1.  Haiku poetry is actually pretty easy to write.  Give it a try right here…

OK, I’ll try!

Sleepless nights lately

The moon is not yet at full

Spring affects me so

 

2.  Haiku poetry aside, have you ever written a poem?  Will you share it with us?

Yes and here’s my best one. At least, what I consider to be my best.

 

Nomad Dreams

 

We are nomads, wanderers, jockeying camels

across sand blown dunes, our brightly dyed

robes flopping around the Bactrian’s haunches,

stirring up cultures of yogurt in our gourd saddlebags.

We are not royalty, oh no, far from it.

Yet I obey the rules of the ninth lunar month,

eating only oranges, small red beans, sugar and bream

If indeed we were nomads an orange glow sun would dip

below the mirage of horizon as we tie up at the Khara-hot

bazaar to buy a goat and trade hides for food.

We would yearn to settle our tent city, set down stakes of permanence

and make Ulaanbaatar steadfast. Here in the land of the blue sky, Mongolia, we

are the astronomers, the star warriors of the dunes. We are the thinkers, free

to roam the steppe and the wastelands, ever searching for the perfect

piece of land to lay the first stone of foundation.

 

3.  Do you have a favorite poet or does poetry usually make you yawn?

So I work in an English department and from what I can tell, people are reading less poetry than ever before. I enjoy it but don’t necessarily have any favorites other than Billy Collins. And when I was in grad school, people said he was a hack so you know, there’s no accounting for taste.

4.  April 17  is National Ellis Island Family History Day, too,  Did any of your ancestors or relatives immigrate through Ellis Island from another country?

As far as I know, no. My grandfather did a lot of genealogy and found that we came from England and Ireland mostly – though I am not sure they came during that time. We have a relation to Daniel Boone so mine may have come over on the Mayflower.

5.  We also celebrate National Cheeseball Day on April 17th.  Do you have a favorite cheeseball recipe to share with us or have cheeseballs basically disappeared from parties today?

I don’t have a recipe and I rarely see them but remember when they were a staple of those cheese and sausage fundraisers people did. To me, they’re a little gross.

6.  If you want to share, please tell us something random about your week.

I feel like we’re really laying low this week – just trying to do little house things here and there. I mentioned that every weekend for months had been spent preparing for that big party and then Isaac’s was Monday (his birthday anyway – party in 2 Saturdays) so now we just want our ‘normal’ lives back. I got home yesterday and ran then made dinner. I sat down to watch wrestling and I even sewed a patch on my battle jacket. I temp glued them on for ease of sewing but I quickly remembered how difficult it is to push that needle through thick patches so I got one done then immediately ordered some sewing gloves. I need the grip to push and pull.

I don’t technically need this one done until September. i doubt I’ll be wearing this to Rockville because Jacksonville in May is probably too hot for a t-shirt AND a jacket, even if it is sleeveless. But I might – might wear my other one. Here is Isaac modeling it for you.