august 16
i sing of you, migrating heron.
i sing of your whiteness and your sauntering gait in fallow land.
and i sing of you, resident hoopoe.
i sing of your little crown as you gather seeds from a plowed field.
this is how i am, my song is confused,
it plants one foot in fallow land
and another in plowed fields.
sometimes i recite the resident's prayer,
other times the prayer of the traveler.
by zakaria mohammed (1951-2023)
translated from the arabic by lena khalaf tuffaha
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our first watermelon this summer and, thankfully, it was perfect. it was ten dollars, which is why it was the first and possibly the only one. it was also heavy to carry home. when the girls were little i remember buying a watermelon in florida for two dollars.
sunday breakfast. i had read today's poem last sunday, so this sunday we read several greek poems about cicadas. maybe i'll post them for next sunday. i heard our first summer cicada at the beginning of august and last night i heard a cricket. i find the sound of crickets chirping so soothing. we don't get many in our courtyard.
walking with greg along twelfth street (he's talking to korrina on his phone with an update on grandma who hasn't been feeling well).
we walked over to pet co at union square for cat food. he hadn't yet seen their new flagship store that opened on park avenue. he was duly impressed and we had fun peeking at the schnauzer being groomed, the german shepherd being washed in a big sink, the customers buying special wet dog food from the refrigerated fresh food section, the pet owners bringing their dogs and cats to the veterinary area and the adorable cats waiting for adoption in their glass enclosures. upstairs we saw the birds and reptiles and also picked out the canned cat food we wanted (tiki and tastefuls).
and then we walked four blocks to lyseé (a korean french bakery) so i could get their signature latte and a cookie.
sixth avenue street fair . .
bananagrams after dinner . .
part of tonight's dinner discussion centered on how detrimental humanity is for earth and the downfall began with civilization, no . . they both sided with the downfall beginning with agriculture.
actually, that was at breakfast.
