tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88637362358509337662024-02-18T20:55:11.018-06:00My Daily Snap"People who daily expect to encounter fabulous realities run smack into them again and again. They keep their minds open for their eyes." (Ken Macrorie)Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.comBlogger3097125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-44301455059646521672017-05-10T17:37:00.003-05:002017-05-10T17:37:35.814-05:00Welcome SilenceAll hail the snail.<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">How does one whisper in a blog. I am whispering.</span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
As I watched, this small fellow/gal slowly emerged onto the lip of a rose blossom.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>I cheered</i>.</span><br />
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(Silent appreciation.)<br />
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<br />Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-5443153688527103212017-05-09T20:57:00.000-05:002017-05-09T20:57:08.953-05:00A Dose of RealityWith commencement this weekend, families are arriving, parties are starting, and visitors are wandering the campus. I can only hope that none of them visits any of the campus lakes. Should they do so, the reality may be a shock. Unlike the shiny brochures, webpages, and videos, the Domain is at times more like a dump than a beloved preserve.<br />
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Irony abounds within feet of a dorm and at the edge of a pond.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNyJZboG56p5lxNAdg9dgsR4u4x8JUwIyLLS8emobj4ICSSza9ez7SdCy_GQAgHa8oYyM9rG7_1nokSt4YVvNj9SXvfVMdkJNHoJW62Git9z4ElU1_2JQvCDhYj5kCfB-vFPKRhh9EFY/s1600/P1840484-1v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNyJZboG56p5lxNAdg9dgsR4u4x8JUwIyLLS8emobj4ICSSza9ez7SdCy_GQAgHa8oYyM9rG7_1nokSt4YVvNj9SXvfVMdkJNHoJW62Git9z4ElU1_2JQvCDhYj5kCfB-vFPKRhh9EFY/s320/P1840484-1v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-63390787125717584682017-05-08T23:32:00.000-05:002017-05-09T20:48:35.267-05:00On any given beautiful dayI'd rather be skulking around the edges of a pond, teeming with odes and fish, joined by two undergrads who fish and release and a Canada Goose pair with two little ones and several golf team members, than almost anywhere else I can name.<br />
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Especially since this is the cleanest body of water on the campus. No surprise since it's part of a fancy "<a href="http://sewanee-inn.com/" target="_blank">boutique inn</a>."Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-88140249058068283742017-05-07T21:14:00.001-05:002017-05-07T21:14:40.006-05:00No Place I'd Rather Beon Sunday morning at 10:30am than in the portico overlooking Guerry Garth so I can listen to the change bells ringing in the tower of Convocation Hall.<br />
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No matter the weather, I want to be there.</div>
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-48324830846013997912017-05-06T16:09:00.002-05:002017-05-06T16:09:35.469-05:00Blackberry Winter Anxiety<div style="text-align: center;">
Rain.</div>
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Cold.</div>
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A bit of sun.</div>
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Rain again.</div>
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More cold.</div>
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I need to walk with a camera, and not just with a dog.</div>
Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-25462412298458891502017-05-05T21:01:00.000-05:002017-05-06T16:06:44.736-05:00Term's EndA glimpse of someone's study spot: a reminder of what I do (the challenge of learning with guidance from a demanding teacher) and don't (exams -- taking them, writing them, giving them, grading them) miss.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik39bMtLbvprioKvd1akTM475MDALYMCc7GLkTG9Z9RUEnxjVfVnUrINNFnvgUVLstg-cOapjZR7sequk2J7o_IXIZhXI0rTR1TRrY0gWN4D882FUj9V6J4ZU6PVMC9wLOgQ6MH6Dwcpk/s1600/20170502_091541-1v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik39bMtLbvprioKvd1akTM475MDALYMCc7GLkTG9Z9RUEnxjVfVnUrINNFnvgUVLstg-cOapjZR7sequk2J7o_IXIZhXI0rTR1TRrY0gWN4D882FUj9V6J4ZU6PVMC9wLOgQ6MH6Dwcpk/s320/20170502_091541-1v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-48645128612622574652017-05-03T18:31:00.002-05:002017-05-03T18:31:33.047-05:00Yutori:<div style="text-align: center;">
"[A] state of psychological well-being and positive <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-5884.00180/pdf" target="_blank">perspective</a>."</div>
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A long look on a quiet walk.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnMTcX6uGl5hMDmOYn0S6Yo-xTvAiVoK3oUejI_1NYBPltmgEOAD3uxTjn498L-yGW4ou_75OFhU0D7jCb8IBBuXkQExq8a38Kw_3RW8xRYehw7TabqLBd7bvQgVHCEk-xV7bEwtpbF8/s1600/P1830591-1v2waterc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnMTcX6uGl5hMDmOYn0S6Yo-xTvAiVoK3oUejI_1NYBPltmgEOAD3uxTjn498L-yGW4ou_75OFhU0D7jCb8IBBuXkQExq8a38Kw_3RW8xRYehw7TabqLBd7bvQgVHCEk-xV7bEwtpbF8/s320/P1830591-1v2waterc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Followed by this.</div>
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/275671766&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-4063107233802155792017-05-02T22:41:00.000-05:002017-05-03T13:08:46.031-05:00False Equivalence<div style="text-align: center;">
Happiness ≠ Success</div>
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Here's proof.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaNQHbQHRBNQkEr4-9YwKAMS6_f1chlcjoor03nMFvrhRuLWrNH51SSKFc-EtVUgWO-ja6EFQ8SzQn5ZuJfV2lkGfUEkIzTWIX4gk83Hz2wg4oAQcy_PdWPwkwl_5nR2N9ibUtu2o97Q/s1600/P1830557v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaNQHbQHRBNQkEr4-9YwKAMS6_f1chlcjoor03nMFvrhRuLWrNH51SSKFc-EtVUgWO-ja6EFQ8SzQn5ZuJfV2lkGfUEkIzTWIX4gk83Hz2wg4oAQcy_PdWPwkwl_5nR2N9ibUtu2o97Q/s320/P1830557v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-15468160850719830852017-05-01T20:47:00.004-05:002017-05-01T20:47:49.557-05:00Maud Lewis<div style="text-align: center;">
Another <a href="https://www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/maud-lewis" target="_blank">folk artist</a>, this time from Canada, whose story intrigues me.<br />
<br />Another film to put in my queue.<br />
<br />I am a sucker for the misfits who make things.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aS2kqAQ3InI" width="560"></iframe>
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-70120343876894135062017-04-30T18:11:00.000-05:002017-04-30T18:11:27.730-05:00Collecting PicturesLately, my elderly has been sleeping when I stop to visit. Today, one of her caretakers invited me in because she wanted to chat with me about what might come next.<br />
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Suddenly, we heard her name.<br />
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"There she goes!" the caretaker said and headed down the hall.<br />
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In a minute, she came back in and said, "Chocolate ice cream! Go on in."<br />
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So I did.<br />
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"Whatcha got?" my friend asked.<br />
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I showed her irises, a wildflower close-up, Gracie, and another friend's cute dog.<br />
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Taking a long time to study each picture, she finished her ice cream and ordered more.<br />
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Then she asked, "Are you still walking the dog?" as she always does.<br />
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And after I answered, she asked, "How's J?" as she always does.<br />
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And after I answered, she asked, "What does she do?" as she always does.<br />
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And after I answered, she asked, "Does she still have a loom?" as she always does<br />
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And after I answered, she asked, "Why did she move here?" as she always does.<br />
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And after I answered, the caretaker returned with more ice cream.<br />
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Seeing my camera, my friend said, "Go on wherever you're going!"<br />
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"I'll see you some more," I said, but as I stepped out of her bedroom, she called "Robley!"<br />
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I turned back and in. "Yes?"<br />
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And suddenly she was laughing and stared out at the window and then at me and said, "I forget!"<br />
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Tomorrow I am going to show her more irises and this, and we'll have the same conversation all over again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1DqJiLGB6zCTI8RSRYeW5Z3YVRyLdrkB1IhV6d7caO6OreFS2wu5tDD1BGTqg9t0oBHDUTrSTOo0oCu0CzjNHBdf6ti4PQFu903VmP41bdUuaoX53b4pgH66cq6iIVSZMQWFqrl6E1c/s1600/P1820749v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1DqJiLGB6zCTI8RSRYeW5Z3YVRyLdrkB1IhV6d7caO6OreFS2wu5tDD1BGTqg9t0oBHDUTrSTOo0oCu0CzjNHBdf6ti4PQFu903VmP41bdUuaoX53b4pgH66cq6iIVSZMQWFqrl6E1c/s320/P1820749v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-70232445767754803802017-04-29T19:12:00.000-05:002017-04-30T17:30:10.093-05:00On Torture<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This morning, when coming up and out from Guerry Garth Gracie and turning into the covered walkway along the Quad, I saw a slug making its way toward grass and shrub. I paused, let Gracie slip out toward the student guide leaving her tour group and heading toward us. I cautioned her about the slug while she chatted and watched her step over the creature before continuing on ahead of us.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mN5fm2CpPDPIZUOSnRlFsoZTbXrqbo66mPwcpoiZcJ8DrtC9NDdb1k3UYUMikSGsFs5errP_irUebG9MXtW3WmvDKcxjEL_q_12Fnkd0YLaU4-9sGvCWn1LPFJ752m9TTSZyrd6aosc/s1600/slug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mN5fm2CpPDPIZUOSnRlFsoZTbXrqbo66mPwcpoiZcJ8DrtC9NDdb1k3UYUMikSGsFs5errP_irUebG9MXtW3WmvDKcxjEL_q_12Fnkd0YLaU4-9sGvCWn1LPFJ752m9TTSZyrd6aosc/s320/slug.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then I came home and read this,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #783f04;">Slugs</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">by <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/55666" target="_blank">Brian Swann</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
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<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Who could have dreamed them up? At
least snails</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">have shells, but all these have
is—nothing.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Small black antennae like fat pins
wave</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">as if they could take in enough to
get them through.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Turn them over, they’re the soles of
new shoes,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">pale and unmarked as babies. They
flow,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the soil itself learning how to move
and, moving,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">almost staying still, their silver
monorail</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the only evidence of where they’d
been.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">And they die quiet, or at least
(thankfully)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">out of the human ear’s range, between
two stones,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">under heels, shriveling in salt or
piss, at the tips</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">of sharp sticks. Fight back, I hear
myself say,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">do <em style="font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">something</span></em>. Don’t just take it. But they die</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">as they had lived, exuding slime,
like</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the smaller boys, who’d just</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">stand there, miserable in short
pants,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">school socks down to their ankles,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">school tie unknotted and askew, and
flowing</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">from noses slow cauls of snot that</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">from time to time they’d lick or
sniff back up</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">part way, until it flowed again,
coating</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the upper lip, falling into the
mouth, mixing</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">with tears before anything had been
done,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the fear itself enough, so even if we
wanted</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">we couldn’t let them off. Sometimes
it was</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the knee “where you daren’t show your
mother,”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">other times the kick in the shins,
the stick over</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">the head, the punch in the mouth,
while they</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #783f04;">just stood there, or double up,
gasping</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;">for breath, and we did it again</span><span style="color: #404040; font-family: inherit;">.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #404040; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #404040; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Suddenly, I remembered that as a child I learned to pour salt on slugs. I watched them, delighted to see them shrivel, dying before me, without ever, even once, considering what I was doing. I want to think I fel pleasure because I was a child and because I believed that whatever a parent taught me to do was the right thing.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #404040; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #404040; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since walking and looking and noticing, I am not so sure that I didn't enjoy the killing and dying for their own sake.</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #404040; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #404040; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I feel ashamed for years of mindless squashing.</span></span></div>
Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-2986016969639739342017-04-28T18:21:00.001-05:002017-04-28T18:21:20.493-05:00Ironies Abound<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">According to the University of the South: Sewanee's <i><a href="http://www.sewanee.edu/student-life/dean-of-students-office/eqb-guide/" target="_blank">Guide for Living in <b>Community</b>: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities</a>, </i>"Ecce Quam Bonum (EQB) is the University motto and describes our highest aspiration for community, lived out in expectations for our students. 'Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live in unity!' -- Psalm 133:1.' "</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Note the operative words <i>community </i>and <i>aspiration</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">There's a reason why campus tours do not venture out to the on-campus lakes: garbage (i.e., liquor bottles, beer and soda cans, abandoned bicycles, take-out cartons, books and paper, used condoms and wrappers, underwear, . . .). </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Dragonflies don't care, even if I do.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndolIMOYkGHGi5IKKL3ucd-OJpPXbAJERR0nRWXpw7aBub9tTNJ8mARIrI_EPn774qBR-QmDAcukloCJLUSiNYLTMkP7vJ0e-E6vQ9oOvfGd-r7_-el433DK1oJGbhljbAc0DDDD_Szc/s1600/P1820127v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndolIMOYkGHGi5IKKL3ucd-OJpPXbAJERR0nRWXpw7aBub9tTNJ8mARIrI_EPn774qBR-QmDAcukloCJLUSiNYLTMkP7vJ0e-E6vQ9oOvfGd-r7_-el433DK1oJGbhljbAc0DDDD_Szc/s320/P1820127v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-86255157354196307542017-04-27T23:21:00.000-05:002017-04-28T17:56:48.272-05:00A Lucky Turn<div style="text-align: center;">
into my driveway resulted in this</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKgVLTls0EzWI2r8GQAU_6iVHxsSJ5Vvf5SshR0p-BwgC5cNPIo8R3i8y09484zzTYLwG0rbw-Dx5wXmXjJHpyGVdRMdAw7MHhv31oU8j9Sk8NWGqFx2XhxCPc-mu3p9vHrkXuukbDXY/s1600/P1820038v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKgVLTls0EzWI2r8GQAU_6iVHxsSJ5Vvf5SshR0p-BwgC5cNPIo8R3i8y09484zzTYLwG0rbw-Dx5wXmXjJHpyGVdRMdAw7MHhv31oU8j9Sk8NWGqFx2XhxCPc-mu3p9vHrkXuukbDXY/s320/P1820038v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My love/hate relationship with my macro lens continues.</div>
Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-15545718723220950802017-04-26T18:17:00.000-05:002017-04-26T18:17:01.322-05:00Coincidental MeetingI snapped, cursed, and apologized. Another bad photo<br />
<br />
She said, "Oh, that's OK."<br />
<br />
Once I got the photograph, I walked past her and noticed the lovely outdoor stool. "Wow, that's a nice stool!" I said, turning to the land spit by the beach.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_q9wBYBq_ESBKJ9OlHQSHK2Y2p7JDtFG6sLuDZKNRVzgvsXWtFROgElv-foAJv5aMQVsJsL6uo-ME1wh3Jm_ifOKCUJygvXbYatYITfIuwz0bqyiluaOU6BoevYWeA9ti6MPVPg88i0/s1600/P1810880v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_q9wBYBq_ESBKJ9OlHQSHK2Y2p7JDtFG6sLuDZKNRVzgvsXWtFROgElv-foAJv5aMQVsJsL6uo-ME1wh3Jm_ifOKCUJygvXbYatYITfIuwz0bqyiluaOU6BoevYWeA9ti6MPVPg88i0/s320/P1810880v2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
"Thanks!" she called.<br />
<br />
"I could use one of those," and I really could. Sometimes it's a pain just waiting and waiting and waiting for the right shot.<br />
<br />
I gave up, and turned back to the bridge where she sat, cross-wise, legs out, for a bit of rest.<br />
<br />
"I apologize again," I said, and she stood.<br />
<br />
I noticed her painting and asked about it.<br />
<br />
"It's for a class."<br />
<br />
"Art major?"<br />
<br />
"No. Environmental Arts and Humanities."<br />
<br />
Then I saw the Alabama Outdoors water bottle.<br />
<br />
"Are you from Birmingham!"<br />
<br />
"Yes," she answered.<br />
<br />
"Me too!"<br />
<br />
And we were off -- similar pleasures in our home town, similar complaints, similar interests, similar insights. Chat about schools, and majors, and plans for the future, and art, and photography.<br />
<br />
When I got home, I suddenly realized I had spoken to the writer of this superior essay -- "<a href="http://www.sewanee.edu/features/story/colorado.html" target="_blank">Ain't No Mountain High Enough</a>" by Jessie Hook.<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoy it too.Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-11261800896328280232017-04-25T23:01:00.000-05:002017-04-26T18:03:26.514-05:00The Regulars"That a new hat? It's beautiful!" he commented as they approached me on the dam, the dogs trotting ahead.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"Yep. A wider brim. A fisherman's hat."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"It's beautiful," he said, and they headed for bridge. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We're regulars -- the walkers/swimmers and I.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Like the pink lady's slippers and slant line moths who rest on them and the dragonflies and damselflies I photograph, we too know the place and enjoy its intimate pleasures.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzjwvM0QG6yuSG-aw6MRkfKUv6usUmKcOriK6TI2Tz6Af82geGX_vCux_iE35b5aAEHolJpWYotTTPcMQKmZOZtZl1RTF2nVGui7BRM29ureWRCiRyenl-RSaEv8uAVO_rnhmwmzhFLk/s1600/P1810461v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzjwvM0QG6yuSG-aw6MRkfKUv6usUmKcOriK6TI2Tz6Af82geGX_vCux_iE35b5aAEHolJpWYotTTPcMQKmZOZtZl1RTF2nVGui7BRM29ureWRCiRyenl-RSaEv8uAVO_rnhmwmzhFLk/s320/P1810461v2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-44696955522498710412017-04-24T20:53:00.000-05:002017-04-24T20:53:02.560-05:00Rainy Day Musing on a Number<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Fifty-Fifty</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">by <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/56190" target="_blank">Patricia Clark</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can have the grackle whistling blackly </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> from the feeder as it tosses seed,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">if I can have the red-tailed hawk perched </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> imperious as an eagle on the high branch.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can have the brown shed, the field mice</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> hiding under the mower, the wasp’s nest on the door,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">if I can have the house of the dead oak,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> its hollowed center and feather-lined cave.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can have the deck at midnight, the possum </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> vacuuming the yard in its white prowl,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">if I can have the yard of wild dreaming, pesky </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> raccoons, and the roaming, occasional bear.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can have the whole house, window to window, </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> roof to soffits to hardwood floors,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">if I can have the screened porch at dawn, </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the Milky Way, any comets in our yard.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-67441586183728438852017-04-23T16:40:00.001-05:002017-04-23T16:40:56.649-05:00Making My Own EntertainmentA quiet day: dog walk, brunch, work, social media, reading, making an image, blogging.<br />
<br />
I suspect I have always been able to spend hours by myself, a habit more children might well develop. Silence is sometimes golden, but silence isn't always silent when the mind and imagination are at play.<br />
<br />
After this<br />
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I discovered this<br />
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So what if it's still foggy and rainy? I've got sunshine aplenty inside.</div>
Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-77136656460715864222017-04-22T20:43:00.000-05:002017-04-22T20:43:37.033-05:00Sometimes I Miss Classroom TeachingYesterday on our walk, Gracie and I ran into a student we'd met before in Abbo's Alley -- Gil Horner. Both he and I said, "Haven't we met before?"<br />
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Previously, he'd been sitting on a bench in Trink's Terrace, where he was reading and enjoying the sunshine. We chatted then about his time here (he loves it), where he's from (south of Nashville), and the beauty of the campus.<br />
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Yesterday, a gray day, we met him on the sidewalk near the bookstore, and he walked with us all the way to the library, where he peeled off to study (but not before extending his hand and formally introducing himself). Along the way, I learned this: he is one of the first <a href="http://www.sewanee.edu/academics/health/hippocrates-fellows/homepage-slider/hippocrates-fellows-.php" target="_blank">Hippocrates Fellows</a> at Sewanee and that he will be here this summer for two courses, one of which is Medical Humanities. He wants to help people and already does through a number of service opportunities.<br />
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Here's what our ten-minute chat really tells me: he is a young man worth knowing, and his professors are lucky.Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-11838292828128680072017-04-21T20:06:00.000-05:002017-04-21T20:06:12.522-05:00A Snafu DayA day spent fixing serious computer problems is not my idea of economical pleasure, even with the assistance of a great tech guy.<br />
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At least I took this cellphone snap while walking Gracie.<br />
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And I think the machine is happier.<br />
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For now.<br />
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<br />Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-27552964487079491842017-04-20T18:40:00.005-05:002017-04-20T18:40:57.240-05:00The Familiar and the ForeignHeritage Flowers -- that's what I call my neighbor's peonies, descendents of her grandmother's flowers, dug and replanted and nurtured. Peonies like it here, and I like having them next door. They announce spring in a burst of color and passion, and love over generations.<br />
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Passion equal to this surprising performance by DkhaBrakha, a Ukrainian quartet.<br />
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-76721047583969636152017-04-19T15:32:00.000-05:002017-04-20T18:52:09.739-05:00Nothing much to see but plenty to hear in Abbo's Alley. When bird song lifts from the woods behind my house or from the woods along daily walks, I feel as if I were Gracie -- cheerful to be out and about and in the moment. Even she was content to stop so I could listen and make this recording before we wandered on. This is one of my favorite songs (a wood thrush, I think).<br />
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Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-28157883692616122732017-04-18T22:21:00.000-05:002017-04-20T18:12:58.740-05:00When it rains<div style="text-align: center;">
it pours.</div>
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Three and a half inches.</div>
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In one period during afternoon.</div>
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Ruining prospects for a photowalk.</div>
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(I did trudge through rain with Gracie, at least.)</div>
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And what it poured was more than rain.</div>
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Two things of Noosa Yoghurt, to be exact.</div>
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I fool myself into thinking it's healthy just because it's delicious.</div>
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Even the packaging is delicious.</div>
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Ew is how I feel about the weather, but not about Noosa.</div>
Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-29424951271821186602017-04-17T17:49:00.002-05:002017-04-17T17:49:14.435-05:00Where Have All the Good Men Gone?At least has gone to Sewanee.<br />
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Not one of his three female companions nor I would touch the two full swim diapers on the beach bench.<br />
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T---, however, simply picked them up, holding each by thumb and forefinger, hands held well before his body, and then strolled casually to the trash can no more than 15 paces away.<br />
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The girls said, "We wouldn't have done that!"<br />
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Nor would I.<br />
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But T--- did.<br />
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He was the hero four women needed!<br />
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<i>(Note: the women did best him in their newt netting, a loss he accepted without embarrassment, and all cheered when he finally called out, "I got one!")</i>Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-61065435216522301232017-04-16T20:10:00.003-05:002017-04-16T20:10:50.132-05:00An Easter RequestToday, my One-Hour-A-Day-Dog decided she would like to become an organist.<br />
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However, after my description of the stops, keyboards, and footboard -- familiarity I learned from playing the pipe organ at <a href="http://www.saint-lukes.com/about/our-story1/" target="_blank">St. Luke's Episcopal Church</a>, Gracie turned in disappointment to mark yet another patch of grass, and I felt compelled to join her.Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863736235850933766.post-49849050750613522052017-04-15T21:51:00.000-05:002017-04-16T20:00:17.675-05:00When the neighbors visitI remember how much I have missed making chocolate chip scones for early morning delivery and the sound of children laughing and playing.<br />
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Two of the neighbor three children now are now too old for the noise the youngest makes, one of the "<i>three M</i>s," as her mother called the girls when she introduced me to the two <i>BFF</i>s.<br />
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When they leave, the neighborhood is less sparkly and more staid than I like it, but I can look forward to summer, and their happy return.Robley Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06192998362490594858noreply@blogger.com0