editoradmin
I have at least 75 letters on my desk to answer… and many of them have been there for quite some time… but lest you think I do not continue to enjoy your letters… and wish not to write… let me tell you WHY I have been so remiss in answering… So far this summer I have canned 150 quarts of tomatoes and tomato juice, frozen 103 quarts of corn, canned 18 quarts of peaches, frozen 70 quarts of strawberries and I think about 25 quarts of raspberries, frozen 25 quarts of peas, canned 70 quarts of stringbeans (that might be more… I don’t recall right now). We have dug, picked up and sorted 35 bushels of potatoes and dug and sorted two bushels of onions.
Of course this was besides the weed pulling, appointments for the kids, cooking 270 thresher-man sized meals, washing and drying… then folding at least 5 baskets of clothes everyday… etc.
You’ve probably guessed it by now! I’ve been BUSY! So busy in fact that we’ve decided to sell our farm… in fact the closing date will be November 1st. We are trying to find a place with about 10 acres of land… enough for a garden… but not enough so that I have acres of brush to keep back… acres of lawn for the kids to mow, etc. Probably an equally important reason for moving is the gas situation. We have had our car 3½ years and I have just about 100,000 miles on it. None of this is vacation traveling… most of it is transporting the foster children to work… to Dr.s and Psychiatrists… to schools to check on kids progress, etc., etc. This mileage does not include that on Dick’s old car… which he drives to work in (he works in Madison).
We can continue to stay here after it is sold, until we find something suitable for our needs… so there will be no address change immediately and I will let you know well in advance… making sure I get my mail… for it is a most important part of my life. I just wish I could see each one of you personally… you are all such good friends, and you’ve helped me through a lot of really tough times!
The country around here fogged in… making the leaves look like greenlace, and my purple Petunias and red Salvia blooms are undefined splashes of color The lawns are lush-green, deceiving, for I know old man winter is stirring up his frost-pots and making huge batches of snow for us. In the garden, huge sunflower heads droop halfway to the ground… full of seeds for the birds this winter. (Won’t they be fun to move!). Fall is standing at the gate and soon it will be time. Halloween… time for ‘frost on the pumpkin. We will hug our coats to us, pile on more blankets, turn on the furnace… fend against nature yet another winter season.
Before I close I want to say “Thanks” for all of you who stopped by this summer to see us. Please stop again… and remember… anyone who drives by this way… the welcome mate is always out.
Sincerely,
Pat
Loves Sweet Dream
by Gerald Bradish
It may be obscured by thoughts
Of what life could have been, say
With hazy-misty ideals –
From those years of yesterday.
But never wait for the Spring frost
And bear no despair today;
I played the game of love and lost
And am only trying to see –
As in this world I drift along
If I’m the guy I used to be.
Run Girl, Run
by Ily Jean Till
I must be by myself
To cry alone, to sigh alone;
I must run away
Where no one’s around
To see my cry, to hear me sigh;
I must run away, today!
And after I feel more like me,
Perhaps I’ll be back –
We’ll see!
Life
by Leonard G. Silver
Laugh ‘till it comes out,
Laugh ‘till your sides split
And the pain comes,
But the load lifts…
Laugh –
Cry because you laughed –
Cry because you laughed;
And didn’t need to…
Cry –
Be nasty so you don’t cry or laugh
Be nasty so your mind
Can’t guess
Nasty –
Smile in pity. Smile in
Sadness for lost love.
Smile –
Think of her, think of time
And clocks
And animals…
Smile –
Run for the wind – run for
Release and run
For the feeling…
Run –
Drop and fall, drop and feel
The sandy beach
Still under your body…
Drop –
Pick a flower.
Pick a flower to smell,
To listen,
To talk to, to kiss…
Pick –
Laugh ‘till it comes out
Laugh ‘till your sides split,
And you know you never need to
Cry…
Again.
Thanksgiving in October
by Mary Bishop
October is the time of turning leaves,
Soft greens replaced by gold and flaming red,
As forest, with colder nights, its magic weaves,
When pumpkins, plumply orange, lie on the ground,
Destined to be carved-out grinning head,
And witches ride, and small spooks walk around.
A mist lies on the hills, and from the trees
The raucous cries of crows the stillness breaks.
Large flocks of geese fly South in perfect ‘vees’
(Their going is a watched-for yearly sight)
To winter by some warmer climate’s lakes.
Their honking’s heard before the dawn’s first light.
(This is only the first two verses of Mary Bishop’s lovely poem. Wish I had room for the rest!) Goodbye until next month!
Patricia Saunders
Edgerton, Wisconsin 53534, USA
Recession Special is the journal published by Patricia Saunders at the Blue Willow Press. It takes the place of Calico Patches, Suitcase Poems, Here and There and State Street, until such a time as the financial problems of our country straighten out. Or until the legendary ship of fortune sails into port at Thronson Road!
Recession Special is typed onto stencil on my IBM Selectric II and then transferred to paper on my A B Dick mimeograph machine. All of the poems etc. are written by myself unless otherwise specified at the title of the article or poem.