Loose Leaf Notes

1. The only thing in our private mineral pool at Berkley Springs Resort this weekend was an orchid and a pitcher of drinking water. More HERE.

2. We ate oysters and sang Octopus’s garden at a club full of couches and took a hot soak in a Roman Bath. We stood on sand in an open pool and let the springs tickle our feet, while minnows nipped at our legs, like a fish exfoliating pedicure fit for Hollywood stars.  Watch HERE.

3. I created THIS post while sitting on a couch in a state park lobby while Joe played 9 holes of golf. Everything went wrong (connection, wonky netbook, windows 10 changes etc), so that what should have taken half an hour took two hours. The whole time I was photo shopping pictures, I could hear a man calling square dances for a class a room down from me, which made for a surreal experience.

4. I was surprised at all the creative square dance calls, like sweep a quarter, pass the ocean, wheel and deal, slip the clutch, box the knat and ferris wheel.

5. Driving home from our weekend get-away, Joe and I felt fulfilled and accomplished. As the car drove down the highway we watched the evening sun slip down.  “It’s glowing like a gold coin that was well spent,” I said.

6. So, while we were visiting George Washington’s personal warm springs bath tub, our grandson Bryce was playing George Washington in a school play.

7. This blog is sort of like my own reality show that nobody pays me for.

8. So much of life seems to come down to ‘what are you going to do with the penny in the dustpan?’  Are you going to throw it out or save it? Is it worth it? What about a paper clip?   So much of life seems to be about acquiring stuff, taking care of stuff, moving stuff from place to place, looking for stuff when it’s lost and deciding what stuff to save or throw away once it accumulates.

9. Love After Sixty: A butterfly appears / My head tilts to watch it / My body holds the flowers / that flutter as it passes / A smile crosses the room

10. That moment at Berkley Springs when a young woman checks her phone. There’s a castle behind her and a man carrying a stool and a “Magic Show” sign passes by.

11. “The good news is that the cold war is over. The bad news is that Russia won.” – The latest from my Dharmacratic poet friend Will

12. You’ve heard the saying ‘It’s my bag?’ Well, sometimes it our baggage that makes us act the way we do.

13. And then there’s Packing a Suitcase for the Afterlife, my poetry collection that asks the questions, ‘how much does the essence of one’s psyche weigh? Is the soul the one carry-on that we can actually take with us? In the end, what do we value and what do we leave behind?’ It’s been accepted for publication with Finishing Line Press. Leave me your snail mail address (here, on Facebook message or at credman@swva.net) and they’ll will send you an announcement with instructions on how to order the book.

______Thirteen Thursday