Spring Is Just Around The Corner!

Around here, southeastern lower Michigan, Spring is on its way. Okay, some days it's downright cold and chilly and the furnace is working overtime, but some days it's bright, sunny and temperatures are in the 50s. And it's been rainy, so rainy that roads get flooded and mud is everywhere. Plus, look at the calendar. Geez, it's mid-March! April is just about here!

In the upper peninsula of Michigan, along the shores of Lake Superior where my friend Tallulah lives in Marquette, well, it's another story. They still have snow on the ground, snow on the way and it's cold.

Granted, looking at these photos from Tallulah, you'd never think it was almost Spring, would you?






And if you check out the web cams in Marquette at http://www.yooperland.com where you can get an up-to-the-minute look at their weather, well…


For weeks Tallulah and I have been having a running email and telephone battle about Spring, or the lack of it in the UP.

See, going by the calendar, it's almost Spring. And Spring is much, much, much closer than Winter, right? I rest my case. It's almost Spring.

Tallulah says that Spring is a myth. Okay, not exactly a myth, I mean she used to live down here and she knows it happens every year, but they've had such a hard winter up there…the hardest since the 1960's the old people say…that she's just about given up on it ever being warm again.

When, in a sudden burst of optimism fueled by my insisting to her that winter is almost over, she told her 90 year old neighbors that Spring was just around the corner, they laughed and told her they still had to get through the traditional St. Patrick's Day Blizzard before it could ever be Spring!

But I tell you, eventually it will be Spring in the UP. It my not be right away or as close to happening as it is down here, but one of these days when she least expects it…POW! Spring!

In my backyard there's a Woodpecker setting up housekeeping in one of the many trees. And there's some other bird, I don't know what kind, sorry, but it's back and it has the most beautiful song you'd ever want to hear. Those are all signs of Spring to me.

Even this morning, after yet another night of rain, when the winds were raging and my power went out for three hours, even that was yet another sign that Spring was almost ready to be sprung (smile).

You be good and be careful, take care and stay strong. And remember, Spring is right around the corner!


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Life Throws Curve Balls

Like I needed to tell you that, huh?


Just when you think everything is going really good, or at least well enough so you're not grumbling or worried or pissed off about something, that's when the curve ball comes flying out of nowhere.


Mine was the other day. My Uncle David was reminding me about the summer when HSM's #1 son was playing basketball in my driveway with the son of one of Uncle David's friends, and three of that kid's buddies. Six years ago it was, the boys were all 13, and had their whole lives spread out in front of them.


They were fun to watch. Silly, talking 'stuff', laughing as they dribbled the basketball to and fro on my driveway. You know how teenaged boys are - Half-boy, half-man. Silly one minute, serious as a heart attack the next.


The boys are 19 now. HSM's #1 is a freshman in college and, at this writing, hoping to be a police officer. One of the other boys graduated high school, went off to college and is back home because he ran out of tuition money. Another one of the boys, a high school graduate himself, wastes his days smoking stuff, laying up with his girlfriend and doing nothing…no job, no school, no nothing. The fourth boy graduated high school, too. Then he got himself killed. In the wrong place at the wrong time.


And that's what I mean by a curve ball. That day six years ago, looking at those four boys, it was a reasonable expectation, at least to me that they would all grow up go to school, get a job, start families. The American dream.


At this writing only one of them is still on the path. One is working to get back on the path. One is so far off the path it'll be a miracle if he doesn't end up in prison. And one is dead.


I'm not suggesting that this is peculiar to around here or to people that I know. I would guess that lots of kids fall through the cracks and don't end up living the life that their parents hoped and dreamed for them as they first held them in their arms at their birth.


I'm not real sure where I'm going with this, much less the point I'm trying to make. Unless it's that life is fragile, full of promise and unless we stay focused, well, everything can get all messed up.


Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

When Was The Last Time You Read Any Poetry?

That's a good question, isn't it? For all of the reading I do, and I read ALOT, weekly hauling home bags of books from the library plus borrowing books from friends and even purchasing them now and again, I rarely read any poetry. And it's a shame because I like poetry. One of my most favorite books, a gift from a prisoner in New York, Hauling Up the Morning, is filled with essays and poems and I've read it cover-to-cover so many times over the years it's all tattered.


When I was at Bargain Books a couple of weeks ago I picked up a copy of Poetry, a magazine filled with, guess what? poetry (smile)! Thought I'd share one of the poems with you.

---

The First Line is the Deepest
by Kim Addonizio

I have been one acquainted with the spatula,
the slotted, scuffed, Teflon-coated spatula

that lifts a solitary hamburger from pan to plate,
acquainted with the vibrator known as the Pocket Rocket

and the dildo that goes by Tex,
and I have gone out, a drunken bitch,

in order to ruin
what love I was given,

and also I have measured out
my life in little pills—Zoloft,

Restoril, Celexa,
Xanax.

I have. For I am a poet. And it is my job, my duty
to know wherein lies the beauty

of this degraded body,
or maybe

it's the degradation in the beautiful body,
the ugly me

groping back to my desk to piss
on perfection, to lay my kiss

of mortal confusion
upon the mouth of infinite wisdom.

My kiss says razors and pain, my kiss says
America is charged with the madness

of God. Sundays, too,
the soldiers get up early, and put on their fatigues in the blue-

black day. Black milk. Black gold. Texas tea.
Into the valley of Halliburton rides the infantry—

Why does one month have to be the cruelest,
can't they all be equally cruel? I have seen the best

gamers of your generation, joysticking their M1 tanks through
the sewage-filled streets. Whose

world this is I think I know.

---

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.

Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

So Many Things To Tell You!

Okay, first of all, on the homepage of my website there's a link to a phone sex search engine. No, I don't want you to peruse their listings! Thing is, see, if I have a link to them on my site then they'll put a link to me on their site. For free. Over the years I've resisted doing anything like that because, well, because I find lots of other folks sites/businesses to be objectionable and I never wanted to be associated with them. But in today’s economy, well, things are tough and I need some free advertising.


Next, Tallulah has sent me some more of her Michigan Upper Peninsula photos and I thought I'd share them with you. Pretty aren't they? And the deer is cute!








When I spoke with her yesterday she told me that last weekend there was a big snowstorm in the UP. Fortunately, she said, it missed Marquette (where she lives). But Munising, a small town maybe forty miles east of Marquette, wasn't nearly as lucky. Within a twenty-four hour period Munising received 36 inches of snow! I'll bet it looks pretty but I sure wouldn't want to have to deal with it.


Yesterday it was incredibly sunny here and somewhere in the 40s. As I type this it's sunny today, although they're calling for rain and lots of it later in the day.


On a less than sunny note, my Aunt Shug has had two strokes within the past few weeks. They released her from the hospital yesterday. That stupid assed, selfish, crack head son of hers, Michael, if he hadn't talked her out of that operation a few months ago none of those strokes would have happened. The doctors said she'd have strokes if she didn't have the operation and I guess they were right.


And speaking of Michael, he's not in jail any more. I don't know how he managed to get out; they were holding him on some serious charges. I know Aunt Shug was pleading with her grandson, the police officer that Michael tussled (what a kind word) with, not to press charges but I never thought he'd do it. Oh well.


Well, that's it for this morning. You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. And remember, it's always darkest before the dawn.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Did You Miss Me?

Yes, I know, it's been a few weeks since I've written anything here. Another case of winter doldrums, I guess. But hey, it's almost Spring and soon the days will be warm and sunny. In fact, even though it's only mid-February, it is a beautiful sunny day here. Not warm by any means, but sunny, so sunny that you really need your sunglasses if you're venturing out. Sun and snow can make for a blinding experience.


I've got a few of Tallulah's photos to share with you today. This first one is the sun coming up on a cold wintery day on Lake Superior. Pretty isn't it?




And then here's the sun already up and the snowy beach.




Finally, here's the gazebo. The perfect spot for a picnic as long as you're wearing twelve layers to keep you warm and snuggly!




Speaking of Tallulah, she's downstate. She drove down a week ago Sunday and I'm not real sure when she's going home. You may remember me telling you awhile back that her 'brother' (not really her brother, but a close family friend that she has always regarded as her brother) had cancer. Well, he passed away last week. That's why Tallulah came down, to see him for the final time and to help with funeral preparations.


Saturday the 14th she came by and we went shopping. Bargain Books here in downtown Farmington, MI has magazines for $1 again! I love magazines! And if you've picked any up recently you know they aren't inexpensive. With them being $1 at BB, well, I can satisfy my cravings.


Then we went to "linner" - a late lunch/early dinner (smile) at a Chinese buffet restaurant. You know what they had (among other food items)? Frog legs! Do you eat them? I love frog legs! These were the little ones, lightly breaded and fried. Oh my goodness!


Other than that there isn't a whole lot going on here. Saturday nights from 7p to 10p est I listen to the Jay Butler Show on WDETFM 101.9 (wdet.org), Sunday nights it's Big Love on HBO and Monday nights it's Little Mosque on the Prairie on Canadian TV. Those are my 'always do'. What are yours?


Don't be a stranger. I love hearing from you.


Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com