Spoon River Anthology

 

 

This book was written in 1915 by Edgar Lee Masters. In 1969, a TV movie was made with some of the free verse poems from the book. That’s when I first heard of this. I absolutely loved it. The poems were epitaphs of people buried in the cemetery of Spoon River, and were recited by various well-known actors. I checked out the book in the library and read all the poems. I later bought a copy of the book. I recently tried to find the movie to either stream or buy. It was listed as being on MUBI, but when I went to the site, it was unavailable. Here are a few of my favorites…

 

Judge Somers

How does it happen, tell me,

That I who was most erudite of lawyers,

Who knew Blackstone and Coke

Almost by heart, who made the greatest speech

The court-house ever heard, and wrote

A brief that won the praise of Justice Breese—

How does it happen, tell me,

That I lie here unmarked, forgotten,

While Chase Henry, the town drunkard,

Has a marble block, topped by an urn,

Wherein Nature, in a mood ironical,

Has sown a flowering weed?

 

Knowlt Hoheimer

I was the first fruits of the battle of Missionary Ridge.

When I felt the bullet enter my heart

I wished I had staid at home and gone to jail

For stealing the hogs of Curl Trenary,

Instead of running away and joining the army.

Rather a thousand times the county jail

Than to lie under this marble figure with wings,

And this granite pedestal

Bearing the words, “Pro Patria.”

What do they mean, anyway?

 

William and Emily

There is something about Death

Like love itself!

If with some one with whom you have known passion,

And the glow of youthful love,

You also, after years of life

Together, feel the sinking of the fire,

And this fade away together,

Gradually, faintly, delicately,

As is were in each other’s arms,

Passing from the familiar room—

That is a power of unison between souls

Like love itself!

 

Mrs. Sibley

The secret of the stars,--gravitation.

The secret of the earth,--layers of rock.

The secret of the soil,--to receive seed.

The secret of the seed,--the germ.

The secret of man,--the sower.

The secret of the woman,--the soil.

My secret: Under a mound that you shall never find.

 

More (D)DIY part 2

 

A mixed bag in this one too. Some yea, some nay.

 

 

 

This is kinda cute. I’m not a wreath person, except at Christmas, but this would be nice.

 

 

This is bizarre. Painted egg cartons on the wall. NOT my idea of an accent wall.

 

 

Absolutely not! Nope nope nope.

 

 

These are adorable! Use air-dry clay or the kind you bake in the oven and glue marbles on. Imagine a whole line of these cuties on your kitchen window sill.

 

 

OK. I’m all for remembering Dad/Grandpa by using his old ties. But not like this. Maybe café curtains or something. Not a dress.

 

 

I enjoy the farmhouse style. In limited amounts. This might be OK for the patio. Not in the living room.

 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Random Thought:

Taxes are just a subscription to your country that you can’t cancel no matter how bad the service gets.

 

Jaunts in Chico

 

 

I love going to Chico for little jaunts. When it’s my friend Paula and I, we always have lunch somewhere and then hit Costco and Winco. The last time we went, we had lunch at Panera. I had a new sandwich, Croque Monsieur Croissant. Ham, provolone and asiago cheeses, and caramelized onion and gruyere spread on croissant toast. Excellent! And of course, it’s a limited item, so get it now while you can. I usually get a soft drink with my meal, but for some reason, this was the first time I noticed that they had iced coffee available! Score! I could add as much sugar and creamer as I wanted! When we were ready to leave I got another to take with me. Along with Costco and Winco, we went to Nothing Bundt Cakes. Fair warning! Dangerously delicious! They’re on the pricey side, but OMG are they awesome. Paula had a little store bag that if you use, you can buy 3 of their bundtlets and get one free. So of course we did that. I chose a s’mores and a carrot and Marv and I split them.

 

When Marv and I go to Chico for Costco, we always get the hot dog and drink combo. Tasty and you can NOT beat the price. If we’re in Chico for something else, we almost always go to Barnes & Noble for a Starbucks coffee. Since I’m a B&N member, I get a discount on the drinks. I used to get a Java Chip Frappuccino, but they’ve discontinued it. So the last couple times I got the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino. The most recent time I got a Caramel Ribbon Crunch. THAT is my new favorite!

 

One time before going to B&N we stopped to look around in Cost Plus World Market. I love looking at all the cool stuff and would love to max out a credit card there. I did find a very cute Maneki Neko cup (pictured above). They had them all different sizes including a teapot one. I settled for one of the smaller ones. They also had an AMAZING beaded table runner with Maneki Nekos (picture below). I REALLY wanted it, but it was pricey and I truly couldn’t think of a place to put it. Our table is rarely clear enough to eat at, let alone have a fancy runner on. *sigh*

 

 

We also stopped at Tractor Supply so Marv could look at their Carhartt shirts. While he was doing that, I looked through their display of miniature farm animals, hoping to find a little cat or two for my little Zen Garden that I have. No cats, but they had some very cute tiny tractors, backhoes, etc. I thought that would be so much fun to have a farm themed Zen Garden, but they were just a bit too big.

 

So, what do YOU all do for fun?