We have pictures along Lake Erie in Ohio, a few of the Nashville Grand Ole Opry, and the first of a two-part series on Yellowstone National Park.

  • Opening Comments from Bob
  • Two Poems: My Book and Meditation 4 plus a 4th on a separate page
  • Vignette this Month: Jim Oakes includes a 3rd poem Jimmy
  • Recommendations

 

One of the many upscale homes on Catawba Island, Ohio.

Opening Comments from Bob

This Page: We pictorially travel to three places, Lake Erie area near Port Clinton, OH, Nashville, TN, and the first of a two-part series on Yellowstone National Park. There are three new poems this month, My Book which takes a light-hearted approach to authoring a book and Meditation 4 which is open to your interpretation. The third poem is part of the vignette on Jim Oakes whom I had the privilege to be with mere hours before he passed. There is also a fourth poem for those who missed it last month. You have to click on it to read on another page.

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Restored lighthouse in Port Clinton, OH

Two Poems this Month

My Book

Double-space here.
Is it a compound word
    or a hyphen?
How did I miss that?
“Yours” instead of “you.”
Wait this line doesn’t agree
    with an earlier concept.
Tense agreement
Verb agreement.
Will the reader understand?
This is the sixth rewrite.
The last book had eleven
    and still contained errors.
Is it all worth it?
I will be lucky to sell fifty books.
Yet, I am driven.
I must write!

Comments: Writing a book is a mixture of time, perseverance, frustration, and celebration. The poem speaks to some of those.

 


 

Meditation 4

Seated quietly
    Thinking
Seated quietly
    Waiting
Soon the sun
    will rise
    to a new day.

The moment
    has arrived.

Comment: You interpret.

 


 

Click here if you want to read a poem that focuses on today's issues. Otherwise, stick with the two above...:-) This poem was also issued as an option last month.

 

Wax figure of Jimmy Dickens displayed in one
of the dressing rooms in the Grand Ole Oprey.

"Boots are made for walking." I have never seen so many women wearing cowboy boots as in Nashville, and I live in cowboy country.

In Yellowstone, buffalo rule the road.

My books and products are purchasable online.

My work currently appears in seven books. Four are offered for sale online. To order any of the four, click here. The newest books, What's Next? (2016) and Beyond Time and Back (2015) are currently available through Amazon.

Supporting the efforts of the Poetical Journal is greatly appreciated! To support, click here.

To view the product page of other unique gifts, please click here.

Even if you are not a country music fan, a visit to the Grand Ole Opry is worth a visit. Time did not permit me to
to attend a show, but I was able to take the backstage tour. I found it to be fascinating! I had no idea about all
history and tradition that are part of the heritage of this facility. The backstage tour will set you back $26.
Well worth it!

Vignette this Month: Jim Oakes

Below is a poem I wrote in remembrance of my friend, Jimmy. Jim and I first met when he joined Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association (TRECA) in the early 2000s. Over time our work relationship turned into a close friendship. After we both retired from TRECA, we continued to gather at least weekly for breakfast. Though we were often opposites on political and sometimes social issues, those did not detract from our relationship. I often joked that he would someday see the light. He in turn said likewise to me.

Over five years ago Jim and his wife Tammy moved to Nashville, TN, to be near their grandson. I would often listen to stories about that young boy. A year later, for the same reason, I moved to Utah, and now being a grandfather, I understand those stories better.

On August 27 his daughter Kelly texted me that Jim was not doing well. I flew to Nashville on September 2nd to say "goodbye." He passed on the morning of the 3rd. The below poem was written in his honor. (Pictured below is Jimmy at his retirement party.)

Jimmy

Over four years have passed
    since we shared a breakfast
    in our booth at V & M.
You moved and then I.
Sadly, over the months our calls diminished.
You would sometimes pop into my thoughts,
    and I would say,
    “I need to give Jim a call.”
Alas, time slipped away.

Now, I peer down
    on his earthly body
    realizing he will soon travel
    the inevitable journey.

Travel safely, Dear Friend.

We arrived in Yellowstone and were greeted by the season's first snow, which only added to the beauty.

Below: The Madison River provided a beautiful scene.

 

From the Madison River peering toward the snowy peaks

Recommendations

vil

Bistro 163 in Port Clinton, OH: First, the food is delicious! Equally, as good this restaurant is a Pay-It-Forward one. (Click on the restaurant link to learn more about this wonderful concept. The following is taken directly from its site: "We chose the name 'Bistro 163' as it communicates our intention to serve fresh food prepared from scratch, using locally sourced ingredients, a 'farm to table' approach. The café's location, on Perry Street in Port Clinton, is part of State Route 163 stretching from Oak Harbor to Marblehead, our target service area of Ottawa County."

Please take a look at the online book and gift pages.

 

Typical mountainside scene

One of the smaller falls in Yellowstone

Steam escaping the surface as part of the volcanic activity. Yellowstone is one of largest active volcanoes in the world.

Yellowstone National Park, WY: Looking out onto Yellowstone Lake, "is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park.
The lake covers 136 square miles with 110 miles of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is 139 ft, its greatest depth is
at least 390 ft. Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 ft in North America."

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Of course one has to visit Old Faithful. A secondary geyser is in the background.

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This area is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

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