The Great British Baking Show has captured my attention.

I am oft unsure just what they’re making.  What IS a spotted dick?

Four types of sponge, self saucing cake, and I must not fail to mention

Pork pies, fruit pies, crispy, tasty biscuits, all making a hopeful sick,

what if  Mary Berry, or Mr. Hollywood miss a baker’s favorite trick.

Paula has the job of keeping Ted fed.

She always makes a healthy meal before Ted goes to bed.

Sometimes she cooks up pasta in a luscious tomato sauce;

Sometimes a juicy tofu pie, egg washed to a high gloss.

Ted tells us all how wonderfully she masters every meal.

So we all try to visit once a year an excellent meal to steal.

4/15/18

written whilst watching the Great British Baking Contest…  I do think they are picking on Norman, whose goodies quite good to me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TALLEST OF US ALL!

Tick, tick, tick, tick …

I do not like the looks of a tick.

The looks of a tick make me quite sick.

I do not like how a tick can stick,

Stick, stick, stick, stick until you flick it off your arm.

I do not like that a tick can bite,

Bite, bite, bite, bite until  your sticky blood runs warm.

I do not like a tick bite itch

Itch, itch, itch, itch until you pitch a royal fit.

A royal fit because a tick bite made you itch.

I do not like ticks, not even one.

I do not like ticks.  They are not fun.

I do not like the looks of a tick.

I do not like how a tick can stick.

I do not like the bite of a tick.

I do not like that ticks make me sick.

I do not like ticks, it is true.

I do not like them, how about you?

4/8/18

I freely admit I totally dislike every single tick. They drive you to distraction; some can make you sick.

You do not always notice them, until they’ve burrowed in. You scream and slap and scrape and scratch, wearing your skin quite thin.

Brush your hair?  You’ll find them there.

Hike across rocks; find ticks in your socks.

Ticks will show up any place, behind your ear… right on your face.

They hitch rides on your winter jacket, hiding in the closed front placket.

Those moving freckles on your arm?  Brush them off before they do you harm.

Ticks will drive you crazy, that is really quite certain. Just stand in the middle of the room. Avoid touching any curtain.

Carry a book of matches wherever you may go to burn them off,  blow them up, stop their blood flow.

Ticks, ticks, ticks, ticks…the bane of pine tree forests.  Spray your oil, rub your skin, make sure you get your rest.

You will need it if you live with ticks.

4/8/18

note: need to work on the meter

I stopped for a quick taco

One wicked, frigid night.

I sat in my car to eat it,

Heater on,  snug and tight.

I stared off into space,

Not thinking ’bout very much

Until my eyes focused

On a sight that made me clutch.

There was a man

Across the parking lot,

Kneeling on the ice,

Hammering at a single spot.

He wore only a hoodie,

No gloves, no hat, no coat.

It really made such little sense;

Where was his winter coat?

I sat there watching while I ate,

My muscles getting tense.

And as I sat there wondering,

I began to take offense.

This man, this freezing person,

Had been sent to chip the ice

Off a front parking spot, with a hammer –

a Hammer!… to chip the ice!

He was unaware I was watching.

He just did what he’d been told.

I figured his manager was a dick,

To send him coatless into the cold.

I did not say a word to him.

He never looked toward my car.

I started it up, and drove away,

just down the street,  not  far.

I went into King Soopers,

Bought Ice Melt and  winter gloves,

Then drove back to the fast food place

Everyone knows and loves.

I pulled up very near him,

Hauled out the bag of Melt,

Then handed him the gloves,

Unsure just how he felt.

He took them, and he turned his back

As he pulled them on his hands.

I saw his shoulders shake before he turned again,

Opening the bag, tearing off the bands.

I wish I’d had a heavy coat

To keep him warm and well.

I wish I’d stormed back in the shop

to give his manager hell.

Instead I headed off to home

With just a small, quick wave.

He waved back, then back to work.

It’s a good memory to save.

***

In this day of loud resistance, screaming protests, major demonstrations, it is easy to think you have to do something big to make a difference.  Sometimes, though,  one person can do the most for another by just being aware they are there.

Life can be hard…look for ways to soften it, eh?

At age sixty six

Employment still defines me.

Weekends ever rock!

4/5/18

Anna visited with her Pop and Mom when she was almost two.

She wobbled around and chattered  away just like R2-D2.

Early one morning after she settled in,

She warbled she wanted Pfoops-pfoops.

“What?” we said, laughing out loud,

“Did you say that you like Poop-poops?”

She frowned, then shook her head and pointed her tiny finger,

“No no no!  PFOOP-PFOOPs! PFOOP-PFOOPs!”

We really could not get it, thinking she was making a big oops.

She sat down,  looked up at her Mom who calmly explained,

“She just wants her Fruit Loops.”

***

Anna is all grown up now.   I wonder if her darling daughters eat Poop-poops, too?

4/4/18

There lies the rub — how to pull the tale together.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

One hundred forty six people dead in fifteen minutes.

One hundred forty six,

Mostly young women

Some children and men.

Not all burned, some jumped, some smashed,

as people stood below and watched.

Lucifer knew…

to be continued