Endorsements and Concessions
You may ask, what's up in the great wide world--or even on this more narrow stage wherein our humble actions play?
Well, the epic and unprecedentedly protracted race for presidency-- well, the primary phase of it-- has finally ended. Hillary has bowed out oh so gracefully & graciously with her excellent concession speech. NOW! Oh, now it's time to gear up everybody's support for: BARACK OBAMA!!!!!! VOTE VOTE VOTE!!! VOTE VOTE!!! Go Barack, GO! GOD SPEED to thee and thine!
Meanwhile, I was in Portland, OR for Elan's high school graduation--my illustrious nephew, he's one helluva rapper & neo-beatpoet for the new millennium, & his band, STATE OF MIND CREW, has a new CD LIFT OFF Check this out, y'all. GO Elan, go!
Up in Portland with its pleasant homes and quiet expanses of lawns and sweet-smelling greenness, I was transported to my own suburban youth. Oh, how my summers were spent swimming at the Oak RIdge Pool back in Tennessee when I was wee. Oak RIdge (population: 27,387) has a particularly large outdoor spring-fed public swimming pool. How big? Well, we always said--"it's a whole acre and a half!!", or " ...a full fifty thousand cubits", or "Dang, that pool is like a real pond, ain't it?". I recall it being cold, and cold it must've been, to appear to be cold when the summer is so DAMNED hot & muggy in Tennessee. The heat was already oppressive by 9 am, so we flushed-faced bathing-suited children would stand in line with a quarters clutched in our clammy fists waiting to enter the pool at the 10 am opening time. We would jump and splash and dive and flip like maniacs and work up a huge appetite for lunch. At noon the concession stand opened, so we would line up at 11:45, again carefully cradling our cash feet slipping on concrete worn super-smooth by generations of little shivering dripping chlorinated customers. I would order a "dipdog"--called a corndog in California-- and a peanut butter log and a grape soda. Scrumptious. Then we would wait the proscribed half hour after eating and then back to the pool for more minor aquatic mayhem. Ahhhh. And later through the open windows of the car ride home the sun would slant down somewhat and there were multitudes of cicadas singing their grindy metallic ditty unto the dusk; and throughout the clamorous humid torrid night sleep was challenging to achieve without the aid of air conditioning.
Today I was swimming some laps at Garfield Pool in SF. It's one of very hottest of days we get in San Francisco--meaning it's topped 85 degrees F. The door was open and some electrical/ mechanical thumps and buzzes were issuing from the pumping apparatus just outside the pool building. I could almost imagine that these sound effects were crickets or cicadas as I happily splashed down the lane. I concede the season is not as distinct as in other cities/ states but oh, summer, I endorse thee too. Soon we will record the final pieces of the puzzle for our new CD THE JUGGLER's PROGRESS, and in the fall--my very favorite season-- we will head out on the road to other towns to spread the tunes around like so much love.
Well, the epic and unprecedentedly protracted race for presidency-- well, the primary phase of it-- has finally ended. Hillary has bowed out oh so gracefully & graciously with her excellent concession speech. NOW! Oh, now it's time to gear up everybody's support for: BARACK OBAMA!!!!!! VOTE VOTE VOTE!!! VOTE VOTE!!! Go Barack, GO! GOD SPEED to thee and thine!
Meanwhile, I was in Portland, OR for Elan's high school graduation--my illustrious nephew, he's one helluva rapper & neo-beatpoet for the new millennium, & his band, STATE OF MIND CREW, has a new CD LIFT OFF Check this out, y'all. GO Elan, go!
Up in Portland with its pleasant homes and quiet expanses of lawns and sweet-smelling greenness, I was transported to my own suburban youth. Oh, how my summers were spent swimming at the Oak RIdge Pool back in Tennessee when I was wee. Oak RIdge (population: 27,387) has a particularly large outdoor spring-fed public swimming pool. How big? Well, we always said--"it's a whole acre and a half!!", or " ...a full fifty thousand cubits", or "Dang, that pool is like a real pond, ain't it?". I recall it being cold, and cold it must've been, to appear to be cold when the summer is so DAMNED hot & muggy in Tennessee. The heat was already oppressive by 9 am, so we flushed-faced bathing-suited children would stand in line with a quarters clutched in our clammy fists waiting to enter the pool at the 10 am opening time. We would jump and splash and dive and flip like maniacs and work up a huge appetite for lunch. At noon the concession stand opened, so we would line up at 11:45, again carefully cradling our cash feet slipping on concrete worn super-smooth by generations of little shivering dripping chlorinated customers. I would order a "dipdog"--called a corndog in California-- and a peanut butter log and a grape soda. Scrumptious. Then we would wait the proscribed half hour after eating and then back to the pool for more minor aquatic mayhem. Ahhhh. And later through the open windows of the car ride home the sun would slant down somewhat and there were multitudes of cicadas singing their grindy metallic ditty unto the dusk; and throughout the clamorous humid torrid night sleep was challenging to achieve without the aid of air conditioning.
Today I was swimming some laps at Garfield Pool in SF. It's one of very hottest of days we get in San Francisco--meaning it's topped 85 degrees F. The door was open and some electrical/ mechanical thumps and buzzes were issuing from the pumping apparatus just outside the pool building. I could almost imagine that these sound effects were crickets or cicadas as I happily splashed down the lane. I concede the season is not as distinct as in other cities/ states but oh, summer, I endorse thee too. Soon we will record the final pieces of the puzzle for our new CD THE JUGGLER's PROGRESS, and in the fall--my very favorite season-- we will head out on the road to other towns to spread the tunes around like so much love.
posted by Margrit | 12:33 AM
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