Carl Sandburg
I think of this poem nearly every time I see the fog. So simple, yet so evocative. I was in a production of The World of Carl Sandburg many moons ago, and it was a lovely experience. Consequently, I can recite great swaths of his poetry at the drop of a hat – all these years later. My great friend from my school and theater days back in my hometown was in it with me. He died several years ago, much too young.
A melancholy memory on a foggy morning,
Today will be rain-free, then more rain tomorrow. And on it will go, throughout the week ahead.
I’ve been informed that two newly published books that I had on hold have arrived at my library, much sooner than I expected. Suddenly, I will have to scramble to finish The Heist by Daniel Silva, so I can read the new arrivals in the 14 days allotted to me. I read a big chunk of the Silva this morning. Fortunately, they’re fast-paced thrillers, which surely helps.
Did anyone see the Northern Lights? Nothing here, but it was cloudy last night and we were told not to expect anything than the occasional green flash of light. In the brief time I observed the sky, there were no flashes. I’ll have to check the neighborhood Facebook page to see if anyone around here saw them.
I saw them once when I was a camp counselor working in northern Michigan. We were on an overnight with our campers – my fellow counselor on the overnight was my boyfriend at the time. They were stunning. That would have been the summer of 1972.
Oh, to be young again!
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
My niece saw the Northern lights and posted a photo on her Facebook page so that is what I got to see. I didn’t realize they would be here and didn’t look for them in our sky.
I also got a notice that my hold is waiting at the library, “James” by Percival, which I am excited to read as I have heard so many good things about it.
Happy reading, Claudia!
Thank you, Ellen.
Stay safe.
It rained here briefly last night, so with the clouds lingering, there were no northern lights here. Perhaps tonight.
I did have a raccoon encounter last night. Let me set this up. We have a four place Oriole feeder for grape jelly on our 2nd floor deck…no stairs. We have vinyl covering the support poles, (to prevent squirrels from feasting at our bird feeders), and a hose connected to a spicket at ground level. Thursday night I heard a noise on our deck. So did our cat. Sounded like clicking sounds. But I was so tired I just couldn’t muster the energy to get out of bed and check it out. Friday morning…all the cups to the Oriole feeder were licked clean, and one was down on the flower bed underneath. Last night about 11, the patio door was open, and I heard a cup fall. I turned on the light, and lo and behold, I was starring at a raccoon at the feeder…a big one. Oh my….so I slid the door open…and told him to get off my deck. Well…he did leave reluctantly. But, he climbed down the hose, that already had a pvc pipe surrounding it to prevent said squirrels. Evidently we didn’t think to raccoon proof our deck. So…what to do now? I’m thinking bring in the feeder at night. Jim’s thinking grease the pvc pipe. Stay tuned for future raccoon adventures. Didn’t know I’d have to fight off raccoons, just to feed the Orioles. I’ve been feeding the Orioles for about 5-6 years now…no raccoons until now. Any suggestions?
Happy reading…and enjoy your weekend! ;)
hej, donnamae. :)
how are you … apart from the encounter with a raccoon? hope all’s well and you are having very good days!
about raccoons … so sorry you had that experience! here are some suggestions based on our experiences. my parents’ townhome has a second-story deck with three posts for support. it is in the center of a building with four other townhomes all in a line that runs parallel to a path; this building is maybe ten or fifteen feet away from other similar buildings in the same townhome group. all but the end unit of this five-unit building are two-story; the one on the end is a ranch-style that sits lower as the lawns slope down a bit at that end. some decks are elevated, others have concrete walk-out pads outside their basement doors. nice neighbors to the east have a ground-level walk-out pad. nice neighbors to the west have an elevated deck; though they have no barriers on their deck’s posts, no one and nothing could jump from it over to my parents’ deck … too far. the bike/walking path is maybe twenty-five feet at most from the deck and beyond that is a ravine with a creek and lots of trees. we see deer out there quite often and daily get lots of birds (maybe twenty different kinds throughout the year) and squirrels on the deck. one winter, though, a few years ago, we saw raccoon pawprints in the snow on my parents’ deck so when weather cooperated, we installed baffles on those three posts. worked great with no sign of raccoons for several years … until recently (as you might have read a couple posts ago … ugh). think that’s because the trees by each townhome have grown longer, stronger branches and raccoons can more easily reach the end unit’s roof (the single-story ranch) and then just walk across the roofs and get to my parents’ deck that has bird/squirrel food (the next door neighbors with the elevated deck also feed the birds). my suggestions: consider putting baffles on all the posts that support the deck. spinners if possible, the kind that go 360 degrees around each post and ones meant to repel raccoons so they are tall/long enough that a raccoon can’t reach beyond them. hopefully they work forever for you, for you being in a single-family home and not sharing a roof with anyone else. also trim branches away from your home, including up by the roof. there are sprays that might repel raccoons and we thought about that, but do not wish to repel earl and the other squirrels so haven’t tried sprays here. we found the baffles online and the sprays are available that way (though we started at our local wild bird feed store, which sells them). also suggest bringing in the feeders before dusk if you can. we are trying to find a metal bin with a tight locking lid that is big enough to hold a large flat rectangular tray feeder (that holds seed mixes for the birds). when we find one, we plan to keep that on the deck . until then the tray feeder and suet cake holder are in a lidded plastic bin in the garage at night and all bird seeds, suet cakes, and peanuts are kept in metal bins with lockable lids in the garage. motion-activated lights might help. and donnamae, please don’t ever get close to raccoons. even though the raccoons we’ve found on the deck have been slow-moving, almost sloth-like, they’ve been reluctant to leave the deck, like they would fight hard for the food, and i could clearly see their sharp teeth and claws. also please definitely look for two things on your home … dirt and damage. clean off any dirt you find (we’ve found quite a bit … looks like a bunch of mud smeared over a couple of feet on the walls that connect to the deck’s upper railings. at least i hope it’s mud and not poop! what we’ve found thankfully had no obvious poop-y odor) because obviously it’s gross and because it can serve as a scented beacon of sorts to raccoons. as for any damage (especially holes, major claw/chew marks at something peeled back, like roof tiles, etc.)? thankfully we’ve not found any and hopefully you won’t either, but if you do, repair it as soon as possible because obviously you don’t want them in your home! we haven’t gone so far as contact the dnr/department of natural resources or other wildlife experts, but they might have some other ideas (a hopefully-humane trap, for example).
i hope you don’t ever have to deal with raccoons again, donnamae. they are God’s creatures and deserve good lives, but they are sneaky and their reputation of being afraid of people isn’t any guarantee of safety for any of us. stay safe and best wishes. i will be praying for you!
xo,
kathy
Thank you for your suggestions Kathy. I certainly don’t want to harm the raccoons….I just want to feed my orioles. Jim put boat wax leftover from olden times to slick up the pvc pipe covering the hose. It’s extremely slippery…so hopefully will work. Enjoy your weekend! ;)
I’d move it indoors for the night, for what it’s worth. We don’t have bird feeders because our neighbor’s cats roam. But raccoons do get into our trash occasionally!
Stay safe, Donnamae!
I wondered if you could see them. We’re too far south, of course, but son in NYC couldn’t see them either. Too cloudy.
I’m sorry about your hand troubles. Guess I don’t remember how you hurt it, but hope it gets well soon. We had a funny pain/arthritis remedy recommended to us by Fred’s neurosurgeon this week. He said after several of his patients swore by it he couldn’t argue with it. Horse liniment! Ordered from Amazon. So, we’re trying it. So many aches and pains at this stage of life.
Sorry I forgot I was going to ask if you had read anything by Jonathan Santlofer? I/ve read quite a few lately and really liked them—The Last Mona Lisa, Anatomy of fear, The Lost Van Gogh…
And yes, fog. Makes me homesick for SF, but still I love it. We sometimes get it here, beachside, but not nearly often enough.
No, I haven’t heard of him, Shanna.
I hadn’t either, but somehow I came across the description of one and was intrigued. I think it was The Lost Van Gogh. The guy is an artist as well as a writer and he seems to write crime novels centered around art and artists. A couple center around a police sketch artist with uncanny abilities. Kind of an interesting change of pace I’m enjoying right now.
The Silva books deal a lot with art crimes as well. I’ll definitely check out this author, Shanna.
Let me know if it works, Shanna!
Stay safe.
Little cat feet — I remember those two lines but not the whole of it. Rather perfect.
I’m distressed about the lights. I forgot about them till we were about ready to go to bed. I went out to see but there was too much city spill and all I saw was dark sky. They say it might be good tonight, too, though not so brilliant as last night. It looks like rain has settled in for all day but if the clouds lift tonight we may well take a road trip somewhere out in the country and see what we can find.
Happy reading! I’m going to be on that this weekend with my wonderful new book. I’m up to the 1968 and Bobby Kennedy has just announced his run for president. I know what’s coming next…
We’re due for more rain tonight, so I don’t know if we’ll be able to see them.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
No Northern Lights sighting here! I would love to see them somewhere, sometime. Also, no fog here… still warm. Quiet day today…. reading. Enjoy your reading, too.
Thank you, Barrie.
Stay safe.
what a pretty picture (again)! i am no poetry expert, but can say i really like carl sandburg’s choice of words. as you said, evocative.
sorry you missed the northern lights last night. fell asleep too early in order to try to see them here. we are on the edge of maybe being able to see them tonight so will try to stay awake and take our hopes on a short drive away from city lights to a spot on a country road that has a clear northern view. my brother and sister-in-law are way up in rural montana so hopefully they had a cloudless sky and saw the northern lights last night.
glad you have some books to read. i am two-thirds the way through “a gentleman in moscow” and glad to have plenty more books ahead. :)
how’s your hand? hopefully much better. if not, maybe you can get it checked so it heals and doesn’t keep you from your beloved gardening.
okay here. in the middle of laundry and making lunch. trying to keep things simple and just get them done. will have more time with my family, also have some time to cut my hair, read and work on my children’s books. (jeanie, if you read this, i’d love to hear about your book!!!)
hope you, don and everyone else have a great weekend, can see the northern lights and stay safe!
kathy
Have a lovely weekend, Kathy.
Stay safe.
dear Claudia/Don — lots of NLights here last night — many pixs on all TV websites — did not see them personally but have enjoyed them this A.M. some people are really good w/pix taking, glad for those of us w/no skill, haha!! sorry re hand trouble — find it amazing how humans are so used to using both hands — can’t use my left hand much at all – no writing, can’t use for chopping, paring veg, or opening containers BUT if right hand is not 100% can struggle w/left to assist right–a big nuisance for me — hope you improve soon. stay safe/healthy
Thanks so much, Linda.
Stay safe.
I remember sitting on our picnic table on summer evenings when I was a child growing up near Chicago….watching the northern lights and being enchanted by the beautiful colors brushing the sky above me. It is something I will never forget and would love to travel to where I could see them closer up!!Mary in Colorado
Thank you, Mary!
Stay safe.
That’s one of my favourite Sandburg poems. No northern lights here. It’s been cloudy and rainy. Enjoy the good memories you have of your mom tomorrow. Hugs, Elaine
Same here – no Northern Lights this weekend!
Stay safe, Elaine.
Can see the results of all the rain you’ve had in your foggy picture. So green. We have rain too last night so no flashes in our sky either. Looking forward to sunny and 70’s tomorrow and plan to do some planting of pots.
Mother’s Day will be spent at home with the boys (they’re 34 and 36 but will always be “the boys” to me) and Charlie dog visiting. We’ll have Chinese takeout and they’ll help Dean demo our walk-in closet. All the upstairs carpeting will be removed soon and vinyl plank flooring laid. Our room has to be prepped first for the new flooring. Then other rooms’ contents will be moved into our room over Memorial Day Weekend, again with the boys’ help, so they can finish the job. I have stressed over this so much the last months and am so glad the reno boss got the flooring company to agree to do this in two stages.
Take care,
Kay
Sounds like the perfect day with your boys!
Stay safe, Kay.
Glad to see your blog is still going strong. I “tip toe in” every now and then. I was just feeling nostalgic for the Hudson Valley. I pulled up my old stomping grounds, Lake Minnewaska….and alI the great memories. I was reading the guestbook on the site….I worked there the summer of 1966. It was and remains vivid in my mind.
Have a peaceful, beautiful day and hope the fog lifts soon.
Maria
Lake Minnewaska is about 10 minutes from us. It’s beautiful!
I feel the same way about the camp I worked at – forever imprinted on my memories.
Stay safe, Maria.
I am a bit cross with myself that I completely missed the Northern Lights. I was busy on Friday evening working at an online course and only looked out the window around midnight. Next morning there were some fantastic photos taken by neighbouring houses!
Apparently they could be seen throughout all the UK.
We’ve had a week of lovely warm weather around 70 degrees so that might have been summer!
Heavy thunderstorms this evening. Hope they are gone by morning as I don’t fancy venturing out to the bus stop for work in this downpour
Happy Weekend
We couldn’t see them, unfortunately. We did look for them but it was cloudy and overcast.
Stay safe, Dee Dee.
No Northern lights for me. By the time I remembered to go out, I was always in my pj’s and cozy in the house. Besides, it’s been a little foggy and I live in a light-polluted area.
Our summer pattern is here…foggy mornings burning off to clear blue skies, with wisps of fog seeping in from the ocean over the Bay in the late afternoon.
Daughters took me to a baseball game yesterday. That’s always an all-day adventure, taking the ferry over to the City, walking the mile and a half to the stadium, watching the game (we won!), walking back to the ferry to go home. We also visited the Ferry Building to see the new-to-us eatery tenants. There’s a new vegan Filipino place I want to try next time.
You have some good books lined up, Claudia. Enjoy reading them. I’m down to three library books. I keep telling myself I have to read the books I’ve bought but haven’t started yet. But I apparently find the lure of library books stronger! I think there’s a trip there today or tomorrow.