Haitus

Due to my grandfather's passing and work overseas, I'm taking a small haitus from blogging but will return to the site on the 29th of November with fresh stories and poems and thoughts and pictures.

To all you out there who visit this page, know that I'm wishing you a happy holiday and time spent with loved ones.

Life is so fragile. Love more and worry less.

See you soon.

Blessings...Kel

Tides of Grief

taking in the news of his passing,
she sat at her kitchen table
and shared cups of salty water with Grief.

the cups formed dark pools
of sadness on her jeans
and transformed her eyes into tidy waterfalls
which seemed endless.

breathing in syncopated rhythm,
she pushed her hands deep into her eyes,
praying that this small action
would keep her afloat and
carry her safely through the turbulence

to her kin.

Orphan

"i'm an orphan now,"
he told her,
trying hard to stem the flood behind his eyes.

"i know, dad," she said softly.
"i'm so sorry."
and she squeezed his hand,
as he drove her towards her childhood home.

later, as the snow fell,
she listened to him share stories of his father,
some familiar and some new,
and paired them with her own memories of her grandfather.

the sadness was so overwhelming
that she leaned into her father
and wished she didn't live so far away.

Death Of Her Family's Patriarch

and so it was that as
another season passed into the earth,
so should her grandfather.

receiving the news,
she looked out onto the somber landscape,
brittle leaves strewn about the ground
and weathered into ash.

it reminded her of the fragility of life

so she clung more fiercely to the living
and her salty tears
sought to preserve the memories
of what was

and
of the man
she had known her whole life.

A Living, Breathing Aficionado

on most saturdays they found themselves

holed up in the rear of the local wine store with "uncle kirby",

sipping wine and listening to his stories of the grapes
and of their secret bottled messages.

she relished this time

because she had rarely met someone

who lived with such passion about his trade -
the obvious enthusiasm bubbling out of his speech
and tickling her ears.

"oh, you're gonna love this one," he enthused.

"it's full of bright plummy jam,

cherries that will knock your socks off, bro,

and a mineral finish that will have you on your knees,

begging for more."

in fact, he was so lively and bright

that she started carrying home

some of his kirbyisms

working up ways to use them in sentences
and musing at his reminder that it was possible
to lock into one's soul career.

Snap, Crackle and Pop!

as she stepped on the pile of dry leaves,

she sighed with delight

as they

snapped

and

crunched

beneath her sneakered feet.

fall always made her so happy

because it was a feast for her senses,

jolting her through a labyrinth

of happy childhood memories

spent in piles of leaves and dancing with the zephyr.

she paused to breathe in the crisp air

tinged with the sweet smell of decay,

marveling that the death of another season

could smell so good.

Career Aspirations

when she was little

she used to arrange all her stuffed animals

around her in order to read stories to them.

sometimes her parents would peek in on her

and join the crowd,

careful to hide their amused grins

when she'd make up voices for her characters.

the result was so much fun

that she now that she's older,

she'd like to take her show on down the road

and become the new story lady

at the local public library,

reading stories

and weaving magic

to an audience that could giggle

and dream with her.

Alaska In Pictures

alaska was so breathtaking that the state's beauty could speak for itself. enjoy!!!

Seeing the "I" with Open Eyes

she felt lost in the city,
wondering, perhaps, if she had lost it all.

so, she went deep into nature,
deep into its most remote parts,
and enjoyed herself there.

the silence healed her --
and when she saw that her previous belief
about loss was just an illusion,
she burst into giggles.

because in that moment she realized
that losing everything wasn't so bad
because it meant that you also got to lose
silly things like the ego and all its illusions.

which was really quite a good thing, she thought,
because she was finally able to sit down to tea and crumpets
with her observer self without that annoying
little "me" getting in the way.

Astral Game Of Fetch

she looked up into the clear night sky
and was pleased to see sirius,
happily wagging back at her.

he had a large comet in his mouth,
twinkly star dust oozing from it,
and dropped it expectedly at her feet.

"oh, i see," she said.
"you want to play fetch, huh?
okay, boy!"

and she threw the comet as far as she could,
praying she'd at least make it out of the solar system.

he bolted wildly after the comet
and she was reminded of just how much
she loved playing fetch with him.

the only problem, though, is that it
took him light years to retrieve,
which wasn't a bad thing
given how much energy he had.

Puss In Boots

"oh, and this is marie," he said proudly
as a very pretty white and grey cat
leaped onto the couch and settled between them.

"she's very proper, isn't she?" she observed
while stroking the cat's soft fur,
delighting in the warmth and
easy love of this small animal.

"she is," he replied proudly.
"definitely a little princess, huh?"

and as marie stood before them,
she couldn't help but notice her little dainty paws
and they way the cat positioned them in front of her,
almost begging notice.

"i think i shall call her
'marie of the pretty white paws'
because of the subtle way
she shows them off like
new designer boots," she said.

and they laughed together,
reveling in a new understanding
of the meaning "the cat's meow."

Splash Down!

she perched herself near the cliff's edge
and watched fall's little persimmon
and ocher colored parachutes
drift gracefully towards the river below.

keen to join the slowly moving flotilla,
they raced to add their own splashes of paint
to the natural rafts already on parade.

oh, how they drifted and twisted in the current,
sailing over silent cemeteries
full of fallen comrades and
blanketed by dark waters.

decay in various stages, she thought
and decided that few things could rival
death's particular beauty
than fall's last hurrah.

Global Stewardship

I just finished watching "The Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard and wanted to share its important message with all of you. Her message is this: folk in the US consume way too much stuff which only taxes our valuable natural resources and results in all kinds of personal unhappiness because we cannot seem to satiate our need for more and more stuff.

Thanks to society and its clever advertising machine, we're led to believe we need new stuff when our old stuff is still useful. For example, I could keep my old (fill in the blank) but the new version looks so much more (fill in favorite adjective) and I'll likely be able to (fill in favorite verb) by having it which will lead to (fill in fantasy), etc... Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam. It's actually a little crazy when you pause to consider it all.

The recent Pixar movie "Wall-E" tackled the issue of overconsumption and its consequences rather brilliantly, methinks, and "The Story of Stuff" continues on in the same vein but does a better job breaking down the how and why. Sometimes acquaintences tease me about driving around an 11-year-old car (almost unheard of out here in the affluent DC area), but I'm proud of the fact that it's still ticking AND has over 170,000 miles on it. I mean, I guess I could buy a new car right now but why when Bobby J (yep, I've named my car) is still running perfectly well? I just can't justify it.

Spending time up in the "last frontier" and out of the bubble of DC, I was reminded that the economy is hitting folk hard...not something I see where I live. Several of the commercials I've seen in Alaska are addressing this worry and my hunch tells me that this is the case elsewhere in America, too. Recently, I saw the latest Kraft Singles commercial which advertises the economy of Kraft Singles and the value of a wholesome grilled cheese sandwich ("Need a nutritious meal for your children but having trouble making ends meet? Don't forget Kraft Singles during your next grocery run because grilled cheese sandwiches go a long way on a small budget!").

While it makes me sad that so many are struggling under the recession and the plummeting economy, it does seem that a silver lining may be peeking through all the turmoil. I'm seeing more and more people spending time at home with their families, choosing cheaper homemade meals and card games to evenings out. I see people teaching their kids that sometimes you can't always get what you want when you want it (a nice change from the Veruca Salt phenomenon we've seen this past decade). And while really tough right now, perhaps it will show us (the US) that you really can survive on very little and actually be happy about it.

Alaska is FUNNY!!!

I used to think that So. Dakota was America's funniest state. I mean, it has signs advertising a drugstore for hundreds of miles; Highway 90 has a sculpture of a man walking a T-Rex on a leash; and the town of Mitchell features an entire palace covered in corn cobs.

Sigh. I hate to do it but move over So. Dak, Alaska is funnier.

Aside from signs warning against trespassing ("Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."), one of my favorite discoveries in Alaska is the comic strip "Tundra". It's witty, clever and down right funny. I mean, I cannot stop giggling when reading this comic strip!

Read on for a few giggles and to see what I mean:


And this...


Now...if only it could find its way into the papers in DC!

Alaska's Non-Traditional Soldiers

Landscape off Alaska's Highway 3, heading north towards Fairbanks, November 2008.

she paused during her afternoon
to watch the ice float
and glide south on the river
below her.

where white had welcomed her,
infinite shades of gray now
took their turn on parade,
presenting small icebergs
intent on travel.

listening closely, the ice
tinkled and cracked as it moved along,
a lovely opening act for the river's own voice.

it found her
as she sat on the bank
and listened to the river's lessons,
learning more in 15 minutes
than she had in quite some time.

"Hello From Alaska...Are You There?"

"hey, i miss you,"
one of her dearest friends wrote her.
"i miss you, too," she replied.

"well, at least we have orion
to keep us connected, right?" he said.
"i mean, he's like two cans on a string
but better because when i look
up and see him, i know
you're doing the same thing
wherever you are."

"yep," she giggled.

"better still," he continued,
"he's totally free,
he never drops calls
and the only interference
we'd ever get are clouds and they're okay.

"i mean, move over verizon
'cuz the celestial wide web is
in the house!" he finished,
obviously tickled with himself.

and she laughed because she just
see him cracking himself up
over his latest clever little comment

which is why she couldn't resist saying
"better make that in the sky"
just to keep him grounded on earth.

The Interior

driving into the heart
of alaska's interior,
she was struck by
the quiet roads and quiet skies,
seeing more wildlife than fellow travelers.

and, as she looked out
into the expansive terrain,
dotted with pine trees and jagged mountains,
she had to wonder if this
was not akin to travels
into her own heart's interior.

for, like alaska's heart, her own
offered so much and ached for
an intrepid traveler who could
patiently await its slow unveiling.

Alaska

she had never seen
so many variations of white,
she thought to herself
as the suv moved north
through the rugged terrain.


mountains pressed in
on every side and presented
her with awesome views
of sheer beauty
and snow
and ice.


"oh, it's so beautiful," she breathed,
pointing out frost covered pine trees,
twinkling in late afternoon sunlight,
and signs warning of moose.


and with each mile that passed,
she felt her heart join the rhythm
of this wild frontier and she grinned
because she finally felt "home" again
out here in the middle of nowhere.

Up, Up and Away

she woke up giddy with excitement.

in just a few hours,

she'd be on her way

to the land of snow,

the midnight sun,

the iditarod,

and the aurora borealis.

she couldn't believe her luck

and thought to herself that

it really must be true

that what you spend time

thinking about comes back

to you in magical ways.

she giggled

and decided to spend
time thinking about
a million dollars,
a pound puppy,
land in montana,
and a free trip around the world.

she paused.

"oh, and maybe big dipper's
pumpkin ice cream recipe...
'cuz that stuff is G, double O, D,
GOOD!"

Continuing Adventures of Clark Kent

"have you ever noticed
how much he looks like clark kent?"
she mused to her friend,
while they studied him.

"oh, absolutely!" she replied,
"but don't be fooled...
he has a dark sense of humor,"
she said, finishing with a nod in his direction.

"really?" she asked.
"i never would have figured."

"oh, it's not quite
black hole for a soul dark," her friend said.
"just think of him as superman
with an edge."

"so, are you saying he's more
bruce wayne?" she asked with a grin.

"no, no...just maybe
a very distant cousin
of lex luthor's!" her friend finished.

and the words made her giggle
because she could perfectly
picture what that might look like.