A "TRIPLE BERRY" CHRISTMAS

B.E. had been working 

   frantically all morning it seemed...

on her "Christmas Baking" 

   which oft went off and on

for days      and she was going

   to and fro in the kitchen

while I was at my Writing Place

   in the dining area...

She was making nineteen bags

   of her famous (and much anticipated)

Cinnamon Waffles....and 

   much measuring was required---

(You can imagine) an' she said:

   "Don't talk to me--I'm measuring."

Next thing I know, she's standing 

    right beside me, all decked out

(and very cute-looking) in

   her red trench coat, that everybody

likes...a twinkle in her eye and 

    Christmas excitement galore

in her face!

"We're having a light lunch today,

    an’ I'm headed out to buy 

you a jar of your favorite jelly to 

   spread on your waffle, an’ 

not to worry--I remember that

   you don't like wimpy waffles--

I'll get yours brown and. crispy!"

"So you are probly tired of the

    usual suspects, like grape, 

strawberry, and orange marmalade

     so I'm gonna find you some plum,

boysenberry, loganberry, wild peach,

    apple butter, red raspberry

(which you love), blueberry, or 

   crabapple---don't fret--I guarantee

you're gonna be happy....with what

   I bring home!"

With that she was gone, skipping 

   out of the kitchen like a kid

headed out to play jacks somewhere...

    and she was exuding Christmas

cheer and joy!

She was back after a time 

    and cooked my lunch--a wonderful-

smelling waffle...and brown and

     crispy, on one of our colorful plates

(which we love)

My waffle was all slathered with

   butter and she brought me 

the whole new jar of jelly which

    she had proudly picked out---

just for me.

She said: "Well, I had a lot of shopping

    to do, and some birthday cards

to get, and I saw some girls I had 

    taught with---and we talked a spell--

and you know how it goes---when 

    the time came to go through 

the jellies, I was pooped. So guess 

   what, I just got you three-in-one!

You're gonna love your Christmas

   waffle!"

I did, and I can tell. It's going to be

       A Fine “Triple-Berry” Christmas!

---------

Mil

12/14/18

Merry Christmas!

Photos by Mil

THINGS TO PONDER

  “Putting the pan under the tree was a tradition……”

   Billy Gilbreath

Things to Ponder

by Billy Gilbreath, guest writer

Gone and gone for days now past

Wondering would Santa arrive

No chimney but an old stove pipe

Too hot even to touch and yet

Somehow he made it wit

Apples, Oranges, Brazil Nuts,

Chocolate candy, wrinkled peppermint,

A single gift but gif glad

Knowing the sacrifice of 

Those who cared, loved

Done without just to

Make us happy and something

To place under the tree

In the pan so carefully placed

Only a few will understand.

Me thinks I know who they are,

Those I love and remember.

Billy Gilbreath

HSU “58

For Mil’s, 12/14/18

THURSDAY MUSINGS AT MIL'S...FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"When people stop believing in God---

   they don't believe in Nothing...

        they believe in Anything."

--------------

"The true meaning of life is to plant

    trees under whose shade

        you do not expect to sit."



                                   Scone 'n Fruit

(( Bubba: "You love your boots...and Mil

    loves his books..." ))

You may not know this but there is a

most interesting and excellent company

in Olde England which publishes the

finest books the world has ever seen--

classics of literature and poetry from

history.

It is called the Folio Society. The books

it publishes are magnificent. The pages

(very white and substantial) may last a

thousand years ("if it matters").

The covers would endure for years even

handled over time by grade school kids.

Known and recognized artists have 

random paintings on the books' pages.

Every book lover should own a FEW just

for handling...and reading over and over.

And you know, "wake up and smell the

books---" Tho' being so new they have

yet to achieve that "die for" wonderful

smell of old tomes that have been aging

like fine wine in the stacks.

Cost-wise they may run you $37.95 to

seventy or eighty dollars, depending on

their size and thickness. My treasured new

poetry book which just came over on a boat from

Blighty must weigh up towards three 

pounds.

Yes, I got several volumes recently...as

being an older fellow I don't need much

new stuff and don't spend money on

stinky motel rooms---well I just up and

splurged and bought these!

After ordering my books on my cell

phone (a miracle---that little Apple

battery reached all across the Atlantic)

and I talked to a clerk just finishing up

his fish-and-chips...I forgot all about

my books. He had said, "it'll be several

weeks until they arrive."

Then one day this week, the doorbell

rang and BE peeked out and there was 

a small package from Amazon, and A

BIG WHITE STRANGE LOOKING SACK!

She came in and indicated there was a

big funny-looking sack on the front porch.

Did you order a sack?  No, I didn't order

no "big white sack."

"Bring it in."

“Well, it’s a bit suspicious looking”, but she

brought it in. 

I checked for wires. The thing was tied 

at the top by some heavy plastic binding,

as if from outer space. She handed me

our heavy-duty sturdy  dependable  Fiskars

that will cut chicken bones and said:

"Cut that sack right under the 

binding and I will stand right here and if

it blows, we will both go out together!"

So I ruined that good fiber-canvas sack

by cutting a third off the top. Regretted

it later.

And OH! There was a big padded-up box

saying "THE FOLIO SOCIETY." "Oh, it's

my books! I had forgotten about them."

A good handy interesting sack bit the

dust...but we were safe.

You are wondering: "Mil, how many of 

those grand and enduring books do 

you own?" Well, only a few. Years ago

when reading Patrick O'Brian's twenty

Royal Navy sea novels and checking 

them from the library, I ordered one or

two of those. Beautiful.

Mostly my book collecting has preferred 

the leather-bound sets which also have

un-acidic long-lasting paper...and covers.

This time I did a strange thing: being a

dedicated Rudyard  Kipling reader, I 

ordered two volumes of his, see photo,

which will be handed down to some

great grandkids one day.

Kipling:

  "By the old Moulmein Pagoda

       lookin' eastward to the sea--

    There's Burma girl a settin’

       and I know she thinks of me...

    For the wind is in the palm trees

       and the temple bells they say:

    "Come you back you British soldier

        come you back to Mandalay..."

Space has run out today, and no time

left for wise and pithy sayings from these

books...but please wait until my next 

piece.

But remember what they say: "We are 

not only what we eat but the things we

take in...like books, movies, TV, News,

lectures, and all thoughts...they become

US.

Happy reading to you.

-------------

MIL

29  NOVEMBER 2018

TWO "Black Friday" POEMS

"BLACK FRIDAY" O CLEVER MAN!
*****************
O clever Man
         with all your
             vaunted insights
and your Speech
          "for endless palaver..."
when you needed
    a name    
         for the Christmas 
shopping season  following
      Thanksgiving.    the time
celebrating the Birth
    of the Saviour of the world---
AH !!!!!
      you chose HAPPY FRIDAY!
How marvelous, how wonderful!
                WHAT?
No, no...please NO!

NOT "BLACK FRIDAY."


----------
"BEGINNING THE GREAT SEASON...
     BLACK FRIDAY"

Oh bright Mankind...
    Ye who are so intelligent,
so incisive, so perceptive, 
    and so brilliant...
you self-styled know-it-alls...

With such noble  hopes 
     and dreams      aspirations
for you and your progeny    and
     abilities and progress
unsurpassed in the language
      with writers  and poets galore...

So that...

When approaching Advent 
    and the season of giving which
starts the celebration
     of the greatest news ever
heard in the Cosmos:
     "To you is born this day
in the city of David---
A Saviour which is 
                Christ the  Lord"
and someone...someone
          chose a name
for this unpassed 
      Season of Joy:
          "BLACK FRIDAY"

Oh how fine
     Oh how original
           Oh the intelligence
Oh the poetry!  ....and might
    it be... about money?

You brilliant ONES, maybe from
     The Press, here's some 
news for you;  I detest it.

Let's change it to 
      "HAPPY FRIDAY."
--------------
MIL
Black Friday, 2018
November 23

"THE WILD...AND THE COLD...AND THE DARK...ARE CALLING"

You're twenty-five and the cold
   and the wet and the dark 
are calling you...you're up early

For it's autumn and the days
   of duck hunting season

It is five a.m. and you're sitting
    at the kitchen table 
already clad in your Fillson
    hunting clothes, complete
with a red/black 8 ounce warm
     flannel shirt, heavy canvas
pants and jacket  and Red Wing
     waterproof hunting boots

and your favorite Jones' wool
     cap

As you sip on the steaming-hot
    mug of coffee, you feel 
a certain strangeness about 
    the whole scene---who 
ever gets up this early and sits
    there, drinking real coffee---
no "de-caf" for wild-and-wooly
    guys

In the dim light you spy your
    trusty 16 gauge double
cleaned and oiled and ready
    to go....over there 
in the corner.     Dad gave me 
    that gun back in '46,
(and it kicked my shoulder 
      blue when I was fourteen)

I sip coffee and eat a donut 
   and fill each jacket pocket 
with half-a-dozen high brass
     green Remington # 4's
and feel the quality and heft
    of each round,
and note the colorful hunter-
    with-dog-photo, then 
common then on the boxes of
     twenty-five shells

Guns and hunting in those 
     years were highly-
admired American customs

In those times I owned 
    only one belt knife, and
it went everywhere with me,
     I had it riding on my
belt under my coat---
   It was my sharp 
Boy Scout knife!

As my marvelous little wife
    snoozed away, I
       was becoming excited 
about this hunt...and meeting
   J.T. and Bert and Don
on this frosty morning...soon
    

     Oh, the camaraderie!

It really matters not so much
   that we are successful
tho' wild duck is delicious 
    properly barbecued

It is all about the air, the 
    outdoors, the cold, and 
crawling through the high
   grass  and brush and
mud to the lake   to surprise
     those clever green-heads

...and the sheer joy of being...

And maybe the most important--
    reliving the day later at 
Polly's Cafe, eating biscuits 
    and gravy, with more coffee...

 Ah, the outdoors...and friendships ..
----------
MIL
4 OCTOBER 2018

THE SCENT OF A LIBRARY

There is a town somewhere in China
    that likely has the fanciest, most-artistic,
          and sanitary library
in the whole world.

All kudos to the designers and builders
     for their creativity and ingenuity...

But to readers with poetic souls
     questions arise---

Are there quaint ivy-covered walls
     out front?

Is there an aged and poetic piece
     of wood, with its "patina," warmness,
and inviting ambience visible
            anywhere
in this whole  "work of art?

Are there old-timer librarians
     wearing ancient tweed jackets
or hand-knitted shawls...and
     lingering back in the "stacks"
to help book-searchers search and
    chat about favorite "best-sellers"
of half a century ago?

Are books of the whole world,
     (translated of course)
to be found in this artistic place---

such as...those of---Dostoevsky, Joyce,
    Nietzsche, Faulkner, Twain,
O'Brian, Austen, Tolstoy, Hardy, Bronte,
    McCullough, Caro, and Bellow...
and a few thousand more...

O but do you realize that more than
     just the verse in books...
libraries have a poetry of their own
    and it lingers in the air...

It is in the atmosphere in just about
     every library that ever existed;
over time, it is the bookish aroma
    of bindings and glue---
thousand year vellum slowly-but surely
    being consumed by
a million miniscule paper mites, so tiny
    as to almost not be there... but they
too...must  have their place
     in the shade.

Ah yes, every library needs that
    musty scent of books...

Can it be "blown in" to this one,
    somehow?
------------
MIL
18 JANUARY 18

"OF LIFE....AND THE RIVER"

Life and a river
     are a lot alike

Both have their
   crooks and bends
and unseen almost-
     hidden places
with snaggy limbs
    hanging out over
the water to grab...
    or loaded with a
dozing cottonmouth

Either can have
     unseen logs and
debris of all kinds
      ready to roll
over things in their paths

Life has its surprises---
     unexpected shoals,
dangerous whirlpools,
     and mysterious
eddies...as do rivers

Waterfalls may be just
     around the bend---
and when you think
     you're "cruising..."
a fall may be waiting
    for you

Both can be dark
     and foreboding
especially in the
     night

River pests of all kinds
     with wings can
buzz and bite...
     and life has
its own bugs

Either can fool you...
     with placid waters
and calm times...but
the experienced one
    knows: "Be ready
for anything, anytime."

Life... or a river can be
    fun, with cool breeze--
jumping  fish-- and musical
     sounds of running water

and  both are filled with
     quiet happy places...
and cool shade.

Now and then one
     can catch and eat a fish.
*****************
BY MIL
11 January 2017

THOSE OLD "FORK-IN-THE-ROADS"

OLD SAW:  "When you come to a fork-in the road,
take it..."

A good plan maybe,
   in principle,
but
    always keep in mind
these
    things--- you've
heard over and over...

"Everything happens for
     a reason..." Not so.

"It was meant to be."
    Not so.

"Everything that goes
    around, comes around."
(Who says?)

Everything said--- ain't in
    the Bible, doncha know?

A whole galore of things
    happen on this earth
because of our evil natures,
    our proclivity to attain
the lowest levels--like water,
    and our innate stupidity...

Now what IS true is:
    Whatever exists on your
road at your fork-of-choice---
      there is always something
to be learned, good or bad...
    at the end.

Meant to be,
    or not.
-----------
MIL
28 OCTOBER 2018

 (The title: sic)

MIGRATION

by Billy Gilbreath, guest writer

                        Migration

There seems to be a few that are missing

Those swallows who nested above in mud nest

Above the entrance in front with constant safety

Raising two fledges. Feeding, protecting them nightly.

Suddenly they are gone and not saying goodbye.

Outside my glass door and watching daily,

Others seem to have gone and no longer feeding

Although, the feeders are full and the sock feeder bulging.

Some say they are not the migratory kind,

Yet they are replaced with the constant stay arounders,

The sparrows, the ringnecked doves and the colorful cardinals.

It always gives me an inward joy to see.

Migration has occurred in other ways this past month,

For reasons, I do not question but God has a plan.

Imprints of these which they possessed will remain forever.

In the world of chemistry and the inspiration from a great teacher,

Who can forget the many honors, the joy from the stage, the director,

That one who was a friend to all and never neglected the hurting,

And now I hear of the one who loved students, football and family.

Migration has occurred, but seems early. Heaven is their home.

For those, I miss.

By: Billy Gilbreath

for MIL'S

by Billy Gilbreath, HSU '57

11/2/18