Four Haiku for the Aquifer

Blue Hole
Originally uploaded by gesualdo


((1))

bulldozers destroy
sewer line leaks effluent
into our water



((2))

blind valley springflows
appear where rivers begin
true sources concealed



((3))

water everywhere
except when it's needed most
long hot dry season



((4))

agua es vida
amor sea eterno
sin ti no soy yo

Don't Hate

Don't Hate
Originally uploaded by Ingrid the Saucy Wench!

It's too bad we have to be reminded...

Dog Days in Walnut Branch

Been a long hot summer. Yes, admitting to being too lazy to post on this blog. Just too much going on in small town of Walnut Branch. Limited access to computer also hinders. Truthfully, if I had a two-wheeler I would be even more scarce.
At least we're on high ground when lots of folks getting flood waters in their homes, FEMA coming to town to assess compensation for the deserving few.
Don't build it in a flood plain, but if you do, don't expect my tax money to bail you out.
It's the Dog Days of Summer here in the New Philippines, except that our dog won't go outside, it's too hot.
Alas, my favorite show gets canceled, I guess I'll have to go outside sooner or later.
Really, I don't mind the heat.
Ozone overload days.
Can't carpool where I'm going.
My neighbors wait till high noon to start their lawnmowers.
Their sprinklers work in mid-afternoon, watering lawns not suited to this clime.
A herd of goats await their master in their overgrazed pasture.
Cows got into the power company's high voltage complex, but no electrocutions yet.
A man sits on the side of the highway selling fruit and vegetables.
How does he grow them in swampy fields?
Or would they be hydroponic.
By the time I decided to stop to ask him, he was gone.
Waiting for school to start, but I'm not going to school.
Bridges deemed obsolete, but heavy trucks still crossing, on their way to meet the captains of industry.
There's a war on, but I would rather watch a war movie.
Election coming, but I'm getting tired of voting for losers.
I'll watch it anyway, curious to see who will steal it this time.
Gotta go now, the cat wants out, and the dog is scratching at the bedroom door.
This stream of consciousness has dried up.
Ciao.

I know who should be banned!

All of the contributors to this blog because we are LAZY!

Anything More You Need On Anna Nicole?

Anna Nicole Smith. Texas girl made good, and the press hounded her into the grave.
Once again, I hadn't seen her on the cover of any Hollyweird news magazines, therefore didn't know she was still in mourning, involved in a paternity battle, didn't know she was in Florida.
But what do I know?
I heard she was Playmate of the Year, but I haven't subscribed to Playboy in years - actually I don't think I ever did.
I always preferred Penthouse Magazine, for the articles of course, but I also haven't picked up a copy in years.
Once again, I prefer news stories about two headed chickens from outer space that lay eggs shaped like pyramids.
Oh, yeah, did you hear that George and Laura Bush were doing a trial separation, according to one tabloid?
Amazing.
Why wasn't CNN all over that story?
Come on, Larry King, Anderson Cooper and fellow muckrakers at Certainly Not News, do some homework.
You did more vigilance on Anna Nicole than you did for Gerald Ford.
I'm afraid to turn you on, I might have to see the Anna Nicole covered up and rolling into a building on a gurney shot?
How many times did you air that one, Anderson?
Go back to New Orleans.
I want more Katrina news.
Sorry about that rant, Anna Nicole. I'm sure you were a very nice person.
And I thoroughly enjoyed that HBO special about your East Texas cousins who came a visitin' a couple of years ago.
I hope they didn't hit you up for money.

Why obssessed with Jessica Simpson

I'm having lots of trouble understanding why people in this country are so obsessed with people like Jessica Simpson and other Hollywood celebrities. We follow Eva Longoria and that Spurs player's every romantic move, and the local paper joyously announced they're getting hitched. Simpson is cute, but so are puppies.
What's the big deal about following movie stars around like they're gods and goddesses.
Are our own lives so dull and boring that we've got to grasp at any piece of a famous person we see?
Personally, I have few cares whether Brad Pitt is boinking Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie, or whose baby they've adopted this week.
It just don't matter in the grand scheme of things.
And I prefer those stories about Alien kidnappers resurrecting Elvis, or the birth of a three-headed, cloven-hoofed zombie baby.
I want to see more of those stories.
Who Jessica Simpson is dating - or not - this week is not interesting.

Freezy, sneezy weather

Lady Liberty stood on the sidewalk in the icy blast of a major cold front. She moved her body back and forth as if she was dancing, and not freezing. But she was in good spirits, doing a job that "pays well," to support her children.
Happy moments when motorists would honk their horns to acknowledge her attempts to get their attention, and ultimately their business for her employers. And there was the guy who used his truck's PA system to tell her to get inside and get warm.
Lady Liberty stood outside all day Tuesday, January 16, wearing her liberty crown, and waving her sign at motorists.
Ice built up on windshields. Road workers spread sand on bridges, and authorities closed sections of the interstate that runs north and south through the hills to the north.
Two inches of snow reported as near as sixty miles away, but around here, nothing but rain, sleet, and frozen leaves on the lime tree we planted this summer.
Down to twenty-eight degrees with ice on the roads, normal in the northern climes, but dangerous around these parts.
My City Council meeting was cancelled.
And I was informed by the editor that I'm the new business reporter, in addition to covering city government.
See you at the livestock show later this week.
City Boy signing out.

Grill "Chef" Going Back to News Hounding

It's been a slow holiday season for me. I've sent out dozens of resumes to potential employers across the state, mostly newspapers who advertise they are looking for news reporters.
Most of them rudely ignored my cover letters and emails. Don't want to work for them anyway.
Had a good conversation with a newspaper in East New Philippines, sent some clips, but they were looking for a copy editor to lay out pages behind a computer all day, and I wasn't interested. Never heard back about their regional reporting position that supposedly was open.
Nevermind. I've accepted a full-time job as a city hall reporter in a small town about twenty miles east of Cottonwood City. I'll be working with a guy I worked with in another small town, at its daily newspaper, several years ago - he has lobbied relentlessly to get me hired on to work with him. Together, we make a great reporting team, with me on the government, him on the police beat.
I start work next Wednesday, and for the time being, I'll keep my grill chef gig part time.
Anybody want to celebrate? Send me an email, and maybe we can meet at La Tuna, or somewhere, when the weather gets warmer.

dreams that are so mundane you aren't sure if they were actually dreams... should be banned

Was there really a guy riding a skate board up and down the sidewalk outside my apartment last night?

Did I shave my legs?

Did my next door neighbor buy the building?

The unexpected joys of urban living

It came to me like a distant echo surfacing from deep in my subconscious:

"I'm an alligator. I'm a momma papa coming for you."

I'd eaten garlic, had a glass of wine and was soaking in the tub when it happened. Was I hallucinating? Was it indigestion?

No, it was my upstairs neighbors playing the always fabulous Ziggy Stardust. Apart from seeing my sweetie -- and Cristiano Ronaldo -- dancing in striped tights, it made my day.

Thank you upstairs neighbors, for the unearthly serenade.

Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah.

Long live Glam!

What would Miss Scarlet say?

Here's to living in the moment!
No to the future!!

From the BBC:

French marchers say 'non' to 2007

The demonstrators took French restiveness to extremes

Hundreds of protesters in France have rung in the New Year by holding a light-hearted march against it.

Parodying the French readiness to say "non", the demonstrators in the western city of Nantes waved banners reading: "No to 2007" and "Now is better!"

The marchers called on governments and the UN to stop time's "mad race" and declare a moratorium on the future.

The protest was held in the rain and organisers joked that even the weather was against the New Year.

The tension mounted as the minutes ticked away towards midnight - but the arrival of 2007 did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.

The protesters began to chant: "No to 2008!"

They vowed to stage a similar protest on 31 December 2007 on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.


*****
Only Grrrl may be blogging soon on living in the moment, and other various existential conundrums. We shall see... wouldn't want to make too hasty a decision. After all, until those crazy Frenchies get their way, tomorrow is still another day.