A Clock’s Work

With each abrupt little snap of the second hand

The screw twists deeper, then deeper again

Into soft, fleshy, nerve filled tissue

Tic

Now, sinks into muscle and sinew

And bursts a hidden life sustaining vein

Tic

Scrapes the bone and then cracks home

Leaving fine, white dust like a broken china bowl

Tic

Tic

The screw twists

Plunging painfully into dark, soft marrow

Wreaking havoc on her soul

Tic

Tic

And then

Toc

Each moment brings fresh misery

Each second she’s alone

She watches and lives by

Yet curses the clock

And prays for his voice on the phone

Spokane has all four seasons

I wouldn’t have it any other way

With every season there comes new hope and new fear

As it gets colder, the warm weather pests crawl away to hibernate or die

Leaving me free of their creepiness

I start to worry about what the roads will be like

Will it be a harsh winter?

Will anything break down?

Football season keeps me looking forward to the next game

I never did go camping

The new year is on the horizon

Hope eternally springs

I turn 50 in January

I love to wear long thick sweaters

I love pulling on my snow boots and wearing them like dress shoes

My electric bill will go up for several months

My laundry pile will be bigger and thicker with all of the corduroy and turtlenecks

There will be dark, cold, cozy moments drinking hot chocolate soy milk

There will be the beautiful blanket that makes even the most industrial of neighborhoods appear as something magical

I will lose hundreds of single gloves

I wont be able to do much street music

Will I get sick?

Will I get published?

When the sunshine hits the brilliant red leaves just off of Helena and Sprague

The beauty of it makes me gasp

Spokane has all four seasons

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Today, my plan is to hit THE DOLLAR TREE/HASTINGS on the South Hill on 29th.

My musical journey has been interesting this week.   I’ve added new songs and met some really cool people.

My challenges have been weather and insect related.  I have been patronized by flies and gnats that genuinely seem to enjoy my performance.  Something about my music makes them want to fly into my eyes and nose.

Today, I plan to start at 1:30pm and go until I have to stop.

If the space is occupied or the weather or wildlife are overwhelming, I’ll try again another day.

Hope to see you

Frankie

Come on by

http://www.inlander.com/spokane/west-central-festival-of-the-arts/Event?oid=2359354 

Imagine what it would feel like to be absolutely positive that the minute you were done here (with this version of yourself) you would be immediately and completely forgotten by everyone.  Would you seek to do less good or live less kindly?  Would you spend this moment stressing about how you were perceived by those around you?

If our motivation to act comes from the desire to bolster our story for future generations, are we not missing the point of being gifted such an amazing life to live right now?  Aren’t we squandering the joy, the freedom and the beauty of now?

When I challenge my motivations, I sometimes find that my most altruistic acts are the most self centered and self indulgent.  Everyone loves a martyr, right?

If I believe that I am basically good and that the universe is kind, in my stillness I will appreciate another spectacular moment of peace and joy.

Look for me in front of the Dollar Tree near Hastings on 29th today.  It will be lunch time, so feel free to bring a snack.

If it is windy or cold or rainy or if there is an angry mob….I’ll try another spot or another day.

Hopefully, September and October will have lots of nice days, so I can still play outside.

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Frankie

Box Elder Bugs are Zombies from Outer Space

By Frankie Valinda Ghee

I am not by nature a hateful or even a homicidal person.  As a matter of fact, I can count on the fingers of one hand the things I dislike enough to qualify them as hated.  There are four of them, but don’t get me started on the other three. At this time of year, almost my entire ration of hatred gets used up on Box Elder bugs.

I detest with a whole body revulsion these skanky little monsters that show up each spring with the first hopeful rays of sunshine to ruin what should be a time of hope and revitalization.  These beasts which I grew up calling British soldier bugs in Great Falls, Montana where they were only a novelty around our house in summertime, I now call “Walkers” as in AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”  I kill them individually and in “herds.”  I smash the single walkers that catch my eye while I’m in the shower or on the toilet, and I hose down the giant mind altering swarms that gather on the front porch in August making it difficult to get into my apartment without feeling like I need a chemical bath.

Last year, I found them climbing glasses of freshly poured wine and walking meal tables like over indulgent dinner guests.  I sat outside with my computer in poetic bliss only to find these hideous, useless, nightmare beasts walking up my pants legs, flying at my head and breaking my concentration.  I wrote a song about it.  Would you like to hear it?

Box Elder Bugs are Zombies from Outer Space

To be sung loudly and in a screeching monotone

Box Elder bugs are zombies from outer space

They are totally filled with suck!

I mean completely and totally crammed

To the brim

With Suck!

Oh, if box elder bugs plan

They plan to take over the Earth

By first driving us crazy

And annoying us all to death

Oh, how I hate them

They are totally filled with suck!

Did you know that there is such a thing as a Box Elder tree?  Well, there is.  I Googled it.  The bugs apparently go with the trees of the same name.  Some people call Box Elder bugs “Maple bugs.”  I learned that today.  I also learned that my creative plan to kill the fiends by chucking big pots of boiling water at them as they sun bath on the side of the house (crawling over each other’s backs, fornicating and doing god knows what all-right in front of the impressionable neighborhood cats) is one of the best ways to deal with them.  First, you want to get rid of wood and leaves you have lying around in your yard.  These walkers love to hide under things like that.  My hoards like to hang out on the old wooden picnic table in the back yard.  Two years ago, I could actually sit at that table and enjoy the outside, but last year, I couldn’t go near the thing without being terrorized by zombies from outer space.

There were so many of them on the side of the house one day that I was almost afraid to make eye contact just in case I angered the ring leader and provoked an all-out attack.  I think the bug spray I was using actually made them stronger like the radioactive spiders in that old black and white movie.

Finally, I ended up wrapping a plastic leaf and lawn bag around the sweeping end of my broom and whacking the hell out of the huge clusters.  I was terrified the whole time.  Next, I hosed them, and boiled them and whacked some more.  In the end, the box elder bugs retained ownership of a much smaller parcel of real estate than they had originally claimed though they were never completely gone.  I’ve already killed at least ten this year, and it’s only March.  The “experts” say that box elder bugs are basically harmless, but I know better.

If we all work together, a few of us might maintain our sanity long enough to endure through the worst part of the invasion.  We’ll meet at the old house behind the railroad tracks and try to rebuild civilization.  Stay strong, and breathe through your nose.  You don’t want one of those sneaky bastards flying their red asses into your mouth.

Have a long life and plenty of stuff (Live long and prosper!)

Frankie Valinda Ghee

Links to the Experts:

http://boxelderbug.com  Says that soapy water will kill them.  I’m going to try this.

http://www.orkin.com/other/box-elder-bug  Shares information about their mating cycle and hibernation habits

http://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/boxelder-bug/ Has a creepy ass photo and some basic information that looks credible.

note: I wrote this a couple of months ago.  In the mean-time, my measures have been helpful, but the infestation continues.  My neighbors seem to have it worse though, so there you go.

F

Hey All

Come on by, and please mention that you saw this post.  Bring a friend and enjoy a free concert from the conveniently located bench.

#Spokane #LiveMusic Today/Fri 2:00pm RiteAid on 29th Should be another grand afternoon

FVG

This is My Country by Frankie Ghee http://youtu.be/QcaaoxeG18M  http://wp.me/p4g8ZQ-8l 

This is my country And I am so grateful

To have lived in a time when I am safe and free

I am safe dream, and I am free to try

To change my world with hope and speak as I believe

Chorus:

And I am lucky I know to rest my feet on this soil

And take as owed to me my rights and my liberty

And I am lucky I know to plant my feet on this soil

And take as owed to me my rights and my liberty

Through proud and shameful history, This is what we have come to be

We have grown into this nation free of kings

Peace and great prosperity, famine, war and travesty

Have forged the tools that we might shape our destiny

chorus:

Bridge

(This is the bridge from the rock version of the song,  I haven’t used these with my acoustic set)

How many people had to die so that I could live this life?

If I they knew how I would, would they even try?

How many people sold their soul so I could spend this pot of gold?

Would they pay the price if they knew what I would buy?

This is my country, and I am so grateful