Roasting Ears
a certain time in summer
the maize gets sweet on us
Daytime starch
turns to early morning sugar
much to our taste buds delight!
Sun and rain
soil and genes
do their dance so well
there is a reward for us
Early morning finds us
ripping the ears off stalks
well water coolness is just right
to capture the peak of sweetness
Soaking in the shade all day
the ears are ready for the coals
steaming themselves
tenderness peaks
and the picnic is ready
roasting ears are the fare!
butter dripping
salt for seasoning
we stand around and chomp
Oh, so good!
Like salmon in Seattle
like lobster in Maine
sweet corn, Illini style is perfection!
Here it comes!
Get ready!
Monday is the day!
You are welcome!
July 2010, Lin
Bowl Weather
the town of Edmunds perches
a little area there is known
as ‘The Bowl”
Not hard to picture
this scenic area
nestled, backed against the hills
Middle America, Mid-West,
upper Mississippi Valley,
is a bowl of sorts as well
even though locally it’s flat
from space it would appear a bowl
We get reminders
of that fact
When summer doldrums roll
The Gulf of Mexico sits atop us
the humidity pushes 90
and the air temp competes and wins
Early morning I listen carefully
expecting a fog horn blow
It’s wet!
Windows, houses, trees and grass
all that dwells herein
has been licked by that giant tongue
the water from the Gulf!
Whew!
water hungry as it is
lush leaves laced with dew
but soybeans? A different story:
molds are prone to attack
choking the leaves and so the plants
moist soil, shaded well with the myriad leaves
and limited movement of air
the bean plants stand helpless
waiting for the searing sun to cleanse them
What a garden, we have here!
Rewards are rich and plenty
our bowl becomes a cornucopia
with a lot of work, and challenges
testing us, stretching us
to tune ourselves to nature
Bowls me over
now and then
but like a tippy cup
I pop back up
to shoulder the load and learn
to soak up knowledge
to do it better
to feed a hungry world….
Lin, 8AM, heat index 105 today (temp/humidity)
Going to the Well
and across the way from Lincoln’s court house
a long handled pump sits atop a well
a sesquicentennial marvel
Honest Abe put his hands
on that self same handle you can
I can
pump it too
just like he did
150 years ago or so
Riding the circuit
palavering in the court house
Abe would work up quite a thirst
Like the others
he’d cross the road
and pump up some clear cold water
Anything ever taste the better?
Our wind mill
whirled away
summer day, winter
the pump jack worked
lifting water
sending it through the pipe
to the big horse tank
Faithfully, three generations
cold clear water pulsed on out
filling buckets and that tank
A hundred forty head o cattle
stood and slurped
giant sucking sounds
The pigs, the sheep, the chickens
all drew from our good well
haying field
hot, dusty, sweatin’ in the sun,
we’d pause and drink
that cold, clear water
So good going down
pleasuring our dry throat
We’d splash it on our arms
toss it on our faces
wet our hat,
Then back to work
Small and tall
young and old
we all went to the well
Sunday morning
the preacher spoke
talked about a woman
and a special man
Gathered at the well
he offered living water
a kind that never fails
Being smart, she took it
and Him
then brought her friends and family
Two thousand years and counting
going to the well
just like her we’re needy
reminded, many ways
we live and thrive on water
and living water too….
Lin, Lincoln Illinois, Abe’s well…3/20/11
Spring Power
by springs both big and small
The energy found inside them
serves us every day
Our cars have springs
in brakes and doors
hidden here and there
Kitchens have them every where
in drawers and doors and little machines
switches and light fixtures all rely
on the power in the springs
Trains and planes and great big trucks
count on springs to stop them
Big and small
they serve us all
seldom noticed, if at all
That hidden power comes to us too
hidden in other things
Winter bonds loosening
the grass begins to green
buds begin to swell
Earth’s blanket coloring
pushed by an unseen spring
is really pretty awesome
if you stop to think
Add in the coming blossoms
the flowers that springtime brings
Nature is power
harnessed from above
created, laid out, sure
It sings,
it blesses
as it uncoils to impress us
springtime and harvest
Sun moon and stars
in their courses above
Join with all nature
in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness
mercy and love….*
Lin, Come on Spring! 3/2011
*Thomas Chisholm, William Runyan, 1923
The Remnant
keystones of the seasons
little wedges
placed just so
at just the right time and place
to connect the dots
Governments come and go
people swirling, dancing briefly
passing on and far away
So often, it seems to me
just a little group
just a few folks
take control
Fists holding tightly
Swords always at ready
slashing away dissenters
I picture mighty Egyptians
chariots racing
chasing Hebrews across the desert
My mind’s eye sees Romans too
chasing Hebrews, chasing Christians
So powerful! So intimidating!
Gone
Leap forward to modern times
a band of Russians, focused
taking command of a vast country
expanding the borders
Fists holding tightly
Swords always at ready
slashing away dissenters
Yet another small group
a manic, powerful leader
taking command, declaring war
brutalizing people, cities, nations
Millions marching, goose stepping
arms held forth in salute
attacking, expanding
slashing away dissenters
small groups seething
some with fists clenched, raised others with anger and guns
lashing away in frustration
blinded in hate
There remains a remnant
people aligned with God
people sold out to Jesus
who flavor the earth with love
They serve others in Christ like love
marrying to serve, raising children to serve
serving in churches
spicing communities
even government
So often they are out of view
not in the papers
not on tv
never in the news
They quietly serve
The remnant people save us
putting forth The Way, The Truth, Life
here and forever
Take two steps back
calm yourself
you can see them!
Encourage them, please,
as you go along
Lift them up in prayer
and know
His eye is on the sparrow….
Lin
2/11
People of the Dark
<
share the night time hours
One stays up late
into the wee small hours
the other awakens early
charged with waiting for the sunrise
Some establishments sit,
quiet mornings, abandoned,
slowly stirring afternoons,
coming awake evenings
Music begins
cigarettes are lit
alcohol begins to flow
Relief from work breaks out
greeting, talking, laughter spices,
the evening eases on
Come midnight things get serious
Music is loud, minds get fuzzy
Finally the hour comes
and folks go home.
The other group is waking up
planning a day of work
breakfast temptations climb the stairs
coffee? Oatmeal? Scrambled eggs and bacon?
The earth is about to move
Clear minds focusing on tasks
as sunlight smothers the darkness
Outside, the air is fresh
laden with morning dew
Engines begin to hum
hands move levers
and work begins to roll
People of the dark
have become people of the light
the day theirs to shape and form
into buildings built
products made
crops planted, tended and harvested
and the planet, day side
complex rays do their things
the earth, the people respond in reflection
Two different drummers
two different beats
late night, early morning
all walking the same earth
brothers and sisters of a sort
Some say we can choose
where to put our feet
others say
“We’re born that way”.
Not for me to judge
but to do my part
and do it as well as I can
Someday, I’ve no doubt,
we’ll all lay down
to rise no more
I pray I’m sent
to The Light…
of the world…
Lin 1/2011