Ten-Finger Exercises

A rhyme-y day

I'm bogging down at blogging,
And I deserve a flogging,
Or standing there a'gogging
To appease my mind today.

Because my mind was fogging
And the wheels were not all cogging,
And the pipes seemed to be clogging,
I did gang aft agley.*

*Thomas Carlyl, "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, gang aft agley."


Have you ever thought of excuse making as an art? Not the old dog-ate-my-homework, but truly creative things? It wasn't my intention to sit down here tonight and make excuses, but I have to admit to spending too much time ruminating about good reasons why I might be late for work or leave some task half finished at home.

Now Sunday night I had a great excuse for not finishing my blog. (I know, you didn't notice.) We had to go outside and watch the space shuttle fly over. My husband likes to do that, and the sky hasn't been clear enough (at a time when NCIS or CSI weren't on) in quite a long time.

If you've never watched the ISS (Internation Space Station) go past, I recommend it. It's easy to get the schedule on the
net. It only takes a minute or two and is surprisingly bright. Just thinking about those two men up there, whose names we usually don't even know, gives me goose bumps. So many unknown heroes we have in this world!

***
Another funeral today, this one a graveside. The pastor
stood there forever, shifting his weight from foot to foot and scuffing his black loafer against the faded astro-turf that covered the hole. He kept repeating how hard it was to say goodbye. It was another case of a 'stringer' doing the service, sort of a rent-a-preacher for a family who had no religious affiliation. He'd never met the person who died. That makes it a lot more difficult to say goodbye, or anything else meaningful!

***
Well, I was wrong about 'cherry pink and apple blossom white.' Or I was right the first time. The cherries have set now and the blossoms are gone, but the apple trees are blooming and they're the ones that are pink.