[lit-ideas] Sunday Something
- From: David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 4 May 2014 13:38:49 -0700
I like estate sales; you get to see and hear how others have lived. I was at a
house this morning, owned by the kind of guy who buys a poster that says, "The
worst day's fishing is better than the best day at work." He was ex-Air Force
and had taken part in the occupation of Japan. He owned a lathe, but had never
got further than glueing small square blocks of wood together and starting two
vase-like objects, neither of which was finished. He'd reduced living to a
bare bedroom, a kitchen with a view through the floor, a living room, and three
cavernous areas, much bigger than the living space, full of tools and rods and
guns, scattered as he chose. It was a kind of hymn to a certain type of manly
freedom. At another sale everything was equally male but neat and tidy and
very golfy. That man also owned a lathe, but this one was in fine working
order and the chisels were sharp. Still no sign of work though. I bought a
shovel and a cast iron frying pan, good and old and smooth. The lady next in
line explained to her friend how another friend of hers had been "abused." "It
only happened once," she said. "She took one of those [points to my pan] and
hit him upside the head."
wind rustles salix
whispering celtic tales and
weeping with desire
There's not a lot you can do with a broody female. Suggest taking up haiku? I
lifted Appenzeller and walked her to the more distant water bowl. I suggested
she take the long way back and graze along the way. "Lots of new growth here."
She wasn't taking suggestions. She's convinced she can hatch unfertilized
eggs. By the time I was done planting three new willow bushes, she was back in
the dark corner of the coop, muttering fruitily. It's a kind of underwater
sound she makes, like gargling.
Peccorino saw me looking out the window and called the others over.
"Light's fading. We're wondering about chips. Only the other god..."
"Or manifestation..."
"Or manifestation, has been a bit tight lately in re. chips."
"Nothing at all yesterday," Rocky complained.
"We all rushed into the pen expecting...the usual..."
"Stale corn tortilla!"
"And all she dropped were a few soggy vegetables!"
"Vegetables!"
"Soggy!"
"I flew out... in protest, almost contemplated jumping the fence... or
crossing the road..," said Mimo.
"Very brave!" Cheddar approved.
"Perhaps a little too brave," Peccorino suggested.
"I heard," I said.
"She couldn't catch me...the other God" said Mimo, proudly. "I was too quick."
"Look at the light on the trees," I said, distracted by momentary beauty.
"On no," said the girls, "we're thinking of protesting."
"Really?" I said. "That's right, it's May Day!"
"Beltane," said Wensleydale. "It's Beltane."
Mimo cleared her throat and shouted, "What do we want?"
They looked at one another, shouted in unison, "We're not sure!"
Mimo tried again, "Well, then, when do we want it?"
"We don't know!"
There followed some embarrassed cleaning of imaginary dirt off beaks. This is
the chicken equivalent of cats licking themselves.
"How's Appenzeller?" I asked.
"We're not bothered."
"But she's not eating. And she makes weird noises. And she broods."
"The light on the trees is very nice, very natural-looking," said Wensleydale,
who had been bullied Appenzeller not long ago.
"I was writing," I said, hoping to break away. I gestured towards my computer.
"Whaaaaaat?" they asked.
"It's a book."
"Oooooh, a book!"
"Book, book, book." They saw that the chips wouldn't be down for a while and
so went about their business, leaving me to mine.
Found Poem: Art for Sale
DYRK GODBY
MILFORD ZORNES
EMILE ALBERT GRUPPE
BENNETT SCHROEDER BRADBURY
HEDLEY WAYCOTT
FRED MACHETANZ ORIGINAL LITHOGRAPH (Alaska/New York, 1908-2002) "Coffee Break!"
Depicting Alaskan trapper Ed Ueeck sitting on his sled drinking coffee and his
dog looking on.
BERNHARD D. SOPHER TERRACOTTA SCULPTURE (Germany/California, 1879-1949) Bust
with arms crossed and braided hair. Unsigned, 18" high. Provenance: consignor's
mother modeled for Sopher, passed down within the family.
A. SILVA OIL ON CANVAS
NINE NATIVE AMERICAN STONE GRINDING TOOLS
OLIVE MALSTROM CARL WATERCOLOR ON PAPER
BING & GRONDAHL CHINA SET
FOSSILIZED TURTLE, Testudo thompsoni, White River Badlands, South Dakota, USA,
Oligocene Period. Length - 19 inches.
NELLIE EVELYN ZIEGLER OIL ON CANVAS
PAIR OF DECORATIVE CARVED WOOD MASKS traditional type exaggerated feature
carving with skin tone stained color, painted black nostrils, round eye holes,
signed on the rear in pen "Tony Pushruk".
BYRON PICKERING
ALBERT PATECKY OIL ON BOARD
JAMES BAMA OFFSET LITHOGRAPH AND VIDEO (Wyoming/New York, born 1926) "Paul
Newman as Butch Cassidy," the title of the print as well as the video. Image
measures 18.25" x 27.5", signed in ink "Bama" lower left and "Paul Newman"
lower right, with certificate of authenticity. In a wood frame.
BEVERLY JOSE SACOMAN
KEYSTONE RIDE 'EM TOY STEAM ROLLER, Keystone Mfg. Co. (1920-1958), Boston,
Mass., c. 1920s/early 30s, of pressed steel construction with wood handle,
traces of original paint, and Keystone decal label. Length - 19.5 inches.
ROBERT THORNTON WILDING WATERCOLOR ON PAPER (United Kingdom, Late 20th Century)
Titled "A Dutchman Aground, Morning After a Storm".
BRONZE CAST WHALE SCULPTURE BY PANOM
DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS
ARMAND MARSEILLE BISQUE HEAD DOLL having hand painted features, open mouth with
teeth, sleep eyes and composition body. Height 11 inches.
M. JANPOL
AFTER WILLIAM HOGARTH
BELLEEK BEE HIVE HONEY POT AND SHAMROCK BISCUIT JAR
WILLAIM ALPHONSE LAMBRECHT
BERNARD BUFFET COLOR LITHOGRAPH
RON HUFF OIL ON CANVAS (Missouri, 20th century) Forest interior. Image measures
36" x 24", signed "R. Huff" lower right, artist's bio attached verso. In a wood
frame.
EIGHTEEN BELLEEK VASES in various patterns and sizes. Split handle vase 2nd
mark (1891-1926) all other vases date post 1946. Heights from 4.6 x 12 inches
HOI LEBADANG, TWO COLOR LITHOGRAPHS
GEORGE AHGUPUK INK WASH ON ANIMAL HIDE
TWO ALASKAN INK WASH DRAWINGS: Robert Mayokok (1903-1983) depicting a polar
bear defending its meal against a man with spear; Wilbur Walluk (1928-1968)
depicting a hunting party.
FOUR PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT LEAVES
ZATEK CHOCOLATE BILLETS COUNTERTOP CONTAINER marked Pennsylvania Chocolate
Company, Pittsburgh. Height 17 inches (to top of lid).
JOHN HORACE HOOPER OIL ON CANVAS (British, circa 1850-1899) Wheat Harvest,
landscape with figures working in the fields with cottage and river in the
background.
NORWICH SCHOOL OIL ON CANVAS. Fisherman in a narrow valley.
ANNETTE MARGUERITE SHIPPER WOOLFE OIL ON CANVAS
AFTER EISHOSAI CHOKI WOODCUT
ALBERTO PROSDOCIMI
HAROLD ALTMAN COLOR LITHOGRAPH (Pennsylvania/France, 1924-2003) Titled "Hyde
Park."
JOSEPH ANTHONY BUZZELLI WATERCOLOR
DAVID DAVIDOVICH BURLIUK WATERCOLOR AND GOUACHE (New York/Russia/Ukraine/China,
1882-1967) "Greenport," New York, a village street scene with a woman, cars and
houses
FREDERICK WILLIAM HAYES OIL ON CANVAS MOUNTED ON BOARD (British, 1848-1918)
Coastal landscape with white cliffs, possibly Dover.
WELLINGTON JARARD REYNOLDS OIL ON BOARD
BENNETT SCHROEDER BRADBURY OIL ON CANVAS
FRANCISCO DE GOYA EIGHTEEN ETCHINGS
EDMOND DARCH LEWIS WATERCOLOR AND GOUACHE ON PAPER
SIR WILLIAM LLEWELLYN OIL ON CANVAS
GYULA T. FULOP
GYULA NEMETH GUTAHAZY
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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