Social Distancing Happy Hour - we each took a table.

A poem from my new book: Bonfire

Reading from The Volume of Our Incongruity at Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
This poem was chosen for National Poetry Month for the Cuyahoga County Public Library poem of the day forthcoming this April.  It's about my grown-up children:

Bonfire

I see them together:

the connective tissues, the shared blood,

a counterpoint in firelight—and 

something primal and holy in me turns.

Orange-yellow waves move over their glossy faces

and rotate like pinwheels in their eyes.

Her perfect tight-teeth smile and luminous hair.

His shoulders wide and strong, his great-grandfather’s silhouette.

White sparks sprinkle upward between us.

My diaphragm expands and my ribs crack in this invisible triangle.

I am stretched like early-morning yoga,

depth perception altered in this stasis.

Leaves flutter in the heat, tree frogs sing, dogs chase

each other in and out of deep shadows. His voice,

her laughter brings stillness to my maternal island

and resurrection to what time cannot take from my soul.

by Diane Vogel Ferri

from The Volume of Our Incongruity

Finishing Line Press  2018

The Day After the Inauguration

Cleveland is not a large city but this is a photo of our Public Square today. I was proud to be an American as I stood with thousands of men and women in concern for human rights in this country under the new administration.  It was a peaceful, respectful and calm day. (It was 60 degrees and sunny on a January day!) It is a grassroots movement happening not just all over America today, but all over the world, in solidarity with us. It is exhilarating, it is hopeful, it is democracy in action.

Yesterday was not an encouraging day for the majority of Americans. Many of us despair at the thought of going backward into the inequalities of the past. We are afraid for our daughters and millions of women not having access to health care and contraceptives. We are afraid for our grandchildren and the unsafe and unstable planet they may live on. We are afraid for our LGBT friends and family that may have their basic rights reversed. We are afraid of our immigrant neighbors enduring even more discrimination and bias than they already have.  We cannot tolerate a leader who makes fun of disabled people and blatantly disrespects women. 

As a retired teacher I, and all my teaching colleagues, are horrified at the nominee for Secretary of Education. She does not know the most basic education laws or issues. She is against the public schools and supports charter schools that have been nothing but failure and are not for ALL children, just the lucky few. 

When I looked at the many and diverse homemade signs today I saw what people are FOR not AGAINST. We are FOR our fellow Americans and their rights. We are FOR healthcare and  excellent  education and saving our planet.  The opposers are AGAINST everything. They are about taking things away starting with affordable health care for millions of Americans. 

The new president already broke his promise to be the president of all Americans (stated on election night) when his administration removed LGBT rights and climate control from the government website. 

There was an estimate of 15,000 in Cleveland today, 500,000 in Washington, 175,000 in Chicago. There are hundreds of marches all over this country.  The president's Twitter account is strangely silent today. 

TODAY I am proud to be an American. What a difference a day can make. 

America the Beautiful

We just spent a week in Arizona and were overwhelmed by the beauty and diversity of the landscape. We traveled by car from the Grand Canyon in the north, to Sedona midway through the state, to Phoenix in the south.

We took a rafting trip in a canyon, loved the beauty of Sedona, saw a billion stars and the Milky Way in the darkened sky, explored a slot canyon on Navajo land, drove up a mountain to an old mining town, saw Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and went to an Indians spring training game!

If you leave this country for your vacations or go to the same place every year do yourself a favor and explore America.

The vast magnificence has a story that these mere photographs cannot begin to tell.

Cleveland

I see Cleveland as a time not yet come,
a book we haven’t read, the tenacious hope 
of next year tangled in its bridges and highways,
beaming off the silvery water of a Great Lake.

A place where Christmas memories and food memories
are built into our bones, where you can step into a diamond
and hear an orchestra, or on any given day view a Rembrandt,
a Van Gogh, or hear poetry in a courtyard.

I believe in the Native Americans who named 
our crooked river, the Traffic Guardians 
welcoming you across the great divide of east and west,
into multicultural streets and towns.

In the jowls and crags of tumultuous industry
I no longer see smoke and filth - its former fame.
I see a place where Grandpa delivered ice, and
Dad played catch with a Cleveland Indian on the streets of the Heights.

God’s good creation surrounds and envelops us
in the glorious greenery of the Emerald Necklace
that we wear so well, with the fearless changing 
of the seasons flowing in our lifeblood.

by Diane Vogel Ferri

Black Dress

The black dress had a singular sound and feel,
the Audrey Hepburn dress, the clerk said, and it was sold.

A wide décolleté draped with a wavy collar framed my cleavage.
It wrapped around my ribcage like a baby's swaddling

pulled me in tight and feminine, the swishing skirt flared
to my calves with the urgency to twirl.

The rhinestones on the cuffs and swinging from my earlobes
matched the ones on my shoes and around my neck.

I opened my handbag to check on the two cotton handkerchiefs
I had been given, then I momentarily put my carefully made-up face

in my hands, but caught the tears before they marred my visage.
I moved down the aisle in a happy trance and sat down

to watch my son begin the life I had always dreamed for him.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

The one blooming' thing in our yard, but it's worth waiting for.
My two favorite creatures - Rowdy the cool canary and Stella the magnificent mutt.
The Rodin sculpture room at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
A deer in my yard.
A happy house plant.

Live the Questions

I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Penfield House

I spent the evening in a house that took me back to memories of high school, but also one that I did not appreciate when I visited it as part of my art class all those years ago. It is the Penfield House in Willoughby, Ohio. Louis Penfield was my high school art teacher. He was 6'8" tall and commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home that suited his size. (I'm thinking he had more money than just for his schoolteacher job.) The home, overlooking the Chagrin River, is one of 9 Usonian homes that Wright designed. They are small, minimalist and very peacefully settle into the landscape around them.

Last March I had seen Falling Water (PA) for the first time and I loved it. I don't think these houses would please everyone, but I like clean lines and a minimal amount of "stuff" so they are very appealing to me. I was impressed with myself that the house and lot was just as I remembered - because, believe me, it was a long time ago!

The house was built in 1955 and we were invited to an evening of 50's style clothing and cocktails. I was thrilled to wander the house at will. It is very open, ceiling to floor windows, a carport ( a term coined by Wright), and a "floating stairway." The bedrooms are small, and to suit Mr. Penfield everything was taller - even the door handles were located at about my shoulder height.

Mr. Penfield apparently commisioned Mr. Wright to design a second house because he thought the highways being built in the late 50's and early 60's were going to intrude on his peace and quiet. The day the Penfields received the drawing for the new house, Mr. Wright passed away. The drawing hangs in the hallway of the Penfield House. The second house was never built and some are continually trying to raise money to still have it built someday, being Wright's last residential design.

I have been very inspired by the Frank Lloyd Wright homes, however, they are not homes built to last forever. Falling Water had to be partially rebuilt in the 1990's and the Penfield House was renovated in the 1980's at $100,000 cost to his son. So, even though they are unique, they were not necessarily well designed - something I am sure Mr. Wright would have never admitted to in his time.

This Grand Show

This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming; on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.
John Muir
naturalist, explorer, writer 1838-1914


Photo of sunrise on the Carribean July 2011

Our Mexico Vacation

Last week I was fortunate to spend my days on the beach in Mexico. My husband and I have had two close family deaths in the past 6 months and we used the week to just BE together - in peaceful respite. Somehow the beauty of the Caribbean Sea, the sound of the relentless waves and the opportunity to leave the world behind for a few days was healing. I did not see a computer screen for 6 days and did not miss it at all, but I am happy to share a few photos from our week.

This was the view from our room.



I loved exploring the tidepools and finding all kinds of creatures - thousands of sea snails clustered together in their colonies.



The water is perfectly clear and full of lovely (and friendly) iridescent blue/silver fish as well as some yellow and black striped ones that would circle around me, presumably looking for food.


We arose early on our last day to watch the sun rise on the Caribbean Sea.

PS - I am unsure about the spelling of Carribean - Caribbean. The dictionary has the latter, but it was spelled with two R's in this morning's paper. I'm a spelling nut.

A Beautiful Mother's Day Gift

I had my first canary, Oliver, for 11 years and my second one, Sunny, for 8 years. Sunny died about a year ago and I have missed him ever since. I just didn't get around to fnding another canary - and apparently they are hard to find these days as well as pricy! Sunny didn't sing for his last several years, which I assumed was a result of old age. Then, a couple months before he died he sang again, but not with the gusto of earlier years. It was, of course, his "swan song."

The Friday before Mother's Day my daughter called and said she was coming over. She handed me a little cardboard box with holes in it and inside was the cutest little yellow and brown canary. I didn't know they came with colors other than yellow! I loved his markings and his personality immediately. He very comfortably hopped into the cage and almost immediately started chirping and singing - LOUDLY! He never stopped moving or singing, so by the next day I had an appropriate name for him - ROWDY!

This is not a very clear picture of ROWDY because he never stops moving! He is a joy. Somehow you cannot be blue with a canary singing it's heart out in your presense.

Thank you to my thoughtful, wonderful daughter.

Falling Water

In March we had a little getaway and I got to visit something I had always wanted to see - and it did not disappoint!! "Falling Water" is a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built for the Kaufman family (of Kaufman's Department Stores) in 1936 in southwestern Pennsylvania. It is built into the natural landscape over a waterfall with reinforced concrete and a cantilevered design that seems to defy gravity. In 1963 the Kaufman's only child donated it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and it became a museum in 1964. Over 6 million people have since visited.

I found it to be truly beautiful and hugely inspiring. The second photo shows a living room "hatch" that could be opened to stairs that go straight down to the river and waterfall. Spectacular!

Random Photos

I have nothing to say so here are some random photos:

Today is sunny and the snow is almost gone here in northeast Ohio, but just 9 days ago I had my fifth snow day this year! This is Stella taking it all in. Barbeque anyone?

A few weeks ago the area was suspended in crystallized beauty as the ice clung to each tiny twig. The sunlight caused a surreal beauty we'd never seen before. It lasted for two days. Click on this one to enlarge and you'll see what I mean.

This is my sweet Stella on a lazy summer afternoon. Well, everyday is lazy for spoiled dogs.

More ice beauty.

As Heard in Church . . .

God doesn't throw us out in the trash just because we have empty nets at daybreak.
Pastor Chip Freed
January 23, 2010

"A Christmas Story" House

Cleveland's Tremont area is home to the house they filmed 1983's "A Christmas Story". Last time I went it was closed and I got exterior shots of the house. This time it was bustling with fans from all over the country. If you have never seen this classic tale of a childhood Christmas, tune in to TBS on Christmas Eve - it runs for 24 hours. You will see Cleveland's Public Square circa 1939 and get a child's viewpoint of Christmas. The house was mostly used to film exteriors and the rest was filmed in Toronto. If you live near Cleveland it is located at 3159 West 11th St.There is also a museum where you can see original clothing worn by the children, the original leg lamp and much more. Here are some photos I took today:

Northcoast Weather

There is a lot of whining and moaning about the weather in northeast Ohio. True, we do have something called "lake effect" and there is a distinct difference in the weather from the east side to the west side - a distance of only about 20 miles. But I, for one, do no complaining. First, I think the weather keeps life interesting. I love the change of seasons. But, I also don't think it's as bad as its reputation. Case in point: These first two weeks of November have been mostly sunny and in the 50's! It's a fluke you say! Not really. There are a pretty consistent run of "flukes" every year. You never know what you're going to get. It's been 65 on Christmas and it's snowed in the beginning of October on green leaves.

I don't remember, however, so many flowers blooming in November. These photos are from my yard - this week! So there!

Wine

I am a teacher. He is a research scientist. He likes to make wine. I like to drink it. Here's the 2010 batch in process.

600 Things to Say

Somehow over the past three years I have had 600 things to say. So for my 600th post I'm just going to keep it light-hearted and share a photo of my son's unique wedding cake - all edible! It's a drum set, and I loved the cracked cymbal because I bought my wild drummer boy many replacement cymbals over the years (and drumsticks of course!)

Summer 2010 Miscellany

We just completed our 8th annual bocce tournament to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. (Yes, we have an 80' court in our back yard) This is Nick, one of our scorekeepers. Through the great generosity of neighbors, friends and family we raised over $5000 this year - in the pouring rain. My husband and stepson will present the check at the local station for Jerry Lewis's Labor Day telethon. (You can see the coveted bocce ball trophy on the far left.)

These fellows were sitting outside a Starbucks, untethered, waiting patiently for their master. I don't know about you but I've never had a dog that would do that.

I enjoyed the fragrance of this gardenia bush all summer. If I brought one blossom inside it would fill a whole room with its lovely scent.

A hybiscus is the most generous plant I've ever had. It gives you new flowers every single day. It particularly enjoyed the heat and humidity of Summer 2010. (I did not however.)