Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Podner Up

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Murrmurrses for a bonus post about a friend in the blogosphere. Ah, Internet: everything is free now. That's what they say, but maybe it shouldn't be. Julie, who puts out quality material for nothing, lost her best-beloved greenhouse in the recent Big Wind. We will return you to your normal fare tomorrow.


Gather 'round, kids, and attend to my sonnet
about Julie Zickefoose and her late Pod;
that's her greenhouse, that somehow got crosswise with God,
Who uprooted a tree and then flang it right on it.

You don't take it personal. That would be silly:
there's no single person's a target of wind.
It doesn't mean Julie has trespassed or sinned
by protecting the fuchsia or wint'ring the lily.

That's just how things go. But there's things we can manage:
replacing a Pod that's been felled by a tree
for a woman who gives us so much, and for free?
We can do that. And so I appeal to her fannage:

Let's go to her blog. You've all been there before
to learn how to safely relocate a snake
with a pillowcase, ladder, sheer balls, and a rake;
or discover how swallows can open a door;

or a way to put corpulent bats on a diet
until they are streamlined and ready for flight.
There's a donation button right there on the right,
and to show her we're grateful, I think we should try it.

For Zick, and her Pod that's irreparably riven,
for all we have learned about bird-eating frogs,
and busted-up turtles, and snorgling dogs,
here's a way to give back some of what we've been given.

If we all band together, it won't take a lot.
We can go there and chip in a five or a ten,
or whatever, to shelter that now-homeless wren
that kept nesting there, in the geranium pot.

Here's a link to her blog. It's right there at the bottom.
Her friends will show up, so let's show her she's got 'em.

juliezickefoose.blogspot.com

34 comments:

  1. Heading right on over! Ah, a poet along with also being a humorist. I am impressed. :-)

    But sad for the damage...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Djan, you should be a regular over there. Writes her fanny off, knows everything about everything, and is guaranteed to teach you something you didn't know and wished you had--at least once a week.

      Delete
  2. Bravo! What a wordsmith you are!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This sort of doggerel is all I ever did until just before I retired.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for pointing out Julie's blog. I'll check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Murr! Nice work, ma'am. I'll pop over just for that. Roth x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your poetry is delicious....love the odd rhyming and love what a good friend you are.
    I have sent a bit to Julie and signed up to follow her. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love this place. This strange, ethereal, invisible community, arms reaching out.

      Delete
  6. Wonderful - Her peeps collecting pennies for the Pod! I told her that she could do a "kickstarter for catastrophe" if needed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, she'd never ever ask for herself. But seriously, I think every now and then we should pony up. Artists, writers, musicians, all giving it up for free, and some of them you really would pay for if someone said "would you give $5 a year for this content?" But nobody does. And Julie's is worth it.

      Delete
  7. Wonderful - Her peeps collecting pennies for the Pod! I told her she could do a "kickstarter for catastrophe" if needed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about the hiccup - so the error msg was in error.

      Delete
  8. That greenhouse looks as though it would fit right at home on Moon Base Alpha.

    ReplyDelete
  9. E.B. White got it just right, at the end of his magnum opus, when he described the hero of Charlotte's Web:

    "It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both."

    As is Julie, and as are you, dear Murr. What an amazing act of creativity and kindness.

    I'm on it!

    xoHodge

    ReplyDelete
  10. How do you DO that? And where's YOUR donate button. 'Cause I would totally pay $5.00 a year for your content. Just so you know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, it's nice just to know you would. heart heart heart

      Delete
  11. What a good friend you are. I'm heading over to her blog right now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am impressed by the brilliance of your idea, as well as by your poetry, so I wanted you to know that I ran right over and donated. Cuz I love Julie's blog, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did want to know that. Ain't she grand? Thank you.

      Delete
  13. Murr, you and JK are two peas without a pod. Love the both of ya! And you both have hearts as big as the outdoors. Loved the sonnet, and I got right on it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sounds like you know about hearts. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, I meant JZ. Yes, and I know a bit about the outdoors, so I know how well the comparison stands up. We also had the same "narsty Wind" in Virginia, and it wasn't to be sneezed at.

      Delete
    2. And through the magic of non-editing, I totally read that JK as JZ anyway. That was a mighty big wind.

      Delete
  15. Julie's one of my favourite bloggers. I've been too busy to read blogs from my Reader this week; yours was the first. So I didn't know about that narsty Wind. Heading right over there now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julie's is one of my must-see blogs. Because you just never know.

      Delete
  16. Hi Murr, the mighty Zick led me to your blog so now I'm full circle and going back to her via you! The pals at Paypal swooshed $$ into her pod/ housegenerator pot. Btw I sooo would pay for you and JZ's blog. Can't wait to read y'all! Thnx!

    ReplyDelete