http://edlamaze.com Sun, 06 May 2012 18:15:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://edlamaze.com/2010/02/04/i-think-my-calender-stopped.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2010/02/04/i-think-my-calender-stopped.aspx#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:15:09 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/?p=2226 http://edlamaze.com/2010/02/04/i-think-my-calender-stopped.aspx/feed 3 http://edlamaze.com/2008/09/07/sunday-sonnets-i-was-happy-then.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/09/07/sunday-sonnets-i-was-happy-then.aspx#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:52:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/09/sunday-sonnets-i-was-happy-then/ I offer again, Sunday Sonnets with little intro or background inspiration this morning for my children are in dire need of an arbitrator, a peace keeper. 

What they really need is to have their little whiny, arguing hides tanned and I need some coffee!


I Was Happy Then

I was happy then, smiling .
Hugs and kisses were exchanged
And laughter filled the air.
Serenity, though but a dream.

Thuds and screaming.  Doors slammed.
"I want it!"  "No I want it!"
Battle lines drawn.  Warriors engaged.
Chaos. Calamity--this is real!

Why do we have to fight
And argue over every little thing?
There's at least a thousand toys
And you all want the same one?

Just let me go back to sleep....
I was happy then.


... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/09/07/sunday-sonnets-i-was-happy-then.aspx/feed 2 http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/31/sunday-sonnets-thanks-john.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/31/sunday-sonnets-thanks-john.aspx#comments Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:49:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/sunday-sonnets-thanks-john/ It's been another whirlwind week: resuming school,  impending storms, conventions, bizarre announcements and college football!  Life is surely a coaster ride.  I've found it's a lot more enjoyable when you are able to loose your grip from the safety bar and raise your arms carefree.  Maybe even emitting a little--WAHOO!!! for good measure.  But don't close your eyes.  Things are happening fast.  Very fast.  And should you let your guard down just a little, chances are you will miss something very, very important.

This week's Sunday Sonnet was inspired by what I can only determine to be the truest testament reflecting how those that are or wish to be in power actually regard me.



Thanks, John

What tiny faction of enlighted souls
Could have possibly thought this prudent?
So tightly controlled.  Calculated.    
Almost sinister.

Haughty posturing and self
serving idealisms conveyed.
As if you really cared.
Definitely sinister.

Surprising still, is the narrowing chasm.
The margins reduced as we
Continue our fleecing.
Bitter pills, indeed.

And now, Sarah Palin?
Thanks John--we needed that!


In just over two months, every single one of you (of proper age, of course) will have an opportunity.  An opportunity to speak your mind, to have your voice heard.  Think hard about what you wish to say.  Study.  Prepare.  When your turn comes, do you wish to sound well prepared and intelligent?  Or like an idiot!

... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/31/sunday-sonnets-thanks-john.aspx/feed 1 http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/24/sunday-sonnets-you-never-had-a-chance.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/24/sunday-sonnets-you-never-had-a-chance.aspx#comments Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:01:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/sunday-sonnets-you-never-had-a-chance/ It's been a few weeks.  I bet you thought I had forgotten.  I bet you wish I had forgotten.  Sunday Sonnets have returned, at least for this week.  And no, I have not gotten any better at composing sonnets.  I'm not studying sonnets or reading sonnets for inspiration.  Fact of the matter is, I really don't even know what a sonnet is!  I know it's supposed to have 14 lines but I think the lines are supposed to have some sort of meter and quite possibly rhyme. 

I've got 14 lines.  That's about it.  I just picked the moniker because I thought it sounded good.  I  could have just as easily called the series--Hey Look, I Wrote a Poem!  But it's not really poetry either.

So, anyway.  It's been quite a long week full of activity, last minute school preparations, end of sumer blowout family fun days, kittens, and more.  Yet somehow, this weeks Sunday Sonnet was inspired by a fairly traumatic personal experience for me where in I replaced my wallet, my companion, of some twenty years.  The replacement wallet came from a little Amish leather shop we had visited on Tuesday.

It lasted 3 days!


You Never Had a Chance

It's not your fault, believe me.
You had no control over how this would play out.
It's not you, it's me.
Really.

You tried.  You gave it a go.
I tried you also, but my heart was never in it.
Don't get me wrong, I like you.
I do.

But you're not the same.
You never will be.  You never could be.
We had a history.  A lifetime.
You had three days.

I gave you a chance ... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/08/24/sunday-sonnets-you-never-had-a-chance.aspx/feed 3 http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/27/sunday-sonnets-i-seek-simplicity.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/27/sunday-sonnets-i-seek-simplicity.aspx#comments Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:25:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/sunday-sonnets-i-seek-simplicity/ Zoë and her mother spent the better part of last evening looking at dresses.  They oohed and ahhed over each new find noting differences and similarities in the ones that they liked.  An innocuous exercise on the surface yet shockingly harsh in it's reality.  Painful  in it's intents as I came to realize that try as I may, I am powerless.  I attempt to control, to steer, to guide, to shape, and to mold the lives of my children with a vision of what I believe to be good and honorable.  I instruct and chastise, comfort and soothe.  As a parent, I am provider and a source.

Yesterday I came to realize the infinitesimally small amount of control that I actually have.  Time has far more power and I am defenseless to it.  Whether or not I am ready, my children are growing up.  You see, yesterday evening Zoë and her mother spent the better part of two hours looking for a First Communion Dress.  The harsh realities of the situation humbled me.  It has also inspired this week's Sunday Sonnets.

I Seek Simplicity

Like it or else, time does wait.
Our children grow though we resist.
Their minds ever expanding as the world
In which they live continues to grow smaller.

Objects become concepts and pat
Answers are no longer acceptable as
Explanation of the ordinary.
My kids are growing up.

Haughty, my spirit is lifted as once
Impossible tasks are now ordinary.
Rudimentary conversation is replaced
With provocation and depth.

Time matures us, teaches and molds, not me.
I long for the comfort of simplicity.
... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/27/sunday-sonnets-i-seek-simplicity.aspx/feed 11 http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/13/sunday-sonnets-waking-in-a-dream.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/13/sunday-sonnets-waking-in-a-dream.aspx#comments Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:23:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/sunday-sonnets-waking-in-a-dream/ There's something to be said for Sleep Late Sundays.  The kids anticipate it's arrival almost as eagerly as I.  A lazy day with no schedule.  No practices or agendas.  Just sleep in and go where the day leads us.  We normally begin our day with my now world famous from scratch pancakes.  It's kind of morphed into a whole experience. 

The kids will often help with the ingredients and pancake mixing.  Sausage sizzles and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee lifts everyone's spirits.  Jazz plays softly in the background.  It has become one of my favorite family experiences.  Ah yes.  Sleep Late Sunday. 

Today's Sunday Sonnet (penned just moments ago) was inspired by the unexpected.  I really slept in this morning.  It felt good.

Waking in a Dream

Something surreal about sleeping in,
Like waking in a time warp, groggy.
Stumbling towards the bedroom door
Hesitant, unsure of what lies beyond.

It's quiet.  Did the kids sleep, too?
Giggles.  Footsteps.  Twins are up.
Laughter and squeals and warm
Good morning hugs.  Nothing compares.

But three are missing.  Beds are empty
(Unmade, of course, but empty)
Silence.  No sign of them upstairs.
I hear them, voices calm, agreeable.

In the living room.  Playing chess?
Surreal indeed!



*As I typed this, the calm agreeable voices of children that appear to love each other and get along transformed into the screaming, crying, arguing children that normally dwell in this place.  That's more like it.

Sleepy time is over!


... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/07/13/sunday-sonnets-waking-in-a-dream.aspx/feed 5 http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/29/sunday-sonnets-a-refreshing-shower.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/29/sunday-sonnets-a-refreshing-shower.aspx#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:00:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/sunday-sonnets-a-refreshing-shower/ My kids get frightened during thunderstorms.  The lightning startles them and the claps of thunder elicit screams.  I could watch it rain all night.  I love the way nighttime is broken by momentary flashes of brilliant white light and I could listen to the rolling thunder on an endless replay loop.  Raindrops on a metal surface somehow soothe me.  And nothing compares to the exhilaration of watching a storm cross a body of water making its way to the screened porch where you safely can absorb it's power and beauty. 

It rained last Wednesday night.  A good rain, hard with plenty of lightning and rolling thunder.  I sat, alone in my living room as the family slept and I enjoyed every bit of it.  Images of my youth flashed with each bolt of lightning and the booming thunder turned the pages as I watched the storm.  And I listened.  It was pretty cool.

This week's Sunday Sonnet was inspired by last Wednesday's thunderstorm.

A Refreshing Shower

There's something soothing, calming
About watching a springtime thunderstorm.
Lightning flashes and I count...
One, two, three, four.

And the crash of thunder lets me know
The center of the storm is not far.
The rain pelts the air conditioner.
My clogged gutters are useless.

As the water pours down I take solace
Knowing that one more chore has been done
My plants won't need the hose tomorrow
And it'll be far to wet to mow.

And bonus:  the car is getting a free rinse....

Oh, Crap!  I left the windows down!

... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/29/sunday-sonnets-a-refreshing-shower.aspx/feed 10 http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/22/sunday-sonnets.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/22/sunday-sonnets.aspx#comments Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:14:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/sunday-sonnets/ In an effort to stimulate stagnating brain cells and hopefully spawn some creativity, I am working on a little thing I think I shall call SUNDAY SONNETS.  Essentially, Sunday Sonnets will be a brief collection, quite random, of events or happenings around here in a loose verse form.  And no, I will not adhere to the truest definition of a sonnet as being a verse or song of 14 lines of iambic pentameter.  I'm not a poet--hell, I'm not even a writer--but then again you already know that, don't you.  My initial offering, though not labeled as such, would have to be last week's "That'll Teach Em".

This week's Sonnet addresses the ever dwindling rodent population around Casa de Ed.  For discussion purposes let's just assume that rabbits are rodents, OK?  I'm a dad not a zoologist.  Though zoo keeper would not be too far from an apt job description.


RODENTS BEWARE

 Rodents, beware.
Though extremely cute and cuddly, your safety
Can not be assured in this place.

Yesterday's offering
By our feline warriors was a most  
Adorable (and assuredly dead) bunny.

The kids cringed
With horror and repulsion at the feasting
Yet would not look away.

Then Rusty
Availed himself
To the spoils.

And the feline feast was done.

Note to self:  Get cat food!








... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/22/sunday-sonnets.aspx/feed 16 http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/08/thatll-teach-em.aspx http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/08/thatll-teach-em.aspx#comments Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:59:00 +0000 Ed http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/thatll-teach-em/ I've got a bird in my attic.
Damn thing flew in there
Couldn't find his way out.
He died.

I left him there
As a warning
To any other birds
Wanting in........




I've got flies in my attic......

And a rotting bird carcass.



... ]]> http://edlamaze.com/2008/06/08/thatll-teach-em.aspx/feed 19