Author: Mellow Curmudgeon

My blog touches on many things, often with humor and/or haiku. I have been a scientist; an engineer; an Alzheimer’s caregiver.
growing old, haiga, humor, life hacks, photography

Two Workarounds

Posted on by Mellow Curmudgeon

§1: Tree to Stone to Tree to Stone

“I must grow.”
“I can’t move.  Sorry.”
“No problem.”

TreeRock_crop.2_sat-20_840x538

 

§2: Me to Knee and Up Again

Kneeling on one knee to capture the image for §1 was no problem for me, but my old legs stiffened in the time it took to get a few photos of the tree’s workaround for the stone.  To get up again, I depended on my own workaround.

After a few scares with stiffness from kneeling and balance on slopes earlier this year, I had bought a monopod and then replaced the monopod’s wrist lanyard with a clip that was intended for attaching a key ring to a belt loop.

Monopod_crop.1_840x571

Having taken the monopod on the walk leading to §1, I extended two of its four sections and used it to get up w/o drama.  When collapsed and clipped to a belt loop, the monopod leaves my hands free for wiping sweat or taking photos.  Like a good assistant, it’s there when I need it and unobtrusive when I don’t.  Remembering to take it when I go for a walk is the hard part.

 
 

Stone ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #387

 
– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
 

7
history, photography, politics

Independence Day – 2 Tanka

Posted on by Mellow Curmudgeon

Started in 1776!
|Flag waves in fresh breeze.
|Holding truths self-evident,
|our nation slogs on.
|~ ~ ~ ~
|The dream fights to be real, with
|liberty and justice for all.

IMG_7742_rot-4.1_crop_flip_840x839 LimpFlag_flip_crop.1_sat-70_eclps+15_blem_840x1124

Ended in 2024?
|Limp flag.  Stifling heat.
|None but straight white wealthy males
|created equal.
|~ ~ ~ ~
|Fascist crook will make it so,
|if the voters let him win.

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
3
birds, haiga, haiku, humor, photography

Petrified

Posted on by Mellow Curmudgeon

Nesting kestrel turns
to see whose approach it hears.
Medusa quits birding.

IMG_8348_crop.1_blem.1_eras.1_eclps+9_840x606

Long after making a small cairn from these three stones, I noticed a slight resemblance to a nesting kestrel.  Long after that, I recalled the old myth about what happened to people who looked at Medusa’s face.  Kudos to Medusa for seeing the effect of her hobby and changing course.  She switched to making stoneware pottery.

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
2
flowers, photography

Ode to a Maligned Flower

Posted on by Mellow Curmudgeon
IMG_8400_crop.1_eclps+5_840x774

Any bee could set U straight,
“Dandelions are just great.
Where these yellow flowers thrive,
I get nectar for my hive.”
IMG_8398_flipLR_crop.2_840x1061Any bee could let U know,
“Just relax and let them grow.”

IMG_8403_rot-11.2_crop.1_eclps+5_840x824

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
4
growing old, photography, seasons

True-Blue Mailbox Blues

Posted on by Mellow Curmudgeon
IMG_8456_rot-1.5_crop.1_840x704

Fresh from the store, I was medium blue
with a touch of gray and a ton of confidence
that the mail would be safe from the weather.
 
I shrugged off decades of sun, rain, and wind.
I never flinched when the snow thrower hurled
slush laden with road salt and grit.
 
My pitted outside is the palest of blues, but
my door still swings wide and shuts tight.
My inside is still me, still medium blue
with a touch of gray and a ton of confidence
that the mail is still safe from the weather.

Blues ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #368

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
5
haiga, haiku, photography

Turning toward Sounds of Motion

Posted on by Mellow Curmudgeon
20240318_132524_crop.1_840x798

The sound of cyclists
comes from somewhere behind me.
Just wind in dry leaves.

20240318_132125_crop.1_hilites-100_840x758

It really did sound like 1 or 2 cyclists were behind me on this rail trail.  I stood off to the right so they could pass, but they kept coming.  I turned around, saw that nobody was coming, and then saw/heard dry leaves make the noise as the wind made them move.

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
8