Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Around the Net

When Joanne at  Seasonal Hearth  was in the Netherlands she and her family rode bicycles a lot, and they took so many pictures of bicycles of all sorts everywhere, it adds up to give a feeling for the country where the population of bikes is greater than that of people.

On this blog about Words, I learned that I possess philoprogenitiveness, and it has been one of the greatest stories of my life! I don't always read these posts, but they come daily...Now that I've been so encouraged by this one, I might check in more often. If I had known the word amphibology it would have come in handy when I was grousing about grammar recently.

Some people can drink milk their whole lives seemingly without  any problem (though my husband's chiropractor thinks it's the worst thing for anyone) while others can't digest it. Via Touchstone I ran into this article about population migrations and where the gene for lactose tolerance came from. I'd like to read more about it.

My favorite prize from recent web wandering is a daily posting of poems from the George Hail Library in Rhode Island, each one accompanied by a picture and brief introductory notes. It's more reliable than the online poem-a-day I used to read, and the blog host has some pleasing parameters for the sort of poetry she likes to share. Here is a recent one that I love. If you click on the title you can see the photo and comments as well:


THE PATIENCE OF ORDINARY THINGS

It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

~ Pat Schneider, American poet and writer

8 comments:

Leslie said...

This poem makes me think about things differently. I like that. I never thought of them being patient before. And I learned something new about you...your husband is a chiropractor. I like picking up on things like that. I would love to ride my bike more without fearing for my life or getting run over by thoughtless motorists. Unfortunately that is how it is where I live.

Leslie said...

P.S. I though you might enjoy this link. I though of you because of your love for words. http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

GretchenJoanna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
GretchenJoanna said...

W.W.: I very much like that site you posted a link to - thanks very much!

And it's my husband's chiropractor who has the strong opinion about milk, not my husband himself. He is a registered nurse, btw. I deleted my own first comment here because what I wrote was a confusing version of the same idea.

Pom Pom said...

A very pleasing poem! I am still waiting for Wordstruck to arrive in the mail!

M.K. said...

I meant to post a couple of days ago how much I enjoyed the poem you posted here -- I find poems with this kind of simplicity and ease, such a pleasure to read. Thanks!

Joanne said...

Hello Gretchen,
I just discovered your comments re: bicycles and your reference to my blog.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed that post!
Thank you for the lovely poem.
Take care,
Joanne

Cathy said...

Patience and purpose produce contentment in animate beings for sure. How pleasing to personify such traits in inanimate things.

I enjoyed this poem, thank you for sharing.