Author Archives: Jo Mayne Casey

Weekly Wrap-up

By Posted in 2019, Spring at Sonnystone, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , Leave a comment

Thursday was Samantha’s last day of 4-year-old Preschool—whoa, time, slow down…   The program was darling and she was, of course, right on it with the songs and choreography…

I haven’t written about the Derby because it was such a disappointment…  Even though it’s not a Real Triple Crown this year, I dutifully bet the Preakness, picked that 25-1 longshot that placed, and made a cool $21.60  The Real Winner was Bodexpress, who ran the race without a jockey….I bet on him, too…

…On to the Belmont, she says half-heartedly.

Next week is Olivia’s week…She will be leaving elementary school (K-5) and moving on to middle school (6-8).  They call it a promotion and will have a program on Wednesday morning… Friday evening she will have her Dance Recital…

If the weatherman is correct, we should be getting summer-like temperatures just in time to get the pool up and filled for Memorial Day.

My Family History research continues to fill my rainy days…and  I do want to get over to decorate graves in Southern Illinois and prowl around the counties that I’ve been studying.  The great-grands seem so real to me now…

Wait!  I see the sun!!

Peace

 

Mother’s Day Greetings

By Posted in 2019, Holidays at Sonnystone, Spring at Sonnystone Tagged , Leave a comment

I’m having a weepy-kinda-miss-my-Mom Mother’s Day.  I don’t always feel so sad on this happy day…wait, yes…yes, I do.

Mother’s Day kinda sucks without a Mom, even when your adoring children are fawning over you.  It’s okay, even fine, to stop a moment and let a few tears flow as you remember her….

Mother’s Day Memo
            Remembering Ida
by Anita Pulier

Breathe in her scent,
thumb through food stained pages,
touch her buttery finger prints.

Remove her little notes
on more garlic or less wine,
place them in your jewelry box

in case they contain
secrets, it’s time
to find Mom’s clues.

Bow your head to
this unique holiday offer
of sensory overload.

Recall family dinners crowded
around an orange banquette
curving around a Formica table,

kitchen walls
strewn with flowered wallpaper
insisting on cheer.

Allow a moment to grieve
the loss of unconditional love.

Pour a nice cup of tea,
open the Times online,
place the cursor
on the world you live in now.

“Mother’s Day Memo” by Anita S. Pulier from The Butcher’s Diamond. © Finishing Line Press, 2018. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Hug your Mother, if you can.  I’m going to pour a nice cup of tea…

Peace

happy mothers day

 

Wednesday Morning in May

By Posted in 2019, A Poem Tagged , Leave a comment

Every morning Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac” is delivered to my inbox. From that newsletter, I  have become acquainted with so many poets who cheered me on my way each day and guided my choices for the Poetry section of my library (Dewey Decimal system 811 – 821)…

Today’s selection, by one of my favorite poets, inspired me to share it with you…

 

Footholds
by W.S. Merwin 

Where I dug the logs into the rise
to make the steps along the valley
I forget how many years ago
their wood has dissolved completely now
disappearing into the curled slope
gone without my seeing it happen
while the green clouds of the trees have grown
above their mingled shadows
yet I set my feet down in the same
places I did when the steps were there
without even thinking about them
Father and Mother friend upon friend
what I remember of them now
footholds on the slope
in the silent valley this morning
Wednesday with few clouds and an east wind

“Footholds” by W.S. Merwin from The Moon Before Morning. © Copper Canyon Press, 2014. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Peace

Derby Day

By Posted in 2019, Special Edition, Spring at Sonnystone Tagged , , Leave a comment

Yee-haw, it’s time to watch the most exciting two minutes in sports:  the 145th Kentucky Derby, brought to you by sponsors  whose goods you cannot afford, but would definitely buy if you could.. and happily wear a Longines watch as you drink Woodford Reserve bourbon from a pure silver cup, cheering on Your horse from millionaires row at Churchill Downs.

Just as good, I’ll be wearing my Timex as I drink Old Crow from a Disney cup, cheering on my pick from a comfortable chair in the Family Room…    (to be fair there are a lot of sponsors, and you could, for instance, afford a snack or many from the Yum! family of products)

It’s a Baffert kinda Derby this year.  The top three favorites are All Three the horses he’s entered.  The only other favorite, Omaha Beach, was scratched on Thursday, so odds have been changing up, but nobody looks better than Improbable, Roadster, and Game Winner.  There’s a certain amount of “that’s not fair” and “oh, he can’t just sweep the Derby”, but yes, he could.  Tacitus has benefited most from the favorite’s loss, going from 10-1 down to 5-1; his sire was Tapit and that was a horse full of surprises, so …

On the other hand, it could be the day for a long-shot, two of whom look good to me:  Jon Court, a local legend and super guy, is the oldest jockey riding today, on Long Range Toddy, at 49-1;  Cutting Humor is a Todd Pletcher horse with another old dude, Mike Smith, riding in at 24-1.

It’s another gloomy, raining day in Louisville, dammit…

  • Rain will fall throughout large portions of the day at Churchill Downs for the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby.
  • Experts are predicting sloppy track conditions, as there could be between a half and three quarters of an inch of rain in the hours leading up to the Derby.

Seems like we’ve had a streak of bad-weather-derby-days in the last several years… You can read those tea-leaves and decide which horses run better in mud, but I’m not going there.

That’s why they call it a Horse Race — anybody can win…  Learn all about the contenders Here

(Remember, you don’t have to bet to enjoy a horse race)

(You don’t have to drink to enjoy a horse race, either, but I do, using my own mint, simple syrup, and Makers Mark to make Mint Juleps)

I bet the horses online at TwinSpires these days.  Yesterday’s Oaks netted me $25 betting the long-shots to show and I’m inclined to use the same strategy for today’s race card.  I’m afraid to bet against a Baffert horse, though…something my daughter taught me.

Olivia will be Singing in  the Evansville Music Academy Spring Recital at 2:30.  After we enjoy her performance, we’ll head back home and catch the action.  May the Horse be with you!

Peace

 

 

Weekly Wrap-up

By Posted in 2019, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged Leave a comment

The week went from perfectly sunny and warm to perfectly gloomy and cool…

We took advantage of the great weather and got the veggie gardens in; read all about it Here…

I’m still working on the Ancestry, probably will be forever, it seems.  Just when I think I’ve got something finished, I discover a new clue and have to start over.  That’s the fun of it, but it’s also the frustration.

I’m meeting up with some friends for lunch and then we’re off to see “Twelfth Night” at University of Evansville Theatre.  Shakespeare’s comedies are a hoot once you get the rhythm of the 17th century language, and UE actors are always superb.  We’re proud of our hometown Actor of Great Repute, Rami Malek, who is a UE Theatre alumni.  I must have seen him perform, but don’t remember noticing, and that’s just how good these Theatre kids are…

++this video was muted when I linked it and I don’t have time to fix it.  Please unmute it before you watch it.  It’s really cute++

 

I’m still snotty and hoping that I can make it through the performance without annoying the entire theatre blowing my nose or clearing my throat.

We’ll be celebrating Derby Week with our usual aplomb.  The prep races have concluded and the field is set.  It’s time for me to totally confuse myself with odds and colors and names and trainers and owners and All Things Thoroughbred…   Olivia’s music recital is on Derby Day again this year, so the day will be Full.  I Love watching the fillies run in the Oaks on Friday, too, so there’s another bunch of numbers and names to comb through.

Horses can fly…

Peace

Outside

By Posted in 2019, growing every season, Spring at Sonnystone, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , 1 Comment

We’ve thrown ourselves into the Garden work–my Favorite time of Year!  We’ve cleaned all of the garden beds, the garden shed, and the back porch.  Casey added 4 feet of space to my squash bed and made another 2’x4′ bed to connect two rows…

Ronnie’s Fruit Stand, aka Variety Village, has started their weekly truck deliveries of plants.  The ladies who work there are like old friends and we’re always so happy to be seeing each other again.  I brought home some liatris, garden phlox, echinacea, marigolds, pinks…  I just had to buy Something!

We put a lot of time into our Outside Space and it’s a joy, but it is beyond joy–it’s veritable Awe!– when I walk down toward the Thoughtful Spot and marvel at Mother Nature’s Garden…

I’ll be posting weekly over at Growing Every Season now.  In addition to our usual gardens, we have Big Plans for a garden using only native plants that nourish our bird friends (not the Turkeys, though).  I hope you’ll visit when you can!

Peace