America the Beautiful- Happy Birthday USA

Original poem (1893) America written on Pikes Peak on the 4th of July by Katharine Lee Bates (poem to follow) The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward.This is what I think of as our national anthem. The picture is the Commemoration plaque atop Pikes Peak. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful

AMERICA the BEAUTIFUL
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Poem for a romantic

Dorothy Parker hold a special place in my heart. I do wish I had known her or spent some time around the Algonquin round table.
Maybe growing up near NYC has something to do with it. Although her humor was often dark
I loved it -she said things I was afraid to say. This is from a battered, well used book I have treasured called

English: Portrait of Art Samuels, Charlie MacArthur, Harpo Marx, Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Enough Rope ,printed in 1939.

The Dramatist

A string of shiny days we had,
A spotless sky, a yellow sun;
And neither you or I was sad
When that was through and done.

But when, one day, a boy comes by
And pleads me with your happiest vow,
“There was a lad I knew-” I’ll sigh;
“I do not know him now.”

And when another girl shall pass
And speak a little name I said

When did windshield wipers change?

I found this Robert Shure poem I copied decades ago from a little book called TWINK

English: Windscreen wiper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My windshield wipers have fallen in love.
Really? It should be an ideal romance
Do you think so?
Oh Yes, they go everywhere together.
They won’t be happy.
Why not?
They’ll be too frustrated.
How?
In the rain, they rush together for a
fleeting kiss, but they never quite make it.
That must be unbearable.
I don’t think they’ll be able to stand it.
They are probably better off without rain,
when they can just lie there and
stare at each other. 

Do you think this is why my wipers now are parralel so they won’t get so frustrated? Ah Life’s questions.

New house surprises

kitchen window January

kitchen window in July

The butterfly bush covers the whole window

butterfly bush flowers and yellow lillies

Part of the fun of a new home is to see what comes up and blooms as the seasons change. This butterfly bush just grew and grew until it was above the window..now it pushing at the roof overhang. It is very popular with the bees, butterflies and even a few hummingbirds. Nature keeps me amused.