ㅁ No one comes along. I celebrate solitude. No person stops by.
– a pseudo-haiku.
This tree has no doubt appeared before. This is perhaps a very common view on this here daily tree feature – because it’s what I see when I step out of the house and walk up the driveway to the expressway. This is the Port Saint Nicholas Expressway, as I like to call it.
I had a somewhat disconcerting experience with Arthur when we stopped at the bank yesterday, while running our Thursday “shopping day” errands.
I pulled into the parking lot at the Wells Fargo bank in town, and said “Both you and I need to go to the bank.” Arthur asked what he needed to do at the bank, and I said we’d discussed that he needed to withdraw some cash – his cash reserve in his wallet was running low. Then Arthur said, as confident as could be, “Why are were here. This isn’t my bank.”
Bear in mind, this Wells Fargo branch is the same as it ever was. I have a vivid memory of walking into this bank, in 1998, with Arthur, when he opened this account. So his bald assertion that this wasn’t his bank struck me as quite… disturbing. So far most of his memory failures and lapses are related to things that just aren’t salient (new or old), and I can’t quite figure how the local bank he’s been using for 25+ years isn’t salient. So this was a new type of problem.
The fact that he didn’t think it was his bank threw him off, and when we went inside, he couldn’t for his life figure out how to ask for what he wanted – and the teller was one of the frequently replaced sorts the bank in town struggles with – barely competent and probably only employed because no one more qualified can be found.
Once he was on the spot and couldn’t put together what he needed, and I had to step in, Arthur became embarrassed. His standard reaction to that is to get angry. When we got to the car he was combative and incoherent. He asked what we had to do next and I said grocery shopping and he said “whatever” in his exasperated way when he feels I’m being overly controlling.
ㅁ Today's "Don't Do List": Don't compose pointless haiku. Don't stare at your screen.
– a pseudo-haiku.
This tree bore silent testimony to the completion of framing for the south wall of the little house thingy on Lot 73.
This tree is a guest tree from my past. I took this picture near my home in Goyang City, South Korea, in February, 2016. I was walking along the edge of Jeongbalsan park to go to an appointment at the beloved cancer hospital.
ㅁ Kiamon couldn't forgive herself, then. Warm, springlike weather was rampant, again. She'd been upset at a stranger's request; Lurking anxiety'd made her quite stressed.
– a quatrain in dactylic tetrameter. One of a series of chronologically random quatrains about the protagonist of a novel I never make much progress on.
This tree bore witness to the raising of the eastern wall to the shed project. This was all Brandt’s work.
I was pretty lazy today. There was some work on the map servers that I tried to do, but even that didn’t really progress as hoped.
This tree got to watch as neighbor Brandt and I (mostly Brandt) installed the framing for west wall of my shed project over on Lot 73.
After working in the morning, Brandt needed some help lifting that assembled frame of 2 x 6’s – it was quite heavy. We ended up using a come-along.
ㅁ Three months in shadow. But then the sun clears the ridge... photons find the earth.
– a pseudo-haiku.
This tree is the tallest tree on lot 73. This time, each year, if the sky isn’t overcast, it meets the sun again after our 3 months exile in the mountain’s shadow.
This tree observed passing traffic during the morning rush hour.
ㅁ No. We can't. It's too hard. Impossible. Unreasonable. So don't even ask us. On the other hand, there's this. It's a fine product, with AI. We burned a lot of coal making it.
– a reverse nonnet.
This tree was frosty, just like all the others.
A woman came into the gift store this morning, looking for a Valantine’s Day card. Unfortunately, we had some issues with our card supplier, and we don’t have any Valentine’s Day cards this year. She was disappointed, of course. She moped about the store looking at some of the other stuff we have. But then she brightened. “I suppose I could use a sympathy card, instead,” she announced.
She did not, in fact, buy a sympathy card for her Valentine. I think it was a joke. But it was well executed and I was laughing about it all day.
This tree was outside a window where I often sit and look out.
ㅁ I feel a bit lost, slogging through these recent weeks. Dreams have taken charge.
– a pseudo-haiku.
ㅁ I awake too early, yet again. The worries displace the thick dreams, which nevertheless linger, so worries about work are flavored with ghosts disconsolate and surreal remnant webs
– a nonnet.
ㅁ So. Holy, holy, holy, holy... the potholed road of Port Saint Nick an old stretch of tree-lined road beside the rolling sea on rainy muskeg in Alaska where I live alone. So.
– a nonnet.
This tree saw a light dusting of snow in the far western suburbs of Rockpit.
Art and I went to town for Thursday shopping. I had a lot of gift-store-related extra errands (banks, etc.). Arthur just dozes in the car while I do these.
In fact I felt pretty under-the-weather, today. I’m not sleeping well these days. Worrying about store tax preparation and stuff like that.
ㅁ In the dream, a robot read my blog... was moved to write a disco song. The song provided backing to subsequent events, including crashes, mad truck races, woodworking, aimless talks..
– a nonnet.