Ode to Freezing Rain

Today I slip and I slide
Going to work's a rough ride
The drive was so dicey
'Cause the roads were so icy

Today I left for work early
And the roads were real squirrely
Some had slid in a ditch
They will wait for a hitch

Some might be making a fuss
A truck from Toys R Us
It slid off the way
Why did it happen today?

So take it easy today
On the roads if you may
Drive with care, take it slow
Be a good good example to show

Nature's Most Perfect Gaming System

The best gaming system
Don't cost a dime
And it's been around
Since beginning of time

You don't need electric
You don't need TV
Sometimes with this system
You just need a tree

With this perfect system
You can play all day long
And all of your friends
Can come play along

First base is a block of wood
Second base is a shoe
No worry about home plate
Some cardboard will do

You play some touch football
Sometimes you keep score
Sometimes you change teams
And then play some more

And when you play tag
"You're it" you will say
Change the name of the tag
And play all the day

No charge for these games
No charge when you play
Just go on outside
And play all the day

No need for the gym
No need for the park
Just reach in your mind
And play until dark

Wonder Winterland

Out my window I saw all white
All white stuff was in my sight
Out my window I see the snow
And people driving very slow


Don't want to see our Christmas green
White snow gives it a perfect scene
And it really is against our rights
Seeing green lawns and Christmas lights

I need to take a break

Sometimes I get weary
Sometimes I am sore
But at the end of some days
I know I need more

I get up too early
To go to my work
I find myself up late
Unless duties I shirk

We think the world won't go
Unless we're there to turn
But sometimes I'd like to take
A match and my schedule burn

The world will continue
It will stand the test
If I prop my feet up
And take a needed rest

And this is for the rest of you
If working makes you hazy
Take a moment, smell the coffee
Don't let things drive you crazy

They will never make a song
Of the words of this post
Just sit down and take a break
Before you become a ghost

Indian Summer

It happens here after the first killing frost
The days we call summer we know we have lost
We look in our yards, and up in our eaves
We see that our trees are shedding their leaves

We get out our tools, the blower and rake
We know all the labor and time it will take
We will rake our leaves and place them in piles
In which kids might leap and give us their smiles

Take our warm weather things, put them away
The coming cold weather won't be here to stay
The weather that we enjoy at this time
Will be back next spring, all of nature will chime

birthday poem

Another year is gone
Another one is past
As each one goes by
They all go too fast

I remember the day
That I became eight
Mom gave me a party
It felt really great

Nineteen seventy one
When I turned sixteen
I looked forward to driving
In the car being seen

When I turned twenty one
I really felt slick
But I drank too much booze
And then I got sick

I turned twenty eight
But on the day before this
A daughter was born
Who's brought us much bliss

It's been three years
Since the day I turned fifty
I don't feel all that old
And that's really nifty

So don't start feeling too old
And your joy don't encumber
Remember that your age
Is only a number

The weird object of Jen

One of my friends is the blogger named Jen
On Fridays she posts weird things
It might be a mouse it might be a pen
It might be some teeth with some springs

Today she she had some real good fun
Her humor is one of the best
Her boy took took a picture of this son of a gun
In his pocket was a foam rubber breast

Everybody sing along!

Cliff Note: To be sung to the chorus of the "No No Song"

Ringo says no no no no
Please don't write me no more.
Your letters will wind up on the floor
If you write me
In the trash it will be
I'll ignore you like I've never before!

Ringo the Star

He started his message with peace and love
He thought it would fit like a hand in a glove
Those giving him life he should be fond of
He told them their letters they should now all shove

For forty five years, he's lived a good life
Most fans more faithful to him than a wife
But this, his last message has caused some strife
Some feel that he might have cut with a knife

He come from a band they called the fab four
Beatles stopped singing, they clamored for more
Solo career, he had much in store
Just this past week, their hearts he had tore

This record is clear, just so you can see
You never got even one letter from me
I will now even make this guarantee
I'd rather listen to AWB

Cliff Note: To the "youngsters" reading this blog, AWB is Average White Band.

Ode to my gray hair

Cliff Note: This poem is a result of some email exchanges I had with David McMahon of Authorblog fame. We were both "blessed" with premature gray hair.


I will tell you I really don't care
When people will just stare at my hair
I have known for a while that it's gray
I didn't just notice this fact today

My dear mother once told me to try
To color my hair with a bit of dye
I'm premature gray I know it is true
But I don't want to be immature blue

I first went gray at a very young age
For some I think it's a reason for rage
Some suggestions from people are really bold
I think they're just afraid to grow old

Now my son, he knows he'll never be there
He knows he's starting to lose all of his hair
He has his one plan in place for today
When it falls out he gets out of the way

Now all men should accept this one fact
Surprised I really don't think you should act
We all have one of these two fates
Our hair turns gray or it evacuates

To My Baby Boomer Blogger Buddies

Some think we are old
I think we are gold
Boomers we are
Shining bright as a star

Tim writes of classic TV
A good job, you can see
Another blog he has scored
About his faith in the Lord

And then we have Daisy
We know she's not lazy
Two blogs,there's no waiting
Photos and fun she is stating

Kathy writes about her life
Never seeming to have much strife
In the Lord she is well rooted
Her devotions are very well suited

Jen writes to us her blog, Unglazed
Her love for life makes us amazed
She's very proud of her log house
And her family, especially her spouse

Brenda's been my friend awhile
Always able to make me smile
Her new blog just suits me fine
Though on Wednesdays, she starts to whine

Cathouse Teri is a fun gal
She is many people's pal
Sharing with us her unique view
With many friends, not just a few

I am done now with this rhyme
I can't think of more born in this time
If I missed you, please don't be sore
You were born after '64

two years of blogging

Today marks two years since I started to blog
When I started to do this, I felt in a fog
I didn't know just what to write
Started thinking with all my might

I thought of folks from near my place
Folks who've never seen my face
Their support and motivation
The best of all in this great nation

Started writing about the band
One of the best bands in the land
Of their show and my mistakes
Amazing how many of those one makes

The IGA closed and we were sad
Opened again, and we were glad
My grandson Ben was the first to buy
The owner is a super guy

The WIXYcam is taking shots
Of marching bands and vacation spots
I too some pics of the traveling wall
Of the Rittman boys playing ball

Blogged about my family, my wife and mother
You helped me grieve the loss of my brother
You saw grandchildren of which I'm proud
If you don't believe me, I'll say it again loud

I have new friends from near and far
Some places I couldn't get to by car
From the deep south to the Midwest
And overseas you're all the best

the best band in the land

The Rittman Indians Marching Band
They are the best, I take my stand
The student musicians have the gift
To give the crowds a special lift

The band director's named Ed Sims
He'd be excited directing hymns
All the students groan at his jokes
Sometimes his humor is just a hoax

The majorette leader, Becky Cline
Gets teased a lot, but she is fine
The majorettes they twirl and spin
To not have them would be a sin

The boosters, they are a loyal crew
Without them we would be in a stew
They volunteer they're chaperons
And other things, these precious stones

Our band, they march, they do not walk
Their marching show is not just talk
They hit their notes and hit their marks
Their enthusiasm really sparks

And now it's time for me to go
Thursday night is our first show
We will be in Mogadore
See us then, you will not snore

This Cliff Note is written later
The weather was fine for an alligator
The show was called off because of rain
And lightning too I must explain

my messy desk

My desk is all cluttered
This thing is a mess
It shows I am sloppy
To this I confess

I know where my stuff is
Though all you may not
You think I should clean it
And not leave a spot

I know where my tools are
And even my phone
I know that I'm sloppy
I'm not even alone.

I will clean it someday
Throw papers away
Write a poem about it
But it won't be today

Ode to the WIXYmobile aka Rolls Canardly

I drive the WIXYmobile to work
Great gas milege is the perk
At certain speeds, it starts to shake
A real smooth ride, it doesn't make

I cannot park it on the soil
Because it leaks a lot of oil
Noisy muffler I had to replace
Way too loud, just like a race

There was rust, but just a speck
And then my son got in a wreck
Busted glass and bent up hatch
The replacement did not match

I drive the car now to my job
Folks must think that I'm a slob
They laugh at me and call me poor
But unlike them, my car's paid for

Cliff Note:I call my car a Rolls Canardly. It rolls down one hill and can 'ardly make it up the next.

Parade in Rittman

Every year in July
Proceeding down our main street
The sleepwalker parade
The fun can't be beat

Here come all the cars
Firetrucks and the tractors
In some of these things
We even see actors

People start their marching
They all look so dandy
And to all of the children
They throw lots of candy

All of the merchants
They all come together
To plan this event
And hope for good weather

So come out to Rittman
This July twenty four
Not just for the marching
We'll have plenty more

old and falling apart

Somedays I feel old
Like I'm falling apart
And I really do wish
I could get a restart

I feel I have pain
I feel I get sore
Gotta get things done
Gotta do even more

One knee, it gets stiff
The other's replaced
The price that I pay
For things done in haste

My back is so sore
And I can't turn my neck
But I think about this
And say what the heck

The life I have lived
And the things I have done
I look at it all
And I have had fun

Some people were born
In worse shape than I
Never even a chance
To look in the sky

It's not all that bad
To have aches and pains
Some just are payment
For all my great gains

Look out for skeeters

I live near a lake
A swamp and a creek
And all during the summer
We all want to shriek

We now all are pestered
Itching and scratching
Bothered by the skeeters
That keep on hatching

A truck drives through town
And starts all it's fogging
And bugs all the people
Who want to go jogging

The fog does it's part
The mosquitoes are sore
Gives them the desire
To attack us some more

We just get our repellent
Spray it onto our skin
Buy a bug zapper
Or forget it and stay in

Recording my thoughts

I want me a notebook

To record what I think

Because sometimes my thoughts

Are just gone in a blink

If I had something to write

Recording thoughts that I had

I just would not lose them

When my memory is bad

I can could use a recorder

A notebook, a pencil

To record these my thoughts

My dreams, they're a stencil

If you now read these thoughts

Look at these with your eyes

You should thank modern times

And the Lord who supplies

Ode to the IT guy

I. T. people at our work

Their self importance makes me smirk

They think they programmed moon and sun

Click a button and make it run

Their explanations make me snore

They think their best friend's one Al Gore

Their presence we can do without

Question them they start to pout

This poem is just tongue in cheek

Get a virus, them I seek

Server crashes, we're in trouble

Our workload then will more than double

Meet My Friends

Cliff Note: Pat J has challenged me to write a poem including all my blogging buddies. I have accepted this challenge and will not only write the poem, but I will include links. Names will be there in no particular order, just as I think of how to fit them in.

My friends are here
My friends are there
My friends all cheer
From everywhere

A TV blog
Is wrote by Tim
Read it all
And don't just skim

Pat writes about issues
All political stuff
Good sense of humor
Not all that gruff

Struke teaches video
Things we see and hear
A good moral compass
Helps him to steer

Don't adjust your screen
Because it's green
Our good nurse Bella
Is on the scene

Keeping us on our toes
Here's Cathouse Teri
She helps us think
And that's not scary

Daisy, Daisy
Not just one blog, but two
A proud Buckeye
Willing to entertain you

Monday through Sunday
Are the days of the week
Melanie is the blogger
Great faith she does speak

With her faith and her family
She's fit and runs too
From India our good friend
Is named Frasypoo

From New England comes Diamond
Quality is her game
With her weight loss suggestions
We'll soon call healthy her name

South in Mississippi
Liquid is queen
Generous in her praises
She'll never be mean

From Indiana, my friend Michelle
In Terre Haute, she's really swell
A wife and mother, but that;s not all
She also works at the Mart called Wal

Another friend from that same town
Sindi, she's special to all around
Her tater soup is all the rage
Of everyone of every age

This friend, she's down just for a bit
She's Stacy and she's getting fit
And she'll be back, just wait and see
New and improved, she'll even be

From Alabama, heart of song
She's Kathy and she'll sing along
Her son's band, of which she's proud
Though their music is really loud

Her log house is a gift of Him
Jen will tell us, her faith's not slim
Read her blog, it's called Unglazed
Feel her love, you'll be amazed

Another friend's not done a bunch
My friend Scott, I have a hunch
He's busy with post graduate studies
Scott and I are real good buddies

G'day Mate is what I say
To another blogger on this day
David McMahon is a real good bloke
He even really can take a joke

Another Michelle, across the sea
The land of Scots is where she'll be
She'll write a good story and a good rhyme
She'll visit often every time

Jessica is a very busy one
But she seems to have a lot of fun
She has her family, her dogs, her birds
She takes her pictures, and uses words

My daughter Martha, and her clan
She has a blog, she has a plan
Her three children, and their schooling
Are going places, I'm not fooling

This story's done, this poem's through

I hope that I've remembered you
If you're mad at me, and swing a bat
I'll tell you what, just go see Pat

I have been awarded.

This is probably one of very few non-poetic posts this blog will have. One of my newer friends, Daisy has awarded this blog the "Arte Y Pico" award. This is the first award this blog has received.

Here are the rules for the Arte y Pico award:

1) pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2) each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award which is here: Arte y Pico.

First blog I would like to award this to is Media Matters. Struke does a great job using a newer form of communication-blogging, to give his views of the "more traditional" forms of mass communication and what they are lacking nowadays.

Second blog is Unglazed. Jen is my newest blogging friend and adds a new dimension to those on my blog roll. Her Christian views and the log cabin that was built with love are central points to this exceptional blog.

Third up, Life is a Roller Coaster. Sindi has been a good friend to many on my blog roll for quite awhile. Her love, humor, and photography make this blog a must read.

Fourth, Bella Builds a House. Our friend, aka the green nurse, is working on the next dream house she and her family will move in and wants to share the experience with us all.

Lastly, Pat J. (at least in my mind) knows it all. Pat gives his conservative political views in a very humorous way.

Check out all the winners, as well as Daisy's two blogs, Dancing With Daisy and Smiling With Daisy.

Fueling the dream

The long weekend is coming
And I can not wait
But the price of fuel
Will keep me in state

The burgers and weenies
Will all be great
I'll enjoy it at home
And sit with my mate

We'll go to the park
Watch the fireworks show
They will be shot up
And in bright colors glow

And to you, all my friends
On this Fourth of July
Keep your heads firmly up
On your dreams please fly high

Don't let the price of fuel
Steal all of your hopes
Or let all of your dreams
Slide down the steep slopes

Just learn from this day
And those here before
How they took all their dreams
And like the eagles did soar

In them we trust???

The actors all from Hollywood
Think their opinions all are good
Want us to adopt all their views
But they don't walk in our shoes

To them many candidates flock
Think all their thoughts we should take stock
They think their thoughts are like a rock
I think they look at us and mock

They think their morals we should take
But most have morals of a snake
They're shaky as a house of sticks
But their opinion is in the mix

To them they think we should look up
They think we are a newborn pup
They think we are the common fool
But most of them don't finish school

I don't like it

I do not like election years
Too many promises hit my ears
Promises these folks just can't keep
Promises that they pile deep

The people that all want the job
Try to reach the common slob
They say that they are one of us
They fly on planes, we take the bus

They move their lips and they are lying
We hear their junk and we are sighing
When elected and told what they said
They say they're misinterpreted

The times have changed, they stay the same
Only difference is in the name
But they will say, just wait and see
This is our democracy

to those friends

I like my friends
I like them all
I like them big
I like them small

I like them here
I like them there
If they like me
I think that's fair

To make them laugh
To make them smile
Is just the half
Of my desired style

Around the world
Across the sea
I want my friends
To also like me

To be a friend
And a real good buddy
Don't take much time
And no need to study

If you need a friend
Just wait and see
Be just yourself
They'll come to thee

Cliff Note: I'll change that last line as I think it's corny. I just have to come up with another

orange barrel lament

Everyday I get to look
Look to see what lanes are took
See the traffic patterns sway
From orange barrels everyday

For sake of progress, I do not doubt
But causes some to cuss and shout
These orange barrels cause a squeeze
And driver's brains now turn to cheese

Road repair we do need
Make them safe to get to speed
While it gets done, some get tense
And need a dose of common sense

Orange barrel, Ohio state flower
Increases commutes by the hour
Some drivers show that they are gents
Others need intelligence

Invisible Friends

If I said you can't see my friends
You'd think I was on drugs
Or maybe at the very least
I need a lot of hugs

When I was young and this I said
I'd always get a flogging
Now I am older and I say this
You know I've been blogging

In search of a thought

I'm sitting at my keyboard now
To birth a thought, I know not how
Stretching my mind, scratching my head
Wanting the best thing since sliced bread

Looking now at my screen
The muse has left me, boy he's mean
I will wait and he'll be back
He'll give me thoughts and will not slack

Maybe I'm wrong and the muse is a she
And she ran off from me with a lot of glee
And she won't be back, she won't return
Because I'm wrong, me she'll spurn

Wait a sec, this is line thirteen
I wrote down thoughts, all to be seen
The muse is here, not he or she
And gave me thoughts, now don't you see?

working class blues

It's back to the old grind
It seems you're always behind
And the piles of work
Make you look like a jerk

You wait for your break
And you can't afford steak
Bills all need to be paid
You don't have it made

You have to pay bills
No time for your ills
So take those darn pills
And head for the hills

Load up on caffeine
And don't be so mean
You need to make green
Show up at the scene

Work till you retire
Or maybe inspire
That deep inner fire
That sends all dreams higher

Right now I'll just go
Just work for my dough
A tough row to hoe
But the money does show

And Why Do YOU Blog?

You may blog because you care
Stories you have with people share
Not to worry about who would stare
Blogging in just your underwear

Oh Boy, Here Comes Summer

The biggest bummer
When it now becomes Summer
Is I cannot look forward
To not having school

I can't get up late
Life is not all that great
Can't play Summer sport
Got people to support

But later comes dark
Can go to the park
Ride on my bike
Perhaps go take a hike

Between June and September
Just got to remember
Go out and have fun
While we have some more sun

Old time recreation

The power was out
No twist or shout
No cry or pout
Nothing to spout

I sat in my chair
Read my book
Gave the pages a look
And I wasn't shook

My wife got upset
No internet
No way to attain, give a holler
Find out why no power

I found the pages
And went through the stages
And expecting for worst
We were told we were first

We were happy to know
The crews weren't too slow
They were all on their way
We got our power back that day

An occasional failure
Is not an awful bad thing
Solitude it will bring
An appreciative swing

I like one liners

I like to give one liners
Over a big long joke
Cause a big long joke
Might cause me to choke

One liners are short
They're fresh in the mind
They're easy to find
And easy to remember

I like to tell puns
Because puns are fun
I tell them and run
And sometimes they stun

Before I go
I want you to know
You should be warned
Before you are scorned

Be careful with one liners
Don't tell them in diners
Or tell them to shriners
They may give you shiners

a thought during my morning commute

While drinking a drink
I was thoughting a think
While on my way to my job
I was wondering why
My car seat weren't dry
I felt like such a slob

I figured it out
I do not doubt
Why the seat of my pants were wet
I knew it would rain
Should have entered my brain
Who thought I would forget

My window was down
I feel like a clown
And my butt, it now feels cold
Should have used my crank
But in bed I sank
My brain must be made of mold

Driving to the city
I thought of this ditty
And to you I now must warn
If your window is down
You will feel like a clown
You'll be the object of your own scorn

It won't be dark

These poems I write
Are not out of spite
I know that my spark
Won't make them dark

I want to be funny
Be nice to my honey
And maybe oh maybe
Make all kinds of money

I might write about chicken
My fingers I'm lickin'
Or possibly jams
And spiral sliced hams

While driving my car
I'll go very far
To write a long ditty
About the big city

I want you to laugh
For a week and a half
And you might start to sigh
And say who is this guy?

You might look at my beard
Say, "Boy is he weird"
Look at my hair
Say "How long he'd been there?"

I want you to smile
And stay here a while
And go tell a friend
To this web address send.

Blogging is habit forming

On this past week
I started to leak
And words have started to rhyme
So I thought a new blog
Would help start to jog
My poems when I have time

This is my third blog
I hope I don't hog
All of your online time
Sometimes I do better
Than writing a letter
Or drinking a soda with lime

I'm getting the knack
I hope you come back
And read what I have to say
But still bring your faces
To my other two places
And I hope I make your day.

Y'all come back now ya hear?