I’m starting today with so many things I want to do and even more ideas. It’s both wonderful and frustrating. Certainly invigorating, though also easy to become paralyzed by decision overload. Here’s an attempt to share a little bit of what it’s like inside my head right now…
I surprised my bride with a puppy for her birthday. Her name is Whimsy.
Today’s poem is definitely inspired by her and ran a little longer than usual.
I keep running into scenes, excerpts, and quotes about childish things in adulthood–seeing things as a child sees them, not fearing judgement for what we enjoy, and embracing wonder. I think someone might be trying to tell me something, because the truth is, I struggle with these things.
Had a wonderful evening with family last night at one of our favorite restaurants. It’s BYOB and we may have had a tiny bit more to drink than intended. At least me and my bride both did! Oops.
I often heard my father pray to God growing up that God would make him “like a puppy with a rag.” Overcome by joy in the simplest things.
My bride and I have been down in Galveston now for a little over half a year and we love it here. I found myself reflecting on that this morning and let that become the basis for today’s poem.
As an aside, we took some family member to the Galveston Art Walk this weekend. The first exhibit we walked in to was called “Cat Butt Parfait.” I’ll leave it to your imagination exactly what it contained. My parent’s reaction? Priceless.
Fun fact, in English the plural form of octopus is octopuses, octopodes is the old Greek plural, and octopi is simply incorrect all around unless you yourself are an octopus because it’s inclusive. There’s your random bit of trivia for the day!
My bride is an artist. A pretty darn good one in my opinion. We’re both animal lovers but I’ve got a passion for weird and wonderful creatures. Octopuses have been something of a running joke with us that’s now transcended humor to become a symbol of happiness for us. Once we decided to move to an island my bride painted an octopus. It hangs on the wall of our living room. Our conversation this morning over breakfast and coffee turned to the painting and the others around it. She thinks of octopuses when she thinks of me and is painting. I’m flattered.
Her painting is the header image for this post.
Didn’t start writing at my usual time today and it’s throwing me off. Here’s hoping that shifting gears to poetry will squeeze out some creative juice.
We’re a week out from Fat Tuesday and Galveston is preparing to celebrate Mardi Gras! Have fun everyone, and be safe.
The Everyday Poet 