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 |   Enga mellom fjella: where from across the meadow, poems sing from mountains and molehills. |
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Enga mellom Fjella  Sentinel Marked as if you own me I bow before the Bitterroots and just like you my rocky soil, my withered grass lays prey to the empty sky. © Kåre Enga 2007 "Sentinel"   Reader's Choice of Poems: "Sentinel" "In Lagada, la vita" "In search of Iris" "La Bella Vita" "Wheat penny" Reader's Choice of blog entries from my old blog "L'aura del Campo" :"Death of Jeannie New Moon" "Winter: 18 Mas'il (December 29)" "When is it proper to tell someone you love them?" "Holy day. Autumn in November. A mole." "ENFP, what are you?" FACES     PLACES            Kåre  Enga~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop The Fish |
 Maybe I should put music on? I love the quiet but I'm facing 4 days of it... at least more places are open these upcoming 4 days. Lost in dreams yesterday. Went sea kayaking. Eg draumte om ei holder. My neighbor Lavinia likes filberts (hazelnuts). I like them too. I should go looking for some. The river frothed last night as spumes of wind-driven ice flew down the channels. Today? All is frozen.  My temp was 97.3 last night. Couldn't get warm. So I took a hot bath. It rose to 98.4. Then I went to bed. me: Lamenting a bit. In the Olden Days when Blogville was more than a ghost town, I blogged almost daily. And folks read my blogs! Now I'm lucky to get one comment per entry. Not that my blogs are interesting anymore.  Still I blog and Scarlett  still seems to be amused by my lists of 5. I try to read and comment on other people's blogs every time I add an entry myself (but only about 3, not over 10 like before).Same in my personal life. People's lives go on. With me or without. I don't have any enemies at the moment and very little drama this past year. I'm still chatty but there seems to be a lack of connection. So I lament. Partly it's the Dreary Season but today it's sunny blue skies, no clouds. The snow shimmers like diamonds and the river looks like frozen soap suds. |
| ...just cold. Went below -20ºC last night with a Hellgate wind. Yes. When Hell freezes over...  I don't skate. Weak ankles as a child and now old bones. But I do admire how skaters can glide over the ice. There's a lot of ice out there today... a-gliding we will go... I'm reading, writing and editing. Fortunately, what I choose to read is worth more than a halfstar. What I write however... My geraniums are blooming as is the kolanchoe. I have a succulent that has small yellow flowers about to burst forth. No idea what it's called. No leaves, just green twigs.  Nightmares? Dreams? I prefer dreams but daydreaming won't get anything done so I need to start doing instead of merely dreaming.  There are a couple of men who put together puzzles here at the Senior Center. Occasionally I help but I prefer Sudoku or other challenges. (Don't like crosswords or bridge).ME: I'm okay. I stay inside when it's bitter cold. It was dangerous to be out and about last night, so... I didn't. At least Bernice's Bakery is open a block from me. They were closed for 5 days. Only open till 8 pm though. And no internet. Le Petit Outre has internet but they're only open till 6. The Senior Center? 4ish... maybe. No B I N G O today = very very quiet. In other snews... the sun is out and that's cheering. |
...coffee. The sky is clear and the fresh snow is sparkly. Very very cold tomorrow. I finished a couple books. The "Now" book may help me with my procrastination. In some ways I do the right thing already. When I travel I plan and then make plans B and C and work back from places and dates to make "sure" I'm good to go. Overcomes procrastination and stress.  Maybe if I stand by a stove... I'm not into heat so I shouldn't complain about the cold. I do put a pot of water on the stove and boil away though when it gets chill. Since I have underwear to boil this is no big problem. I made my own cashew butter fudge yestereve. Today I'll share. Not as strong a taste as peanut butter and this time I may have under-boiled the sugar a tad. It's soft... but still yummy. First Night on Wednesday has about 80 events. But... not too interested. May go anyway...me: I made a calendar for January through June. I need to know when events and holidays are if I intend to travel. Like the Bookfest (Sigrid Unsets Dagen) is May 26-31 in Lillehammer; Eurovision 2015 is in Vienna May 23rd. So... I can choose to go or not if I'm aware. If I'm not aware...  I need to gather info now as tickets should be purchased by February as I'm still considering Japan in March. That decision needs to be made a.s.a.p. I do like to dream. However, dreams go nowhere if not put into action. I managed to blog recently, check facebook daily, started another book, wrote a short poem yesterday. My rooms? Little by very little. I get overwhelmed but have done small things every day when I felt I couldn't tackled larger tasks. Plus, I keep dishes clean, shower every day, boil my underwear. As for coffee... Ever pour salt in it thinking it was sugar? I have. Makes it totally undrinkable. Came up in conversation today. I keep track of these stray thoughts. May be useful someday! 52,819 |
...raccoons. Just a few flakes out there, mostly in the mountains. Been mild. But... minus temps are forecast for Monday and Tuesday. As in... below zero Fahrenheit. I looked like a bedraggled Santa... so I cut off my beard. Just in time for the snow and cold... When it isn't white here it's brown, not green. Grey over brown isn't as pretty as blue over white. Lavinia gifted me a tall green travel mug with a tight cap. It works!Me, myself and I: Visited Joyce yesterday. She's convalescing from having a defibrillator inserted after dizziness and a fall. It was nice to sit there, watch TV and chat. Plus, the tortellini wasn't bad either. Joyce is very outgoing and this staying-at-home, until the doctors say otherwise, will quickly grow old. So, I'll need to visit again. Soon. I went out for short walks three days in a row. This is good. It's good for my legs and my spirit. The weather hasn't been too bad... but will be. On my walk today I went to Winter Market and bought Strasbourg sausage and small potatoes for boiling. Plus found out about a website called Vayama (for cheap plane tickets). Reading... writing... slowly unboxing stuff and even slower at getting rid of it... Oh well. As for raccoons: Bob, a neighbor of Joyce, has a friend Brian who lives in a culvert. He shares the space with raccoons who chatter if anyone seems a threat. He has two sleeping bags and enough food; although the raccoons... In any case, he has figured out how to live and survive. I can think of worse scenarios. |
| ... as in ... Köttbulle  or kjøttboller   Friend Brian from Costa Rica is in Italy. I'm jealous. And thrilled for him. Friend Flavio from who I met in is working in Australia. Jealous again.  Friend Hiroki who I met in Poland is back in Japan. As is Evan from Alaska who lives in Montana.  Friend Daniel from  who I met in is in Switzerland.  Friend Linda is in England ... Bah Humbug!MEeeeeeeee...................... My friends get all the fun! Well... not all. Joyce is grounded due to her recent heart issues. Lee is quite ill and Linda... dear Linda... just has to survive Humbug... somehow. Center closes early this dreary day. Philly steak sandwiches though... I wore a suit, tie, hat today. I'm looking GOOD! But yesterday was fun as well. Nothing quite like green bell bottom pants! I tried on my shoes last night and will toss some. I want to get everything a bit more manageable. It's doable. BUT... ***drum roll*** ...I made Swedish meat balls last night! 40 round balls of pork and beef. Sweet. Literally. The recipe calls for a cup of cream. I didn't have all the ingredients. So: multi-grain (poppy seed) bread crumbled; cardamom instead of nutmeg, increased the amount of allspice; no onions and no salt and no beef broth so I used an onion soup mix to make the balls and added some to the gravy; no flour to thicken so I used Bird's custard mix (it has cornstarch); oh... and I added orange extract! 40 little balls! Well, no longer 40... 52,795 |
...1970. Where's the party? People have been good to me. Almond Roca, Sicilian cookies? I don't celebrate Christmas but I am touched by the kindness of others. Yesterday I went through some stunning photos that AL  posted at Smugbug. She has talent My closet is full! Shirts are all hung up. Pants are mostly put away. Shoes? Shoes are next. Took some things down to the dumpster in a box. If someone is desperate... if not, I'll toss in the dumpster later this evening.  Finally got the landlord's key under his office door. Keeping it around my place where it could get misplaced was not a charming idea.  Pork today instead of beef. Very good though. As were the Brussels sprouts. mE: I'm dressed for the 1970s. Basically green, including green polyester bell-bottom pants. My shirt was made in Costa Rica but it is definitely a weird design (in rust-red, navy, greens, gold) I've never seen there... even back in the 70s. Very retro. Very different for me. Fewer people around this week. At least I have places I can go except for the 25th and I'm not concerned about that. Living alone far away from family has it's upside and downside. I have so much I want and need to do over the next two weeks that I won't have time to wallow in despair or depression. Next December? Somewhere else! Tuesdays = Bingo at the Waiting-to-die-Center. Never amused. Too loud for me. I don't do Bingo because I find it boring. Messaging is slowly paying off. I want to send a message to most of my friends on Facebook by summer. It's doable... I haven't heard from all of them this past year. So, I'll make some effort as the alternative is a smaller and smaller world. And although I tend to withdraw into myself at times I don't like that. 52,754 |
...Downstairs Humbug... I ordered a humbug: chick peas, roasted mushroom compote, provolone, cilantro, red onion, roma tomato, alfalfa sprouts, roasted tomato mayo on a farm roll. Would Scarlett approve?  The kayakers and/or surfers were on the river this past weekend. Very little deters them. (Ice blocks, logs... yeah.) I have friends that have been in the hospital or are ill. It's a good day if I can make them laugh.  I've been sticking to short poems recently. I know dialogue is important in many types of prose. Just not my strong point.  I avoid Bridge, but I just saw a 3 no-trump bid brought home. Nice.ME: I managed to get everything up the stairs. Did get some help. Finished at 22:20 on Saturday. Now I need to sort and put away or take back down to the trash. In the end, this is a good thing. My body was sore (legs, groin, lungs) but no damage done. This week is a "short" week. Everything is apparently closed on the 25th but other than that I can get out and get coffee and check the internet. I started a new book (#45, Winter 171 BE) for my journal yesterday. The notebooks look so clean and nice when I start... then ragged after three months. Autumn, Book #44, wasn't mangled though. It was purple. This one is light blue. I've also been reading. Mostly light reading that can be passed on to others when I'm done. I just leave the book on the second floor landing and magically it finds a new home.  |
| ...if one goes up and down 30 times... ...and I may have to...  If life is a game of chess... I'm history. Better if it were Clue... except IRL I'm usually clueless. I got a postcard from Sheila, a card and picture from Judy, a penguin card from Lavinia. I need to check my mail more often... Not my circus, not my monkeys. I've managed to stay out of the drama at the Senior center. I'm curious... but it's better if I don't know. Plus, I'm ticked that they are only open 2 1/2 days the next two weeks. Either I trim my beard or start wearing a red suit!  42 steps to my place on the 3rd floor (2nd in British). What went down in November must come up this December. Alack, no elevator or hot balloon. me: My landlord gave me the keys to the truck where my stuff is stored. I have today and tomorrow to get it all out. They need the truck Sunday to move an elderly member of the family. So... here's to going up and down at least 30 times!  I suspect that some of the younger "dudes" might see me and take pity.I fought with the computer to put photos of Porto at facebook. Ultimately, I won. I now have over 1,400 photos of my month in Portugal and Galicia on-line. And I'm not done... If I ever want to "revisit" my trips... got the photos! Light rain and snow today. Drizzle and snizzle. I was hoping for two days of 70º weather, sunny from sunrise to sunset at 9 pm. (That would be June... LOL.) |
Me. My journal is on page 3,922. I started it in December 2003. But... I'm no open book. There's a lot I don't share. Nothing quite like nightmares... I dread reading the news some days. I don't see the world through rose-tinted glasses but I'm not happy with the levels of violence and the American public's ho-hum attitude towards it.  Surf's up and kayakers and surfers were on the river yesterday. Today there's some ice flowing down it.  Do people care about facts? The on-line comments are brutal at times. And folks don't recognize satire or faux reports for what they are.  When you have older friends... some of them get ill. Missed Joyce today. She's either at the doctor's or hospital. In any case...Bored. Will watch "Horse Whisperer" if I can stomach watching a movie. It's Tuesday in December and there's little to do in this town in December. It rocks February through November. But December? Continue working on my room issues but no great emotional energy to tackle and be done with it. Goal is still: by next Monday. I posted pictures of Portugal again today but the computers at the Senior center don't like to read my external drive. I don't like fighting with computers as it wastes time. Sure... I have lots of time.  But not for frustrating and stupid. |
Me: I got the file cabinet in place and my writing files and travel files placed inside. Now to go through more boxes and get them stored away.  I didn't sleep well last night. I'm blaming it on the coffee as it couldn't possible be that I changed my bed around and put it by a window...  Managed to get ahold of my friend Gary. 6 minutes of sunshine is better than none. Too bad he didn't answer last week when it was gloomy here. Today? Not a cloud in the sky.  Sunny enough but not warm. I should be in Costa Rica. I'm missing the futbol championship and the bullfights. I haven't been in Montana in December... since when...  A quote: "I can see their little toe writing in the short lived dim twilight." Geoff In reference to animal tracks in an Alaska winter."I shouldn't be here..." I tell myself, voice trailing off in a sigh. I should be in Costa Rica, or at least planning my next trip: Tromsø, Norway; Nara, Japan; back to Portugal... somewhere. Lord knows I have the money. At least my bank thinks so! December is a somber month. I don't have any family here and friends? Yes, but... I "don't do friends". At least, not like I used to. I feel nostalgic for the 80s and 90s and a place I once called home. Missoula is a safe place. It's a beautiful place. It's a cultural haven. But... it doesn't speak to me, and... my heart goes back to Kansas and my mind wanders off further east where snow falls every November and those who once were my friends visit over cocoa around their kitchen tables. I cannot get back what has long since gone away. |
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