I was trying to get my mind around the news that astronomers have observed multiple images of a supernova exploding by simply looking in the right place and understanding the strange effects of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, when the phone rang.
It was Trail Baboon poet laureate Schuyler Tyler Wyler calling to beg for a commission.
Things have been a bit tough in the poetry game of late, and what with large companies like General Mills and Target retrenching, the slogan and tagline market has dried up almost completely.
“Give me something complex to boil down into a few lines of verse,” he said. “I have to keep my toolkit sharp in case the discount clothing and packaged food industries bounce back and there’s a sudden need for fresh jingles.”
Of course I gave him the only thing I had – that a star exploding on the other side of the universe nine billion years ago has appeared in our sky at least four times, and it all makes perfect sense. I told him I would buy him a cup of coffee next Wednesday if he could make it rhyme.
Here’s his reply:
To see a Supernova pop
is not so hard to do.
Just float some denser galaxies
between the star and you.
Then get it properly aligned
Nine billion years ago,
to let dark matter intervene
so you can watch it blow.
The light from the explosion
has to go around each side.
So when you view the fireworks
you see it multiplied!
The images arrive distinct
and separate as they please.
A single Supernova that can say
cheese cheese cheese cheese.
What spectacle would you watch over and over and over and over?
Trail Baboon 
Full moon rising out of Lake Superior, which I did see over and over. Or how the right atmosphere enlarged the South Shore. Or the sun dogs we get this time of year outside our apartment. Or the little Arabian girl dancing down the hallway singing Ring Around the Rosie. Or my 18 month grandson figuring out how to say a lot with few words and adding new words to his syntax.
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cant you get me tuxedo to give the 18 momnth old reading lessons with the jrr tolkien stories to amp up his vocab a bit. hes lagging behind the family timeline isnt he?
it is the simple things that we value isnt it.bach, birds singing a dogs tail wag the sparkle in the eyes of those in your iife. sunshine on your back in march. a good belly laugh.
life can be easy
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JackJack is a little hard to figure out. He is slow to everything, like walking, but once he gets there, he plunges in. He does not walk like a toddler. He has been slow to talk, for one thing he spends three or four days a week with his many cousins, very loosely defined cousins, who adore him and take care of everything for him.
Mr. Tuxedo at 18-24 months took burned-out lights as a personal affront. He walked through the mall staring at the ceiling and rode the carousel in the food court staring up into the mechanism for burned-out lights. JackJack came out of Target yesterday with my son and pointed at a burned-out light and asked “Wha’s dat?” My son told him it was a “light, a burned-out light.” JackJack said “All gah.” My son said “Yes, its a burned-out light.” With all the emphasis he could find JackJack answered “ALL GAH!”
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my brother (he is 2 years younger and the second child) was 3 the story goes when my mother out of concern called her mother and told her that paul was not talking.
well tim does all his talking for him. he doesnt need to do anything. so make him talk and he will get the hang of it.
she asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he grunted and pointed at the cupboard above the refrigerator. she told him to use his words and he said.
“id like the cereal on the top shelf in the yellow box please”. and so began his speaking. not words, fully constructed sentences. today he plays guitar just like that.
brains are different. he is lucky not to have mine. his works just fine.
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Good morning. One of the most amazing spectacles I have seen is large number of beluga whales swimming around and under a boat on Hudson Bay near Churchill. This is spectacle that I would like to see over and over again.
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Rise and Shine Baboons!
I will listen to songs and albums repeatedly when a tune or a lyric appeals to me. There are several movies, as well, that I never tire of. My favorite in person “spectacles” which I love to re-experience are the Bayfield Penninsula in Wisconsin and Savannah, GA, both on the Big Lake or ocean which are so alluring.
The first thing that popped into my mind with this question was the 9-11 debacle in which we (meaning everyone in the USA) watched reruns of that disaster over and over–and that was so awful and crazy. I finally turned off the TV and radio and blasted music to soothe myself and break the spell. Uffda.
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I’m with Clyde, I never tire of seeing a whacking great full moon ascending. Fine one this weekend. Research tells me it is known as the Worm Moon, idea being that the ground is softening up enough for the worms to be getting out and about (and becoming robin food).
I’m all for it.
The return of spring and things other than worms poking through the soil is something I also hope to see over, and over and over.
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My first thought was the Aurora Boreallis. I love to watch the Northern Lights as they wave mysteriously, colorful and silent in the night sky.
Another thing that’s mesmerizing to watch is a murmuration of starlings.
I’ve seen it only once, but could watch it over and over again and still be amazed at the spectacle.
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the Northern Lights would be on my bucket list if I kept one.
the starlings are a little scary.
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Thanks to Alfred Hitchcock, many people find large flocks of birds scary.
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northern lights is what popped into my mind first. i can sit forever and watch, it is the most mesmerizing peaceful thing imaginable. the birds remind me of the dinosaur rush scene in the jurasac park movie where they drew the parallel between birds and dinosaurs.
waterfalls work the same way for me . life can be simple
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Murmurations were my first thought. Beautiful and incomprehensible.
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Tidal bore.
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I can also sit staring at a fireplace or campfire for a very long time.
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Watching my children being born.
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Flying along the north coast of Alaska in a small plane.
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OK, I’m going to be the big buzzkill today; as I’ve been sitting here all morning trying to think of something I’d like to see over and over and over and over again, all I can think is “Would it still be as special if I saw it over and over?” All my very “take my breath away” moments are special because they are so rare: sunrise over Haleakala in Maui, mist rising up from the ground at dawn in hot air balloon, first time I saw my daughter, whales along side the catamaran, cascades of water in Glacier.
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I know I could sit on a beach, hour after hour, day after day, and look at the waves. Nature is astonishing in its ability to take our breath away, over and over again. I have often wondered if people who live in places that are breathtakingly beautiful still notice that beauty every day. I think some do.
Just as Clyde will never tire of seeing the moon rise over Lake Superior, I will never tire of seeing a Danish beech forest in early spring when it first begins to leaf out. That hue of green, so delicate yet vibrant, lasts only a week or so. During that time the entire forest floor is blanketed with anemones and other wildflowers. Once the beech foliage turns denser and darker, and blocks out most of the light to the forest floor, virtually nothing gets enough light to bloom there. Those first few weeks in spring are truly magical.
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Yes about the waves, PJ. It never ceases to amaze me how each one is different from the last… that goes for fire too, as mig mentioned – it’s always changing.
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James Thurber: “Even batting baseballs through the windows of the Chrysler building would eventually grow tiresome.”
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A royal flush. (Wow, just traveled in time, back 40 years to Ladies’ Poker Night).
Seriously, though, there are a couple of birds that I have seen just once at my birdfeeders, that I would love to see again: indigo bunting, and a pileated woodpecker. And one that comes through when it’s migrating: white throated sparrow (I love its song).
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I also love to see any beautiful animal in motion – I could watch all day: horses jumping over fences, dogs catching Frisbees (or snowballs!) in mid-air, cats that suddenly go from a sitting position to the top of a bookshelf, a heron in flight…
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Not to mention goats cavorting about.
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A couple of new ones were reported by BiB this AM.
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Yes, I saw that, and more on the way.
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Three more were born this afternoon.
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The answer to this question is easy for me: the huge rally downtown for Obama, who had just won the nomination for president of the United States. I’d had T shirts made up saying on the back, “WHITE WOMAN OVER 50 FOR OBAMA” since the buzz was that my cohort was least likely to vote for him. He and Michelle did their famous “fist bump” that day – you know, the one that the right wingers called some kind of sign that he was a secret Muslim?
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this is sort of silly, but I could watch again and again the doors to the great hall at the Hogwarts which we experienced at the WB film studio in England when daughter and I were there on the tour. They do it so that you feel that you are a part of the whole thing, and have you walk into the film set of the great hall. It was really fun.
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Renee – I watched Sorcerer’s Stone TWICE over the weekend, so I could look closely at the scenes – as I also visited the WB studio in January. I wouldn’t call myself a rabid fan, but it was a LOT of fun.
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