Monthly Archives: October 2023

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Raptor majesty, maybe

These two eagles were high above me on the North Beach bluff. So when I zoomed in, I thought, oh, good, majestic eagles! A pair!

Oh, um. More silly and derp and grumpy than majestic. They remind me of the Highlights cartoon, Goofus and Gallent. Though maybe this is Goofus and Grumpy. I guess eagles can be silly and grumpy too. They look more like siblings than a couple to me.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: raptor.

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Wach Auf!

Oomph! is a German band. The line up has changed over the years, but they have 14 albums out to date. Wikipedia describes their style as incorporating many styles including “metal, industrial, alternative rock, electronica and gothic”. I think my personal AI got worried — it played “Sweet Coffee Jazz Music and Bossa Nova Piano smooth for Energizing the day” after I put Wach Auf on. It knows I don’t listen to a lot of metal, industrial, alternative rock, electronic, gothic German bands.

The song Wach Auf was in the movie Aliens vs Predator: Requiem.

The photograph is me in 2022 at Halloween. Might be a good thing to wear to an Oomph! concert.

They are all new to me, thanks to the Ragtag Daily Prompt: Oomph!

I am hoping Wach Auf! isn’t a swear. I asked google to translate it and it failed. Uh-oh. I have sung Wachet Auf.

I tried again. It translates “Wach auf” as Wake up and “Wachet Auf” as Shut Up. Hmmm. That seems ironic.

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Cinque Terre

My daughter and I went to Cinque Terre in Italy. What fantastic architecture! Five small towns perched along the Mediterranean.

And perched long before cars, so the streets are cobbled and narrow. No cars.

Trains stop at each of the towns. We walked the open part of the trail connecting them. It must be some amazing work to maintain.

Afterwards we took turns swimming, found a place for dinner, and took the train back to Pisa.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: architecture.

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Orange and yellow

I walked down my hill and around the Kai Tai Lagoon a few days ago. The trees are putting on an amazing show. It interests me that most of the trees the city is planting are not native. We have a lot of non-native maples. I feel a bit ambivalent, but they certainly turn red! The orange one here is an oak. There are native oaks and I have not figured out if this is one.

For Cee’s Flower of the Day. I think the leaves are taking their turn at being flowers before they fall.

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Black and white

Pandas are black and white, clarity
between the parts, yet both are present together
Pandemic has lessened humans charity
Stress rises, fights and a turn to war weather.
It’s hard to fight a virus way smaller than a bee
And as they change and attack birds and us anew
Frustration rises and we attack the humans that we see
We take sides, black or white, and don’t see that we’re a stew
Perspective changes, white to black and back
The pandas eat their daily bamboo pounds
Unworried which parts are white or black
I hope they are far from the crying bombing rounds
I hope every person has the charity
to give all others love and parity.

We are singing Frostiana, poems by Robert Frost, set to music by Randall Thompson, in chorus. The ending of this makes me cry:
“So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.”

I took the photograph in Oregon this month, on a Pandasonic (ha, ha).

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: clarity.