by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator
Rosie and I made it home from our big adventure in the Kansas burbs of Kansas City about an hour ago. We had a great time, and the event was capped off, for me - but not for Rosie - with the Kansas Macy family and myself attending the KC Rep's annual production of A Christmas Carol. This year Olive was able to bring along a couple of her girl cousins, and they had a great time sitting on the front row - especially when the Ghost of Christmas Present glitter-bombed them. After the show they busied themselves scooping up glitter to put in their hair.
This was our fourth year of being able to enjoy this wonderful holiday event. The new artistic director for the theatre company polled the audience before the show to see how many years people had been attending. There were a few people with over thirty years in attendance, and one couple was at the thirty-five year mark!
The show changes some every year. This year it was shorter than last year, or at least that is what we decided after the show. I thought the ghosts were also scarier. The Ghost of Christmas Past was a young blonde lady, obviously a professional dancer, who wore a silky diaphanous white dress and had her hair pulled up and wild, looking as though it might be flames. She rose through the floor of the stage just feet from where I was sitting and actually startled me with the suddenness of her appearance. There were also lots of special effects using projectors, and the smoke and fog of old London was constant, drifting out into the audience.
And that entire cake of a play was frosted with wonderful carolers in Victorian costumes!
It was truly a delightful evening - just like it has been every time we have been fortunate enough to attend. Next year we hope to bring Sully along and let him become acquainted with Mr. Scrooge and his friends.
Saturday when Rosie and I drove to Kansas City, we encountered some snow in southern Missouri. Today, on the return trip, the temperature was in the sixties, and I had the air conditioner on for part of the way. Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to reach into the seventies - which should allow me to complete the fall mowing of the leaves here at Rock's Roost.
The weather is changing rapidly.
Last week I came across a poem on The Writer's Almanac by Ted Kooser, a former poet laureate of the United States, which gives some really good advice on "How to Foretell a Change in the Weather." In fact, that is the title of the poem. So for all of you who don't have time to read through the various almanacs to ferret out all of the old wive's tales regarding the weather, this poem offers a nice summary. Parts of it I know from personal experience are true.
This will help keep you ahead of Alexa when it comes to predicting the weather!
How to Foretell a Change in the Weather
by Ted Kooser
Poetry Appreciator
Rosie and I made it home from our big adventure in the Kansas burbs of Kansas City about an hour ago. We had a great time, and the event was capped off, for me - but not for Rosie - with the Kansas Macy family and myself attending the KC Rep's annual production of A Christmas Carol. This year Olive was able to bring along a couple of her girl cousins, and they had a great time sitting on the front row - especially when the Ghost of Christmas Present glitter-bombed them. After the show they busied themselves scooping up glitter to put in their hair.
This was our fourth year of being able to enjoy this wonderful holiday event. The new artistic director for the theatre company polled the audience before the show to see how many years people had been attending. There were a few people with over thirty years in attendance, and one couple was at the thirty-five year mark!
The show changes some every year. This year it was shorter than last year, or at least that is what we decided after the show. I thought the ghosts were also scarier. The Ghost of Christmas Past was a young blonde lady, obviously a professional dancer, who wore a silky diaphanous white dress and had her hair pulled up and wild, looking as though it might be flames. She rose through the floor of the stage just feet from where I was sitting and actually startled me with the suddenness of her appearance. There were also lots of special effects using projectors, and the smoke and fog of old London was constant, drifting out into the audience.
And that entire cake of a play was frosted with wonderful carolers in Victorian costumes!
It was truly a delightful evening - just like it has been every time we have been fortunate enough to attend. Next year we hope to bring Sully along and let him become acquainted with Mr. Scrooge and his friends.
Saturday when Rosie and I drove to Kansas City, we encountered some snow in southern Missouri. Today, on the return trip, the temperature was in the sixties, and I had the air conditioner on for part of the way. Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to reach into the seventies - which should allow me to complete the fall mowing of the leaves here at Rock's Roost.
The weather is changing rapidly.
Last week I came across a poem on The Writer's Almanac by Ted Kooser, a former poet laureate of the United States, which gives some really good advice on "How to Foretell a Change in the Weather." In fact, that is the title of the poem. So for all of you who don't have time to read through the various almanacs to ferret out all of the old wive's tales regarding the weather, this poem offers a nice summary. Parts of it I know from personal experience are true.
This will help keep you ahead of Alexa when it comes to predicting the weather!
How to Foretell a Change in the Weather
by Ted Kooser
Rain always follows the cattle
sniffing the air and huddling
in fields with their heads to the lee.
You will know that the weather is changing
when your sheep leave the pasture
too slowly, and your dogs lie about
and look tired; when the cat
turns her back to the fire,
washing her face, and the pigs
wallow in litter; cocks will be crowing
at unusual hours, flapping their wings;
hens will chant; when your ducks
and your geese are too noisy,
and the pigeons are washing themselves;
when the peacocks squall loudly
from the tops of the trees,
when the guinea fowl grates;
when sparrows chirp loudly
and fuss in the roadway, and when swallows
fly low, skimming the earth;
when the carrion crow
croaks to himself, and wild fowl
dip and wash, and when moles
throw up hills with great fervor;
when toads creep out in numbers;
when frogs croak; when bats
enter the houses; when birds
begin to seek shelter,
and the robin approaches your house;
when the swan flies at the wind,
and your bees leave the hive;
when ants carry their eggs to and fro,
and flies bite, and the earthworm
is seen on the surface of things.
sniffing the air and huddling
in fields with their heads to the lee.
You will know that the weather is changing
when your sheep leave the pasture
too slowly, and your dogs lie about
and look tired; when the cat
turns her back to the fire,
washing her face, and the pigs
wallow in litter; cocks will be crowing
at unusual hours, flapping their wings;
hens will chant; when your ducks
and your geese are too noisy,
and the pigeons are washing themselves;
when the peacocks squall loudly
from the tops of the trees,
when the guinea fowl grates;
when sparrows chirp loudly
and fuss in the roadway, and when swallows
fly low, skimming the earth;
when the carrion crow
croaks to himself, and wild fowl
dip and wash, and when moles
throw up hills with great fervor;
when toads creep out in numbers;
when frogs croak; when bats
enter the houses; when birds
begin to seek shelter,
and the robin approaches your house;
when the swan flies at the wind,
and your bees leave the hive;
when ants carry their eggs to and fro,
and flies bite, and the earthworm
is seen on the surface of things.
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