In May's Gaud Gown

The strange poem MAY by Karen Volkman begins this way:

 In May’s gaud gown and ruby reckoning 

the old saw wind repeats a colder thing.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55530/may-56d2373a7826d

Karen uses language in a wonderful way - very alive, very zingy - and, IF I am understanding her right (like much of current poetry it is on the obscure side) this is about how short our lives are now. That is what it says to me anyway, as another May comes to its end and I wither away in the freshness and the glory of the Spring.

We have heard that the daughter of our Texan friends will be travelling in the UK sometime this year and are hoping to see her.  We first knew her as a beautiful young teenager, and now she has just retired!   How strange getting old is. But I am very grateful to be here still. And, as you know if you read my blog, I do want to be here forever, to "inherit the earth" as Jesus promised.  And when he said that he was confirming the promises in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

We have many happy memories of our times with her parents.  Camping in the desert in winter - we used to make a campfire in the evening - and Mary made a great chile and cornbread.  We had many weekend trips to Bahrain, we were in Oz together - at the Barrier Reef, and of course there were the Maldive dive trips.   

Which is a chance for me to promote my book Waiting for Gordo, which, while very far from a best-seller has garnered some good reviews on Amazon - some from real writers.

https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/waiting-for-gordo-all-formats.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waiting-Gordo-Sue-Knight-ebook/dp/B075WS4YFB

Captain Moth-Butterfly took Saturday off metal-detecting and spent the day at Kithurst Meadow finding loads of micro-moths to photograph.  See the Mint Moth which heads this blog.

I dreamt the other night of a white fluffy Persian cat, with an angel face like a doll, but with a shaven patch on its back and matted fur.  I was sitting in an approximation of the Kennel Club and the cat went over to give a tiny girl just arriving such a friendly greeting.  

I woke up thinking about Mai Tai, Mary's cat who was lost and then found.  She was an indoor cat, Persian, a sort of tawny colour. She went missing while being housesat while Chuck and Mary were on repat.  Luckily the housesitter who we knew, came and told us, and Col organised an extensive search, with posters and a reward. She was found before her people returned. And the gardeners who found her got a nice bonus too.

She was a very inexpressive cat. Whatever she thought and felt she kept to herself. I too housesat her on a previous occasion - and she never said a word. But the sitters said that the day she came back she talked and talked - telling the other cats what had happened? telling off the housesitters for losing her?  Who knows?  But clearly she was very relieved to be back home after what must have been a fearsome experience.  And she wanted to talk about it.

Col had a SUSSAR call out in the early hours of this morning.  The Misper (Missing Person to you and me) was found safe.  We both now feel very tired.

 

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