L'aura del Campo

Labor Day and Office memories

Egghalfcracked is NUTS! You've got to read her! Thoughts on Labor Day. 3 poetic sketches. Wish we would've had gutter rails as a kid. Football ... we won. Cooling off lots of places. Is Fall coming? And what about quizzes, cats and green tomatoes?

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███████          L'aura del campo
███████          SUMMER: 16 'Asma (4 September)
███████          Weather outside: warm and pleasant.
███████          Weather inside: tired, calm.

'é a lua,  é a lua,  na quintana dos mortos'          
~    Federico García Lorca

Labor Day ... for some

Historically, many people were forced to work long hours and any day of the week when demanded. Dairy farmers still do. (Cows don't do holidays). Labor Day was a recognition of factory workers and others who deserved a day off in recognition of their contributions to society.

Now, of course, it becomes just another holiday for most folks. Work-days are shorter and there are laws against sweatshops. Not ... that workers aren't still being abused. Silicon Valley can burn a normal person out with long hours.

Many of those working in retail are at work, of course. What would society od if it couldn't shop for a day? Emergency personnel are still there for us. But most services are closed. Here buses don't run and if you are poor ... you walk.

Older people will feel the isolation of holidays, even minor ones. The mailman doesn't stop by; younger friends go away for the weekend. The day can seem overly long and empty. Not everyone is entertained by non-stop television, video games or the internet.

For many non-working poor it is just another day, but meaner and more depressing.

Hope you are having a pleasant Labor Day ... especially if you had to work.

Too dry? Think rain
Temperature where I am: 73º after noon.
Weather in Amherst, New York: 66º.
Weather in San Francisco, California: 64º.
Weather in Malmö, Sweden: 61º.

IMAGES

On the hill above the football game Saturday:

Hot dogs; a new crop of kids playing on the hill; banners being run around the field; breezy and cool; a girl twirling a stick; a kid with binoculors; the roar and hush of the crowd; my sore butt; a grey hair, blond hair match (mother and daughter?); 2 big black dogs; 2 women sitting in a red cart; green grass and brown chaff; footballs being tossed by the crowd; red taillights, car horns.

MY LIFE

Well, misplaced my black notepad. This always gets me calling around hysterically. It means I need to retrace my path, in spite of my right foot still aching. I know I whine, but I should stay off my feet until they heal and this does not help. (Later: Well ... it was in my shirt pocket back 'home' ... argh ...)

Two libraries were closed today. Lucky to find one open. Weekends, Sundays and holidays are great if you have the money and someplace to go. For some of us it is just a forced do-nothing day. Buses don't run and stores and services are closed.

Sky was magnificent all day. Wispy clouds that changed their forms. Sunset was magnificent. Took photos of the sky and a row of sunflowers leaning over a driveway. Some grew over 12 feet this year.

FOOTBALL

A separate category so it can easily be skipped over! I have gone to football games since I was a teenager. Can't play it. Don't understand or care to understand the intricacies of the movement on the field. It's two teams butting heads and one team wins. That's all. But ... I like the atmosphere, the sounds of the crowd, the groans, the elation.

Kansas easily defeated NSU of Louisiana. They should've. But they didn't look as good as the 49-18 romp would leave one to believe. In soccer terms the score would've been 7-5. A superior team can afford to make a few mistakes during the first game and call it jitters. During regular season, one pays dearly.

At least they showed up and entertained us. Colorado hosted Montana State, a very good 1-AA team, and got smacked 19-10. Game isn't over till the scoreboard shows 00:00 ... and even then.

POULTRY? YOU CALL THIS POULTRY?

The floodgates of writing opened last night. I'd left my notepad at home ... again. So I wrote all over a common sheet of paper. Wrote 6 short sketches in a couple hours while reading 'Flying at Night' by Ted Kooser. Here are 3:

Office memories

They crushed my heart
at the office between file cabinets
and accusations oozing bile.
They threw me in the trash bin
stamped: unwelcome,
don't come back.
They were kind that way.
Digging through their dung heap,
I found a sobbing heart,
and held it tight,
gently cleansed it,
told it
all would be alright. [163.334]

Lunch

I've forgotton
how many new faces
I had to train.
I would teach them, treat them,
take them out to lunch.
Each recruit, save one.
They denied me that.
Four years later
and penniless,
I accept kind offers
to buy me lunch. [163.335]

Bowling

Too bad
we didn't have gutter rails.
Your ego would have stayed
intact, like the headpin
I couldn't see or hit.
So hard
to have a son
so unlike oneself:
ten pins short
of a strike. [163.336]

BLOGVILLE

WDC Birthday contest: "Invalid Item"  is open until September 20th. The prizes are awesome, so I would encourage everyone to enter.

My Quiz is open for 2 more days: "Invalid Item" . partyof5dj put a quiz in this blog entry today: "Invalid Entry" .

A couple pleasant relaxing entries: tahubley speaks about being owned by a cat in "Invalid Entry"  and Barbs takes us down a country road in "Invalid Entry"  and treats us to recipes and facts about: "Invalid Entry" .

READ this! GO there! LEAVE nice comments! "Invalid Entry"  by egghalfcracked is hysterical! She has a sense of humor that must make the residents of the nursing home value her like gold! If laughter is healing than she ought to be paid like a physician. I highly recommend reading her entry. This is just an excerpt:

TREASURE OF THE DAY

Our eyes meet. I see the laughter jumping and dancing in her eyes as she continued. She rushed herself and her words started to jumble. “It ‘minded me you” I give her a questioning look. I repeat what I think she is saying. “It reminded you of me?” She nods her head yes and we both laugh. Her laughter gets her all tongue-tied. “Why does that squirrel remind you of me?” I ask hoping the question will calm her words enough for her to speak. “It’s big nut!” she almost screams as the laughter forces her words out. I laugh with her and sit down on the floor allowing me to ease my hurting knee and allow her to look down at me. One of the things I hate about my job is that I am always looking down at people. I like to look people in the eyes. Not with them looking up at me. I am in no way superior to any of them. I like to get eye level with them as much as I can. “Well, Ms. Mary are you saying I have big nuts or are you saying I am a big nut?” She cracked up even more. We sat there watching the squirrel still struggle with it’s bug nut and shared even more laughter.