To my neighbors on S. West Street in Angola, Indiana.....
I have failed you. Yes, I know. My lawn is unmowed. I have violated Indiana code 470 which states: "All homeowners in Indiana will mow their lawn when the grass tips begin to wave in the wind."
I have not trimmed...violating code 834 which states: "All homeowners in Indiana will trim their lawns when the grass tips are higher than the mowed grass."
I have not weeded yard or garden...violating code 923 which states: "All homeowners in Indiana will weed their yards and gardens when one or more weed appears."
I have excuses...really I do. Do you want to hear them?
All right, all right...Saturday I will mow and trim and weed. So please stop marching in front of my house...please remove the TV cameras...it is so embarrassing to go to work with my coat over my head...and please don't withhold my paycheck. Isn't it enough to be honest with you, yes, my neighbors, I have sinned.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Early morning treasure...
I found this on my desk early this morning..what a nice way to start the day!!
Dear Ms. homen salory,
You are pritty.
You are a good reader
Thank-you for seting all of the programs up for us.
from,
Kassandra
Age 7
Dear Ms. homen salory,
You are pritty.
You are a good reader
Thank-you for seting all of the programs up for us.
from,
Kassandra
Age 7
Friday, April 29, 2005
Late Afternoon Serenade
Ahh, the world is full of music...and surprises...today I hosted a Mariachi band for the kids at school...the colors were bright..the music just wonderful..and the floor was flled with dancing children and teachers...The band was from Indinapolis, speaking only Spanish...and played everything we loved from the Chicken Dance to Tequilla!!
At the end of a long day I was in charge of little Jonah (my little grandbaby of 7 months)..although in all reality he was in charge of me. He cried all the time his Mama was gone. Finally at dusk I noticed the neighbor boy, Ed, practicing his trumpet in his back yard. I hollered over for him to come over...so bringing his case and music stand and gently carrying his trumpet he came over to the front stoop. He set up his one man band and played for Matthew and Jonah. Sometimes we listened, sometimes we danced and the neighbors peered through curtains wondering what was going on now at the House at White Picket Gardens. We heard everything from his own version of the Chicken Dance to America the Beautiful to Clair de Lune. What a great way to end the day.
By the way, this is Ed's first year as a trumpet player. I think we will see his name on a CD in the future!!
At the end of a long day I was in charge of little Jonah (my little grandbaby of 7 months)..although in all reality he was in charge of me. He cried all the time his Mama was gone. Finally at dusk I noticed the neighbor boy, Ed, practicing his trumpet in his back yard. I hollered over for him to come over...so bringing his case and music stand and gently carrying his trumpet he came over to the front stoop. He set up his one man band and played for Matthew and Jonah. Sometimes we listened, sometimes we danced and the neighbors peered through curtains wondering what was going on now at the House at White Picket Gardens. We heard everything from his own version of the Chicken Dance to America the Beautiful to Clair de Lune. What a great way to end the day.
By the way, this is Ed's first year as a trumpet player. I think we will see his name on a CD in the future!!
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Sonnet-a-thon
Today I am hosting my first "annual" (that is yet to be determined) Sonnet-a-thon to honor William Shakespeare.
Now the truth is, I have particited in other Sonnet-a-thons with professors and writers and teachers and literary experts...it was glorious listening to the words roll off their tongues.
Today, however, it is being hosted by a fourth grade class. They have worked for a couple of months on this...committee work, their first, and hard to understand the concept that you do your work and someone else does theirs and it all falls into place..or so it should.
As of right now..the belief was that Shakespeare died and rose again (a product in conservative Indiana, typo, what?)....the reception consists of one large 7-up, a gallon of punch, one punch bowl, one tray, one package napkins...there are no cups, cookies, tablecloths.
We are still struggling with the pronounciation for the emcee cards of 'university' and 'graduate' to introduce our guest community readers.
The flu season still continues so we might miss an important fact or two in their 'facts of Shakespeare' part of the program. But, who really cares when he was born, died, what he wrote, thought...
All I can say is, all's well that end's well, and Shakespeare didn't even say that!
Now the truth is, I have particited in other Sonnet-a-thons with professors and writers and teachers and literary experts...it was glorious listening to the words roll off their tongues.
Today, however, it is being hosted by a fourth grade class. They have worked for a couple of months on this...committee work, their first, and hard to understand the concept that you do your work and someone else does theirs and it all falls into place..or so it should.
As of right now..the belief was that Shakespeare died and rose again (a product in conservative Indiana, typo, what?)....the reception consists of one large 7-up, a gallon of punch, one punch bowl, one tray, one package napkins...there are no cups, cookies, tablecloths.
We are still struggling with the pronounciation for the emcee cards of 'university' and 'graduate' to introduce our guest community readers.
The flu season still continues so we might miss an important fact or two in their 'facts of Shakespeare' part of the program. But, who really cares when he was born, died, what he wrote, thought...
All I can say is, all's well that end's well, and Shakespeare didn't even say that!
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Florence M. Ball
Yesterday while having coffee (raspberry-chocolate) at Rachael's coffeeshop..just a few blocks from my house..I was reading the paper and came across an obituary:
Florence M. Ball, 99, of Ashley, died Friday, April 22, 2005. Arrangements by Johnson Fueral Home, Hudson.
I tore it out of the paper, stuck in my jeans pocket and walked home with it. Later I took out the crumpled piece of paper and placed in on my desk.
I want to know more about Florence, but all I have is this obituary. She lived for 99 years...think of all the changes that she saw in the world. Did she like the color ruby? Did she garden? Did she marry and have children? Did she ever see the ocean or built a sand castle? What color were her eyes?
Do you know Florence? If so, tell me about her.
Florence M. Ball, 99, of Ashley, died Friday, April 22, 2005. Arrangements by Johnson Fueral Home, Hudson.
I tore it out of the paper, stuck in my jeans pocket and walked home with it. Later I took out the crumpled piece of paper and placed in on my desk.
I want to know more about Florence, but all I have is this obituary. She lived for 99 years...think of all the changes that she saw in the world. Did she like the color ruby? Did she garden? Did she marry and have children? Did she ever see the ocean or built a sand castle? What color were her eyes?
Do you know Florence? If so, tell me about her.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Earth Day...2005
Earth
turquiose emerald
spinning whirling dancing
spherical diverse
Home
I love Earth Day...I have been celebrating, or trying to celebrate it for several years. One year at school we all bought tee-shirts with pictures of the Earth, bought a tree and sang a specia song. Of course, it rained that day...but I remember all of the children poking their out the windows singing about the earth with much gusto.
This year a first grade classroom that I work with has gathered coffers for a tree and we are in the process of making our own list to save the Earth according to first graders! I will publish it next week!
I have told stories a Earth Day celebrations...planted trees...I recycle, car pool, turn my heat down...and do my part. So..you can imagine my disappointment for this Earth Day with 7 inches of snow predicted...all the celebrations canceled for the day, how I must feel.
However, it is nice to know she is still in charge.
turquiose emerald
spinning whirling dancing
spherical diverse
Home
I love Earth Day...I have been celebrating, or trying to celebrate it for several years. One year at school we all bought tee-shirts with pictures of the Earth, bought a tree and sang a specia song. Of course, it rained that day...but I remember all of the children poking their out the windows singing about the earth with much gusto.
This year a first grade classroom that I work with has gathered coffers for a tree and we are in the process of making our own list to save the Earth according to first graders! I will publish it next week!
I have told stories a Earth Day celebrations...planted trees...I recycle, car pool, turn my heat down...and do my part. So..you can imagine my disappointment for this Earth Day with 7 inches of snow predicted...all the celebrations canceled for the day, how I must feel.
However, it is nice to know she is still in charge.
Friday, April 22, 2005
And then there were five..
I live alone. My kids at school think that is weird...some of my neighbors wonder about me also!
After time a person gets used to it..now I'm not saying I like it..I am just saying it is how I live...or should I say how I used to live.
This afternoon around 4:00...a carload of folks moved in with me...they drove a white van that was filled top to bottom with "stuff" that has now filled the Cottage at White Picket Gardens.
Odd, you think...did they randomly choose my lovely house on this quiet tree-lined street? No, it was rather deliberate...it is my son, Aaron and his family, Karen and their two babies, Matthew and Jonah. They will be staying here until the first of June.
My kitchen is filled with baby food..the high chair is now in the dining room with a real live baby in it...my knitting basket, seashells, CD's, silver stars have all been tucked away...there are toys and cribs and diapers and trucks all over.
There is also something else around that I don't hear very often...soft voices, breathing, laughter, cooing, and someone to share dinners with.
Yes, life will certainly be different for the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted!
After time a person gets used to it..now I'm not saying I like it..I am just saying it is how I live...or should I say how I used to live.
This afternoon around 4:00...a carload of folks moved in with me...they drove a white van that was filled top to bottom with "stuff" that has now filled the Cottage at White Picket Gardens.
Odd, you think...did they randomly choose my lovely house on this quiet tree-lined street? No, it was rather deliberate...it is my son, Aaron and his family, Karen and their two babies, Matthew and Jonah. They will be staying here until the first of June.
My kitchen is filled with baby food..the high chair is now in the dining room with a real live baby in it...my knitting basket, seashells, CD's, silver stars have all been tucked away...there are toys and cribs and diapers and trucks all over.
There is also something else around that I don't hear very often...soft voices, breathing, laughter, cooing, and someone to share dinners with.
Yes, life will certainly be different for the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted!
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
If I write it...will you read it??
Dear Friends,
I have just realized how irresponsible I have been to this blog site..and believe it or not..it it really important to me. So, if I become more faithful, will you become more faithful in reading???
Tonight was my book club night. I love book club. We are all women. We take turns hosting and serving dinner (yes, we talk about the book..a lot!!)
This month's read was Reading Lolita in Tehran. It will probably become (it is already!) my favorite book of the year. It is written by Azar Nafisi. I would recommend it highly!!
The book itsef lends itself to other reads...Nabokov, Fitzgerld, James, Austin...it is a rich read, and I found it especially wonderful after the V.M.
There are so many wonderful quotes that it is very difficult to choose one...but I shall indeed do that:
"Modern fiction brings out the evil in domestic lives, ordinary relations, people like you and me. What is frightening i that the blindness can exist in the best of us as well as the worst. We are all capable of becoming the blind censor, or imposig our visions and desires on others."1
1. Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
I have just realized how irresponsible I have been to this blog site..and believe it or not..it it really important to me. So, if I become more faithful, will you become more faithful in reading???
Tonight was my book club night. I love book club. We are all women. We take turns hosting and serving dinner (yes, we talk about the book..a lot!!)
This month's read was Reading Lolita in Tehran. It will probably become (it is already!) my favorite book of the year. It is written by Azar Nafisi. I would recommend it highly!!
The book itsef lends itself to other reads...Nabokov, Fitzgerld, James, Austin...it is a rich read, and I found it especially wonderful after the V.M.
There are so many wonderful quotes that it is very difficult to choose one...but I shall indeed do that:
"Modern fiction brings out the evil in domestic lives, ordinary relations, people like you and me. What is frightening i that the blindness can exist in the best of us as well as the worst. We are all capable of becoming the blind censor, or imposig our visions and desires on others."1
1. Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Stuffing a backpack...
I can stuff a turkey, really I can...and I used to be able to stuff a Volkswagon (remember those days???), butI am having a hard time stuffing my backpack.
I will be leaving on my Carl Sandburg trip in just a couple of days and have been getting everything ready...black and white film, new mastercard to replace the one I lost at the fund raiser on Saturday night, cash from the ATM, charging the phone, stopping the mail, washing the jeans, finding sandals..raincoats, getting the new journal ready, books to read on the train, hair barretts, sweatshirts, business cards (never pass up a great opportunity!!), glasses...both distance and sunglases, sunscreen, t-shirts, socks, underwear, camera, clothes for Portland.
And then there are the travel arrangements...there are six folks involved in my getting to the airport and back from the train station..I feel a little like a bag of potatoes...but as long as everyone remembers their part, I should get there and back OK!!
So now comes the stuffing part...it just won't go, plus I forgot to put toothpaste, shampoo, hairbrush and all of that on the list.
The big question of the night is this? How in the world did the hobos do it?? Of course, they didn't photograph their historic journey (how did they know it would be a romantically preserved time period...and they didn't journal..again same reason. I am quite sure they didn't need sunscreen or sandals or their ATM card or business cards to drop along the way...here, Kansas City, have a business card, give me call if you have any work for fifteen cents an hour.
OK, ok, I am trying to duplicate the trip...but doesn't anyone out there want to go along to carry this big, stuffed backpack???????
I will be leaving on my Carl Sandburg trip in just a couple of days and have been getting everything ready...black and white film, new mastercard to replace the one I lost at the fund raiser on Saturday night, cash from the ATM, charging the phone, stopping the mail, washing the jeans, finding sandals..raincoats, getting the new journal ready, books to read on the train, hair barretts, sweatshirts, business cards (never pass up a great opportunity!!), glasses...both distance and sunglases, sunscreen, t-shirts, socks, underwear, camera, clothes for Portland.
And then there are the travel arrangements...there are six folks involved in my getting to the airport and back from the train station..I feel a little like a bag of potatoes...but as long as everyone remembers their part, I should get there and back OK!!
So now comes the stuffing part...it just won't go, plus I forgot to put toothpaste, shampoo, hairbrush and all of that on the list.
The big question of the night is this? How in the world did the hobos do it?? Of course, they didn't photograph their historic journey (how did they know it would be a romantically preserved time period...and they didn't journal..again same reason. I am quite sure they didn't need sunscreen or sandals or their ATM card or business cards to drop along the way...here, Kansas City, have a business card, give me call if you have any work for fifteen cents an hour.
OK, ok, I am trying to duplicate the trip...but doesn't anyone out there want to go along to carry this big, stuffed backpack???????
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Happy St. Pat's to all...
I love St. Patrick's Day...it is right up there with the Solstice and Robert Burns Day..
I love the wearing of the green...dusting off my brogue...and drinking green beer....(that comes later tonight!!)
Tomorrow night (at Rachael's) there will be a great St. Pat's celebration with singing (we made our own songbooks), and stories (that is my job!) Hopefully we will have folks from wall to wall..so if you are in Angola tomorrow night, come on over!!
Which reminds me..I best go brush up on those Irish tales, take my walk, and oh yes...have that green beer!!
I love the wearing of the green...dusting off my brogue...and drinking green beer....(that comes later tonight!!)
Tomorrow night (at Rachael's) there will be a great St. Pat's celebration with singing (we made our own songbooks), and stories (that is my job!) Hopefully we will have folks from wall to wall..so if you are in Angola tomorrow night, come on over!!
Which reminds me..I best go brush up on those Irish tales, take my walk, and oh yes...have that green beer!!
Monday, March 14, 2005
Still winter according to my fourth grade writers!!
Haiku for Winter by Fourth Grade Students in Northern Indiana
blustery cold winds
blankets of snow falling down
gleaming snow glows bright
snowflakes still falling
animals want snow to leave
arctic winds blowing
Spring is a traitor
betraying us in sharp March
adios Winter!!
Winter, be gone now
take off your dreaded white coat
you've stayed long enough
cold frosts evenings
winter's sweet maple syrup
wondrous tree tapping
deer bound across fields
like snowshoe rabbits in snow
which are both awesome
longer March sunsets
warm air melting it's cold ice
geese swimming in ponds
snowy freezing days
cold, chilly, raw March evenings
people wanting spring
blustery cold winds
blankets of snow falling down
gleaming snow glows bright
snowflakes still falling
animals want snow to leave
arctic winds blowing
Spring is a traitor
betraying us in sharp March
adios Winter!!
Winter, be gone now
take off your dreaded white coat
you've stayed long enough
cold frosts evenings
winter's sweet maple syrup
wondrous tree tapping
deer bound across fields
like snowshoe rabbits in snow
which are both awesome
longer March sunsets
warm air melting it's cold ice
geese swimming in ponds
snowy freezing days
cold, chilly, raw March evenings
people wanting spring
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The way it is...
Philip left this morning.
Coming home at the end of the day to an empty house was difficult. It is always like that when he leaves. He spoils me when he is here...cooking, washing dishes, having a lovely pot of tea ready for me when I walk in the door. Oh, how lonely my house is tonight.
I called my sister. She always has a way of listening to me...I read..I cooked dinner...and I walked in cold, dark tonight..the temperature is 21 degrees, but the stars are like diamonds. It was a good night for walking and thinking.
I think I'll just go to bed early with the electric blanket...a cup of herb tea...and a good book. Sigh.
Coming home at the end of the day to an empty house was difficult. It is always like that when he leaves. He spoils me when he is here...cooking, washing dishes, having a lovely pot of tea ready for me when I walk in the door. Oh, how lonely my house is tonight.
I called my sister. She always has a way of listening to me...I read..I cooked dinner...and I walked in cold, dark tonight..the temperature is 21 degrees, but the stars are like diamonds. It was a good night for walking and thinking.
I think I'll just go to bed early with the electric blanket...a cup of herb tea...and a good book. Sigh.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Life has a way in interfering....
Sometimes I think I am on tract with my journal writing and then...life just happens right in the middle of everything. (If you are only a blog reader go to my website www.louannhoman.com and click on Sunday Passages for the full story. Also check out the new photos on the scrapbook page.
It is a rainy, dark day in Indiana. The rain is to turn to snow towards evening with another blast of cold, arctic air....but the promise of spring is somewhere???
Tonight is dinner at a friend's house..simple, cozy...soup for a cold night...a bottle of wine to share..and stories...always stories.
It is a rainy, dark day in Indiana. The rain is to turn to snow towards evening with another blast of cold, arctic air....but the promise of spring is somewhere???
Tonight is dinner at a friend's house..simple, cozy...soup for a cold night...a bottle of wine to share..and stories...always stories.
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