Remember before the great internet fail,
We all were connected, each head to a tail,
But then that world virus
Began to excite us
To chew one another by texts and email.
Our data was stolen, our passwords were known,
Our bank accounts empty, our credit had flown
Out into cyberspace.
Now the whole human race
Starts in again fighting just over a bone.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL , Feb, 11, 2015
Scroll down to “View Original” and click the link for Joshi Daniel’s photo of the man carrying a heavy burden. If inspired, share a comment on what you see and the human condition.
Parakeets
(Budgies to you Aussies)
From Down Under
Now they chatter
To bird lovers
Everywhere
In and out of
Cages flying
Chatting chirping
Pretty bird
Green and yellow
Happy fellow
Shakes a feather
Talks to you
Sits on finger
Lampshade shoulder
Scolds then perches
On your head
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Feb. 7, 2015
St. Augustine Beach, Feb. 4, 2015
So here we are, both newly retired, wading in the water of St. Augustine Beach in the Florida sun. Today the beach is peaceful. It was not always so quiet on these white sands.
Barclay in cold Minnesota
Back home in Minnesota it’s cold. This photo of Barclay looking out the window into the world of white arrived this morning. Barclay knows where he is. We’re not sure we do.
Away from home and all familiar routines here on the white sand beach, we’re getting our feet wet on the very beach where national news coverage pushed the Civil Rights Act over the top in 1964.
Kay and I each wondered what the world beyond work would feel like. Now we know. It’s weird. The world is still very much with us. Every day I talk with some of those arrested on St. Augustine Beach who gather next door to our rental home in St. Augustine. We’re all still wading in the water.
My generation grew up with former Vaudeville comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen, Eddie Cantor, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, Red Skelton, and Jimmy Durante. Jimmy signed off every show with “Good Night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.” No one knows for sure who Mrs. Calabash was.
Good night from Views from the Edge. See you in the morning.
Gordon C. Stewart, Chaska, MN
When I Was a Grad Student
The lowest legal wage
was all I made
as part-time teller
in a city bank.
No teller could receive
a tip–if paid
the cameras would see,
you know… “Your back
pocket. The cash you stole!”
At end of day
your balance true would not
be evidence
of innocence no matter
what you’d say.
My wife made ten times
what I did, and hence
in 1968 she applied for
a credit card. No way–
she was not head
of our household. At Field’s
she tried once more:
a woman manager
was brave and said
the card could be in her
own name. My wife
was a real person, too,
with her own life…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Feb. 5, 2015
Editor’s Note: Steve was a student at McCormick Seminary in Chicago. Nadja was a research scientist at Northwestern.
Last night we signed off with “Say ‘Good Night”, a video of George Burns and Gracie Allen ending their show with George saying to Gracie, “Say ‘Good Night'” and Gracie saying “Good Night” to the audience. A comment arrived this morning:
“I will miss this blog. Unpredictable, funny, inspiring, occasionally depressing, thought-provoking, and more. A sad farewell to Views from the Edge.”
Carolyn and I have been friends since kindergarten. I responded:
Carolyn, Rumors of the death of Views from the Edge are premature -:). It was just going to bed for the night. I kid you not, Ms. kidder. “Good night, Gracie!”
The moral of the story? Don’t get too cute if you want to hold an audience, unless you’re George and Gracie.
After a long day, it’s time for Views from the Edge to say “Good Night” and “Thanks for dropping by today”.
June Griffin, Cumberland Missionary Society, praying invocation opening Tennessee Senate session, 2015.
Not even Saturday Night Live or Bill Maher could make up.
Open the Link to Christian minister opens Tennessee Senate with prayer and SCROLL DOWN to watch the video of June Griffin’s anti-government Prayer of Invocation opening a session of the Tennessee Senate.
There used to institutions for people like this. I used to visit the patients there, but those state hospitals were closed years ago. Today they’re sitting legislators or offering the invocation praying for a Christian-American version of ISIL.
Below is a “Fib” – shorthand for a Fibonacci – explained HERE on The Poetry Foundation website.
The number of syllables in each line of the “The Concert Goers” should be 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and 34. Unfortunately this blog post does not permit the 34 syllable line to be read as a single line. Let your eyes do the trick of combining the last two lines into one.
The Concert Goers
O
the
joyful
harmonies
whose orchestras and
choristers draw longing, lonely
specks of stardust to the hall to join as one to hear
the yet-to-be-voiced dots and lines and signs played and sung by drums, piano,
clarinets, piccolos, triangle, timpani, trumpets, sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses to the magic of the Maestro’s baton!
– Gordon C. Stewart, Feb. 4, 2015
Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra
Views from the Edge 