Found Poetry

If one reads social media threads randomly, and then takes a response out of context, the words become a poem that hold secrets on the reader has brought to the table. Observe...

all I did was run to the store for milk

poof. You were gone.

Sweet dreams buddy.

Escaped Calif. Fire help its Cold in Utah 

Starting over help..
Propane help. 
Gasoline. 
Warm Clothing.
Dog Food. 
RV space help. 
We evacuated at 4am with Pjs and RV. 
With problems Lost 10 acres in Nevada City Ca.. 
Made it out alive..
But need pointed in the right direction..
Can repay any help recieved waiting for Insurance.
 I havent asked for help til now. 
I havent showered 
in a week.. 
I dont have anything but my word 
and 
Id to show my address and authenticity..
Im a Grandma with a little dog trying to stay warm 
in this Un Winterized RV..
I am very thankful for your time 
and 
Attention.. 

yes, I thank God for chickens that make those

Easter egg hunts possible. 
Thank you God for the chickens and all the other eatable animals. 


Self flagellation is quite popular



(As a side note, I will not reveal the specific forums these comments came from because that provides context. But I will pass along this Easter-friendly anecdote. I visited the "Trying to Conceive" forum...because I thought the comments, taken out of context, will be revealing, human...honest...maybe sad, but human. I was thinking in my private Oggy moment that when humanity is reeling from political abuse and self flagellation, when things look most terrible, THAT is the moment we fuck like bunnies. Yes, we fuck. and sometimes conceive...and life begins anew and once the life begins some of us bounce back from our pessimism and become optimistic for the new life, living through the new life...seeing old things as new. Yes. It's honest and human and I thought those comments would reveal something...and perhaps it did. What I found in the "Trying to Conceive" forum were dozens of people commenting about trying to conceive, and a few who wrote horrible and nasty comments mocking the other people trying to conceive. Such as "You're better off child-less." or "You can't have babies because God cursed you." At first I was repulsed that someone would take their time to find an anonymous forum about conception and defile it with mockery and insults...yes, that repulsed me initially and then I went for a walk and started to laugh at the perfection. This mockery is the trigger that makes people yearn for connection and forgetting the world, the mockery. They seek new life to replace the foul trolls who have become so poisoned they are anonymously posting their poison. But it's the trigger that spells their doom because their mockery is the symbol of what people are fucking to forget and some have babies, some even wanted to have the babies before they fucked. But some will live with the status quo. All fled the filth that is encrusted under the national fingernails, all fled to the bedroom or the couch or backseat and thus the new generation arises from the ashes of the present dreams. That's my fantasy when I self-flagellate.)

Transformation

Oggy finally became a snowman

Over My Head

I expect to lose power and all links to the outside world soon behind 19 miles of snow piled fifteen feet high. The snow is unrelenting and I am not equipped to battle the merciless elements. I've lost the war but my efforts were honest. A huge 10 wheel state plow went off the road, twice, sealing my doom. If it was defeated by the conditions then what chance does El Conquistador have? none.

I'm re-reading the Shakleton book about his Antarctic quest on The Endurance so I'm well aware that things can get worse. That crew was 500 miles from the nearest whaling station, adrift where no one would find them, their ship crushed between ice floes, hunted by killer whales and sea leopards, sleeping under a canvas sail, eating seal blubber in -24f temps. Survival was no accident.

Scenes From Oggy's Life

I was working next to a Pump Jack in South Texas....


The Pump Jack was operating, so the 440v motor was spinning like a banshee on crack cocaine. The two counterweights were spinning inches from my face and the horse head vacillated overhead. Metallic creaking came from most of the joints as well as as constant sliding sound from the polished rod as it penetrated the tubing. A hot wind blew across the prairie into my face. It felt like a hair dryer but my face was so wet with sweat that any wind gave me some relief.

I was in the 'death zone' because someone needed to feed the metal conduit down the base from one end to the other. Jose, the Master Electrician, was handing me the 10' length of conduit and I was carefully reaching out for it, keeping one eye on the heavy counterweights and one eye on the conduit. Jose was watching too because the counterweight would land on his head if he wasn't careful. We made the exchange and both exhaled as I lay it in place and bolted it down. I waited for the counterweights to pass and then scrambled on my belly over the light brown dirt, under the pipe guard rail, and out of reach of the machinery.

I looked around at the dry prairie and desolate fields of sand. Far off in the distance a buzzard floated over a mesquite tree.

"Well," I said sarcastically, "that was worth risking our lives to do."

Jose nodded with Native American stoicism. When he spoke, and he spoke infrequently while sober, he spoke like a stereotypical wise Indian one might find in a Hollywood Western. His family came from Chihuahua. His family lived in the Valley of Laredo and now traveled far north for work, returning to the valley only twice a year. 

Jose was looking at the empty patch of dirt where our conduit was heading. He had already moved on from the brief drama of staging that last length of conduit. Jose was examining the next step of the project. Jose said nothing. The machinery chugged slowly in endless routine.

Exhausting

The crew call snow 'white mud' and this is why. A blizzard is charming for about ten seconds and then it becomes no different than a mud slide. Oh yeah, I get to go dig a building out from under a ton of mud! Awesome! Can I go back to Nicaragua now?

Honda snowblower

I unearthed this blue heap of junk

bobcat snow blower on a long road to nowhere