Every Ripple In The Mud

Moon said, "Sun! Hey Sun, come see, 

every ripple in this mud is because of me."

Sleepy Sun rose to this challenge, "HOLD ON Moon,

I think you brag too much, too soon, 

Did you forget about MY gravity?"

... And without my light, who would see ..?"

Moon wasn't phased by Sun's boastful pride,

He knew HE was the master of the tide.

"Now Sun, settle down, I didn't forget you,

You're just so far ... one whole AU.

Mass and distance are the keys to gravitational force,

I win distance and you win mass ... of course.

Proximity trumps mass when you're so far away,

Nothing personal, just physics ... Okay?"

Sun pondered this and Moon was right,

besides, he was late burning away the night.

 "My apologies, dear Moon for the intrusion,

Now I really must get back to my nuclear fusion."

Then he blasted Moon's work with peach, gold, and blue,

Moon gasped and realized it really was true.

His tidal mud carvings alone were really quite fine,

but it took his friend Sol to bring out their shine.

And what of sweet Earth, who sat out this conversation?

Smiling, she whispered, "Just try any of that without MY rotation."

Pure Florida Fecundity = Tadpole Awesomeness!

A fishless puddle is just what frogs and toads need,
a cozy, weedy, predatorless place to breed.
When, in the future, my pond dries out ... yet again,
I'll not whine over lost bass and bream.
Instead, I'll pause and smile when I remember
the hopping, squirming tadpolitudes of September.

Note: These may be young spadefoot toads.  The most recent  amphiborgy down at the pond was mostly attended by the spadefoots.

Lunchbreak Diamante Poem Cardinal Flower vs Cardinal

Cardinal Flower

Crimson, Wet

Standing, Emergent. Reaching

Flower, Spike, Singer, Flier

Flitting, Crunching, Flashing

Red, Feathered

Cardinal

I like to use Diamante poems for comparison contrast in my science class.

They always compare two different things and always follow this pattern:

Noun

2 Adjectives about that noun.

3 participles about that noun

4 nouns, first 2 are about the top noun, second 2 are about the bottom noun.

3 participles about the bottom noun.

2 adjectives about the bottom noun.

Noun

Give it a try and show off in the comment section.

(These are not limericks so keep it clean, you rascals!)

Sea Biscuit Odds

A lucky sperm meets egg in a shallow sea millions of years ago.

Or is it lucky egg?

Cell division.

Differentiation ... but not too much.

A larva drifting, cilia beating ...not too long though.

Transformation to benthic body.

A year or so of detritus sucking life.

Creeping, burrowing, avoiding.

Death.

Soft parts go first.

Spines detach.

Mud oozes into spaces once tissue filled.

Time.

One, Two, Three ...? million years buried in limey mud.

Mud becomes rock.

The sea retreats.

Dynamite shatters limerock.

Excavating equipment rumbles.

Scoop, dump, transport.

Rock grinder groans and crushes.

Rock to gravel.

More scooping and dumping.

Dumptrucks rumble.

Dumping.

Front end loader spreads and grades.

Roller flattens.

Sifty sand road becomes stable gravel road.

Walker walks.

Looks down and finds ...

a perfect fossil.

Wonders ...

at the odds.

Road Kill Poetry: Dead Gator Blues

I had been here for 70 million years,

when your ancestors did first appear.

Not much of a threat, more of a treat ...

a tasty snack that stood upright on two feet.



Our small brains didn't worry,

As you became less and less furry.

What we couldn't know,

was that your brain would grow.



80 million years of adapting to the way things were,

never prepared us for asphalt and a four wheeled metal blur.



If we'd only known what a human brain can do,

like create roads, cars, condos, tv, and tofu,



We'd have made it a point to increase our feedin'

... and neither Adam nor Eve would have made it out of Eden.



Okay, be kind, that's a 15 minute poem with no rewrite before publishing.





Poor thing.

I passed this dead gator on the road near Devils Hammock heading to work yesterday. It was freshly dead, struck by a car as it S-curved across the roadway.

Rich, red blood still seeped from the wounds, no clotting ... the heart may still have been beating when I turned around and stopped to photograph it.



We have a zillion gators in Florida these days, so one lost to a car is not a species issue, but it is still sad to me on an individual basis.

This gator had incredibly bad luck as this road just isn't that busy and it's only a narrow two lane road.



He should have made it.

Was That Fall? I Blinked...Did I Miss It?

Florida never knows what to do with Fall.

Not sure if she should even bother at all.

It seems so silly, to drop good leaves early,

and fussing with leaf color makes her surly.

I tell her it's okay, she can let summer go,

she asks, why drop leaves, are you expecting snow?

Not snow girl, just a brief sensation of season.

She's unconvinced and doesn't see my reason.

Girls can be stubborn, but so can men,

I'll go for a compromise if I know I can't win.

I say subtle is okay, no need for a big Maine show.

She rattles her keys, (heehee) impatient, ready to go,

Then tosses me a smile, which I return with relief.

Okay, you can have Fall, but only one leaf.

Suddenly Fall arrives, oh joy, oh bliss,

A single leaf, just in time for winter solstice.

60 Second Poetry

I can think of things worse

than wearing loinclothes of furs

while hiding from giant iguanas

in a dark cave with Loana.

There ya go, a poem produced in 60 seconds on a crazy hectic morning. I forgot to wake Junior up extra early for an FFA school trip so we've been dashing around like crazy, yet still I sat down here for a short blog.

Feel free to continue my 60 second masterpiece or write your own ... be nice.

(Nerds, I know it's anole in the pic, but the movie used iguanas. That's called poetic license.)

If this post shows up twice, forgive me, but Blooooger dropped the first one and I did a quick retype.

Have a great Thursday ... it is Thursday isn't it?

Osprayer

This should not be,

this metal tree.

I miss the feel of wood

on talon ...so good.

God, grant me this wish

(... and lots of fish),

Just a few tall, real trees,

I'm not hard to please.

Give us a place to nest,

and we'll do the rest.

Amen.

Why yes, I do speak Osprey ... don't you?

It's Blog Action Day and the theme is the environment.

Here at Pure Florida, that theme is our guiding mission on a daily (almost) basis.

I'm not much of a bloggy, let's all do this at once sort of guy, (don't waste your meme's here), but I confess to jumping on this bandwagon today.

Have an excellent Monday.

Friday Puzzler Answer Poem

What could it be,
this thing from the sea.
POP could not commit,
Dave thought conch might be it.
Doc agreed,
Three Collie thought it to be a steed.
Cathy said NO, it's roe,
not some sea horse toe.
Robin admired our painting pluck,
and proposed it might be goeduck.
Hurricane Teen got off track,
he's a teen and had a mullet hunger attack.
Pop came back for seconds,
but still seemed stumped ... I reckon.
Sophie's on the road again,
her guess was missing or ... mighty thin.
Deb was distracted and all atwitter,
at memories of Virgin Island conch fritters.
Hal knew one thing that could not be denied,
If it's southern, it better be fried.

It's not conch, goeduck, or lizard,
It's part of the mullet, we call it the gizzard!

Yes, mullet have gizzards just like a bird.
You heard it from FC so you know it's the WORD!

This poem is all through,
If you commented after Hal my apologies to you.

T'was The Night Before Christmas

The picture: Tonight, Christmas Eve, 2006

The story below: Christmas Eve, 2004.

This was my version of the proverbial Christmas letter that folks send. It was our Christmas card back in 2004, back before I was a blogaholic. I thought about updating it to make it current, but it seemed wrong somehow.

So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it and I hope some Christmas magic comes your way.

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through our house

no electronics were whirring, no TV, Gamecube, nor click of a mouse.

The family was asleep, all snug in their beds,

except for me and the voice in my head.

The voice spoke to me in a Chrismas Carol, Dickens sort of way.

It said, "Don't get cozy, I'm keeping you up 'til Christmas Day."

I whined, "Why me? What have I done?"

The voice laughed, "Don't worry, it'll be fun."

We're going to look back on this year almost complete,

so get comfortable, sit back, and prop up your feet.

"So, the voice said, "Let's talk about Kate ..."

"Oh," I brightened, "Her year was just great."

She made great grades, ran the junior class, loves track and cheer ..."

Now the voice interrupted, " And she did get her first deer."

I nodded, " Yes, and we made quite a fuss ...

since her weapon of choice was our Ford Taurus.

"Oh well, driving is over-rated and walking is good ...

and no one will notice one less deer in our neighborhood.

"Well", said the voice, "How was Emma's year?"

I replied, "Much the same, great grades, and she also loves to cheer."

"She got a deer too, but used her Nikon 55 ...

so her lucky deer is on film ... and still alive."

"Okay, " said the voice, "What about the boy?"

"Jr ?" I yawned, "He's truly a joy."

"2004 for him was soccer, football, and basketball ...

with time out for straight A's and that's not all ..."

"Yes it is!" growled the voice, " The sun's coming up."

"But, " I pleaded, "We haven't talked about Liz or the pups."

"Okay," said the voice, "... but here is fair warning,

the sky is lightening, it's almost Christmas morning."

I pondered this, how fast the night had flown,

much like the speed at which our three kids had grown.

This Christmas was the first with no toy store trips.

My eyes grew moist, but I let loose no drips.

"Snap out of it!" yelled the voice,

"Kids must grow up, they have no choice!"

"You're right, Voice, let's talk about the wife."

"This year she kept us moving through our busy life."

"She works really hard, 'cause she married a teacher."

"And", said the voice, " She's the loudest Mom in the bleachers!"

Then, from the porch, there arose such a clatter.

The voice paused, then asked, "What's the matter?"

The sound was only three pups a howling,

which slowly faded to barking and growling.

"It could be a white tail or even eight tiny reindeer,

more likely an armadillo, which the pups really fear."

"We'd better wrap this up." said the voice in my head.

"If we scare away Santa, we're both good as dead."

"Thank you Voice, for the trip down memory lane ."

"Uhm ... does talking to you mean I'm insane?"

"No, I only come around once a year,

to help you remember the moments you hold dear."

Then I heard it exclaim as I turned out the light,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night."

Wrapping Rap

WELL, I'VE BEEN WRAPPING ALL DAY

AND I'M HERE TO SAY

MY FEET, THEY ARE ACHING

THE TAPE, IT KEEPS BREAKING

I STARTED OUT STRONG

NOW MY FOLDS ARE ALL WRONG

MY HANDS HAVE LOTS OF PAPER CUTS

FORGETTING WHERE I HID STUFF IS DRIVING ME NUTS

RIBBONS, PAPER, BAGS, BOXES, TAPE, AND TAGS

I FEEL MY WRAPADELIC ENERGY START TO SAG

I GOTTA KEEP GOING, GOTTA CONTINUE

EVEN IF MY DEBIT CARD IS COMPLETELY WORN THROUGH

SANTA NEEDS HELP AND I'M HIS MAN

IF I DON'T FINISH, THE SNOW WILL HIT THE FAN

SO PASS ME THE TAPE AND GET OUT OF MY WAY

TIME IS SHORT, AND I GOTTA FILL THAT SLEIGH