Porthole

No treasured moments with family when they aren't here

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  ███████          PORTHOLE           ███████

SPRING: 10 Jalal 177 (17 April 2020)
O my Lord! Make Thy beauty to be my food, and Thy presence my drink,
and Thy pleasure my hope, and praise of Thee my action...
- Bahá’u’lláh

MY THOUGHTS

Do I wish I were somewhere else? I'm 'safe' here ... as long as I'm careful using the toilet, don't shower and never get close to people. I should consider myself lucky. I've lived with people who would have never understood this concept of physical-distancing and when I was homeless we slept cheek-to-jowl. And my rent is paid and I have internet. I also have enough food.

So I'm on hold ... like so many other times in my life. I'm not happy about that, just resigned.

WEATHER (April 16)

3°. 11 a.m. in Missoula. Sun. Calm. Got up to at least 15° later.
5°. 11 a.m. in Minneapolis. Some sun.
22°. 6 p.m. in Santiago, Chile. Haze
20°. 7 p.m. Harare, Zimbawe. Some sun. Pleasant autumn weather this week.

IMAGES

Sunshine. Went for a walk. It was trying to be Spring out there today. Noticed the sun and blue skies, how everyone was avoiding me ... not saying hello, not even smiling.

POULTRY

Today's 'marauding emoticons' poem: "April 16 prompt: plane, train, or automobile" 

Yesterday's depressing offering: "April 15 poem--leave something unresolved in a poem" 

PORK

Yesterday's flash fiction.

STATIC

Być Gwiazdą (To be a star) (297w) [35]  (18+) <300 words. Prompt: star, machine, eyes #2219202 by Kåre เลียม Enga

READING

In the meantime by Robin Lippincott, page 135
Local Visitations, Stephen Dunn, page 48.

QUOTE

"...the kimono she was wearing at the time had been burned off by the blast...its pattern of flowers--pink peonies against a whit background...had been imprinted upon her body..." Lippincott, page 66.

MOVIETIME

Finished "Beautiful Thing" (UK 1996)
Started "Joy Luck Club" (USA 1993)

MY LIFE

As I recounted to ~Brian K Compton~ : I wasn't an athlete. I loved to have my hands in the dirt ... not oil though, never a mechanic. I was a gardener. There were two neighbors I specifically remember: Mrs. Blumen and irises (her name was Irene) and Mrs. Melrose of the dahlias. My grandparents were gardeners; my parents weren't. Funny how small kindnesses really matter and can be remembered for a lifetime.

SENIOR CENTER and COFFEEHOUSE

Not today! I have bologna and ground pork in the icebox. Why would I want a hot dog?

O PINIONS!

Maybe not voicing an opinion today is best.

TRAVEL

Slogging through my photos from Taiwan. Still hundreds to edit and post. I'm getting there ... just slowly. When I get through those I have former trips to attend to!

WATT'S GNUS

Ivanka Trump, Disregarding Federal Guidelines, Travels to N.J. for Passover
New York Times, Annie Karni

I do understand. I'd be tempted to do this too and I'm sure they are staying away from people; however, her family is high-profile and sets an example ... or not. Especially since they are supposed to be working on 're-opening' the country. It comes off as elitist and hypocritical ... even if it's not.

'It Conjures Up Every Racial Stereotype.' For Black Men, Homemade Masks May Be a Risk All Their Own Time Magazine, Alejandro de la Garza

Which begs the question ... why aren't commercial-medical grade masks available? Why wasn't 3M or other mask-makers nationalized for this crisis (it's been done before). As for the stereotype? I keep forgetting that they are out there. This town is lily-white, but when I lived in an inner-city I could tell y'all stories and heard many. No, it's NOT safe to be a black man in America.

BLOGVILLE

Sometimes I should let things just slide by, but... 30DBC: Staying at Home: Love Me Tender. Share a tender moment you’ve had with a family member or friend during the lockdown time. A moment you’ll treasure when this is all over.

My mother, who lives in NYS, broke her hip, went to the hospital, doctors decided not to operate. She was transferred to a nursing home where she'll die, possibly before her 98th birthday in May. My sister won't be allowed to be there. She'll get to die alone like so many others. I need to give this news to my aunt, age 92, who lives alone in North Carolina.

I have no family that I know within 500 miles. Family seldom calls. Friends don't either. If it weren't for WDC and spacebook ...

Most of my friends who I met when I moved here have moved away or moved on (young people do that) while my older friends have just upped and died. Most recently on March 21st but I'm sure there's more coming.

A tender moment? A treasured moment? I realize that these prompts can't apply to everyone but reading about people's close family and the antics of their children or how, as a suburbanite, they all went in the SUV on a road trip looking for TP leaves me sad.

I don't celebrate birthdays for that reason. Other people's happiness doesn't make me happy. It's not an infection. I do go to weddings but prefer funerals, at least the pain is over for the deceased.

charitykountz is getting married this Sunday in the park. Send good-weather vibes her way.

I told The_Cavity has wisdom teeth! : I collect mugs. I plant in used yogurt containers and then place them in mugs. Less mess. I used to give parties ... long time ago in a different place ... and I had mismatched mugs that people used for the evening. Bill always chose the purple heron mug while Christopher Robin (his given name) chose the rabbit. Old memories.

                                                                                                                                           

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