by Kat | Apr 6, 2023 | General, Poetry
Welcome to my favorite month of the entire year… National Poetry Month!
As usual… Kym, Bonny, Sarah, and myself will be sharing some poetry with you this month on Thursday’s.
Before I share my poem for today, I thought I’d give you some ideas of how you can add more poetry to your April days! You will find a treasure trove of resources here… including getting a Poem-A-Day emailed to you. This month they will all be curated by Ada Limón, Poet Laureate. Want more… you will find 30 ideas here to bring more poetry to your April!
Today, each of us will be sharing a poem around the idea of wonder… I read a good deal of poetry and considered a number of different poems, but ultimately I picked a poem by Ellen Bass. She is a favorite poet of mine… she is easy to read and her poems really hit home for me. This poem starts with Rilke (who I just can’t get enough of!) and from there, she shares the wonder of us… she makes it personal…intimate for the reader… me and you …in the most incredible way.
The World Has Need of You
by Ellen Bass
…everything here seems to need us…
—Rilke
I can hardly imagine it
as I walk to the lighthouse, feeling the ancient
prayer of my arms swinging
in counterpoint to my feet.
Here I am, suspended
between the sidewalk and twilight,
the sky dimming so fast it seems alive.
What if you felt the invisible
tug between you and everything?
A boy on a bicycle rides by,
his white shirt open, flaring
behind him like wings.
It’s a hard time to be human. We know too much
and too little. Does the breeze need us?
The cliffs? The gulls?
If you’ve managed to do one good thing,
the ocean doesn’t care.
But when Newton’s apple fell toward the earth,
the earth, ever so slightly, fell
toward the apple as well.
The World Has Need of You © Ellen Bass
If you want to learn more about Ellen Bass and her poetry… look here, and here.
And be sure to stop by to see what Kym, Bonny, and Sarah have shared today!
by Kat | Apr 5, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have completed the first quarter of my Temperature Embroidery! This project is simply delightful and March had some days with very close high and low temperatures…which made for some interesting wheels! And I am looking forward to changing April temperatures to see what new colors will be introduced this month!
Gnormanda and Gnibbles busy prepping for Easter!
And with days to spare, I have a completed Easter Gnome! Gnormanda and her delightful assistant, Gnibbles! Gnibbles gathers the eggs and Gnormanda does the dying! I am happy with how she turned out… I tweaked the pattern a bit, giving her short sleeves with matching ruffles on each one. And I modified the nose instructions to create some gnome-sized eggs! Gnibbles was based on this (free) pattern and I used one strand of Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply and one strand of KSH. The “ear bend” was achieved with a plastic twist tie… it worked perfectly, especially since the ears are knit flat and seamed. It sounds fussier than it was, the bunny pattern is well written.
I am still knitting Pi-Sock Two… but have reached the toe decreases…so it will be completed soon! Good thing because I have another pattern ready to cut out!
The reading this week though, it is all so engaging! I continue to be submersed in An Immense World by Ed Yong. It is so fascinating and I am almost done with it (I will finish it today) and at night I am reading The Covenant of Water. I am about half way through and have very mixed feelings about it but I will forge on.
I am also reading an actual book… In Memory of Memory… which started off a bit slowly, but I have settled in with it nicely. It is beautiful writing and a very thought provoking story as a niece goes through her deceased aunt’s apartment, which is full of so many things… each stirs a memory. There are some memories that are wonderful, others that… well, are not so wonderful, but perhaps those memories are the most significant. I am almost done… and then I will begin a book that recently came on my radar thanks to NPR’s Book of The Day review of Beaverland!
And that is all I have for today, what about you? What are you happy you finished this week … either a project or a book?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you! See you all tomorrow with some Poetry!
by Kat | Apr 3, 2023 | General, Welcome
April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in the garden.
– Marty Rubin
Hello April!
I am so very happy that you are here and it would be nice if you just amble slowly along… key word being slowly!
This month I have some things on my “To Do” list:
- Sew up a couple of Toaster Sweatshirts. I have the pattern all traced off, and pinned to one of the fabrics! I need to get that cut out and pin out and cut the second so I can do some Assembly Line Sewing!!
- I need to finish up my handspun sweater!! And once I have the Pi Socks done that is moving to the top of my list!
- I start PT next week and I am planning on having “homework” which I will be faithful about doing every day! And I am just not even thinking about the Graston Scraping part… ha!
- I got some new “trekking shoes” that I want to break in a bit before we head to Erie at the end of this month. Walking has been an “iffy” proposition thanks to my damned hip, but I am going to swap out my “regular Sherman walk” shoes with the new shoes and hope that short daily walks will break them in … enough!
- Weeding… yes, the weeds are growing, so I need to spend some time in the garden beds or I will never catch up! But… being outdoors just is the perfect April thing!
- It is National Poetry Month and I picked up a couple of poetry books from the library… I am spending the month reading the poetry of Wisława Szymborska… which will be the perfect thing for the month!
There you have it… my ambitious plans for April. What about you? What are you looking forward to this month?
by Kat | Mar 31, 2023 | General, In This Moment
I have not done a ‘mail bag’ post in too long. My witty-ness seems to have been on hiatus. But then this week provided me with a few letters to send out on the inter-webs.
Dear Highly Recommended Physical Therapist,
I left my ortho appointment with the delightful Dr. McLane with a referral for some PT addressing “Kathryn’s hip and spine… [because] any time you load the joint she has pain. Now getting secondary iliopsoas pain as well.” However, her all caps, punctuated with asterisks handwritten note was of greatest concern: *PLEASE DO GRASTON TO ILIOPSOAS* … Excuse me…but what?
The Google provided me with some answers, but they were a bit like opening Pandora’s box… of horrors. I watched a video and barely made it through the viewing, and I have no idea how I will make it through the “technique”. I am familiar with “no pain, no gain” but I am not sure this was what Jane Fonda had in mind when she quipped the phrase. In looking up how to pronounce iliopsoas… I realized the irony of the phrase… it appears I can look forward to not only a sore hip, but a so-ass as well…yes, psoas is pronounced so-ass.
But let’s address the real culprit here… the insurance company… you see, what Dr. McLane really wants to do is get an MRI of my hip, but the Insurance Company says that before she can do that she must prescribe PT or they will proscribe the MRI.
So, dear Physical Therapist… I can only ask that you be kind, and so very gentle… oh, and just so you know… I bruise very, very, very easily.
Signed,
An already sore… and now very worried patient
Dear Now Indicted, Twice Impeached DJT,
I have so many thoughts on your yet sealed indictment which indicates that you might be guilty of some crimes:
But, I think that one of the Central Park Exonerated said it best here:
Yes, indeed… Karma is at times so utterly delightful!
Signed,
Alvin Bragg’s biggest fan
And finally…
Dear March,
You have been one exceedingly long-ass month. I am so over your fickle temperatures, your wild winds, your taunting hints at spring that you quickly squash with wintry rains, sleet, and yes… snow.
I’d say don’t let the door hit you on your way out… but I am slamming it hard, so it just might!
See you next year, and please… be on better behavior!
Signed,
Eager for April
And there you have it for my week! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Mar 29, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
March is almost over, April is right around the corner! (And I hope that April will be bringing the nice weather! I am so over cold, grey, rainy, windy, snowy weather!)
I have been working a bit on the Easter Gnome – meet Gnormanda! She still needs a nose, an arm, some braids, and a few wee little eggs… but soon, Gnormanda… soon!
Although the Spring-Clean-athon is well under way at my house I also have one Pi-Sock done! I have a good start on the second…small portable knitting is just the thing though, right? This week it is a good thing because tomorrow I have the appointment with the sports medicine doctor. I have high hopes about the appointment based on the pre-appointment questions I filled out earlier this week!
I have settled into a new book… The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (of Cutting for Stone fame.) I had foolish thoughts of finishing it in a weekend… ha! And then I realized it is almost 800 pages long! I am almost a quarter of the way in and loving every single word. Dr. Verghese is an incredible writer… one I do not at all mind spending a good bit of time with so I am reading and enjoying!
In my ears, I just began Ed Yong’s An Immense World. I don’t remember who put this book on my radar, but it is fascinating… a very good “day time chores” companion!
And there you have my week of making… what about you? What’s on your needles this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
