OUR OLD GREEN STAMP BLANKET
PICNIC BY THE PECOS RIVER
******************************
We weren't even married yet, that day in 1956.
as we lolled there on the cool shady lawn along
the Pecos River...on our new Green Stamp
blanket.
One of our mamas had given up several
prized stamp books to make our blanket
possible.
It was our first blanket.
We were at the beach in Carlsbad, having
a picnic of egg salad sandwiches, potato
chips, and cokes. (We'd never heard of
the marvelous Diet Dr. Pepper yet...but
it didn't matter---we were both skinny.)
It was one of the happiest days of our
lives---we lived at Artesia and were down
at Carlsbad, the county seat of Eddy County,
getting our marriage license!
The Pecos River, not a big full river most
of the time, was flowing along, very slowly
and peacefully, in no hurry, and wrens and
chickadees were singing and flitting about
in the trees, over the beautiful lawn which
sloped down to the river.
The sun was shining and the whole world
was young--including "us." We were making
a "day of it!"
We spread our new blanket and sat on it,
and ate, and rested and watched the fluffy N.M.
clouds sail lazily over.
I guess you could say, we were "breaking in"
that blanket for a lifetime of use.
Today, not counting our long love, it may be
the oldest thing we have.
Oh sure, it doesn't look like much now---it is
torn, faded, much of the nap is gone...but...
though the years, good times and bad, it
has been a much-used, faithful companion.
----It has been a "picnic blanket" many times.
----It has been a "lawn blanket" from the earlier
years when the men at family reunions
played mumbledy-peg on the front lawn
after supper...
----It has been a ball game blanket...
----It has been a cushion on hard bleachers...
----BE has worn it around her shoulders, oft...
----It has often been a camping blanket ...
----It has even surrounded frozen steaks, in
transit...
-----It has been a friend...and servant...
Okay, so I'm an old softy when it comes to
blankets; I can't help it. There's a nice homey
feeling of security connected with them.
Actually, being an old-timer, I have a nicer-
looking, heavier blanket in the den for my
Lazy Boy and winter TV watching---but the
old GS blanket of 1956 is still our "GO-TO"
utility blanket.
Instructions at the house here are: if a hobo
ever knocks at the door on a cold night,
looking for a blanket, give him twenty bucks
for a new Walmart blanket--but don't give
away our early-marriage Green Stamp
blanket, now going on 59 years old.
It is almost like a member of the family.
**************
BY MIL
April 21, 2015
AH, I GOT IT! THEY'RE....
*************************
Little rocks from space...
once planets, from deep
in the cosmos....
No.
Once giant asteroids,
eroded by the
atmosphere...
and now mere shadows
of their former
glory!
No.
They are kidney stones,
once causing more
pain than one
could ever imagine!
No.
Gall stones, then?
No
Okay...um...rocks found in
a dead robin's craw,
mistakenly ingested?
No
I got it! Rocks bugging a hiker
in the Rocky Mountains---
found in his boots!
No
From a bicycle tire, rubbed a hole
in the tube!
No
Well then, someone went a long
time, without shampooing!
One of those guitarists
you know, on stage!
No
Your pants cuffs were rolled up,
the day you gardened.
No.
The washing machine filter was
stopped up again!?
No
Oh no, not five tooth-fillings
jarred loose somehow,?
No
Found 'em in your duck-hunting
coat pocket after a long
early morning crawl on
the Rio Grande!?
No.
Well shucks, I give up.
Where'd the rocks come from?
Today, I sorted pinto beans
for BE, for tonight's
"corn bread and
red beans!"
I found 'em while sortin'.
But I left the half-beans, to eat.
Once, when a kid, I asked my
mama, "why do you throw away
the half-beans...they look okay
to me?"
She said: "Hmm, I don't know.
MY MAMA ALWAYS DID!"
******************
BY MIL
5/22/15
The BIG BLUE TRUCK stoppedin front....of our house every Tuesdaymorning...early...And tooted its big horn loudly,once....Yes, every week almostwithout fail...I wondered about it andgot up at the crack of dawnone Tuesday, took my coffeeand slunk unseen behind a bush...It was the house across the street...Our little five-year-old neighbor boyDressed iIn OSH-KOSH blue bib overalls...Hair slicked and combed, his mamawith him...O, he was waving at the driver of the CITY TRASH TRUCK a big blue one!And the driver was smiling and waving back!It happens every week, just the same way...For you see, my little neighbor HOPES to beA "TRASH MAN" when he grows up!The big blue trash truck HONKED loudlyas it pulled away from the curb.--------------BY MIL6/23/15
They walk the earth
and are gone
"Their only monument
the asphalt road and
a thousand lost golf
balls," said T.S. Eliot
and maybe the greenback
dollar
Their thoughts are not of
others, but
of getting ahead...
way ahead
Did they come out of the sea
or were they
borned
Is that an unfilled God-shaped
blank
we see there
Is this image a symbol
for....us?
Ah, but there is good news,
to be heard
on that lonely shore
Remember, the old hymn says
"Chords that are
broken will vibrate
once more!"
************
BY MIL
5/31/15
"SAND"
"O HOW I. LOVE THEE..."
************************
Sand...
"As sands thru the hour glass....
So are the days of our lives"
An old TV show had it.
It's true.
Sand has always fascinated man...
for he can't control it.
Except for some people...like maybe
desert nomads. and the
Dust Bowl Folks.
They're not...and weren't fascinated.
To men, dirt looks dirty---but sand
seems clean.
At the sandy places of the earth,
you may want to visit...
You can...roll in the sand, downhill...
walk in it, barefoot, build castles,
bury yourself in it, have a picnic. and
then go home...
Things which do not interest desert
wanderers.
SAND...
I've seen it flying about, in high winds...
Covering highways, burying
gardens, and fences,
muddying stock
tanks...
I've seen it darken the sun.
But O how delightful and beautiful it
can be...
Reddish tan, light tan, white....
smooth, uniform texture; smooth
and almost silky....
With the sand, it's the "little things..."
A hunter back in the hills, warm
November day...miles from anywhere...
quiet and a bit lonely, walkng
an old toad, weeds in the middle...
But friendly ruts in that soft sand!
I am not alone...someone came by,
and my! Those ruts feel good to my boots!
Photographing "WINDOW ROCK..."--- a
fine picture, but I notice the
sand in the foreground....such incredible ruts
in the sand...artistry of its own!
At "WHITE SANDS"---the most fascinating
sand of all, it's the ripple-like waves
in the sand, and the shadows cast by
the ripples...and the half-dead yuccas
and scrubby plants, casting theirs shadows,
and the sand...and the sun...all things
seem eternal...with the sand.
Ah, THE SAND! How oft have I begun poems
about thee? Thrice? Never finished them.
That's what a great subject SAND is....it's
like writing about "forever."
My sand poems turn out to be books...that's how
sand is ---to me!
My roots are Dawson County, Texas. Oh yes!
Wonderful sand...there!
**************
PHOTO BY MIL
BY MIL
6/03/15
"THE TURQUOISE GATE"
The Gate...
The Turquoise Gate
to my neighbor's backyard
was really My Gate.
It might have been
could have been
ought to have been
almost was
a Red Gate!
How do you like that?
Because you see,
our beloved neighbors
went off to their home state
of Florida
For five weeks, and asked me to water
and mow their back lawn (and front,)
"Sure," I said.
Nicer neighbors, we never had!
Off they went, twelve hundred
miles---for five weeks!
That became a long time, when I had to
deal ev'ry day, with a more-or-less
three-piece gate!
Yes, it was rickety! To say the least....
One day, I said: "That's it, my friend Mr. Gate!"
"I've had it with you!"
Went to TRU-Value, bought 1 X 8's, bolts,
heavy-duty hinges, and paint.
Cut the pieces, matching the
old gate....angled the top
down from a point.
Drilled holes with my new drill, bolted it
together...and painted it...two coats...
Almost painted it red, but had bought turquoise.
My neighbor, on returning, was thrilled!
But he went back to Fla. in '95
to stay.
Ah, but my new neighbor, said one day:
"Someone knew how to build gates!
Is that a sturdy one, or what?!"
And he added: "I like the color!"
I, myself, look at it often, and admire it.
"MY GATE."
***************
MIL'S PLACE
BY MIL
6/02/15
