Quill #118 - Tradition (1980)

I remember those big family reunions at Grandma's house when everyone stayed overnight.
I would wake up to the familiar chatter of women's voices and the smell of bacon frying on the stove.
Still sleepy, I would go out to the kitchen where their love would surround and claim me.
I was one of the eldest children and it made me feel grown-up when they accepted me.

The men were almost always in the garage, tinkering, showing off, laughing and talking in those deep, resonant voices.
Sometimes they played football in the backyard, all the men and all the boys, except Grandpa and my dad.
Grandpa was too old, and Dad said he didn't care much for football, so the two of them would sit and talk and watch the game until the ladies called the men in to supper.

In the evenings they all played cards.
Sometimes I got to play, but usually the children played their own games, occasionally complaining about the unfairness of being children.
On special occasions, we would all go into the back room, and Grandma would play her ancient piano.
The keys weren't all quite tuned, but their odd tinkling sound only made the old songs seem even older.

Eventually we would trickle away, back to our own homes, just as the time trickled away much more quickly than anyone thought it would.
Grandma's house is gone now, but in my heart it is still there, comforting, and sometimes, when I wake up in the morning, I can still hear her working.
And I know that when I dreamed I was there once again.

(These pictures are not the ones I wanted and may be replaced when I find the right ones.)

Quill #117 - Experiments (Feb 13, 2011)

Three sets of round eyes,
Forty sets of almond-shaped,
We sit in an unfamiliar restaurant
Surrounded by regulars, locals.

Two of the napkins held chopsticks.
We have one fork,
One spoon,
And an adventurous daughter who will try eating with sticks.

If not for the hair in my salad,
I would have returned.
But, I was lucky.

-----

Korean chef rants
At haiku-writing patron -
"Am not Japanese!"

Quill #116 - True Love

Over the course of thirty years together, Peregrin and I have come across occasional female friends who, for whatever reason, don't care as much for me and think he's the bee's knees. Inevitably, we have a conversation initiated by them about how Peregrin and I met. This topic can come up in innocent discussions, too. But, with certain women, the underlying message is that Peregrin is too good for me, why is he with me, why does he stay with me, and other questions that might explain how this wonderful man became my husband and then actually stayed with me for a lifetime. These women see Peregrin as he is now, after ten, twenty or thirty years of hard work together; they see what a gem he is now, and they want one just like him - or him.

To these women, I say, "Tough!" Nobody gets to thirty without effort. And nobody stays together for thirty years without reason. We met when we were eighteen years old, married at nineteen. Do you honestly think either of us was much more than potential at that point? We got here together, supporting each other through thick and thin, crying together in hard times and celebrating the bad with the good. And, trust me, there were a lot of difficulties in that space of time that required both of us to grow and cope and learn to laugh. You can't take that away. You can't find it in someone else's life. You can't fake that kind of bond, borrow it, or steal it. There are reasons why he and I trust each other and it has a lot to do with what we've survived as a couple. I wasn't the me you know now, back then, and neither was he. If you want him, you'll have to wait till I'm gone and then work YOUR butt off to be worthy of him.

In each other's care, we discovered science fiction and our own fantasies, raised two and a half children, played games together, survived death and depression, kissed on stage, moved twenty times, suffered through illnesses and despair, learned each other's foibles, traveled alone to faraway lands and returned to inviting arms. We've been poor together and wealthy with love. To quote The Princess Bride: "You can't harm me. [Peregrin] and I are joined by the bonds of true love. And you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds. And you cannot break that, not with a thousand swords."

Quill #115 - the Workshop

45 students, 7 teachers, 3 librarians, 3 assistants and 25 classes later, we can say it was mostly successful.

Prediction

You can change the world for better or worse but,
in a thousand years,
little girls will still be dreaming of princes
and little boys will still be dreaming of frogs.

Quill #114 - Inscription on a Stone (1982)

From the days when skies were blue,
So many eons gone,
From the time of mortal man,
When man did still belong,
And from Earth before the Quake,
And yet, before the end,
We bring a message to your world,
The last that we may send.

The five of us, from colonies,
Spread across the Way,
Have come to tell Humanity
That all is not astray.
For though the ancient civilized
Exist no longer now,
They left with us a ray of hope
Which we, to you, endow.

It is a Child, a single Child,
Born of the Human race,
To give you joy and youthfulness
In a world so filled with age.
For at a time when life is death,
The lights of Heaven gray,
This Child will guide you through the night,
Unto a brighter day.

A beacon skyward is our sign
To pass the Babe to you,
Sing out unto your dying land
The praise of life anew.
Tell all others of the hope,
A life with which to grow.
Take care, remember what we say.
Fare well, for then we go.

(public domain image)

Quill #113 - holiday pictures 2010

The Grinch didn't steal our holidays.