as healthy as bread and as succulent as cream

“They stopped under a ________________, the fruit of which, as healthy as bread and as succulent as cream, was amply partaken of and appreciated.”

I’m reading Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days to the kids these evenings and this is a sentence describing:

“They stopped under a clump of bananas, the fruit of which, as healthy as bread and as succulent as cream, was amply partaken of and appreciated.”

My kids (and I) are learning a lot of new vocabulary words and they often ask me why “he uses so many words.” Well, the book was written in 1873 when not many people had the means to purchase many books and (as a librarian once told me) they wanted their money’s worth - so descriptions were detailed to give them all he could. But this sentence really proved another point - how many people in France or England in 1873 had ever eaten a banana? Is that the way you describe a banana, or do you simply take them for granted?

Jim

old dog…

Sweet silence as he sits there leaning his hip against the couch. Not much strength in those old hips left. Slowly creeping his two front paws down ‘till he rests his head on his left paw, body in a semi-circle. What does he see through that one teary eye. What doesn’t he hear now that claps and whistles are all that penetrate his worn out drums. The memories of puppy love with his old friend he romped with in the back yard on balmy summer days. The hope of a meal or a table scrap or a soft hug from his master’s daughter.
Old dog, proud dog – trying to walk, trying to be strong. His heart is tired, his breath slow, his gait strained his head low. My friend for so many years, my first child with my beloved partner in life. Once you ran about the yard like a leave falls from a tree – no particular destination, this way and that. Once you howled at opera and barked at the postman with all the good intention of telling the world you knew something was there, something was new, something should be noticed.
I notice you now; your ears perk up now and again. Your head now low on the floor your eyes twitching with confusion. You are all that is good in the world, no judge no blame. Your body is tired your thoughts are slow but you love just the same. Sometimes I wonder if you hold on for me, that has always been your job. No one loves like a dog who is loved. Such sweetness, such sweetness.
My Scooter.

Red Sky at Night

Red Sky at Night

Here is an old friend’s weblog. He is one of the deep thinkers out there - this is one of his outlets. I must say, though, it might be more fun as a podcast - he speaks as well as he writes with the inflection and intonation of a true renaissance man. Good work Bob - and I say Happy Hanukkah! Because I can.

Jim

Change - A Personal Narrative

by Maia Charanis - class assignment, October 2005

Have you lost a family member, someone you love?
If you have or just want to know how to deal with it this is a story for you. Before you read this I am going to tell you that a lot of times it’s difficult to let someone you love go. I can relate to being upset about things like this. It has happened to me before, not just once though, but three times.

It all started when I was about six or seven years old. We were in our old house on a nice day when my mom got a phone call. By the time she hung up the phone her eyes were red and teary. At that time I had no idea what was wrong, so I asked my dad. What he said made me very sad. What my dad said was that my mother’s grandfather had just passed away.

After a couple of years, since we moved into the house I’m living in now, we got another phone call. This time my dad’s grandmother had passed away. That was very difficult for me. Then a few years past, and we all got better. Then my mom got another call. This time her grand mother had passed away. That was very, very difficult for me. My friends and family helped me through it all though.

I would like to thank all of the people who helped me me deal with this, and all the people who helped me understand it all better. Now even though I only have one great grandparent living, I feel closer to him. I feel less and less shy. Now I enjoy the visits more and more.

I hope you’ve learned something. I know I have. You should not take anything for granted.
The
End.

Daniel Charanis’ Haiku Poem

Daniel Charanis’ Haiku Poem

Mosquitos suck blood,
in the cold winter they Die,
They can be evil.

What keeps you up at night

Is it fear, is it hope, is my future on a rope
Up all night, is my future looking bright
How will it end, as a memory or a friend
What will I do, with our without you

— confessions of a salesman

In a place thats so different from home.

In a Place That is So Different from Home

Maia my daughter at camp away are you making new friends on this day?
What new things have you tried this week?
In a place that is so different from home.

As you run through the woods or jump in the lake
Or tell your new friends of your dreams as you wake
Do you stop and look around and appreciate?
In a place that is so different from home.

So many games so many crafts
so many sheep so many calfs
so many songs and plays in which you act
in a place that is so different from home.

There is learning and playing and singing and praying
friends you talk to and some you hold on to
You are growing and going thinking and knowing catching and throwing
in a place that is so different from home.

So I ask you this day to look around and say to yourself as you read this poem
„how can I try and record this in my mind to grow and change and share what I find
with my family that is waiting for me at home.“

For we are dreaming of you having fun in the sun
Playing with friends and eating hot-dogs on a bun
Reading your books when you need to be alone
In a place that is not so different from home.

Love, Dad

….thats better.

Pride

When the moon rises and the stars hide
I shuffle my feet and swallow my pride
I consider the world in which I reside
and sigh

For the things I own and the things I desire
cannot match the things that matter
It is what we nurture and what we grow
It is who we help and what we know
It is what we say when we don’t have to speak
It is what we don’t when we know we shouldn’t

never mind, this is going nowhere….

You know what I mean.

A good author - David McCullough, Lemony Snicket, James Michener

Not everyone loves to read - or perhaps the things they have been asked have not been what they love. As is the case for me growing up and my son today. As a kid, I did love to read - books about lizards and science and nature and mechanical things. I spent hours with my dog and a flashlight in her doghouse reading How and Why Wonder books (a series of books written back in 1965) comparable to today’s DK books without the nice photographs. I said it was to get Rags used to her new dog-house but it was really an escape for me - to a place where I was a scientist and inventor. Then came history and math and other things where I read dry text books that recanted dates and names that I had to memorize. I lost interest, moved towards reward and business, that was it.
Then came Michener and his book Chesapeake. Historical novels - why couldn’t the teachers have taught history like this? Through people, that mattered but were human and relevant!
Such is the difference with Daniel. He resisted reading - for reading’s sake. His sister discovered books of interest early - devouring Laura Ingalls Wilder series early on. She reads novels in a few days and he watched saying it wasn’t for him. It was boring and annoying. Then came Lemony Snickett. A mediocre screenwriter named Daniel Handler created the perfect book for Daniel under the pen name Lemony Snickett. Dark and depressing yet witty and demanding both intellectually and creatively. Have you ever heard of the movies Kill the Poor or Rick? I didn’t think so. But you have heard of the movie Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Here is an interesting fact about Daniel/Lemony - he is Jewish. In an interview with him by Something Jewish I learned that his first few books were Adult books about adult themes. The Basic Eight is a darkly funny comedy about a nice Jewish high school student who is seriously unhinged, while Watch Your Mouth features a dysfunctional Jewish family being terrorised by a Golem.

So he is a good writer and now interesting to me - and he has captured Daniel’s imagination and desire. As James Michener did for me, and today David McCullogh has with John Adams and the book Stephanie just gave me for Father’s Day - 1776. It is amazing what a good author can do!

HBO: Deadwood

HBO: Deadwood

Isn’t that one great fucking show about a fucking hard but amazing time in America’s history.