Wednesday, March 30, 2022

April 2022

 An old friend, Dune, and the Andes...

I met Bruce Moffitt
When I lived in Sydney, Australia.
He was from New Mexico
And he spent his work time
As a geologist, traipsing
Around New Guinea
Looking for evidence of gold
For a major US company.
He spent his off-work time
In Sydney R&R, often regaling
Us, his friends, with the stories
Of the people
And of the mountains...
And showing off his fresh
Discovery of turquoise...
An unexpected bonus.

It was during one of these
Sydney visits that Bruce
Told me about that book called Dune,
Which I promptly devoured and loved.
I recently re-read it via an audiobook
Before going to see the latest
Cinematic iteration... which I declare,
Along with the Academy,
To be a sweeping success.
Unlike the Academy, however,
I give Villeneuve
the full marks
He deserves.

Seeing the film, and remembering
Why I even knew of the book
In the first place,
Prompted me to search out
Old friend, Bruce.
He's is back in New Mexico
And he's making southwest-style
Silver jewelry and he's
Cooking up great feasts of Mexican food.
Plus he's still travelling and hiking
And taking some amazing pictures.
This one, from January of last year,
Is looking north at the Andes
In Peru, on the way to
Machu Picchu.

I keep telling you I have friends who
Go adventuring AND take amazing images
To show the rest of us.
Right
‽‽‽
...
If this isn't nice, what is?

              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

March 2022

 

All our Christmases came at once...

Kate and David recently made
Lots of changes to their kitchen
And beyond.
They saved all of the boxes
And those from Christmas…
For Batman, here..
And Petunia, probably here,
But hiding.

Black cats have the
Photographic facility to be
Cat-shaped black things
With amazing eyes.
And when they
Close their eyes
They become
Invisible.

Even with my cataract eyes
I could find these cat eyes
Watching me.
Now, with my
New and improved eyes
     Almost a week old now
I wallow in my re-found
Awareness of those cat eyes
In their now FUZZY
Black cat shapes.

I couldn’t decide between
The many-boxes
Version of Batman
Or this close-up version:

 So they’re both
In the DropBox folder
For your desktop entertainment.

     And speaking of my eyes:
The cataract surgery went smoothly
As all had promised.
BOTH EYES AT ONCE!
After 5 days
My distance vision
Is mostly clear.
My near vision,
For things like reading
And design,
Will have to wait
For new reading glasses
After all settles down
In 4-6 weeks.

Peter and Kate
And their partners
Lisl and David…
And my grandsons
Luke and Jack
Came to see...
Me see…
And because
Our Christmas plans
For holiday visits
Had been omicron cancelled,
We celebrated
Christmas here, chez moi,
With great mounds
Of food including Swiss Chalet
Quarter chicken dinners
Made into belated
Festive meals
With the addition
Toblerone bars!

We played Xmas music
And basked in a YouTube
Fireplace ablaze with
The spirit of the time.
Kate brought us all
Super gifts
And mine included
This Pantone rainbow jacket
With Pantone green
Toque, gloves, and socks!
Truly a gift for
The amazement of
My new eyes!!

Below I’m showing
How my new jacket and I
Would have looked
To my old eyes…
And how I look
To my new eyes today.

Truly, as the Aussies say,
All my Christmases
Came at once this past week.

See larger version here.

Special thanks to my long-time friend, neighbour, design colleague, and pro photographer par excellence, Angel of Angel Torres Photohography, for taking this snapshot so I can show off my Pantone jacket, toque, and gloves—while showing you just how significantly my world changed this week.
 ...
If this isn't nice, what is?

              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course