we wondered where we'd
wandered while weeping warfare
wet our wrongful ways

furnished romance

when the guests had left the dining room the coffee table and side chair got up and began their dance. the lamp stood silently and watched from behind. though they cut the rug, he was not injured and found it all to be in good fun. as the guests returned with their coffee and desserts they found everything just as they had left it. but the table gave a sly wink to the chair who was slightly moved.

we wrestle the beast
and hold him at arms length to
carve out our future

fudge drudge

this is the fudge drudge.


this is what i'm going to drive down heaven's main street in the great parade.


it stands nearly 60 feet tall and moves propelled by a chocolate air cooled 40hp motor of dream.

corporate ladder
temporarily blocked use
alternate access

angel or devil?

angel charlie sees no evil, speaks no evil and hears no evil. well...mostly.

like gypsies we roamed
this life searching until we
found our haven here

sheeps is back

so i came home from work friday and this is what it looked like outside my front door. we've been seeing this little flock around town as it looks like they are in demand for natural landscaping. they do a pretty good job too. except friday it was raining steadily all day and these guys looked none too happy about it.


many of them just seemed to wander around unknowingly, and the ones who better understood their condition took what shelter they could beneath trees and bushes. the sheepdogs just parked themselves and waited it out.


i don't know what it is that i find so enjoyable about having them as temporary neighbors. if i lived in the country i might have lost interest already. i think it's the contrast of country and city. very much like the buffalo that roam part of golden gate park in san francisco. you can drive down john f. kennedy drive heading to the sea and suddenly there they are! and you are transported to the plains.


whatever it is i welcome the opportunity to meditate on space shared with these animals and study them as i ask myself "goat or sheep, which am i?"

"life should be one long prayer."

-maurice chevalier

the heart is a wheel
a spinning fire from eight sides
the heart is crazy

cuh-razy

a couple of my guys have been sick the last couple days. add to that the rain and we've been hunkered down of late watching movies, playing games and laying low.


speaking of games, i've been feeling crazy 8's recently and so we've had some marathon games.


for those not familiar, crazy 8's is played in much the same way as uno. the dealer deals 5 cards to each player then sets the stack face down turning over the top card which becomes the play card for the first player.
players can then lay down matching suit or number at their turn and change the suit by laying down a card with the same number. 8's are by definition "crazy" and the player who lays one down gets to pick the suit that will follow.


when a player cannot make a play they must draw until they can or until the pile is exhausted. a most enjoyable game that can be played with a regular set of cards.


these however are special game cards. we picked them up years ago walking through restoration hardware (about the only thing we could afford) as a part of a 4 deck set.


the other 3 games are animal rummy, hearts and of course old maid. they were designed from decks originally produced in the 50's.


back then card parties were commonplace and these decks served to introduce kids to the fascinating adult world of card games with games at their own level full of fun and whimsical graphics to amuse, while they learned the art of the shuffle and the deal.


(and i'm sure it gave parents an excuse not to hand their bridge decks over to bobby and sally as well)


ours are still in pretty good shape and i enjoy staring at the pictures as much as the kids do. the characters all seem to have these fantastic otherworldly stories.


and yet they also seem strangely familiar as in a world i once inhabited when i was very small.

man with the metal skin
weeps for the bride who wants him
no more made of flesh

we string together
kites underwater and grab
hold to fly with clouds

got a whale of a tale to tell ya lads, a whale of a tale or two.
'bout the flappin' fish and the girls i've loved on nights like this with the moon above.
a whale of a tale and it's all true.
i swear by my tattoo.

first love blooms today
ignored by shoppers who rush
to buy replacements

the land is burned out
the spirits set ablaze our
frame stands rotting now

sideshow

sideshow today. keep an eye out for the cheese. may have to book.

what lies beyond here
the rotting fragments of life
that fell through a hole

favorite things 13

this little guy was a gift to me and my wife from my mother who received it as a wedding present back in 1958. he sat on all our counters growing up and always held the promise (not always delivered) of treats squirreled away inside his belly. although he has been dropped many times and repaired again and again he remains intact. opening the jar and sniffing inside i can still smell my mom's fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.
one day i was out running errands and my wife called to tell me something strange had happened. on the wall behind the stove there was a little protective plate that covered a vent pipe which ran up to the roof. she had been in the kitchen and suddenly heard a loud thud come from behind the plate followed by a furious scratching sound. she called and asked me what it could be. the only thing i could think was that some poor animal had been prancing across the rooftop and accidentally fallen through the rooftop vent. a squirrel!
by the time i got home the scratching had stopped and i really didn't want to pry the plate off the wall and shovel the little guy out. so for the rest of the time we lived at that house i couldn't look at our little squirrel friend here without also looking at that wall plate and thinking of what was on the other side.

here lie the remnants
of a once creative soul
lying in decay

domino effect

remembering today that every action has an effect for good or ill. happy monday!

the familiar sight
of faithful friends brings joy to
the tired and weary

deer creek

funny how sometimes you live in a place and you completely miss some hidden treasure in your town. less than 4 miles from my front door is such a little hideaway. i've passed it so many times without a second look. in between an auto parts store and an oil change shop sits a tiny park called deer creek. from the road (which is part of old hwy 40) it is shrouded by trees. there is no visible sign, nothing that would draw you in visually from a moving car. and yet if you were to walk by on the sidewalk you'd get a completely different impression.
my little guy and i made a trip there the other day. we parked at the nearby train station and walked through an adjoining field. the grass was damp on our canvas sneakers as we humped packs with all our supplies. as we came to the entrance we finally saw a little wooden sign telling us we were here, and behind it a polished granite stone monument marking the site of the old quarry where 150 years ago men began to cut and haul stone from this site and hand load it onto wagons for the trip to downtown sacramento. from here came original foundation stones for the state capitol. from here men worked under the brutal sun sweating and cursing under thick moustaches and beards.


and now the abandoned quarry site serves as a little taste of the old rocklin, and also gives some of the best bouldering opportunities around. even as we walked up a trio of young guys in climbing shoes and chalk bags were mapping out routes with the help of a guide book. i let the little guy serve as scout and lead the way, navigating us through trails up and over rocks until he found us a suitable spot to break for lunch. we unloaded our packs and broke out sandwiches, chips and cookies. as we munched our rations we had a rooftop view of the passing amtrak and sp freight trains blowing their horns as they passed us.


then it was time for more exploring. deer creek is the kind of place as a kid i would have loved instantly. it would be a great movie location for westerns or apocalyptic battle scenes and has the quality of a play place for an endless day of adventure. and that is what we did. we tramped and tracked all over the place. heading up and down the same trails again and again until we had mapped the place in our mind. we kept running into the climbers and later saw a group of high-school kids meeting up to get high. we heard the sound of a tiny 2-stroke and watched another pair of guys work their rc buggy up a seemingly impossible hill. and we even caught a little critter and spent some time hanging out together.


all in all it was a great little time. and now that i know where this hidden treasure lies i may send out secret letters asking others to meet me there.

fly the messenger
parks here his life is a smoke
drags down time a blur

sweet deal

my wife scored this at the target today for less than 3 bucks! i miss my cruiser.

groundhog

as it is today the day of the groundhog, i thought it appropriate to share again this wonderful folk classic from the repertoire of mr. burl ives. and whether we wait out an extended winter or early spring, we may all sing the song of the whistlepig together. for your own copy of the hit 1957 single click here for a download.

the stiff legs invited
to rest from life's troubles
for a moment here