Ends and Odds

Yesterday was Poetry Sunday at our little church, NCC.  A variety of people of a variety of ages read their own poems or a favorite poem during the service.  Kathleen did a great job of setting the tone and the guidelines (one poem per person then sit down, handraising optional).  I wanted to read a poem with the word bitch in the title, but I was hesitant until John, Kathleen's father, read a poem by e.e. cummings with the very same word in it, so I hopped up to the mike.  (I was hesitant because of some youth-type people in the congregation, but I saw them titter with hands over their mouths when he said it, and also noticed that no parents fainted or grabbed their children by the hand to whisk them away.)  So, I read Enlightenment is a Bitch, by Dane Cervine, published in The Sun magazine in March of this year.  I forgot to read the author's name until the end, so some people who must think more highly of me than I imagined, thought it was an original poem.  They were somewhat confused about the part mentioning "my wife" but I got that straightened out at the end when I said "Oh, yes, and this poem is by Dane Cervine."

Dane, thank you for the poem I have loved since the minute I first laid eyes on it last month.

Afternoon brought an ISU baseball game in just about perfect April weather.  Sunny enough for sunscreen and hats. Cool enough for blue jeans instead of shorts.  Sierra, in typical fashion, was ready to go home as soon as the popcorn and soda were consumed.  The middle of the second inning, if I recall.  Francisco took her home and Jeremiah and I stayed to watch the entire game.  We made a pact to stay to the end no matter how long it lasted, thinking of that 20-inning game on TV the night before.  The Redbirds trailed most of the game, but in the bottom of the 8th inning they pulled ahead and won 9 to 7.  Jeremiah spent more than half of the game up on the deck behind the 1st base side seats, hoping to catch a foul ball.  No such luck.  But some day it will be his day to catch one, somewhere.  Or maybe hit one playing for a college team!  Preferably one with some scholarship money for ball players!

Evening was  peaceful.  At bedtime Jeremiah wanted to make his own snack in the blender.  It came out looking pretty disgusting:

It looks an asparagus shake, but it is really orange sherbert with a little milk and several colors of food coloring that generally don't go together, whipped up in the blender.  It was delicious!

I got in on the baking act last night, with another pie:

Also pretty tasty.  (Leftover rhubarb inside).  There's a story behind my rhubarb pie recipe that I will save for another day.

No hummus again yesterday.  Perhaps it's a winter addiction?  Once baseball begins, hummus falls sadly by the wayside?  Time will tell.