L'aura del Campo

Summer: 11 Izzat (September 18)

2005-09-18
vespers, 86 degrees. 76 degrees in Bellefontaine, OH.

Lee Olsen sent me an email re "I, Katrina"  as have Rachel, Hub and Ruth. Only one review here. So far no poetic critiques. Must decide what to do by tomorrow.

Went to the bell concert and spoke with Prof. Berghout. Her tenure is coming up so I'll need to write a letter stating how important she is to the university. It won't be hard. I truly believe she is the right person to continue on until the centenary of the campanile in 2050. She'll only be in her 80s!

Saw two documentaries this afternoon at the art museum: "Coffee Break" and "The Long Road Home" about conditions in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Unfortunately, there was NO discussion afterwards. I find this most discouraging.

Does anyone doubt that this is an extraordinary hurricane season. There are presently 4 named storms west of Mexico and three in the Atlantic: Ophelia, which is still blustery, up around Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; Philippe headed for a vacation in Bermuda; Rita westward bound towards the Gulf (Key West is just 'in-the-way').

2005-09-18
noon, 82 degrees. 86 in Key West, FL

I think of Knut burning himself in the Everglades everytime Key West hits the news. In the next couple days, everyone will hear about Hurricane Rita (still a tropical depression) as she heads towards the keys and the gulf.

The next depression, expected to form off South America will be called Stan. Then there's Tammy, Vince and Wilma to look forward to. Then the list runs out. May I suggest Xavier or Xerxes, Yvette or Yvonne, Zach or Zorro?

Phillippe isn't threatening no one right now, but he's headed towards Bermuda.

I love weather; but, I'm in the land where the tornadoes roam, and the sunflowers wave in the breeze. Where September lays calm in the shade of green leaves and the buffalo know it as home.

Wrote three poems thinking of the quilt we used as children when we were sick. It was made by my Great-Aunt Nonnie for her younger sister Bertha who was dying of cancer. Never did get to meet my grandmother.

SENSED YESTERDAY:

Waterlilies still in bloom; sweetpeas; red-purple asters; smell of fresh mulch and dog excreta; monarch on asclepsias; a second monarch on a lavender butterfly bush; pink-lavender sedum; white aster beginning to bloom; snail in my way (I picked it up and placed it in the leak litter); broken brick sidewalk; clumps of lavender hosta in full bloom; long dry pine needles and spider webs among the brown edged lily-of-the-valley leaves; "America the beautiful" played by the bells; thunder sounding like a crack team of teenaged bowlers; children and dogs playing while the adults drank beer and watched the football game.