Pleasant, a poem.

Pleasant


I awoke at 6:15, she was already waiting.

I rose, dragged myself to the kitchen, 1 ½ cups.

She ate while I dressed, I stared at the bed.

My hair uncombed, I readied the leash.

Somewhere a bird chirped.

We left in the early morning stillness,

nary a soul in sight.

The leash uncoils and retracts, uncoil, retract, out, in.

She pees.

The bird chirps again.

I remember the bed.

Uncoil, retract, out, in.

She sniffs, endlessly, there’s no end.

Dogs never bore with sniffing, it’s what they do.

They also go on the grass.

I look to see if anyone else is around.

She walks off, uncoil, retract, out, in, she sniffs.

I hold my nose, stoop down, and use a bag to pick it up.

There is a bag, sturdy grocery bag, plastic,

between my hand and the stuff.

Its not enough, it will never be enough.

The dog watches me pick it up.

We walk back, done for the morning.

The dog sniffs, I carry the bag.

I guess its not tied tightly enough, I sniff.

Pleasant.

The Chives

chives.
dredge the chives
for our whole lives we have made the chives.
And now its time to dredge.
The chives are full of treasures untol'
So dredge, o young man dredge

There are many foolish and stupid chaps
Who delight in saving disk space
when a new month rolls around perhaps
Their old mail they erase

But we, the keepers of the chives
have kept the chives for our whole lives
and now we dredge the chives most exuberantly
and find our old tresures most abundantly
For us, there is no need for creativity
For we can dredge the chives
So dredge, o round man, dredge.

Joshua Burgner

Missing Pieces

An essay I wrote in 2001.

Missing Pieces
by David L. Miller
Copyright 2001

I loved this winter in California, the leaves changed colors,
it was cloudy and cool, rained a lot, windy and cold some days.
It was like being back on the UW campus, walking to class,
looking up through the huge trees at the clouds racing by,
looking east at the snowy Cascades, west at the snowy Olympics,
water all around shimmering,

Rainier dominating my southern view, a monument to solidarity and strength.

Sailboats, rowing teams, ferries, and thousands of people running, walking, and bicycling everywhere.
Green grass, green trees, green bushes.
People playing frisbee, flying kites, canoeing.
Skateboarders and street rats asking for spare change on University Ave.

The space needle looking like its floating in the clouds, or possibly a flying saucer inspecting the city.

The cold air in the morning coming in off the Puget Sound, its 40 degrees out; then your hit with this blast that’s 10-20 degrees colder.....*Bam* right in the face, your skin tightens, goose bumps appear on your arms, the clouds move a little faster overhead, like they are trying desperately to reach some warmer climate.
You wish them well and notice how alive you feel, cold, but alive.

All your senses are in use now, the wind, the air, the rain, the cold.
People, buses, bikes, cars racing by.
Nature all around, in constant motion, never a dull moment.

You smell some diesel exhaust, some fresh cut grass, a hint of salt from the ocean air.
The sound of a car horn in the distance, the trees swish and sway,
a seagull cries as it alights from one body of water to the next.

It's hilly in the Northwest, you must work to get anywhere.
Your legs are pumping, your heart is pumping, your backpack with books
and projects strains at your shoulders as you climb another hill or flight of stairs.
Everything around you tells you that you are.
Every sense is keyed, everything that can happen happens.
This is what I miss of the Northwest.

This is why, even though SoCal may grow on me and I may be comfortable and happy;
it can’t make me feel like I did in the Northwest.
It doesn’t have the ability to entertain all my sense at the same time in such a pleasant and even comforting way.
It can never make me feel so......alive.

I want it to rain, I want a 520 car wash, I want my umbrella to occasionally turn inside out. I want to watch clouds pass overhead at upwards of 100 mph, I want to see those pesky Canadian Geese flying and pooping everywhere. I want to see people biking to work in weather that reminds you of a special you saw on Indonesian Typhoons. I want to wear boots, and jeans, and a big jacket, and a hat, every-stinking-day. I want it to rain every day for 93 days straight. I want to look out the window where I used to work in Redmond and be able to see the Salmon going to Lake Sammamish. I could see Salmon migrating from where I worked!

Only in the Northwest, only there.

Professional Photographer

Our friend, Gina Emerson took these photos while we were in Portland Oregon in September visiting family. We went to the Rose Gardens late in the day to take advantage of the soft light. These are just a few of the shots I "stole" from Gina's blog for your viewing pleasure. Thanks Gina!

More videos of Aelis Jewel

Here are a couple low resolution videos I took of Aelis in the past few weeks with my cell phone. In the first she is toddling around the back yard, in the second she is pushing a shopping cart at Target.







There is also a video of Aelis on Youtube wrestling with a playmate over a book, you can see that by clicking HERE:or copying and pasting this into your web browser--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WloFBhlMCM

Happy Birthday Aelis!

Aelis at 6 Months

She is now sitting up!