A Gaggle of Geese

It happens every year round about this time, when one goose says to another goose,"Gaggle, gaggle, gaggle!" And then that goose turns to his nieghbour and almost repeats what he just heard, "Goggle, gaggle, goggle", who honks to his friend, "Gotta goand google", who, honking sweet nothings into the ear of his fiance, includes "Gotta, getta, going!!" It's the old Norman Rockwell thing all over again. Nobody really listens, but in this case, the geese somehow get it right, because as everybody knows "Gaggle, gaggle, gaggle" means "Come on, you lot, it's time to fly south again! Pack your bags and line up straight!! And don't forget your goggles!" And off they go gaggling, goggling and giggling all the way, flying low over the house to make sure I come running out to wave them off, and in the waving, feeling just a little part of me leaving with them, and knowing that if I don't warn them about Chesapeake Bay, they won't beware...Have a good flight, a warm winter, and we'll see you in the Spring...so long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, adieu! And off they go, ribboning their way across the autumn skies to warmer climes, that tiny part of me trailing behind...wait for me...

The Malta-Weave Knitting Bag

Today I found my Mummy's bag
The Malta-Weave striped knitting bag.
It used to hang right by her chair,
Her comfy, sagey fire-side chair.
She bought the bag when I was new
And she not more than thirty two.
It used to house her knitting things
Her needles, patterns, wools and pins,
With which she'd knit such lovely things
For tiny maidens, tiny kings!
It's nice to know that I love too
The art of knitting that she once knew.
It's nice to know that in that bag
Lie memories that never lag
When brought to mind, when stirred anew,
Of island warmth, of childhood muse.
I'd like to think she sees me now,
As I knit and click and hum and how
In this little bag I find such joy
As I knit for our little girl or boy!

Take Me Down To The Sea Again...Again

Have just been remembering some fine memories of Boothbay Harbour, Maine, especially when we first arrived. We had to finish off the school year at home, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We would do our scholastic studies in the morning, and then in the afternoon we'd often go to the beach for our 'Marine Research Unit'! There was a terrific Aquarium nearby which had an amazing educational program for the children, and we had a few friends who worked there, so we had great opportunity to have many guided tours around the place. I was particularly remembering the enormous blue lobster who lived there. He was so.o old! And the cool rock pool, which housed horse-shoe crabs and one of our favourites...the sea cucumber, which never ceased to entertain us by squirting us! Every time! We spent hours and hours down on the beach at Hendick's Head on Southport Island, where we'd find no end of shells and crabs and star fish. At low tide, a group of rocks were left high and dry on the sand, the tallest of these, the girls christened 'Commercial Rock'. I'm not sure that I can remember why! I think they used to play a game that Soe called 'Let's 'tend!' There was always a part for everyone in this 'tending game, and I expect they used to make commercials on Commercial Rock. Telling stories, pretending, collecting treasures...of course, the whole setting was made that more exciting by the fact that the Wicked Witch of the West from the movie 'The Wizard of Oz' had a house just there, down the bay on the rocks, and that certainly added a spicy seasoning! However, if you spent too much time pretending and making commercials, you'd have to swim back to shore, because the tide was tricky, and would rush back in, surrounding all the rocks, before you had time to say 'Shiver Me Timbers!!'
Hannah and Emi were part of the Dolphin Swim Team, which met at 4 pm every afternoon at the 'Y'. Any kid that could swim from one end of the pool to the other could be a part, and they were thrilled and proud to be able to wear those red hooded sweat-shirts with the dolphin on the back. A team to be reckoned with were those Boothbay Dolphins!
On the beach, down by the sea, the whole ebb and flow of it all...a great place to be a child...even when you're old...a great place to be a child!

Woodland Walk

Today, I wore my Mama's hat,

Her bright autumnal titfer (tat).

We walked among the ferns all drippy,

We walked the old familiar way,

Down to the river, down to the pond,

Down by the way of the loon's clear song.

An acorn at my feet I found,

Then lichen, moss and bark and flower,

And soon my arms were full of fall

Of dripping earth and autumn's call.

So homeward bound with all we'd found,

To share with friends

And nourish all!

Swallows and Amazons

I have always wanted to put my childhood memories, which are legion, into a book of memoires, but I think I don't have to anymore. It has already been done! Or rather, this is what seems to be.
I have recently started to read a series of 12 books written by Arthur Ransome, the first of which is 'Swallows and Amazons', first published in 1930. Perhaps you, like countless children since, have read this series, and your lives have been dramatically influenced by it. In the first book, we are introduced to the Walker children: John, Susan, Titty, Roger, Vicky and their Mother.
As children, my four siblings and I, deprived of television and video games, spent our days captivated in one adventure after another. As soon as one mystery was solved, off we'd go on another adventure, which often involved pirates and smugglers and kings and princes, (especially those imprisoned in towers!), murderers and body-snatchers (we lived right next door to the village graveyard)! Our imaginations ran wild, and nobody seemed to think this was detrimental to our growth, except, perhaps, with the exception of when we kidnapped John Innes, who was 4 at the time, tied him up and left him in my chapel to think about his dreadful crimes. It was hours later that his sister, Jessica, came looking for him, and we remembered with horror where we'd left him.
I'm sure that such naughtiness was never displayed in the Walker children, but this book, and in fact, the whole series comes highly recommended, especially if you missed it in your youth.
Beautifully written, this book would be a welcome change to any Book Discussion Club!
Well, I think I shall saunter down to the dock at Houseboat Bay, tackle up the able-bodied catboat Swallow, and tack on over to Wild Cat Island, where I'll no doubt encounter the two intrepid Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett!

Her Rings

Today, I wore my Mother's rings.
They fit so well. They suit me well.
I wore them as I pulled the beans.
I wore them as I watched the scenes
Of Gustav hurtling into land.
I wore the everlasting band,
I wore the red, I wore the gold,
The love within these rings I hold
Within my heart which loudly sings.
Today I wore my Mother's rings.

Home again, home again, Jiggerty jig!

It certainly has been a topsy turvy week and some. Mama Sonia has packed her bags, according to Sonia Elizabeth, and has winged her flight to heaven to join Papa Roger, who has been calling her now for some months. It is a great comfort to me to know that they are together again, to part no more. Sonia told me that at one point, a couple of days before she died, she was talking to someone, instructing them to please make sure that her golf bag was packed, and that it should be packed just so on the bottom...this was very important! Must be that Daddio had organized a tee time! We all flew down to Winter Park to see her off, and to comfort and console each other. It was a good time for that, but as Father Walsh said, this is the end of that era, and that is very hard to swallow. Gone are the days of Mama Sonia's fantastic gourmet dinners. Gone are those dreadful political discussions which became more and more volatile by the second! Just the kind of debate on which the Wall family fed, well, some of them, anyway! I remember Uncle Chente sounding off like a machine gun, then Mama Sonia, totally undaunted, joining in the fray. Papa Roger would screw up his face in disgust, and tell everyone they were nuts! They were able to spew away at each other, and within moments, slap each other on the back, and with mirth and love filling the room, turn their attention to other matters. Gone are the lunch dates, the dinner dates, the museum dates, the art gallery dates, the play dates, and saddest of all: the shopping dates! Thank~you, sweet lady, for all the memories. Thank~you for adopting me as your daughter, and introducing me thus. Thank~you for accepting me for who I am. Thank~you for coming canoeing with me up at Kidney Pond, and keeping your cool, well, almost keeping your cool, when the moose swam out to check us out while circling around our canoe! Phew, with me extremely pregnant with Hannah, that was a little hair-raising! Thank~you for spoiling my children with all those amazing trips to DisneyWorld, Epcot, SeaWorld etc. and their shopping trips. We came to bid you farewell this past week. Did you know that? We were all so sad. You looked so pretty in your periwinkle suit, and your hands crossed just so. Vinny and Lucy poured their hearts out and made us all cry. Jerry honoured Patricia, and thanked her profusely for all her unselfish attention to your every need in the last months. Larrito applied some of that wonderful love~glue on his brothers and brought a semblance of reconciliation between them: for understandably, emotions have run high, and it's been difficult to come to terms. Father Walsh came up trumps! You would have been pleased. But you were millions and trillions of miles away, having a picnic with Papa Roger under a heavenly willow tree, which definitely was not weeping, enjoying the love that still holds you two together, and will, while eternity rolls along!