folks say a black cherry candle will
stop a pounding headache in its
tracks (and only witch doctors
prescribe such regimens)
but if you’ve ever
burned a candle
(believers
know): it
works!
Headache Hoodoo Nonet
Conversation with Maxine Overheard in a Motel Lobby off I-16 in South Georgia
Background: We are traveling on weekends these days to see my father and help with some household tasks, so we are spending some time in hotels and motels on the road. Sometimes I just like to eavesdrop and take notes about how life happens for other people – which is what I did on Saturday morning as we sipped coffee in the lobby. There’s nothing quite like a little slice of cultural conversation, overheard, to get the mind racing about what life is like in other corners of the world.
“they finally found him in Statesboro in CCU
after he went into Metter and they transported
him to Statesboro then to Augusta who sent him
back and he was lost, nobody knew where
he was at but he was at a dadgum good hospital
in Augusta and either he checked hisself out
or somebody came and picked him up and
took him back to Statesboro…..
I cried all
night because I messed up my baby’s hair
and it looked like a lawnmower done ran
over it and all the kids teased him in school
but the vet showed me how to hold the
clippers and I did it just like that…..
I called Betty Joyce, Maxine, and you do not
understand sometimes I have to talk to her
and I told her I can’t deal with her actin like
a two year old like she done this morning….
now Barri in Laundry don’t want that job
so I better not hear her complainin one more
time cause it’s done been offered but she
says she don’t want lobby…
there’s three types of tacos up there and I
got off the phone with Ashley and asked Mama
if she wants to share a plate of three tacos
but Mama said them tacos won’t be very big
and she got hers with beef and I got mine with
pickles in those torTILLa shells, and we shared
them but she ate two and I ate one and she was
upset so Denise called and asked her if she wanted
to go sit over there at her house and I told her
regardless of her knee surgery she weren’t going
because her grandkids are coming and Denise has
Covid and she’s actin funny. All this crap I
got going on and my Mama’s gon’ talk to
me this way. Her husband left last night
and where’s he at now? Nobody knows.
I was still hungry so I told Ashley I wanted
some rice and beans because my tacos
showed up without pickles and onions
so she brought those out to the house
and added some pork and pineapple and
it was so good, Maxine. Mama got a piece
of pineapple in her taco and I thought she
was ‘gon flip her lid and she started
actin up again…..
And so a couple comes up to check in
off Cartwright and wants a room at 7:54 a.m.
and the clerk tells them if they stay around
here they have to live over 50 miles away
to check in and the man said it was
more comfortable though
{my mind
was racing at this point, there was
no sleep about to happen, and the
botch-haircutter went back to
weaving a web of life so intricate
and vernacularly cultural that I
had images of a web with the
word TERRIFIC over a
smiling Wilbur as I thought
of that rude goose and Templeton}…..
And I busted her out in front of
her husband at the ballpark
cause she’s been here but
not with him – she’s been here
and she looked at him and me
and when I hinted I’d seen her
recently she looked stupid and said
she ain’t seen me in probably
never.”
Honeybee
a honeybee
took a liking
to my Cayman Jack
margarita
climbing into
the bottle
taking a long swig
then a dip
then a plunge
then a swirl
and died
a senseless
death as I
tried to help
her back
to a better life
but she
refused to
admit her
problem ~
she’s buried
at campsite 301
by the fire pit
a pollinator
extraordinare
her life cut
short by
the delusional
pleasures of
this world
When I Travel
heightened awareness
sharpened observations of
places not traveled
I notice details ~
patterns on tiled floor lobbies,
artwork on bed walls
like something ignites
the flames of living in me
I don’t have at home
Backseat Whale Feeding
twenty five years ago
we smiled at family pictures
taken that same day
with all the colorful striped
fish in the Gulf of Mexico
swimming between the lens
and our smiling eyes inside
our masks after our
cruise ship dinner
fish not there to make the
water look like a happy place
teeming with adventure
but to eat of the photographer’s
fish food, tiny dollar signs
not evident in the photos
which is why I told a friend
in Massachussets when we
were in the Uber going whale
watching that the only reason
they could guarantee a
whale sighting was because
they feed them
and her expression said
it made sense to her
but not the Uber driver
who snapped back
that’s absurd!
we do NOT feed our whales,
the ocean does!
but I kept it all
stirred up from the
back seat
asking whether
the tour boat sold photos
and t-shirts and mugs,
nodding with
suspicious raised
eyebrows at his retorts
to these whale feedings
before his bombshell
revelation question~
and you two ladies are whale
watching in those clothes?
(it was true: we were
wearing thin long-sleeved
t-shirts, one layer only,
having forgotten about
the fierce ocean winds
of late October)
where are your jackets?
you’ll freeze
to which I replied
heck, no, sir! we won’t freeze
we plan to buy
the souvenir jackets
when we buy our bag of
whale food
in the adventure shop
my friend could hardly
contain her laughter
and we exploded with
belly-burning snortles
when we stepped
out of the car,
rushing in to buy
thick hoodies and sunglasses
at the ticket pick-up
but we knew he’d won
with a quick phone call to
the tour boat company
when the boat narrator
announced she’d heard
that there are people
who mistakenly believe
that the boats
feed the whales
(glancing in our
direction, everyone
else giggling and
exchanging raised
eyebrow eyerolls)
before explaining
the truth
Day 4 of the August 2024 Open Write at www.ethicalela.com
Today’s host for Day 4 of the August Open write at http://www.ethicalela.com is Jeanie White of Missouri, who inspires us to write postcard poems. You can read her full prompt here.
Jeania encourages us to think of ourselves as a sock in a suitcase and somewhere we might find ourselves, or to write from a place we have never been. She encourages us to use one of the short forms – a form that would fit on a postcard.
I’m choosing an acrostic, in which the place I most want to visit reads vertically and each letter starts a new line.
Travel Fever
I want to pack my bags, go where it’s
Cold – to soak in thermal springs, to
Explore an ice cave in the
Land of Ice and Fire
Aurora Borealis dancing as the
Northern Lights
Delight the eyes and soul
Facts retrieved from: https://www.trafalgar.com/real-word/facts-about-iceland/
Dreamland B&B
his wife has auburn curls
and never enough
cookbooks
he owns a farmland B&B
with steps down
into the kitchen
where he’s made cinnamon
rolls early
strong coffee
leading the way
kitchenward
where we ponder
all the possibilities
of the day
without
deadlines
we sip on
our own
schedule
Holding Presence
she’s there
but I can’t
hear her
I can only see her
she comes to me
in dreams
we travel
climb stairs
sit at tables
drinking coffee
in B&Bs
holding presence
The Mouse
in my quasi sleep mode
where he kisses me goodbye
before leaving for work
he whispered
be careful when you open the door
there’s a mouse trying to get in
because that’s what happens on a farm
when even the field mouse have had it
with the scorching heat of summer
which prompted deep sleep dreams
of a mouse with a tiny suitcase
because his car ran out of gas
selling encyclopedias
running from a snake
proclaiming his testimony
asking for a glass of water
hoping to find a new home
Camper Modification
repositioning
makes all the sleep difference
in a tiny space
We’re teardrop camper fans who downsized from a 30 foot Keystone Outback to a 21 foot Little Guy Max to scale back and simplify our camping experiences. As primarily weekend campers, we don’t like to make camping a production with every gizmo and gadget. We like to spend time off the grid, using what we have to make do – – and we certainly don’t like to cook and wash a lot of dishes while we’re busy sitting around doing nothing.
Our favorite way to travel is to stumble across a sudden cancelled reservation on a campground and decide spur-of-the-moment to throw together a couple of pairs of shorts and t-shirts and whatever food happens to be in the kitchen and hook up the camper and go. Unplanned. Last minute. Spontaneously seeking an adventure that was not going to happen ten minutes ago. Not a five-star hotel with a restaurant and pool, not a cruise cabin with a balcony or a VRBO with a hot tub.
From the moment we brought her home, we loved this sweet little tiny space. It may look small, but it has all we need, including a wet bath (combination shower/toilet room) and a stargazer window. It has seven windows, a Fantastic fan, a clothes closet and pantry, and a tv in the front for watching church or for when it rains and in back for movies before bed.
But what we didn’t love was the bed. Even though the previous owners had upgraded the original mattress, we still woke up with hip and backaches and never could get quite comfortable enough for a full night’s rest. One of us (me) had to climb over the other one to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and two adults and three dogs in a queen size bed was not working.
That’s when we decided to modify the bed. We designed a plan to extend the sleeping space into the belly of the camper to allow more room. Here’s what we did:
First, we measured the height we’d need to extend the bed out. We ordered four 17-inch step stools for support on four corners of a one-inch Lagun table we already had and placed the table hardware-side-down in the middle of the stools.
Next, we measured the cushion width we’d need and saw that the cushions from the front table would work if doubled-up, so we added two on the bottom and two more on top of those cushions to level the cushion surface flush with the mattress and foam topper.
Since there appear to be no T-shaped sheets anywhere, we added a separate fitted sheet over the cushions and each took one sheet and one blanket to cover our space as we repositioned, eliminating any cover thieves who may be lurking with an eye to steal the other’s covers in the dead of night.
We think we’ve found the solution that will allow us to keep this camper for a longer time before we try another camper. We’re keeping careful notes of what we like and don’t like, but for now we think we’ve adapted a winner. And the only purchase we had to make, the step stools, double as chair-side coffee tables and foot props for when we’re in the camp chairs outside doing absolutely nothing.
Common Threads 