Saturday, June 7, 2014

DRAWING DAY

You may not find this on the calendar but today is special anyway
June 7th every year is known as Drawing Day.

For anyone whose ever drawn and animal, a tree, a bus 
This day is set aside to celebrate the drawer in all of us. 

When a child draws an out of proportion person with giant hands or feet
People hold up that drawing and say how talented...how sweet.

But when an adult draws giant hands or makes one arm a little too long
People give him funny looks and assume there’s something wrong.

When I was little my drawings were cute, or so my parents thought.
But my drawing talent never progressed the older that I got.

For years when our kids were little every vacation we ever took
I would draw a cartoon every night and we’d keep them in a book.

I’d draw a picture depicting a funny situation then add a sentence or paragraph
But more often than not it was the drawings themselves that made my family laugh.

They’d see my oddly misshaped figures, “Who’s that person?” They would plea.
“My eyes are too big, and where’s my nose...I know that can’t be me.”

I tried to explain I was like Picasso and my drawings reflected that
But they’d reply,”I can’t imagine Picasso would make my head that fat!”

“Dad, you drew me without a neck and my legs look so arthritic.”
I often wondered, “Did Picasso have such an array of critics?”

But as time marches ever onward and our memories begin to fade
Every now and then we pull out those old books and browse the drawings I once made.

Oh we still laugh at the contorted figures but I don’t find it demeaning
Because somehow over the years they’ve acquired a different meaning.

It seems the older we get and we realize life’s moments pass by in a blur
We need to stop and remember how important those moments were.

The drawings themselves become secondary as we chuckle our way through them

And everyone, including me, is simply glad I drew them.

Friday, June 6, 2014

DONUT DAY

You can have your Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter or Thanksgiving holiday
But, in my mind nothing, holds a candle to today...it’s Donut Day!

It is celebrated on the first Friday in June...every year without delay.
But, come on people...who are we kidding...every day is donut day.

If you’re looking for tranquility or a little inner peace
Take a circular shaped piece of dough and drown it in hot grease

Then sweeten it, top it or put something scrumptious in the center
How can we have something this delicious and not know the true inventor?

Powder, sprinkles, coconut, chocolate, how easy it is to see
A donut’s not only loaded with flavor but versatility.

Think of the shape of a donut and the symbolism the circle brings
Halos are made of circles...and so are wedding rings.

Yes who would have thought the circle of life with all its hopes and dreams
Could be ordered in a drive thru at your nearest Krispy Kreme? 

One way to know donuts will be around for quite a long duration
Is when they become a part of your memories when you are on vacation

A few years ago Deborah and I took a trip...a whirlwind three week campaign
We visited New York, Virginia, Rhode Island and drove up the coast of Maine.

We saw the Amish in their buggies, Acadia, and took a ship out to the sea
We visited Niagara Falls, the White Mountains and saw the Statue of Liberty

One of the highlights was spending a night in the Adirondacks of New York State
For there in a little shop on our way out of town were the best donuts we ever ate. 

So many memories run together, people, places, sunrises...sunsets
But those donuts from that little shop are something we’ll never forget.

Yes, donuts can change our mood, they can make us happy when we’re blue
I’m quoting Homer Simpson here....”Donuts...is there anything they can’t do?”

So here’s a tip if you want to celebrate a treat that’s so extraordinary

Krispy Kreme is giving away free donuts today...no purchase necessary.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

THE LUTHER BURGER

Just when you think you can no longer be surprised, when you think you’ve seen it all
We turn the corner and sure enough...again we are appalled.

A woman makes herself look like a Barbie doll, people inject bacteria into their lips
They paint Chows to look like pandas in China, you can buy Cajun squirrel potato chips.

Yes Cajun squirrel potato chips...now there’s a mental picture I cant erase. 
Makes you wonder doesn’t it...just how a squirrel might taste?

And then there’s the Luther Burger...take a juicy burger, add some cheese
Some strips of bacon, lettuce and any condiments you please...

Now here’s the part that makes mouths water and reputable doctors scream
Your bun is not a normal bun...it’s a donut from Krispy Kreme.

Eat enough of them and your heart will be weak, there’s a chance you’ll be obese
But it’s billed as having a salty-sweet taste with surprisingly little grease.

That’s the world we’re living in now...where our portions can be super sized
If it doesn’t have a lot of grease...only then are we surprised!

1300 calories and 45 grams of fat are going directly to our thighs
And that’s before we drink a soda or wolf down any fries.

Paula Deen has her own take on this burger sure to make mouths drop
She makes it as described above but adds a fried egg on top.

In America we don’t worry about fat or calories...we just keep adding more.
Congratulations on created the ultimate food...a burger to die for. 

So next time you’re looking for a lightly greasy burger still guaranteed to make you fat

May I suggest the Luther burger...and try squirrel chips with that!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

THE TREE WITH A HEART

Do you believe trees have feelings? I do. It’s part of my malady.
Basically, I give human characteristics to everything I see.

I was born with this affliction and I own it with dignity and grace
Besides, from where I sit, it makes the world a more alluring place.

Take the trees around my neighborhood to me they’re more than works of art
I have always thought of a tree as sensitive, possessing a kind heart.

It’s really not that crazy for me to think the trees might care
They do provide us all with oxygen and help to clean our air. 

They allow us to climb their branches, on many trees have we all played
They provide us food and shelter and cool us with their shade.

Studies have shown that people who are sick or have lived through a disaster
When they view or in the midst of trees...heal a little faster.

Trees mark the seasons, they hold our swings, under their canopies lovers yearn
They do all these things and more...yet ask for nothing in return.

I’m not alone in thinking this...look at all the artists who have drawn them.
And if people don’t think trees have hearts why do they carve so many on them?

The other day a city worker stopped by our house...in his truck tools overflowed.
His job: to trim a large tree branch that hung into the road.

We watched him prune that branch away...how quickly it was dissected
The tree, for his part, stood their stoically and never once objected.

When the man was finished unbeknownst to him...he left a work of art
The stump of the branch he left behind was the shape of a perfect heart.

As we rejoiced in our discovery nearby church bells began to ring
A tiny bird perched on that heart and a love song he did sing...

More proof that trees have hearts and those hearts are selfless and strong
Of course you didn’t have to tell me...I knew it all along.


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

WHERE I DRAW THE LINE

I think of myself as a nonviolent person...I like all creatures great and small
I believe in living in peace and harmony with those that walk, swim, fly and crawl.

But the other day when reaching into my closet to pick out a shirt to wear
For a brief moment I felt something brush up against my hair.

Unperturbed I donned my shirt and as I was getting ready to leave
I was amazed to feel a roach on my arm then watched him crawl out my sleeve.

It’s turning warmer in Florida and we all no what that means
Hotter days, more humidity and roaches in our jeans.

On most days I can live at peace with roaches...those sneaky evildoers
If they let me live in my house and they stay within their sewers.

It’s a simple rule I like to follow...what’s there’s is there’s...what’s mine is mine.
But when they try on my shirts and sleep in my bed...that’s where I draw the line

They show up in the oddest places...it’s like they’re made of vapor
The kitchen counter, the shower, the commode....I wonder, do they use toilet paper?

What’s the protocol when they’re in my house, if I smash them am I a sinner
Or do I buy them presents at Christmas and ask them to Thanksgiving dinner?

Of course not, that would be inviting misery, it would be a huge mistake
For roaches are not givers...all they do is take.

So I catch them and try to make them understand what terrible guests they’ve been
But while I’m counseling the one I caught...another twenty move in.

Since they don’t listen to reason and they’re not looking for absolution
I have but one alternative...to promote their execution.

So I kill them any way I can, a magazine, rolled up newspaper...my shoe
I know it’s not very pacifistic but what’s a man to do? 

After all, when I find them in my car, at my parties, and sipping my red wine
Well...even a nonviolent person has got to draw the line.


Monday, June 2, 2014

DON'T FORGET TO FLOSS!

Recently on a warm spring day I had the chance to see
Behaviors that might seem innocent or charming when taken separately.

A teenager was texting, fingering out all kinds of commands
One young man was reading...another ate a burger with two hands.

A man worked on his computer...another was talking on his phone
One lady put on make-up while another handed her dog a bone.

A business woman was eating yogurt or something out of a jar
Another woman was flossing her teeth while a man played his guitar.

Taken independently these behaviors don’t seem too bizarre
But these people were all observed driving...yes behind the wheel of their car. 

Did something happen since I learned to drive? Has the world become surreal?
How is it possible to safely drive without at least one hand on the wheel?

What have we become?  What strange boundary have we crossed
To be in such a hurry that we cannot stop to floss...

That we think we can be safe behind the wheel of our car
While texting, eating, drinking or playing the guitar?

If these bizarre behaviors aren’t enough I find myself now knowing
That I’m often watching what they’re doing and not looking where I’m going.

I pray for the day that cars run by themselves or we all have a chauffeur 
Until then it seems we’ve all become accidents just waiting to occur.

There’s a movement to raise the speed limit allowing us to drive faster with more power
Great! Now people will be picking their teeth and guitar at 70 miles per hour.

A quick question to think about the next time you’re about to floss and drive
Will it matter to anyone if your teeth are clean...if you don’t get there alive?


Sunday, June 1, 2014

AND STILL I PRAY

When I was young I attended Catholic school...but while there along the way
My God was stolen from me, yet for some reason...I still pray?

I see religions fostering hostility and no longer am I awed
As I watch people hate, maim and kill each other all in the name of god..and still I pray.

I see a disturbed young boy murder people because he couldn’t get a date
I see how guns in the wrong hands can wreak havoc & devastate..and still I pray

I see priests molesting children, I see protests in Iran
I see a family stone their daughter to death in nearby Pakistan...and still I pray

I see children, young girls, kidnapped and the only reason...they attended school
I see people all across the globe who are mocked and ridiculed...and still I pray.

I see countries going to war whose arsenals of death each day increase
Who continue to believe after all this time that war can lead to peace...and still I pray.

I see people destroying or polluting many of our resources here on Earth 
Who forget, or worse don’t care about its value or its worth..and still I pray.

I see bullying so pervasive it’s causing suicides
I see dictators abolishing human rights, I see massacres and genocides...and still I pray

For beneath this shroud of sorrow, in a world that’s tearing itself apart
I see many people who prove our world still has honor...still has heart.

There is a constant struggle between good and evil and though evil gets more press
Perhaps as each new month begins we need to reassess.

Evilness is more pervasive, more obvious...it’s a more visible paradigm
Goodness is more subtle, more inconspicuous and takes a little time.

If you’re keeping score between good & evil and what people of the world are choosing
I can’t be sure, but I think right now, it’s goodness that is losing.

But perhaps one day goodness will prevail...yes...perhaps one day...
Hoping good will overwhelm the bad...ah...perhaps that’s why I pray.