Trick or Treat

Sugar high

Temperatures low

A great night for

Tricks or treats.

Princesses and pirates

Pretending adventures

Monsters to scare away

The dread

Magical creatures

Reveling in unimaginable power

Or being rich and famous

For a night.

Anything is possible

On Halloween.

Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear

Peace Train

Meets Crazy Train

And agrees on the Love Train.

Posters and posturing aside

Politics is good for a laugh.

What Not to Wear Marathon

Judging by appearances

We appear vulnerable.

Open to criticism

Sucked in to fill the void

Where our self esteem should be.

Patterns deflect attention

And protect our privacy.

Bland colors

Make us fade into the background.

Too bold colors are like

A warning sign to stop.

Baggie clothes and fabrics

Keep us safe

Never exposing

Our style or personality.

Hoping no one notices

The real person

Behind the clothes.

A Child's Halloween Dreams

A haunted house
Of ghosts and goblins
With them as the super hero
Saving the day.
Trick or treating till
Late at night
With Halloween candy
All the way to the ceiling.
Waking late the next morning
With a Butterfinger's hangover
And no school!

A Hard Day's Night

A hot bath
A warm bowl of soup
A chocolate dessert
A tender kiss
A good night

Halloween Madness

Wind whipping
Like a witch's broomstick
Against the sky.
Levitating leaves
And casting a spell
Keeping us all indoors.

Migration

Brown ducks
And seagulls
Trading places
Across the water
Like a game of checkers.
King me!

The Hereafter Movie

I imagine something

Like a Star Trek episode

Sparkling energy atoms

Dancing across the universe.

The interconnectedness

Of all life

Forming a jigsaw puzzle

Where missing pieces

Get plugged in

Till the whole picture

Is revealed.

20/20 Vision

My Blog

Has made me focus

On the little things.

The things that matter

The things in my control

Or in my realm.

I look at things

In different ways;

Like turning a stone

To search for crystals,

Seeing the light

And beauty refracted

In daily life.

Like a new pair of eyeglasses.

Another View

Enjoy

Being in joy.

Noticing the criss cross

Pattern of waves

Totally missing the criss cross hole

In the screen door.

Watching the yellow leaves flutter

Instead of focusing on the bare branches.

Observing the wind herding the clouds

Out of view

To better see the clear blue sky.

Feeling the softness envelop me

While ignoring the lumps in the cushion.

Looking between window smudges

To join the view.

Being aware of every good thing

And able to bare the rest.

That's joy.

Lake Pepin

Trading one window on the world in

For a different view.

Nightmare on Elm Street

Wind whipping the leaves

Into a frenzy.

Branches wailing

In terror.

Gusts trying to shear

The last leaves

From its limbs

Like a chainsaw massacre.

Dad's Birthday

I remember you were always

Hard to buy for.

When we were little

You and mom said,

All you wanted was "Good kids."

Well, I knew there was a whole lot more to wish for

So I tried socks,

100% cotton shirts,

Books on subjects of interest,

Candy for your sweet tooth

Donations to charity for your heart

And masses said for your soul.

But the best gift

I think was the

Brown corduroy bathrobe I made for you.

Mom said she had to mend it so many times

She just about remade it.

But you wouldn't give it up.

It was nicely worn in

And comfortable.

I was always secretly proud

When I'd see you in that bathrobe.

Even if it was falling apart.

It made me feel connected to you

Like the sash tying it all together

Or a warm hug

To shy to embrace.

I like to think you kept wearing it too

For the love that was in it

And not just because

It was a comfortable brown corduroy bathrobe.

Pedometer

I was surprised to learn
We walk 10,000 steps a day.
I don't know where-
Between the board and the desks
Hardly seems a mile.
Marching them back and forth
In the hallways plus lav breaks
Could add up, I suppose.
Lunch duty and playground patrol
Bus and after school duty
Counts for something.
Up and down to Johnny's desk
Probably adds a lot.
Just juggling third and fourth grade
Involves many steps.
Then the walk from the car to home.
The path from couch to frig
Is well worn.
Plus Jazzercise on a good day
And chasing the cats
Up and down the stairs.
No wonder climbing the steps to bed
I feel like I've already
Walked 9,999 steps.

Far Away Friends

You're there

I'm here.

So many miles by airplane

Yet no farther than a heartbeat.

Your voice on the phone

Reminds me of all we've shared.

So quickly uprooted and transplanted

No wonder your roots are wobbly.

Your family has been flung far

But your heart is here.

Like your mother

You'll always be here

In spirit.

Time Machine

According to the calendar

We lived through the 80's and 90's

But it seems a blur.

Working toward imagined goals

Striving for the future

One adventure bled into the next event

Until we're here.

I learned I liked travel

And more flavorful food.

I tried new things

And gained more experience.

I practiced my craft

And perfected skills.

The middle years

Of growing and shearching.

Everything seemed urgent

And important to be there.

Until we're here.

Not looking back

Or planning our next move

Just here

To where the past has brought us

And the future picks us up.

Nothing to change

Because it starts here.

Leaf Storm

Tornadoes of leaves

Sweep through the streets

Leaving a path of destruction

In its wake.

Shriveled brown bodies

Carcases crunching under your feet

The death of Autumn.

Anniversary

I said I wouldn't marry you
Until I got my driver's license.
My independence meant a lot to me.
32 years later
I still like to be my own person
But now I take into account
How it affects you too.
I think about you
When I decide what's for supper.
I think about you
When I plan my day.
Sometimes I'll just stop
In the middle of my day
And think about you.
I think about you all the time.
You're always in my thoughts
And forever in my heart.

Chilean Miners

It was summer when they went to work.
Trapped underground for 69 day.
Trapped in a cave as dark as their own mind.
How did they survive...
The memories of a bright blue sky
Over a family picnic
Pierced the darkness.
The sound of a lover's voice
Stuck in the head
To grapple with the insanity.
The smell of their perfume
To block the stench of stale air and fear.
The remembered taste of cool clean water
To cleanse the tongue.
The caress of a loved ones hands
To keep back the darkness
And keep hope alive.

A Change of Scenery

Seeing things
From a different perspective
Just by stepping back
And adjusting the lens
Or focusing on a different element.
By putting down the camera
And seeing the whole picture.
A rose by any name
May smell as sweet
But it sure looks different
In October.

Monday Morning Quarterback

I feel ready to tackle the week.
Like an armchair quarterback
I have my plays ready
And my players rested.
We know the drills
And are ready to play.
Pushing forward
Toward the goal line
Touchdown-
Johnny got his work done!

Fall

My brain is empty

Like leaves falling off the trees

Thought slip softly

From my mind.

Nothing to note their passing

But a faint sense of loss

And wonder

At where they've gone.

Gary's Blog

Sultry Saturday

Record high temps,

Peak of Fall colors,

Twins final hurrah,

Trying to connect our lives.

Nice ingredients for October...

Happy to make life's journey

A vacation.

St Paul Art Crawl

Creeping along the hallways

Lit with paintbrush strokes

Of luminous colors.

Climbing up the stairs

Wrought iron twists and turns.

Stalking into lofts

Lined with frames

Outlining people's lives.

Peeking into living rooms

Imagining the life of an artist.

A Good Day

Everyone needs a compliment
Once in a while.
When the kids do a good job,
When they get it right,
Some days when they just show up
They need praise.
But who pats the teacher on the back?
When do I get to hear
That I did something good?
All I get is complaints from parents,
Groans from kids,
And more work.
I guess I'll have to
Pretend their mumbled good mornings
Mean they're glad I'm their teacher,
And parent complaints are their way of saying thanks,
And I get to do more because I'm good at it.
I guess it all in how you look at it.

Waiting For the Birds

Blue sits at the window
Waiting, like Godot,
For the elusive black birds
To circle and nest in the Maple.
Never having experienced the outdoors
What does he imagine,
And does he think
If not for the glass
He could join in their flight?

Thinking About What to Write

I told the kids today
When you don't know
What to write about
Just keep going
And the words
Will finally come out
So, I'm hoping they will.

Golden Medallions

Branches offering alms
To us poor humans.
Why don't we display
Such brilliant colors
As we near our Autumn years?
Instead we seem to fade
And dull to grey.
Maybe that's why
We wear such bright
Wool scarves.

Medtronic 10 Mile Race

Watching runners

Sprint down the tree lined Avenue

In the shadow of the Cathedral

Under the huge American flag.

Muscles taut

Jaws clenched

Faces set in fierce determination.

Pride swells up in me

As I recognize a familiar face-

My brother finishing the race.

Congratulations!

We're Gonna Win Twins

We appreciated Fan appreciation Day.

What a great season

And what a great new stadium.

Blue sky

Instead of smelly blue seats.

Big Dogs

Instead of Dome Dogs.

Watching Minni and Paul

Shake hands over the crowd

Instead of staring at the curtain.

Losing balls in the sun

Instead of the Teflon.

Joe Mauer

Instead of...

Well some things stay the same.

Go Twins!

The Other End of the Avenue

Eyes wide as the sky

Taking in the parting clouds

And emerging sun.

Mind expanding

With the bright blue possibilities

Of the morning sunrise.