addition to referring to photo and graphics handouts. We used to have our own weather satellite dish that picked up satellite transmissions and ran them through a dedicated computer; we had our own data displayed on a monitor in the front room. Now, we get the same information and more by way of the Internet, and the equipment has been repurposed and the satellite dish, dismantled (and perhaps tossed during some long-ago Spring Clean-up Week).

If we were visiting together, this evening, I would ask you what you’re currently reading, and share the titles of my/our recent purchases. Al and I both wanted to read Sonia Purnell’s A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Both of my parents served in the Pacific Theatre, but Al’s father was involved in the European efforts. My father read many books about the war, as I was growing up, and passed on the ones that he thought best to me, so I also could read them before they had to go back to the library. (I remember taking The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich with me to read on the bus to Winnipeg, Manitoba, my first year in the junior high-high school marching band. I spent close to all of my spending money in the largest bookstore I’d ever seen!)

I have also ordered Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun: A Memoir and William P. Kennedy’s Toy Soldiers, which I’d only read as the Readers Digest edition, and I had forgotten the details of how the story ended. With the allergy season in full force and summer to arrive after the next snowfall (I wonder if that’s still in the forecast for next week), I have been trying to remember to play music to pick up my spirits. Keep me focused. One is familiar with SAD (seasonal affective disorder); I seem to go downhill as summer approaches in reaction to the allergens, neighborhood outdoor cookery and accompanying smoke, and the warmer weather and bright sunlight. I find myself taking more naps and not wanting to eat anything.  I wasn’t kidding about the various cheeses; I have dropped four pounds because of avoiding food, this past week, and my blood sugar is not happy with me.

A bright spot, actually, was the call from the druggist, telling me that they’d finally gotten their hands on more of the new Shingles vaccine, and so I got my first of two shots on Monday; I must have the second shot between two and six months from now. My parents never mentioned it, but several of Al’s relative had really bad bouts with Shingles, and I would just as soon not go through that.

I was able to replace my broken file cabinet with a wooden table that has a fold-back top. The file cabinet was serving as a bedside (well, a recliner-side) nightstand, and so I have a table for computer, water glass, &c, and a shelf beneath where I can put storage containers for my music CDs. My organization efforts march in lockstep with creating places to put things. So that I can sort through storage boxes and throw away what is no longer needed. There is a free “shredding” event in our town, middle of the week, where we can get rid of all of our old financial papers. I think my husband has stuff back into the late 60s. I dumped a lot of the paperwork when I retired and didn’t need those business records, anymore. 

I am happy to tell you that even though I have had trouble getting to my Weekend Coffee Share posts in a timely manner, I have been keeping up on my poem-a-day project. Written through Saturday, anyhow. The last few poems have been a bit weird (days 24, 26, and 27).

Finally, one last thing I have been puzzling over, this weekend, is how very distant I am/my context is from the cultures that surround me. I recall my late (youngest) sister, many years ago, telling me to please quit speaking with people, that they have no idea what I am talking about. As we go on, I am beginning to think that she shared something valuable with me, there. I would say that I miss her, but she really didn’t like me. Probably a disconnect on my end, considering she wished I were somebody else. I do think it’s too bad that we hadn’t gotten to know each other better, though. I trust that at this point, her perspective and understanding are better than mine….. Until she and I meet again.

I am still not on the “linky-link” and expect that at this point, I probably won’t go back to read the relevant terms of service/privacy materials. I have gotten the links to show up for your posts, now, by switching to a different browser. I look forward to reading your Weekend Coffee Share posts, and I wish you a marvelously satisfying week to come!

Hugs & much love,
Lizl

*Himalayan Shilla Oolong tea that I ordered last September, with a clearance discount due to their dropping that product. Which is disappointing. I am going to have to look around for another oolong without non-tea additives.

#WeekendCoffeeShare 22 April 2019 : It was a week…

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

All are welcome! Just add your link to the Linky-List, and be sure to visit others and join in their conversations! The link will be open from Friday April 19 at 7 am (Pacific Time) until Monday April 22 at 7 pm (Pacific Time) to give us a good range of “weekend”! From Eclectic Alli’s Weekend Coffee Share Post: Here.

Welcome! I had thought for a while that when you stopped by, I would not be here at the computer, but I have some time before I feed the Scampers to make coffee and heat water for tea. This week, there’s veggie crackers and white cheddar cheese spread. I’ve got to get to the store, soon, and replenish the shelves! What’s been happening with you?

Waiting for Supper

If we were having coffee together, this afternoon, I would tell you about our Easter gathering, across the river, with family. Many people, and yet, spread across two rooms, everyone found a place to sit down and eat, with a chair or two still empty. One of the nephews and his wife (whom I had not yet met) arrived from the West Coast. Nice to get together with the extended households and see what folks now look like. We were the recipients of some of the excess meat and mashed potatoes, which were welcome also.

The plumber arrived and left, again, and the seepage in the basement has quit, and so the plug is back into the floor drain and water moves through the pipe leading out of the house. I have gotten the accumulated laundry done, and dishes are soaking in the sink. I am happy to tell you that the water in the Red River is still going down, albeit slowly, and we are to be out of the Major Flood Stage toward the middle of the week.

I am continuing my poem-a-day challenge during NaPoWriMo. I think that I have missed two days, but must double-check that.  I am more pleased with this challenge that I was with the haiku one for February. I’ve learned some new poetry forms, and I have not put all of the poems on the blog, but just one a day.

The bright spot of the day was when the druggist called to say that the shingles vaccine that I had inquired about, last summer, is finally in. Sounds like a limited supply, so I am hoping to get to the drugstore in the morning.

Nostalgia week, here. I have located and bought several books that I enjoyed in earlier years. I quite liked The Silver Chalice, which I read after seeing the film when it first arrived in our town Another book, which arrived today, is the original version (not the movie adaptation) of Toy Soldiers, by William P. Kennedy. They air out, eventually, and with a page magnifier, I should be able to read them comfortably. Reading old, familiar books (e.g., Van Loon’s Lives, Cluny Brown,…)

A dog is sitting at my feet, begging apple slices, and so I must depart. Thank you for the opportunity to visit, and best wishes for the week ahead!

Hugs,

Lizl

 

Wake Me When It’s Over | #WeekendCoffeeShare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Our host Allison’s Weekend Coffee Share post can be found HERE, along with the Link button that leads to URLs to other Weekend Coffee Share participants’ posts.

snow caps receding from outbuildings
Spring Melt

Welcome to Weekend Coffee Share! There is coffee…and Toddy coffee. There is black English Breakfast tea. There is very dark chocolate in the refrigerator. On the table, there are mandarin oranges and apples. Please help yourself.

Warmer weather scoots in and out again, the spring melt is going satisfyingly slow, and I am tired. I forget from one year to the next that the warmer weather saps my energy and ambition. I would rather be sleeping than anything else. Wake me again in October, when the sunlight has started to shorten its hours.

If we were getting together, this weekend, I would show you the disparity of the seasonal changes, this past week.

This week, Al took the snowblower to the perimeter of the back yard, because the Scampers took to walking over the side fence into the neighbor’s back yard, where they encountered the neighbor’s hypersensitive, very loud spaniel.

Path to the Neighbor’s Yard

When I got the Scampers back into our yard and inside the house, I went next door to discover that Cutty’s owner had closed him in a bedroom where Cutty was still howling to be let out so that he could continue the fight. What fun!

I would also confide that we attended another family funeral. This time, a former client of mine whose daughter is married to one of my husband’s nephews. The fragrances (and wax from burning candles) were pretty bad, but we managed to get through half an hour of the visitation time and listen to instrumental music presented by some of his grandchildren, prior to the formal service. Sweetness. So sorry for them that they’ve lost one of their grandparents at such an early age.

This past week, I have sought out CDs online to replace some of my favorite LPs that have long since been lost. Music that I enjoyed in high school and college, that I find myself missing. I have not really listened to music during these past few decades, as well as no longer reading newspapers. listening to radio (other than 2-meter net), or watching television. Which reminds me: my husband read somewhere that some HF bands might be opened to hams with Tech licenses, which would mean that I could use our HF radios. I hope that the changes will come to pass. I bought an album containing two of Dmitri Shostakovich’s cantatas and his oratorio Song of the Forests. Also, Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos and Paganini variations and another album that included “Isle of the Dead” and his first symphony. I used to play a lot of piano pieces by Rachmaninoff. That sheet music has long since aged to the point of disintegration. If I become well enough to do so, I would like to get the piano repaired and start at least to get back into playing Bach and ragtime. Or get an electronic keyboard, if we could find a company that picks up and disposes of older pianos.

I would also mention that I have started reading a series of books, this past week. Years ago, I bought and read a related novella in the series, not realizing that it was not a stand-alone. I have now read the two books following that novella in the timeline and also the first book in the series. Anna Lee Huber is the author, and the series is A Lady Darby Mystery. A nice break from my usual fare, which as been mostly rereads of old favorites.

Thank you for stopping by! Hate to go, but I need to get a “real meal” in me.

Best wishes,
Lizl

P.S. National Puppy Day pictures at TheArtOfDisorder and World Poetry Day poem at QuiltedPoetry (both WordPress blogs).