Owl Chatter was contacted early this afternoon by staff members of former President Trump’s office. They asked us to release the following statement of Mr. Trump’s responding to the verdict against him on sexual assault and defamation.
And now we return to our usual nonsense.
Today’s poem in The Writer’s Almanac is by Rosie King and it’s called In Spring. It’s a nice way to start us off.
I’m out with the wheelbarrow mixing mulch.
A mockingbird trills in the pine.
Then, from higher, a buzz, and through patches of blue
as the fog burns off, a small plane pulls a banner,
red letters I can’t read—
but I do see, over the fence,
a man in a sky-blue shirt walking his dog to the beach.
He says he missed it, will keep an eye out.
Four barrows of mulch around the blueberry bushes,
I’m pulling off gloves, and he’s back, beaming.
“It says, I LOVE YOU, MARTHA.
Are you Martha?”
Rosie was born in Saginaw, MI.
Today is the birthday of poet Charles Simic, born in Belgrade in 1938. He died at age 84 in Dover, NH. Here is the final stanza from his poem, Autumn Sky:
Come, lovers of dark corners,
The sky says,
And sit in one of my dark corners.
There are tasty little zeroes
In the peanut dish tonight.
He said: “I write to annoy God, to make Death laugh. I write because I can’t get it right. I write because I want every woman in the world to fall in love with me.”
I have a vague recollection he’s been to Owl Chatter before. Good to see you again, CS.
Ella Mai was in the puzzle today. Have you heard of her? She’s a British singer/songwriter. Her song Boo’d Up was nominated for two Grammys and Song of the Year. It’s very likable. Joyous.
The puzzle had some nice combinations: An ALTOID (mint) was placed right next to a CLOVE of garlic. In its snack drawer, POPTART was right next to NACHOS. One portion of the grid was hot to trot – it had: IT’S A GO, OK BY ME, and GAME ON. (Okay, okay, calm down.) And in the SW corner there was FOOT and BEER. So, I ask you, is a foot of beer one-third of a yard of ale?
Phillipa SOO was in the puzzle too. You may recall her as Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton. She was born in Libertyville, IL, and will be 33 at the end of this month. She is half-Chinese (her dad’s side). She won a Grammy for her work in Hamilton and was nominated for a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for it as well. Here she is, trying to get up off the floor. Oy, I’ve been there. Philly — help her up!! Put the damn camera down!
Friends, you have just read Owl Chatter’s 199th post. Welly and Wilma are trying to put together a group of special guests for #200. We’re still waiting to hear back from a few. Hope you can make it tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 