Urban Ocean

Urban Ocean

In the early morning I wake to whale songs.
Ne, straining sounds of garbage truck.
The street leviathan’s hydraulic call.
A dorsum baleen packer blade scrapes to hopper,
feeding on plankton of lives.

True story, it has happened twice now. I wake to oceanic whale calls and it is only the garbage truck picking up the apartment complex’s rubbish.

Compare these sound bites:

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=18769
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=82325

Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their phylogenetic or taxonomic classification.

An 'other' Country

My sister passed away a few months ago. When I describe how I look at it, it is like in the olden days, if someone left to homestead or settle a new place, there was no way to keep in contact, you may or may not have been able to send and receive letters. I feel that way about my sister Gayle, that she has gone to settle a new place, I won’t see her again in this life, but she has just gone to a new place. And that like the olden days, the best way to send word or a letter was via someone traveling into the same territory.

Last week we learned that my Grandfather was ailing. His readying to pass has been on my mind. My sister and brother visited him yesterday.

I wrote this poem this morning, and by noon had received word that my Grandfather had passed away during the night. Adieu, and give our regards to Gayle.


A One Way Communiqué.

A metered mass migration to an ‘other’ country,
pioneers all to this new frontier.
My sister is there, Grandpa readying to go.
Julie says, “tell her we love and miss her”.
He says, “I will ....”, and the rest is lost.
No letters or photos will come back,
a one-way communiqué.


I am trying to come up with a good way to say this ‘other’ country, to express heaven, without getting confusing. I don’t think ‘other’ country does the job, but is the best I can think of. ‘The farthest country’? ‘The hidden country’?

Blue Moon, Did You See Me Standing Alone?

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."

full moon, blue moon, oh
glowing soft cool light on me
my pagan heart keens

New Year's Eve 12/31/2009 was both a full moon, AND a blue moon. Such an auspicious omen. I wanted to be out in it. I wanted to be bathed in its celestial light. Two friends were willing and so we went snow shoeing up Millcreek Canyon. It is the only way to greet a new year in my opinion. So stunningly beautiful.

I love full moons, and blue moons are even more wonderful iterations of full moons. Really, I could puke I get so excited about it.

Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Blue Moon
You knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will (ever) hold
I heard somebody whisper please adore me
And when I looked to the Moon it turned to gold

Blue Moon
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
2010 is going to be a good year for me, I just know it!

Bon Hiver

“Bon hiver” (pronounced "bohn eevair") means “good winter” in French and is a greeting for the day on which the first snow falls that sticks on the ground and begins the annual white build up for winter. I need to get outside more to make it a good winter.

Last night to celebrate the Winter Solstice a new friend got a small group together to go snowshoeing up one of the cottonwood canyons (nope, I didn’t even notice which one). The moon was still only a waxing crescent, but with the snow reflecting light we didn’t even need headlamps.

Highlights:

1) Hiking alone for a portion and having a ‘Joe Versus the Volcano’ moment of, “Dear God, ... thank you for my life. I forgot how big... Thank you”. Then I shed some tears as I was grateful for my (recently deceased) sister’s life too.

2) Toasting the solstice with a tasty drink, chocolate coated figs from Spain, and a reading.

3) A desperate and nearly futile attempt to light matches/mini bon-fire to summon back the sun and light. What a debacle, it was meant to be poetic and magical.

Banquette Seating

Main Entry: ban·quette
Pronunciation: \baŋ-ˈket, ban-, 1b is also ˈbaŋ-kət\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Middle French, from Old Occitan banqueta, diminutive of banc bench, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English benc bench.

a) : a long upholstered bench b) : a sofa having one roll-over arm c) : a built-in usually upholstered bench along a wall

I love this lesson in etiquette. This is taken directly, or almost so, from Emily Post's book. I think this is information most of us do not know and would benefit from.

When at a restaurant with banquette seating and a long table, two people dining together are seated side by side against the wall.

At a narrower table, two diners, who might other wise be seated side by side, are seated opposite each other. The lady would be seated on the banquette with the gentleman facing her.

If there are four, the women are seated on the banquette and the men face them across the table.

In a restaurant with booths, the women go in first and sit against the far wall, facing each other across the table. The men then sit next to them on the outside.

If a woman and two men are lunching or dining, the woman takes her place first against the wall. If one of the men is related to her, he sits across from her, and the one not related sits beside her. If this grouping is reversed, the two ladies sit next to the wall, and the man who is the husband of one sits beside the other.

I think this is because the banquette seating provides the better view of the surroundings, and is usually more comfortable. On one of the worst dates of my life, the fellow (let's call him David (I think that was his name)) took me to a little Italian place in Ocean Beach (I was living in San Diego at the time). I had a nice view out of the window onto the lovely environs of O.B. I commented on this, "my having a better view than him", to which he responded, looking meaningfully into my eyes, that "actually he had the better view, because he could see me". hahahaha.... ok, had I actually fancied the fellow, then maybe, MAYBE, that wouldn't have been the cheesiest line EVER! But, only maybe. I have a low tolerance for ostentatious OR premature sentimentality.

Contractions of Delight

My nine year old nephew uses the term amn't a lot. When he first used it we were so impressed that his clever mind had come up with a contraction for 'am not'. Oh, we thought he was so clever to invent it, even if it weren't grammatically valid. For some reason I finally looked it up, and....WHAT?!?! It is an actual and valid contraction, though the pronunciation is different than how Jacob says it.

Main Entry: amn't
Pronunciation: \ˈänt, ˈant, ˈa-mənt\
Date: 1618
chiefly Scottish & Irish : am not

So, my new goal is to use the contraction when I have occasion. Wikipedia has a little to say on the subject. It is not only a contraction for "am not" but also "am I not".

Amn't I clever?

Oh Mossy, Mossy Me

LITTLE CLUMP OF MOSS
HAPLOID BRYOPHYTE SO GREEN
LOVING WATER TOO

My love of moss has been a long one. Maybe because growing up in one of the driest states in the U.S., moss is a rarity. To be seen at waterfalls and along mountain streams. It is the epitome of lush, and water richness. I love it and when studying Botany in college, I would fantasized about finding a new species of moss and naming it after myself. Vanity indeed. I wanted to name it (_______) rachelii, but sadly found out that as a girl I would have to name it (_______) racheliana.

When the name of a plant is derived from a proper name:

* the ending -ii means it was named after the male developer of a cultivar
* the ending -ae means it was named after the female developer of a cultivar
* the ending -iana means the flower name commemorates the personal name it is attached to

OH well, and how about having a mossery?

Mossery: A passing fad for moss-collecting in the late 19th century led to the establishment of mosseries in many British and American gardens. The mossery is typically constructed out of slatted wood, with a flat roof, open to the north side (maintaining shade). Samples of moss were installed in the cracks between wood slats. The whole mossery would then be regularly moistened to maintain growth.

I sort of have a mossery. I have collected moss from Olympia, WA, to put around my orchids. I noticed that it had all gone brown after a time had passed, so I started misting it every morning and night. I take better care of the moss than I do the orchids now. But I love to see the green bits growing out of the dormant brown body mass.

I dream of having my own bathroom (meaning I own it) where I can build a mossery in the shower stall (on the opposite wall from the showerhead). That way it could get lots of moisture. I would have a skylight or those glass bricks in a wall to let in some light and grow lush, green moss.

I like moss.