One Little Turtle

Look who's back! This quaint little fellow visits my yard in the Spring, and this year he appeared on Mother's Day week-end. What a delightful surprise!

Sir Turtle has the most beautiful designs on his back and face, and is so astute in his demeanor. He seemed to enjoy having his picture made.

Here's Aussie, taking a peek at our visitor.

After visiting with the kitties, who were intrigued by varying degrees, Sir Turtle sat appraising the green plastic yard rake for quite a while.

Mr. Humphreys says "What is it?"

Then turtle headed for cover,
and burrowed into the pinestraw

under our persimmon tree.

This turtle is very talented at disappearing.

When the cats and I searched for him later, he was nowhere to be found.

Aussie says

"Where'd he go?"

Wiley says
"Where'd who go?"

Guess we'll see him next spring!

The Folks

My cousin, Chris Isbell, made copies of some old family photos that had been in my Great Aunt Annie's possession for many years. This was the first time I had seen these fantastic pictures of these truly remarkable people.

These sweet folks are my grandparents, Alvetta (Vettie) and Reed Roe Ramey, and their first child, my daddy, Gordy Ramey. Isn't this a beautiful child?

Here's a close-up of Gordy, Gordon Monroe Ramey.

His resemblance to my grandson, Reed Daniel, is remarkable!

Here's my little Reedy with his Easter basket, looking for eggs.

Derby Day Delight

I hope EVERYONE watched the Kentucky Derby yesterday. I'm still dancing a jig over the winner with the funny name, Mine That Bird. What a beautiful horse, and what a stunning victory! With odds of 50 - 1, seems nobody saw it coming. But that horse made it look so easy, winning by 6 3/4-lengths.

And that jockey! Have you ever seen anyone so happy? And he seemed to bear an uncanny resemblance to Red Pollard, who rode the most famous equine ever, Seabiscuit.

You can go here to watch a replay of yesterday's amazing Mine That Bird victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv8x9x5A49s&feature=topvideos

Other Derby info: My daughter, India, was born on Monday after Derby Week-end, so now her birthday is always on or near Derby Day. Tomorrow we'll be celebrating her delightful arrival on this planet. Here she is, as cute as she can be, and grinning like a possum, of course. India's paternal grandmother, known to all as Peanut, was a native Kentuckian and lived in Louisville, Kentucky. What a very beautiful, pleasant place!

We had a hard time picking a name when India was born, because (1) the doctor said we were having a boy, (2) a close relative had just given birth to a daughter and used all three girl names we liked, and (3) my best friend Phil Mitchell wanted me to name her Jump Sturdy, a name from a Dr. John song! So we elected to name our little sweetie India from the book Gone With the Wind. A good Southern name for a beautiful Southern belle.

I've tried to find Dr. John singing "Jump Sturdy" from his GRIS GRIS album, with no success. If anyone can find Jump Sturdy on YouTube, let me know. My best advice to everyone is, just buy the album. It's spectacular.

Why Did the Camel Cross the Desert?

This is it! The last day of April. And do we think that all foolishness shall cease, now that April is passed? Naaa, probably not.

My daughter sent me one of the most informative, and conceivably helpful, articles ... you know those things people are always forwarding to you and 7000 others. Well, this one was received with great joy, and I might add, gratitude. It's How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel. Of course, that's something I wanted to know.

Some of the most important points were (1) Stay calm, (2) Hang on, and (3) Consider a quick dismount. (4) Get off the camel once you have it under control sounded pretty good to me too.

So, all this camel business brought to mind, of course, Peter O'Toole, one of my favorite fellows in all the world, and the persona of Lawrence of Arabia.

Here's the man himself, I guess he's looking for his camel.

Many years ago, I saw Mr. O'Toole on The Tonight Show, giving the most hilarious account of his camel-riding experiences while filming the movie Lawrence of Arabia. After discussing the options, which were few, he and Omar Sharif decided to tie themselves to the camels. But Peter O'Toole said, "I really didn't feel enthusiastic about having myself adhered to a stampeding camel!" So he told Omar, "I think I'll just get really drunk." And Omar Sharif said, "Oh, I'm gonna do that too!"

So, the two of them got drunk and then had themselves adhered to the camels, then filmed the camels charging into battle. O'Toole admitted that he was so drunk he had no idea where he was or what he was doing for the entire scene

Here's Peter again, with a decidedly amusing expression on his face while poking his camel with a camel-poking stick.

In June 2008, Lawrence of Arabia was ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's list of the ten greatest films in the "epic" genre, and Peter O'Toole's performance as T.E. Lawrence is the #1 ranked performance of all time in Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Want to know more about How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel? Here's the web address.

http://www.wikihow.com/Regain-Control-of-a-Spooked-Camel

I Think, Therefore I'm Beat!

coffee

sometimes

coffee

is divine

sometimes

coffee

is hot and dark

sometimes

dust

accumulates

and if i leave my coffee cup

too long on the window sill

fungus grows
who told fungus

to grow there, man

who's in charge, man

divinity

infinity

it's a long note to blow

What is that clicking sound? It's the sound of snapping fingers, the appropriate response to a well received Beatnik poem! Yesterday, April 22nd, was the last in our series of National Poetry Month celebrations at the library, and we celebrated BEATNIK POETRY.

dark

can't see my hand

in front of my face

can't see your hand

in front of your face

can't see the rat

lurking in the corner

ah, edison

make the scene

man

Who is this guy?

What Do Poetry, Coffee, and Dan Fogelberg Have In Common?

"There's a heaven on earth that so few ever find.

But the map's in your soul and the road's in your mind."

Dan Fogelberg

Today we continued to celebrate poetry at our public library. I read selections from my poetry chapbook, TOKENS, with a few extras thrown in, to a packed house! The house was packed with Ms. Boone's senior English class, and a few adult poetry enthusiasts. The poem that seemed to be the hit of the day was my Love, Alabama Style, a rather lengthy poem about an ill-tempered, jealous cat.

While the teen audience, as well as the adults, were attentive and adroit during the reading, an abundance of coffee was consumed after the program, and a festive rip ensued. Robert Frost would have been proud of us!

The teens returned again and again, until the coffee pot was empty, asking pertinent questions about poetry writing, and expressing their own individual creativity in exuberant fashion.

After the students left the building and relative calm descended, I listened to a few Dan Fogelberg songs, and remembered what a great song writer he was. Many of his songs dealt with his hopes that we would all find a way to rescue and preserve the beauty of our environment. He sang about the beauty and magic in natural surroundings and what we all have at our fingertips, and could easily lose if we aren't attentive.

And here's Dan, drinking coffee, and getting kissed by a black kitty. Or, is the cat trying to get the coffee?

Cats, coffee, poetry and beautiful music ... these are a few of my favorite things.

Poetic Pleasures and Horses, Horses, Horses

Continuing our National Poetry Month celebrations, another accomplished Alabama poet gave a delightful reading at the library today. Kathleen Thompson, native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, read from her published works and talked about her experiences as writer and poet. Kathleen's poems, essays and short stories have been widely published in literary magazines, most recently in Sou'wester and Amaryllis.

Kathleen's published books include Searching for Ambergris, The Shortest Distance, and The Nights and the Days. She's a wonderfully talented Alabamian, and her presentation was a treat.

Kathleen received her MFA in Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky where I attended Bellarmine College, though I don't think those two events were concurrent. It has been quite a few years since my last excursion to Kentucky, and how I wish I could drop everything and zip up there for a visit.



The Kentucky Derby is just about a month away, and the book I'm currently reading, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, has sparked my interest in the odd horse.

The oddest horse I ever was acquainted with, was a little stinker who loved to catapult me through the air and into the thicket, briar patch, or any other available shrubbery. His temperament was sullen at worst, facetious at best. I can't remember the little bugger's name for sure ... but I think it was Pepper. My brother-in-law bought him from Blair Farms and left him at our house in the woods, and I think I'm the only living soul who ever tried to ride him. And feeding him was almost as dangerous as riding him. He loved to bite! Seabiscuit would never do that!

Pepper ended up back at the Blair Farms from whence he came, and even though he was an exasperating fellow, I missed him when he was gone. I don't think he missed me.