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 |   Enga mellom fjella: where from across the meadow, poems sing from mountains and molehills. |
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Enga mellom Fjella  Sentinel Marked as if you own me I bow before the Bitterroots and just like you my rocky soil, my withered grass lays prey to the empty sky. © Kåre Enga 2007 "Sentinel"   Reader's Choice of Poems: "Zmitri" "In Lagada, la vita" "In search of Iris" "Speak soft my name" "Wheat penny" Reader's Choice of blog entries from my old blog "L'aura del Campo" :"Death of Jeannie New Moon" "Winter: 18 Mas'il (December 29)" "In a garden of roses, baby" "Half-naked dreams? 'Getting the stain out of genes!" "ENFP, what are you?" FACES     PLACES            Kåre  Enga~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop The Fish |
| ...EDT. Only 10 in the evening here in Montana. Not sunny though... but days are getting longer. Insane me: Definitely coming down to the wire. Only 17 more days. Which is plenty of time! That's iff (if and only if) I get my rear in gear. SD cards are on sale at Best Buy  and I got a notice from REI. Time to do some shopping. Time to get my hair cut too; I trimmed my beard. Might get hair cut a tad short as I'd rather not fuss with it in Europe. On the other hand April is not a warm month and May is barely better. Very nice day today, the 27th. Wore a peachy color short sleeve zippered shirt. (It was cheap and looks good on me.) Even went across the street to get coffee without my coat on.  As Party noted the flowers are getting ready. I walked up Mt. Jumbo to the lower meadow yestereve and saw plenty of buttercups in bloom just below it. Also biscuitroot has begun to bloom. And some tiny pale flowers whose name escapes me... What doesn't escape me is my insanity. I worry too much. At Socrates Club, I mentioned how in some ways I don't want to travel. Judy picked up on this and asked everyone around the table. No one wants to do more traveling. As one guy said ...his traveling days were over ...except to visit friends. I think of Nada and Scarlett ...both my age... yes, it's important to keep moving, but it's not easy every day. I have friends here older than me who still backpack! Me? I'd rather stay in cheap hotels, like I do in Costa Rica. In most of Europe that means hostels or couch surfing. But even if I stayed in fancy hotels with a chauffeur it's not the same as sleeping in one's own bed. I should ask Hillary about that next time I see her.  |
| ...good old sunny me: Lovely day. Computer isn't straightened out, but I don't have time to pout.  Ate my $3 lunch. Went to Empathy group. Saw a friend who may give me a ride to the airport on the 14th. Flight's around 1 pm. Printed out my "ticket" last night. S.l.o.w.l.y. Best Buy has a sale on 8 gb SD cards this week ... It'll cost me 50¢ to take the bus there. I'd take a bus to the airport too but we do not have Sunday service.  It's that nervous part of the "trip". The pre-trip second guessing and the predictable depression of "why-am-I doing-this-to-myself". Fortunately, past experience teaches me it'll all work out. I may even clean my rooms today or tomorrow ... ... something I usually do the day before ... out of nervous energy. This time I have a goal: to find things! It's time to take a serious look at my list.So. fairly good day so far. Hard to be grumpy when the SUN is out and the crocuses are blooming. Soon shyer (a.k.a. smarter) flowers will join them. 40,403 |
| Fought with both of my computers at home today. Neither likes me ...and yes, I did scans on both. Not much help. Frustrated me: Fortunately the library has fast internet. Spent most of the day inside. It was beautiful outside! Sunny ...may have gotten up to 50º. I think I saw an osprey. They have a certain coloration and characteristic flight. It's getting Spring-like. No other news. No internet = no catching up on things I must do on-line before I leave. Three weeks from now I'll be in Paris, so I must prepare that part of the trip well. Soon. I think 3 days will be enough to say I've been there; enough to decide how to visit when I return. I plan to say hello to Alfred if he's in town! And Gao of course. Regardless of plans I need to build in flexibility so I can actually enjoy the moment. I doubt I'll be bored. Europe is "picturesque" too. Have camera => thousands of photos.  Yep. Time to get serious! And if I get too tense? Just look at flights for the next trip! Africa isn't doable from Costa Rica ... but it is from Spain or France.  40,389 |
| Tired old me: I went to the International Cultural Fest at U. Montana today. Ate a little. Spoke with a couple people, saw a couple friends. Had more energy last year. Met Toan, a Norwegian from the Oslo area who's a student at Frenchtown High School. Cool. Unfortunately my Norwegian sucks. All these missed opportunities... Found out there are French tables Monday evening at 6:30 at Liquid Planet and Friday morning at 10 at the library. My French sucks too. So... accomplished something! Food: saw marzipan from Lübeck, Germany the other day and akvavit from Åhus, Sweden. Last night I bought some Biscoff, a Belgian product. Think ground up brown sugar cinnamon cookies mixed with vegetable oils to produce a spread similar to peanut butter... I actually like it. When I'm in Europe I'll have to be open to trying new things ...if only to keep costs down. Have I mentioned Norwegian fishcakes before?     A link on what the wealthy do that common folk usually don't. Interesting article as it focuses on attitudes. And people, even poor people, can change attitudes. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/7-habits-of-the-ultra-wealthy-181131868.h... Well... outta here ...for now. |
| Went to the open house portion of the Forester's Ball. Went down the slurry ...silicon coated and slippery. Fast! I encouraged all the older folks to go 30 feet up the stairs and slide down the tube. Makes one feel 5 years old again! Incredibly me: Saw Sara tonight at Bernice's. Good to see folk I've lost touch of other than facebook. We talked about travel and the living in two worlds aspect... she understood. She's lived in the city and in the woods. She needs both right now. Told her about my prose pieces I'm ...still... editing. Someday soon, I promise. Other sad news: the Lady Griz lost their basketball game to Georgia by 20 points. Better than the 47 point debacle the men suffered; but still... My alma mater, U Kansas (Jayhawks), almost got beat by #16 seed Western Kentucky. Big game against North Carolina on Sunday. Other news: there isn't any. We could discuss the price of cheddar cheese and eggs but why bother. I have to eat most everything except a few canned goods before I leave. This will lead to some amusing combinations I'm sure.  Teal: our "Blue Months" are now teal. Oh, well ...may you-all have a teal-month. |
| I'm not computer savvy. When Bruce gifted me this Compaq computer way back in '05 or '06 I was so happy I never bothered to learn how to use it. Still don't. So today it took me a minute to figure out how to "zoom out" so I could properly see the web page for my blog. It didn't do it for my other windows... How hard is it to figure that Ctrl + - will zoom out and Ctrl + + will zoom in? I should occasionally read manuals... At least I now know that my Alcatel phone I bought in Costa Rica uses GSM 900 which means it should work in Europe. The LG phone I use with Verizon in the U.S.A. won't... I read part of the manual last night... Snowed on me: I could blame the snow for my stupidity but I'm afraid to say I'm no better in the Summer. And whether Summer gets here may depend on whether Spring hangs around. It's a cold and snowy day. Definitely a Spring pattern though. The North-west coast gets more moisture and here it falls as snow. A few more days before it attempts to warm up to the 50s. Freezing in Sweden right now. Not warm anywhere I'm going in Europe. I may not warm up until I get back in June. One major decision: I gave my neighbor $20 for a month's worth of internet. I can now sit at home and do what I have to do at any hour. This could be a god-send. Three weeks is not a very long time and there's a lot to do. This way any internet work can be done without having to leave my chair. Snow much to dew... |
| Resigned me: Just worn out on this very lovely day. Got up late (because I went to bed late; engrossed by book) and immediately called my friend Gare. And he answered! Short chat. I called him ten years ago today too. Ah... Oklahoma. Warmer and greener in March than Montana! Took my pill, took a shower, went to Bernice's Bakery, coffee and a peanut butter cookie. Wrote in my new green journal notebook. So pretty when they're new... the light blue one is now retired. Went to library to meet with our group of Spanish speakers. Just routines. But it is a lovely day. The next three weeks could be hectic. Today, I just don't care. I'm resigned to getting something done but not make any substantial progress. In spite of the sunshine I just want to sip coffee and read. In the book I'm reading now, Inspector Wallender is 60 years old ...as am I. The health concerns, the lose of friends, the loss... I can empathize far too well. I keep up with some changes in society or I'd be feeling the ground shift out from under me more than I do. Hard to go with the flow at times. Lots of work ...and I'm tired. Now I should go eat somewhere but I over-stuffed myself yesterday. Ack... now to edit.  40,306 |
| Positively me: Today is the ending of Winter and the ushering in of Spring in the Northern hemisphere. It is Naw Ruz in Iran, the Zoroastrian community and among the Bahá'ís. For us the year 170 begins at sunset. For me it means a new notebook (green) for my journal. And my first piece of prose/poetry will start with [170.1] ...when I write it. This past year has been spotty for my blog and even worse for my other writing. Did some editing and I've kept up my journal. Have traveled a wee bit. The new year looks like more of the same. More travel and attempts to keep up with writing and more editing. Travel: I'll visit Europe for two months. Plan on seeing my sister and my mother in Washington ...maybe July. Really want to get back to Costa Rica ...maybe August. Africa in November seems iffy as the regions I really want to visit are experiencing some turmoil. Could go back to Europe in the autumn. Too soon to decide. Winter? Far too soon. Writing: I've written so much it doesn't really matter. Something will enthuse me and I'll respond with poetry or prose. Editing: Need to get on this! If I can publish, even self-publish some of what I've written it would help tremendously in organizing what I have already written. Publishing: A chapbook is my first goal. Should've had it done a month ago. I have made progress. Photography: Same as writing. Need to edit! Most importantly: I need to work on relationships. I seem to be crawling into my shell and not staying in touch with people. In the end this will keep me sane. 40,265 |
| ...a polite word for rut? Etymology of routine: French, from Middle French, from route traveled way First Known Use: 1676 Etymology of rut: perhaps modification of Middle French route way, route First Known Use: 1552 Knew they were related... -ine makes me think of a diminutive or feminine form. Rut was too masculine? Yes, I can go there. Although the "rut" in "an elk in rut" supposedly has a different root... ME: Stuck in a rut. Facebook.  Yahoo: Blog: Even my impending trip is almost boring me (...almost; I'm still prepping it). And my friends and surrounding circumstances? Maybe it's just the book I finished last night. I've read 4 Henning Mankell novels in just over a week. Finished "One Step Behind" at 1 a.m. Who needs a life when there are books to read? They do help with insight into the Swedish national character. Explains why I enjoyed Norway more! Although ...the dark and moody psychological Norwegian novel can disturb me to the core. In "One Step Behind" the mass-murderer basically kills "happy" people. This may seem absurd ...but it isn't. Ever meet someone who projects misery to blunt someone's happiness? They're usually found in toxic offices. Me? I smile a lot; but, certain "happy" events depress me ...like birthday parties. Still, I don't punish happy people by shooting them. In other snews: Warned my brother-in-law that he may be weeping when the Montana Grizzlies have Orange for supper on Thursday. If they do beat Syracuse, he said he'd call... Want a better blog entry? Read yesterday's... |
| Snow veils the mountains to the north. Spare flakes dare to fall to the valley floor. Green peaks out beneath the rubble of last autumn's de-leaving. I need a haircut. Like I needed a vacation ten years ago. There was no reason to stay in town I was told. Only when I got back did the decision seem foolish. To my friend Gare it was coming back so soon that was foolish. That year I watched the basketball championship with my brother-in-law. I cheered for Kansas while he cheered for Syracuse. His team won. Since then Kansas has done better. This year Syracuse plays Montana on the 21st. Ten years ago I called Gare on the 21st. I was sitting in my car in front of the house my father lived in in 1928. On Lake Street, Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Green warmth, the essence of Spring. A white house. Gare's cheerful voice. My father would've been 87 that day. Born in 1916; gone 1999. Age veils some memories; new ones spring forth like grass. New shoots growing next to the old. Me: These 41 pieces of prose have been edited. Now need a quick look-over before I hand them to "victims" to read, to help me sort them out. I want to make a chapbook. I hope there are 22 that can arise to the occasion, or at least 16. "This and Every November (prose letters) " I'm reading too much! Finished another book last night. Started a new one already. |
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