A Fire Named Chico

 

It begins so very small

   hidden, no problem no name

Spark from a mower,

   careless campfire

Seldom lightning but matters not,

   till the Santa Anna’s blow like a hurricane

 

Winds, dry from the desert

    fueling, fanning the fire

Moving with speed

    agility that cannot be imagined

Suddenly upon you

    heart stopping, situation dire

 

Of course, now it will be named,

    the news brings viewers

Plundering the countryside

    taking property, killing hundreds, maybe more

The Chico fire, has been named

   so now valiantly it can be tamed

 

Fighters fight, and sometimes die

    saving families flee

Paradise lost, dream destroyer,

    exhaustion and loss of property

     a suffering that lives on

As viewers we’re stunned by all that we see

 

And yet nonsense of all nonsense

   it will be fixed, we are told

Greatest climate we’ll have,

   if only they’d rake the leaves

A chance to united and support

   lost to a deal that must be sold

 

Those in Chico’s way

  care not about politics and news

As the fire is tamed and they are forgotten

  until mud-slides inevitably came

And paradise is reminded again

  about democratic blues

 

God bless those that will suffer

   for they will suffer long

They will be put to test of recovery

  of insurance, of health, by Chico

Long after the news and politicians care

  about what went wrong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Star on His Forehead

Little boy what is your future, what will you be?

You should know there’s a big, big world for you to see

You should know all the potential of your heart and mind

Of learning, ingenuity, passion and love you will find

Someday you’ll wonder at this picture, and yet you’ll know

As you gaze upon your own children and the potential that they show

It’s only right that you should wish they go so very far

As surely as we have wished for you, our self-anointed star

 

Grape Vines

 

Lives are intertwined as grape vines

Producing beautiful fruit so sweet

Family, friends, enjoying life’s fine wines

 

Celebrate memories and peaceful images

Be thankful for present and future blessings

Blended together into ever finer vintages

 

Seedlings that are not of family protected

With multiplying force of intertwinement

Will be the fruit that birds and vermin have selected

 

Sure, there will be difficulties, freeze or drought

But value remains and ever possible to retain

With strength these loving vines have brought

 

May we be a positive force, joyful and thankful

Be fun and hold tight the intertwine of love ones

Thankful for life’s wine, complex and insightful

 

Calculus

The natural world is bereft of straight lines

and sharp corners of geometric shapes

Rather we live in a world rounded, shaded

We live in a world of gravitational acceleration

Holding us in this place, or propelling us in space

We travel, we live in a world of curves, waves, and motion

The language of calculus opens our understanding

Allowing us to derive the rate of change of motion, and

Furthermore the rate of change of the rate of change

We can describe and approximate the waves

We know how to use integration to determine

The area of irregular shapes and the curves we travel

All our real world is alive with the beauty of math

And those that learn calculus, the language of love

They then have laid open the secrets of our world 

And will take us to the future, and future worlds!

 

 

Infinity

It is forever and the set of everything

Equally, it exists as infinitesimal divisions

Of time between one and nothing

 

 

They Died at Belleau

 

Toward the guns they ran

All patriots to the last man

Dying as a million bullets flew

Fighting in the woods of Belleau

A century ago, the great war

They came to fight from afar

Inconvenienced in a great way

1800 died in the woods that day

Yet today’s leader wouldn’t face the rain

So, he sent others to salute without shame

An inconvenient 100-mile motorcade

To lay a wreath for those still there today

 

 

I’ve Known Winter’s Chill

 

I’ve felt a chill as the winds shifted

Wounded as the Sun’s warmth lifted

As if it was something I could’ve done

About fall’s ruling, there’ll be no more fun

Winter’s chill seriousness and so cold

Comes ever so suddenly and unforetold

And North-wind blows, cutting, and stinging

Message of winter’s chill just beginning

 

 

 

Passwords, PINS and Security

It started with a government form

Where were you born, what was mother’s maiden name?

Then it became something of the norm

 

Security questions, passwords, and 4-digit PIN

All to protect us, and surely irritate us

When we cannot remember or find it again

 

The phone now incredibly knows my thumb

Then not always, so it demands 6-digit PIN

Makes blood boil at times and head numb

 

The newest phone now reads my face

But it doesn’t work if I wear glasses

Or it’s night, or simply a dark place

 

So how am I supposed to remember first pet

Or grade school name and spelling

And where born, I wasn’t quite conscious yet

 

Do they mean the hospital of birth?

Or where mom and dad lived?

I wonder if close enough if I say Earth?

 

So, I get a password I can remember

But it needs special characters, number, 8 or more

Of course, it’s only good till November

 

It’s all security, every website needs one

Sometimes it seems all too much

But then there’s more of this memory fun

 

Two level authentication, password, and text

A code to ensure, what? I have my phone with me

Can’t imagine what they’ll come up with next

 

Soon appliances will need a password or voice

Recognition to ensure its me

Turning on the dishwasher as if that’s my choice

 

Thieves and crooks now don’t just guess

They go thru back doors to steal it anyway

Making everything an identity bloody mess

 

Enslaved to passwords, questions and PIN

And voice, and face, and thumbs, and

All the things I’ll forget about once again

 

                                            Artwork By: Mikayla

 

Pink and Blue

 

Just shoes, pink and blue

Side by side, different

But same as me and you

 

Where on the scale are you?

Do we disagree, maybe?

But friends no matter the hue

 

We serve a purpose proud

So, we acclaim ourselves

As tennis shoes out loud!

 

No matter pink or blue

United we’re here

Always supporting you!

There was a time when this is what it looked like making plans for a weekend night.  No cell phones, no group texts, no websites to check out a destination.

If you were young and going out on a weekend evening, you had a network in your mind that you would begin calling.  Someone would have to start the plans, and get the message out.  You wouldn’t get people at home, they’d be out, maybe working, so you leave a message with their mom or brother, or sister, never count on a dad to pass a message about going out!  And sometimes you wouldn’t trust a younger sister, either… You’d call back later to make sure the message was getting out. Then you’d move on.   I remember I had a small little address book, but mostly you relied on memory, and knowing how to extend the network beyond the first few people you call.  You call Dave, he calls John, and maybe Mark.  Then you’d know that John and Mark would call Susie and Cathy, and on and on.  Sometimes you’d get together with as many as fifteen people or more.

Then there was arriving.  You’d get to the location and find that it closed!  Whoever got there first would have to wait for a couple more to arrive to figure out where to go from there. Someone would have to wait in the parking lot for stragglers to pass the message.

Amazing, we figured this out, and made it work.  Don’t know who I was talking to, but quite sure I was reaching out to the network for party planning… somehow it was all worth it!