Porthole

May 9-15, 2020 weekly blog

I'm going to try making this a weekly blog rather than daily. I'm already using it to post links to my other blogs or writing. We'll see how this goes.

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

SPRING: May 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

May 9: Called my friend Rita. I know we're all getting old. But Sandy's 81? Today is my cousin Carol's birthday. Can't find her number. And my aunt doesn't answer.
May 10: I did my wash. Even hung it up. It's been about two months.
May 11: If Montana is open for business the second wave will hit sooner than later.
May 12: "The willows' yellow has turned to green, the widows' weeds from slacks to jeans."
May 13: Keep thinking I should be doing more. But what? I'm breathing = as good as it gets.
May 14: A new note in my old blog: "Is Flash Fiction a Haiku on steroids? Like sumo wrestling? " 
May 15: Some days I'm not in the mood to write. I will anyways. I got a HUG!

WEATHER

May 9: Sunny and mild in Missoula, 19 degrees; snowy in Buffalo
May 10: cloudy but clearing, mild; 17 degrees and sunny in Porto. Perfect.
May 11: Very windy and not so warm; 0 degrees and cloudy in Tromso. Snow later today.
May 12: damp. 8 degrees and not warming up; 29 degrees in Cartago, CR. Far too sultry for me.
May 13: thin clouds, weak sun, 13 degrees; 3 degrees in Å i Lofoten, Norway with snowflakes.
May 14: mostly sunny warming, 15 degrees. 22 degrees, a clear pleasant evening in Istanbul.
May 15: dark damp 6 degrees fitting my mood. 24 degrees in Fayetteville, NC where my aunt lives.

IMAGES

May 9: Very green. The flowering trees are in full bud. Kayakers drawing a crowd at Brennan's Wave. Far white-clad mountains glisten. A gentle breeze. Swallows.
May 10: Outside the laundromat ... green car headed east, booming truck, more traffic than usual the past month,thin clouds in a sky of soft blue,yellow-green leaves, red/cream striped awning, barking dog, worn yellow parking lines, no sitting inside, almost empty, shiny black car (Eclipse) next to a dull 4x4 truck, people waiting in cars windows open, music on, few people in masks, opening on the 11th sign, reduced hours sign.
May 11: strewn petals. Lilacs and iris in tentative bloom.
May 12: the willows are now green not yellow. So much traffic!
May 13: pink bleeding hearts, sticking my nose in purple fragrant lilacs, white anemones, spent yellow-green maple blossoms, yellow peaflowers, prides of dandelions, yellow-gold mahonia, baby-blue forget-me-nots, purple iris. At the market: 60/40 masked.
May 14: furry grey-brown goslings at Silver Lake. The Canada geese parents were calmly alert.
May 15: fragrance of irises and lilacs, the taste of crushed tarragon.

POULTRY

"Here you come again [69] (23 lines)" 
"Bleeding Kansas (two tanagas)" 
"These photos of cheerful women [74] (14 lines)" 

PORK

A blog entry comparing flash fiction to haiku: "Is Flash Fiction a Haiku on steroids? Like sumo wrestling? " 

From May 7 (won):

STATIC

Out There (299 words) [68]  (18+) <300 flash. prompt: work, lost, book #2221400 by Kåre เลียม Enga

From May 9 (won):

STATIC

Memory of Corn [70] (295 words)  (18+) <300 word flash fiction; prompt: bear, corn, rope #2221560 by Kåre เลียม Enga

I reread this today after receiving a review and, forgetting why I wrote it, ended up in tears (won):

STATIC

Riptide  (13+) Prompt: Boat, Cloud, Sand. Every day, you visit the same moment from your past. #2207536 by Kåre เลียม Enga

I posted this one on spacebook because the picture I took May, 2014 came up on my feed. i wrote this May, 2019 (won):

STATIC

Girl with the pink umbrella  (18+) Flash fiction of less than 300 words: umbrella, walk, thread #2190974 by Kåre เลียม Enga

From May 12:

STATIC

Soapy and Dopey [72] (299 words)  (18+) <300 words. Prompt: “They’ll never believe you.” #2221782 by Kåre เลียม Enga

From May 13 (won):

STATIC

Wendy-of-the-weeds [73] (264 words)  (18+) <300 flash, prompt: leaf, shade, nose #2221849 by Kåre เลียม Enga

From May 15:

STATIC

Lela Mae [75] (300 words)  (18+) <300 flash fiction. Prompt: moon, book, fire #2222007 by Kåre เลียม Enga

READING

Reading Lauds, poems by Tom Crawford (finished) Recommend.
Local Time, poems by Stephen Dunn

MOVIETIME

"Star Trek: Wrath of Khan" (1984).

MY FORMER LIFE

May 1974: very ill on the train from Limon to San Jose around the 5th. Felt like I had a heart attack around Siquirres. Stephen helped me. I did go to the doctor ... nothing.
May 1989: a few inches of snow in Buffalo on the 7th. Our 3 refugees from Iran were freezing! One had never seen snow in his life.
May 2012: my first time ever in Norway. Arrived around the 14th. I did a grade school report on Norway in May 1963.
May 2013: Long peaceful walk along the sea to my hostel in Å i Lofoten.
May 2014: I visited Poland and met Hiroki (from Osaka & Tokyo), visited Renata and her family (I had met them in Oslo). Wonderful visit.

WATT'S GNUS

May 9: Only one new virus case in Montana (Bozeman). May 10: zero.
May 9: 3 children have now died in New York from COVID-19-related syndrome, Cuomo says My mother told me about this yesterday; she's a news-junkie; she sounded sad. She was quite present and lucid yesterday.
May 9: Missoula County will open gyms, theaters, museums May 15th Library is still closed though. No local cases in two weeks?
May 10: Pork Chops vs. People: Battling Coronavirus in an Iowa Meat Plant (NY Times) After reading this I think that Gov. Kim Reynolds should be charged with accessory to "something". Note: most of the workers who are ill are immigrants.
May 10: South Dakota Gov. Noem clashes with Sioux tribes over coronavirus checkpoints
(Fox News) Another case of a governor taking a stance against a vulnerable community. Is there a pattern of racism? Duh.
May 11: African nations seek their own solutions in virus crisis (AP) Great news! There needs to be duplication of efforts spread throughout the globe and not concentrated in one place and controlled by one people.
May 11: the rich infected the poor as COVID-19 spread around the world (LA Times) Basically, the same old story ... the rich man catches a cold; the poor man dies of pneumonia.
May 12: Prices are tumbling at an alarming rate (CNN) Except for food and rent. Heaven help we who are poor.
May 13: Tucker Carlson: Dr. Fauci has not been elected to anything. He should not be dictator during this coronavirus crisis (Fox) Although there are good points made no one is suggesting that Fauci is a dictator (that would be DJT). In every war it's important to have a good general and every political leader needs to listen to that general. Fauci is that general.
May 14: Unsigned note left at the Ahmaud Arbery memorial: 'I am so sorry. I should have stopped them' (CNN) I suspect many of us wish we could have said or done something at certain moments in our life.
May 15: Why white men in America are refusing to wear masks (Vox) Machismo, in a word.

Spacebook quote:

Dylan B. Suagee: "I mean.... if you dance for four or five days, you'll likely throw up at some point! Ghost Dance Ipecac! lol"
Alejandro: "Una mariposa con buena memoria no burla de ningun gusano."
Joey: "While my mask doesn’t really protect me, it sure can protect you from me and my sometimes reputation for spittle speech (or liquid laughter) 😆"

OPINIONS

"Preparation? Priorities? " 
"TO ALL WHO ARE ARMED AND SHOUTING FREEDOM" 

BLOGVILLE

Trying to leave as many comments on blogs as I can. Left comments for 11 people yesterday. Trying to reach everybody in the 30DBC. Up to 23 posters. I'm sure I've missed a couple = I need to 'go hunting'. I read other people as well. I never get to everyone. May 11 update: did a bunch today. Very sad to see entries without comments. Are people just commenting on their 'friends' or 'favs' and neglecting everyone else? At least I try. Some days I manage to read a bunch; other days only a few and I read blogs that are not in the challenge.

61 views in 14 days so far for the month of May at the blog I'm using for the 30DBC. I've given more comments than I've received views ... That's how it works here. If I was suspecting quid-pro-quo I would have given up looooong time ago.

May  9th  30DBC: "Memory of memories?" 
May 10th 30DBC: "Which mother-of-mine will you meet?" 
May 11th 30DBC: "Me at 22." 
May 12th 30DBC: "Oh, those jumpy cows!" 
May 13th 30DBC: "10 minute madness" 
May 14th 30DBC: "A letter dated on my birthday" 
May 15th 30DBC: "It's just something one does" 

                                                                                                                                           

2.339 views as of May 9.