Waiting For The Azaleas

First the buds pop. Then, in the blink of an eye it seems.....azaleas everywhere. Like over night! The only words I can use are orgasmic, ecstatic, sacred, astounding, ethereal, and unfortunately evanescent. Yes, this apotheosis of blossoms and range of Pantone colors from white, to yellow, to shades of orange, and a complete continuum of pinks, reds, and violets, only lasts about two to three weeks at best. Then, we have solid green hedges for the rest of the summer and fall. As soon as the last flower drops, we begin our long wait until next April/early May (depends where you live) when the azaleas will grace us with their presence once again.

Note: No Southern home would be without an azalea bush. Then for the complete summer we have night blooming jasmine, crape myrtle trees, and magnificent magnolia trees. (See the vine in the photo - thats the jasmine creeping over the bush.)

Just To Let You Know

just to let you know

I chopped    more cut

the poor fig tree you

planted for me    yes

out of spite yet I 

kept the lilacs

so close to blooming

I could not

deny them

life

Profusion Of Azaleas

My yard explodes with pink azaleas, to my delight.

Violets From Oversea

Villanelle

by Roland Leighton

From the film Testament of Youth

Violets from Plug Street Wood,
Sweet, I send you oversea.
(It is strange they should be blue,
Blue, when his soaked blood was red,
For they grew around his head;
It is strange they should be blue.)

Violets from Plug Street Wood-

Think what they have meant to me-
Life and Hope and Love and You
(And you did not see them grow
Where his mangled body lay
Hiding horror from the day;
Sweetest it was better so.)

Violets from oversea,
To your dear, far, forgetting land
These I send in memory,
Knowing You will understand.

Overlooking The Potomac

One of the two huge eagles overlooking the Potomac River on the beach at National Harbor.

National Harbor, MD

Living In Metro D. C., I tend to forget all of the great places that we locals just take for granted.

For My Besties

Presence

your touch electrocutes me

breathless and mortal with desire

exploding down my spine

heart   arrested by your gesture

toward me   you move

in white silence

adagio of light   luminous

fugue of my passion, reflected

in your eyes

there was a time

when only music could move me

to a place beyond simple fascination

passion   translucent

divine

something smug

in the figure of my smile

no, only when you’re in the room

The Burn

Step 5. When the pudding this nice & thick pour it into a serving bown to set. No matter what I do I still burn the bottom of the pan. No importa lo que haga, todavía quemo el fondo de la sartén.

Step 6. Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste. Then wait as long as you can before you eat it. Be nice don't just dig in with your spoon. Save some for others. I never can wait. Espolvorea con canela al gusto. Luego espera todo lo que puedas antes de comerlo. Se agradable no solo entierres con tu cuchara. Por favor, deja algunos para otros. Nunca puedo esperar.

Buen Provecho.

The Cooking Continues

Please understand when I say Bad Boricua I mean nontraditional. I can't cook from scratch in any language. I burn everything!

Step 3. Pour the powder into the sartén

Step 4. Bring it to a buddling thick mass

Keep that spoon moving & don't talk on the phone!

Adventures In Cooking With The Bad Boricua

Ok, now that we have power, we need pudding! Coconut pudding. TEMPLEQUE.

Here is my recipe..... the box.

Step 1. Tear open the box

Step 2. Get an unburnt spoon

Revolú

Revolú literally means a continuum from loud racket to huge mess to chaos & pandemonium. So it's a revolú when it comes to the daily count up. Everybody says something different.

Today is Day 212 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 225 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. AEE says on StatusPR that 97.27% of its subscribers have power.

People are still tweeting that power is inconsistent and figures being deseminates are untrue, but right now all I have to say is that my family in both Manati and Vega Baja have power, so I'm happy.

#Apagón = Blackout

Right back where we started from. Glad we have solar powered lights in many homes and generators on standby.

AEE Informa: Se restablece el servicio eléctrico a todos los clientes que ya estaban energizados antes de la interrupción general de ayer. Regresamos al 97.2% de los clientes con servicio en toda la Isla. Seguimos... CC1 #hastallegar100

Translated from Spanishby Microsoft

EEE Reports: Electrical service is restored to all customers who were already energized before the general outage yesterday. We return to 97.2% of the customers with service all over the island. We... CC1 #hastallegar100

Yeah, that's what they say on Twitter. People on the street say they still don't have complete restoration of power. WTF is the power generation today????? I can't reach my family!

Sí, eso es lo que dicen en Twitter. La gente en la calle dice que todavía no tienen una restauración completa de luz y electrica. WTF es la generación de energía hoy ????? No puedo contactar a mi familia!

#HASTALLEGAR100

AEE is promoting #hastallegar100which translates to: until we arrive at 100%..???????

Today is Day 211 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 224 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. Who really knows how much of the island really has power today?

AEE Informa: Se restablece el servicio eléctrico a todos los clientes que ya estaban energizados antes de la interrupción general de ayer. Regresamos al 97.2% de los clientes con servicio en toda la Isla. Seguimos... CC1 #hastallegar100

Translated from Spanishby Microsoft  

(I got new for you Microsoft does a terrible job translating.... They don't know swear words and colloquialisms or street speak. LOL)

EEE Reports: Electrical service is restored to all customers who were already energized before the general outage yesterday. We return to 97.2% of the customers with service all over the island. We... CC1 #hastallegar100

 As far as I know they had not reached 97.2% and I have been tracking this daily. Can we trust these guys? So far, not so much & not so good. ¿Podemos confiar en ellos? Hasta ahora no tanto y no tan bueno. Sorry, but I can't. Lo siento pero no puedo.

AEE be like:

 

Abuela's Headache Cure - Pasteles De Yucca

Head hurt so bad, but I knew still had two pasteles frozen solid in the other freezer. Yes! Nothing better than the taste of home. I even ate them off my abuela's plates from the 1960's. 

Somebody's Gotta Live In Paradise

we all have our own personal blasphemy

why did mine have to be loving you?

Chittenango Falls

you know I read the sky for Orion

under the same stars tonight

will you chance to look above you

see the misgivings of years past alone

unreclaimable    do your dreams

bring you back to the promise

we could not make

eruptions of dead stars

ripple the fabric of our universe

 

suddenly there we stand

beyond space time at Chittenango Falls

water rushing its primordial edges

as we wade the stream below

all I want to do is whisper

stay with me    stay

with me this time

Late Snow

first full moon of spring

through the trees shy

you have been deceived

cold nights days of warm sun

coaxing the daffodils yellow

coming to cautiously for the desire that rises

as a late snow envelopes the landscape

Mi Promesa

So many thanks to everyone who visits my blog and has helped me to keep my promise to count up each day that Puerto Rico remains without 100% electricity for all people across the island. Thank you with all of my heart.

Muchísimas gracias a todos los que visitan mi blog y me han ayudado a mantener mi promesa de contar cada día que Puerto Rico permanece sin electricidad al 100% para todas las personas en toda la isla. Gracias con todo mi corazón.

Today is Day 203 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 216 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. StatusPR currently reports that electric generation remains at 95.20% for its subscribers.

Sonata

Sonata

we have gotten beyond all that

shadows in the new moon

cherry blossoms every April

sun in equinox too soon

tulips, daffodils, forsythia

 this is a letter

a plea to the spring sight of you

London in May, July in San Juan

I am so hungry for the past

filled with lovers

at least then I had my pick

to bite the full throat of you

to sleep in your arms

to lay my hair across your face

to claim you simply

as one reaches and picks a flower

red flor de maga in wind

my hands trembling

A Place To Think

When I need to put things into perspective, I visit my angels to think about my demons.

Today is Day 201 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 214 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. StatusPR currently reports that electric generation has risen to 95.20% for its subscribers.

Papayas Grow On Trees

Today is Day 198 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 211 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. StatusPR currently reports that electric generation has risen to 95.20% for its subscribers. Let us all hope this is true. La verdad.

Coaching Pokemon #2

Are you giving me some attitude, Squirtle? Get that look off your face or you'll be doing a 3000 without fins.

Coaching Pokemon # 1

Ok Paras, give me a free to fly 500 foldover with 10 second intervals. It's endurance Wednesday! And don't try hanging on the lane lines!

                         

Today is Day 195 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 208 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. StatusPR continues to report that electric generation remains at 90.10% for its subscribers.

Back In The Day

So long ago, the ties that bind us remain. I know that if I need you, you will still hold my hand. Thanks Poche!

Today is Day 194 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 207 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. StatusPR continues to report that electric generation remains at 90.10% for its subscribers.

Flashmob Flash Mob - Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy ) Beethoven Symphony...

Everything

The land meant everything to my father. The rich red dirt. The pineapples, papaya, and watermelons were his treasures. We lived right on La Finca at the end of the curving drive lined with lemon trees. From the porch, I watched the watermelons grow bigger each day. The papaya trees were past the rancho  in their own grove. And behind us stretched the pineapple fields all the way to the mountains. I can't explain the understanding of how the plants perfected themselves in their fruits. My father knew and just smiled.

Today is Day 193 since Hurricane Maria made landfall and Day 206 since Hurricane Irma made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico. StatusPR continues to report that electric generation remains at 90.10% for its subscribers.