Testing My Patience

Is It Spring Yet

It’s been much warmer lately

And the snow has all but gone

It’s been a long time coming

It’s been a long, hard run.

I haven’t heard the robins yet

But the magpies squawk and shriek

They disturb my early mornings

They really make me freak!

They’ve made their home as usual

In the tree in our courtyard

Their chatter and their squabbles

Show blatant disregard.

For us humans that are trying to sleep

(We really could sleep late)

We’re all just retired old folks

But we can’t enjoy that fate!

Those magpies all wake up at dawn

And they hold such early meetings

They make us all just listen

And don’t offer friendly greetings.

I know it’s just the beginning

And I know they will get bolder

When the hatchlings all start begging

And the young chicks all get older.

I‘m really a nature lover

And my patience is long enduring

But magpies mock that patience

“Nature’s enthusiast” obscuring.

Their sleek shape notwithstanding

Magpies disrupt my serenity

They challenge my persona

And deny my soul amenity 

Easter Wishes and Memories

Happy Easter Everyone!

Once again it it is that joyous time of the year when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.  Like Christmas. this is a very special holiday for people of the Christian faith.  In fact, it is the basis of our faith, and, speaking from a Ukrainian background, it is heaped in rich tradition and pageantry.

How well I remember the great anticipation and preparations which started a week before and culminated with that special church service on Easter Sunday. It was the highlight of the year, especially for us kids.  Sometimes I wonder that the walls of that little country church did not explode from the sheer reverberation of the hymns, sung, not by any professional choir, but by sincere and enthusiastic ordinary (mostly uneducated) farm folk whose simple unpretentious faith gave such meaning to their life and lent them such lofty wings on which to soar.

After the  church service and the traditional blessing of the Easter food baskets, we rushed home to partake of the delectable repast. When  that special feast was finished, all the young kids hurried back to gather around that little church to play games and take turns pulling the long thick rope that rang the huge bell up in the bell tower above us.  That bell could be heard for miles and miles through the countryside.

Easter was three days and while the adults celebrated with friends, neighbors and/or relatives, we kids spent those three days in the churchyard in carefree exuberance, singing, playing games and ringing that huge bell.  Our folks always knew that as long as that bell kept peeling, we were safe and happy and in good hands.

We lost so much when we became "MODERN"!

In A Rut

Ruts and Procrastinations

“Don’t put off till tomorrow

What you can do today

For tomorrow may not ever come,”

I’ve always heard them say.

I’ve been so guilty of that crime

And I feel I must confess

It’s not that I’m so busy

It’s my approach that is a mess.

I’m remorseful and so mortified

My humility is intense 

I need to clear my conscience

And to offer recompense.

I’ve got into a rut somehow

And I have no justification

For this indolence and lethargy

And this lack of concentration.

So I’m whining and complaining

Cause it’s easier to do

It really takes less effort

When your brain just won’t come through!

Armchair Holidays

Armchair Travel

Just came back from a Mediterranean Cruise and a tour of Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Israel --- from  my armchair.  It was a trip I made in 1990, one of several international holidays I had taken when I was younger and alot more spry and adventurous.

 In addition to tons of captioned pictures that occupy a bookshelf of photo albums, I have detailed travel logs of each and every trip.  I had always planned to relive these exciting highlights of my life  and now I truly appreciate all the minute and comprehensive information I included in those logs.

I recall sitting on the edge of the bathtub each evening before I went to to bed, religiously recording the events of the day into my log book  while my roommate slept in her bed beyond the closed door.  I did my writing in the bathroom so as not to disturb her sleep with the lights in the room.  This system worked well for both of us, she got her sleep and I got my travel logs.  Now I appreciate all that effort and sacrifice though at that time I probably did not realize how much time and work I must have been  putting into the task.  (I must have forfeited at least an hour or two of sleep each night after very busy and tiring days of sightseeing as indicated by those logs). Still, now, between the pictures and all that minute information that I included in those notes, those holidays are a real pleasure to relive!

And with almost no effort or inconvenience to expend at all!