Donkey's call

Donkey
behind a fence in France
leans against the weathered wood
and brays with all his might.
Maybe his kin will hear his call.
He watches all who wander past
and stamps his feet
in the golden grass -
flares his ears to listen well
but hears no reply.

card catalogs in libraries

In the past, and still today in some locations, libraries had halls or open rooms dedicated to their card catalogs. The large libraries had rows and rows of handsome wood cabinets, the drawers filled with index cards for each book in their system. The smaller libraries, such as that in a high school, might be able to catalog their books into one such cabinet.

There is something visually appealing about the cabinets with the rows and columns of drawers. The experience of using the catalogs is appealing as well. You may look up a book by the author's last name, or by the subject category, or by the book's title. Say that you are interested in finding 'Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain. The drawer label might read 'Tr through Un' for information on books by Mark Twain. Or you might look up 'Ma through Mo' looking for books regarding the subject 'Mississippi River'. If the library has that book, there will be a card for it with a code to help you know which part of the library, and on what shelf it is located. The code is called 'The Dewey Decimal System' and categorizes books according to general book type (Fiction, Juvenile, Reference, et cetera) and by author or other relevant information. The code label is usually attached to the spine of every library book.

With the advent of computers into libraries, we can quickly locate a book using the library's catalog computer. The computer has a word search tool into a data base of the library's inventory of books. The library keeps the data up-to-date. You can even discover if the book is present or has been checked out.  

Some libraries have such a computer system, and, for many reasons, also keep their card catalogs active.

Cards referring to Mark Twain might be curled and softened by use across many years. More specialized or unfamiliar books might have cards still in pristine condition. The feel and scent of the old catalogs have a certain romance to it, for you are in touch with thousands of readers before you who have thumbed through the little cards in search of a book.

Sometimes you learn something and reject it. Teenagers are infamous for this because they are full of energy with the sense they are on the crest of a new wave and they know everything. Which maybe they do. Still, parents and little brothers and sisters and school teachers offer this and that, and the teenagers barely hear them until some forty years later. A light bulb brightens. Whatever their teachers had pointed out is suddenly relevant. They plug it into their lives somehow and Zap!!! everything is on the right path again.

As a teenager, I shunned the boring music of my parents' era - the crooners, the Big Bands, the Broadway musicals. There were electric guitars, rock and roll, surfer bands, folk music, Motown for us adolescents to explore. There were the Beatles. We were riding the new wave.

But it's some forty years later. Here I am, entranced by Big Band's Glenn Miller and Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman. I look for this and that on Youtube.com. The blasts and synchrony of the trombones, the amazing dance rhythms, the strange wonders of the drummers as they seem to freeze a beat in mid-air. The lyrics of life before we were born - the music of the 1930s to 1950s survives, full of energy, a treasure of fascinating sound and memories.

Aspirin in its original state was made from the bark of a tree. It's an old stand-by, found in the past on most family medicine shelves and first-aid kits. Centuries ago, people made teas using the bark to help relieve symptoms of illness. A quote from Wikipedia: 'Aspirin is based on salicylin, a chemical found in the bark of the willow tree. The therapeutic properties of willow tree bark have been known for at least 2,400 years, with Hippocrates prescribing it for headaches. Bark containing salicin was used by the Romans and American Indians to treat cold, flu, aches, pains and infections.'  I've heard of animals who chew on the bark when ill or injured.

Bayer was the first company to identify aspirin's chemical formula and synthesize aspirin in the late 1800s. If aspirin were to show up today as the latest medical find, it would be considered a wonder drug. Aspirin is very effective in lowering fevers, thinning the blood (diminishing clotting), and reducing pain. Its side effects are few.

A couple of cautionary notes: You want to be sure the product you purchase is true aspirin. Avoid use of aspirin for ulcers and before surgery because of risks of increased bleeding.

freeze tag

Early in the summer evenings on a small suburban street in 1960, we played freeze tag. One kid was selected to be 'It'. He or she would chase the other players who ran shrieking in the other direction. If 'It' caught up to another player and tapped them on the back or arm, he would call out with authority, 'Freeze!' The other player had to stop and hold in the position in which he was tagged. In other words, the victim stood in place like a statue, frozen with arms and legs askew.

'It' would then run after the other players. If he managed to tag them all, the yard was filled with kids in a kind of pause, a yard full of sweaty statues. 'It' won.

But there was a way to be rescued. As It was busy trying to catch everybody, the other players who were not yet frozen could run back and un-tag a frozen friend. As soon as he or she was touched, the frozen kid would come back to life, say, 'Thanks!' and they both would run again from 'It'.

When visiting Seattle, Washington on a cloudy day, you might not think about Mount Rainier. When the skies clear, though, it's hard to look away. Mount Rainier's magnificence and huge presence above the city leave one rather stunned.

Rainier is one of a strand of volcanoes that runs north-south through the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Each is a natural wonder that leaves one with a sense of profound grace. Here is a list of some of the largest of those volcanic mountains:

Mount Baker (Washington)
Glacier Peak (Washington)
Mount Rainier (Washington)
Mount Saint Helens (Washington)
Mount Adams (Washington)
Mount Hood (Oregon)
Mount Jefferson (Oregon)
Three Sisters (Oregon)
Mount Mazama (Oregon)
Mount Shasta (California)
Mount Lassen (California)

Hobo's Meditation

There are songs about everybody - songs about chimney sweeps and bankers and gamblers, farmers and mothers and fathers, songs about dancing bears and gypsies and kings and queens and sailors. One of my favorite songs is about hobos.

Jimmie Rodgers, the composer, worked for the railroad in the early 1900s, and a number of the songs he created were about life on the rails. 'Hobo's Meditation' is one of them - a simple song, plain spoken, not overly sentimental with a lovely, 3/4 time waltzmelody. Many country singers, including the 'Trio' (Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, and Dolly Parton) and Merle Haggard have performed and recorded versions of the song. Jimmie Rodgers emphasizes neither the hardships not the romance of being a hobo, but just includes them with us all.

The lyrics of Hobo's Meditation by Jimmie Rodgers:

Tonight as I lay on the boxcar
Just waiting for a train to pass by
What will become of the hobo
Whenever his turn comes to die
There's a Master up yonder in Heaven
Got a place that we might call our home
Will we have to work for a living
Or can we continue to roam


Will there be any freight trains in Heaven
Any boxcars in which we might hide         
Will there be any tough cops or brakemen
Will they tell us that we cannot ride
Will the hobo chum with the rich man
Will we always have money to spare
Will they have respect for the hobo
In that land that lies hidden up there