Porthole

May 23-29

I'm going to continue this as a weekly blog because it works for me to post links to my other blogs or writing. So far so good. It starts skinny then fills up.

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  ███████          PORTHOLE           ███████

SPRING: May 2020
Lo, the Nightingale of Paradise singeth upon the twigs of the Tree of Eternity,
with holy and sweet melodies, proclaiming to the sincere ones
the glad tidings of the nearness of God...
- Bahá’u’lláh

MY THOUGHTS

May 23: I might make it through this with more hugs. Got another today.
May 24: Sad to see Jacob and Scott move out.
May 25: Today is the day we reach 100,000 dead in the USA, befitting for Memorial Day.
May 26: Si, acepto. El matrimonio sigue adelante.
May 27: My health is deteriorating. I'm getting concerned.
May 28: I'm not getting out like I should. And what's worse? Don't care much.
May 29: Worried about Taiwan and friends who live there.

WEATHER

May 23: 7° damp and cloudy; 21° and sunny in Porto. Hot and sunny in the forecast.
May 24: 9° and going up to 19°!; 26° sunny but a tad warm in Buffalo.
May 25: 17° at noon and climbing; 10° in Tromsø where Spring and the midnight sun has finally arrived.
May 26: 21° at 2-ish; 32° in Buffalo, which is far too hot for May.
May 27: 22° at 1 p.m. and perfect; 23° and rainy in Fayetteville, NC as Bertha passes by.
May 28: 16° at 10 a.m., going up to 27°; 9° in Wellington, New Zealand, rain all week.
May 29: 20° and cloudy at 10 a.m.; 26° and overcast at midnight in Taipei.

IMAGES

May 22: Catching sunbeams while chatting with bratwurst in my mouth.
May 23: Tents of vendors. The market has finally opened. Few people.
May 24: Flowers fading; locust budding; kayakers braving Brennan's Wave.
May 25: Mostly grey skies and some rain. Didn't venture out. Tomorrow...
May 26: Snow on the mountains; shorts in the valley.
May 27: Bleeding hearts. Full-on Spring green. Doughnuts!
May 29: Pine pollen. Hundreds of dandelion clocks.

POULTRY

Dreaming of dandelions and bees in a weedy graveyard in Melissochori. Will I write a poem?

PORK

From May 22 (won):

STATIC

King Doodle-Bug [78] (297 words)  (ASR) <300 words Prompt: velvet, block, string #2222516 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

I responded to two kind reviews: "Thank-you. It's fictionalized from my own life. My sister Shelley had curly blond or light brown hair. Roundish face. Look at any Swedish young girl and you get the idea. The velvet dress was a dark blue with a white lace neckline I think. I really did buy her a longish-haired toy dog; it's whitish fake fur was blue tipped. She mentioned this to me within the past couple years that it meant a lot to her. How was I to know? She named it either Doodle-Bug or King Doodle-Bug. We really did share a room. And we really did have to play together. Fought? Oh, I'm sure we did. Our block was kinda oval. We did have to come in when the lights came on and my parents would usually call both our names. We laugh about it still. My sister's best friend was Kimmie (Carolyn) and the other kids names are real. Queenie was a setter I think. Nice dog. Our neighbors did seem to have more than we did. But that may be the perspective of a child.

Who knows whether she had pearls! I should ask her. The toy dog was probably for Christmas, but I set the story for her birthday in August. Doubt that she ever tore that dress. We had to be very careful with clothes. Not sure whether it was velvet or velveteen. It's a composite so maybe 8 years old?

BUT YES, this is totally fiction. Didn't happen, although I see it vividly in my mind.

Thanks for reading. K."

From May 23:

STATIC

I will never be fooled [79z] (299 words)  (18+) <300 words fiction prompt: star, smile, line. Zmitri. #2222597 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

From May 26:

STATIC

May in Kansas [80] (298 words)  (18+) <300 words. Prompt: lawn, door, glass #2222818 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

From May 28:

STATIC

Waking up [81] (298 words)   (18+) <300 words. Prompt: sleep, phone, write #2222992 by Kåre Enga in Udon Thani

READING

Ecstatic in the Poison, poems by Andrew Hudgins (finished, recommended)
Evening in Missoula, short stories by Shelley Kirilenko

MOVIETIME

empty

MY FORMER LIFE

May 1964: Misty moisty mornings of my childhood.
May 1970: High School prom. Not amused was I.
May 2004: Warm Spring in Oklahoma.
May 2012: First time ever in Sweden.
May 2014: Loved visiting the City of Roses, Molde.
May 2018: "I asked my mother today whether Trump was still president (random question to gauge how she is doing). She immediately responded that she had tripped him and that he fell into a hole... but he climbed out and said, "Look at me. I'm president". My mother is 96 and still witty."

WATT'S GNUS

May 22: Little sense of shared grief as virus deaths near 100,000 (LA Times) A case of 'sorry that my death has inconvenienced you'.
May 22: Portugal ready to welcome back tourists, says government (Reuters) After June 15th ...maybe. Risky from the US to even make plans.
May 23: Astronomers find the Wolfe Disk, a galaxy that shouldn't exist, in the distant universe (CNN) So much we don't know. Fascinating though.
May 24: FDA commissioner issues Memorial Day warning: 'Coronavirus is not yet contained' (CNN) Well, duh. Here we go again?
May 25: Alligator rumored to have been Hitler's dies in Moscow (AP) Born in the US, lived in the Berlin Zoo in the 1940s, Saturn was 84.
May 25: Trump Visits Baltimore, Dismissing Mayor’s Concerns About Virus (Bloomberg) The POTUS does whatever he wants whenever he wants to.
May 26: Lesbian couple become Costa Rica's first same-sex spouses (NBC) Congratulations to Daritza and Angela.
May 27: White woman went to 'racist place' calling cops on black man in Central Park, but she doesn't deserve death threats, he says (New York Daily News) I agree with Christian about Amy. (They are both surnamed Cooper) And I don't think she needs to be fired.
May 27: Trump threatens to 'strongly regulate' or 'close down' social media platforms after Twitter fact check (USA Today) Showing off his autocratic tendencies ... big time.
May 28: The U.S. death toll has reached 100,000. The pandemic has exposed the nation’s vulnerabilities and dangerous divide. (Wa Post) It mentions Nancy Horgus Whitt of Missoula who had a severe case; her mother died in Shelby.
May 29: China vows to ‘smash’ any Taiwan independence move as Trump weighs sanctions (Wa Post) The White House - Beijing War will be fought in Taiwan.

Obama's speech in a separate post: "Obama takes the stage. and hits a home run"  (still under construction)

Spacebook quote:

John Paul Mootry: "The fake news surrounding our delicious lead-fed waterpipes will not destroy our empire," Fox Ancient Rome. "It's all the people who think you don't deserve to taste it that are trying to keep you down," said one aristocrat who happened to be one of the few rich enough to have their own piping (who also never shared with their slaves or workers).

Por un evangelio: "somos la sal del mundo, no el caramelo." (we are the salt of the earth not the caramel)

OPINIONS

Recent: "MY RIGHT TO _____ IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR LIFE?" 
May 23: "Working at home " 
May 29: "Communitarianism" 

BLOGVILLE

There were only 10 views of this blog in one week. Sad. 106 views for "Hoarfrosts from Hell" this month. Very sad.

May 22nd 30DBC: "Overlooking the garden; riding over the hills." 
May 23rd 30DBC: "I'm weird? Tell me something I don't know."  I told Sandy: "Raking leaves = weird. Or at least it should be! I believe in letting lifeless leaves lie. Let Them Rot In Peace! would be my off-to-bed cry."
May 24th 30DBC: "Abase not thyself ..." 
May 25th 30DBC: "Basically unskilled" 
May 26th 30DBC: "Oh, I'll tell you ... if I feel like it." 
May 27th 30DBC: "Bonjour tristesse" 
May 28th 30DBC: "New prompts? " 
May 29th 30DBC: "In a word: cozy (also peaceful and connected)." 
May 30th 30DBC: "May changes its tune to June" 

Postcards:

I will be receiving a postcard soon! I should be sending them as I have postcards, stamps and friends around the world. Some countries like India aren't accepting international mail right now though, according to Sonali in Bengaluru.

In Muskogee, Oklahoma long ago:

                                                                                                                                           

2.374 views as of May 23. 2392 on May 30.