Straight From The Hart

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spring in the ozarks

SPRING IN THE OZARKS By Joan Hart The spring equinox arrived weeks ago And the sun began warming the earth Alerting the trees and the shrubs to awaken Tis the season to bring forth new birth. The gardens spring up in rejoicing, The lettuce and onions come through Awaiting the gardeners first picking, Awash in the morning’s first dew. A profusion of blooms fills the hillside, Reflections of the artist Monet A mingling of colors, indescribable In one glorious pattern arrayed. Green is spring’s favorite color Her palette overflows with its hues It’s verdancy bathes every hillside The trees overlapping in queues. The season is pregnant with promise Of bright summer days yet to come With beaches and playgrounds and picnics And games in the ball stadium Spring doesn’t stay long in the Ozarks Its days turn to summer too soon So we treasure each moment and smell every lilac As April and May turn to June. There is nothing like spring in the Ozarks, There’s just no better place to live The ear

AN OLD COUPLE'S HOUSE

AN OLD COUPLE'S HOUSE An Old Couple’s House Have you ever been in an old couple’s house? Tis really a grand sight to see It’s an eclectic assortment of Ma and Pa Kettle With a little bit of Fibber McGee. There are trashcans and Kleenex beside every chair Newspapers on tables stacked high There are piles of books waiting for a” just in case” moment And lamps bright for tired old eyes There are antiques and junque everywhere that you look And most are covered with dust And visitors have no comprehension Why we keep them, but we know we must Each one a reminder of days now gone by All the things we have loved through the years No meaning for others, but to us they are gold In our memories they bring happy tears The dishes are old, with faded vintage design The cups and the saucers don’t match The bowls of all sizes lopsidedly sit Now they’re part of just one mingled batch. The bed with mixed patterns of pillows and sheets Sits between bedside tables that hold All the pills that are

TOUCHES, HUGS AND TEARS

TOUCHES AND HUGS AND TEARS This world has become such a frightening place With conflicts o’er politics, global warming and race We all long to feel just a loving embrace Of touches and hugs and tears. Friends seem so few and hard to find We reach out for comfort, seeking old ties that bind A time when people were friendly, and gentle and kind We so need touches, and hugs and tears. The warmth of a hug in a feeling so close That comes from the heart of a loved one who knows The sadness you feel, and their sympathy shows In their touches, and hugs and tears. Tears are meant to be shared in times of despair They show us the nature of someone who cares They fall from the eyes as warm liquid prayers These days call for touches and hugs and tears. © Joan Rowden Hart 2021

Washington School

On this day 3 years ago Joan Milan Hart · Shared with Public Still thinking about memories today. I've gone through my poetry portfolio to find some of the many poems and essays I have written about memories. Here's another one. This one reaches way back to my first grade at Washington School when we lived in a house down the road. We had a long two-rut lane from the road down to the house and I remember walking with my sisters and mom up that dusty road to the mailbox. I loved the daisies growing among the weeds in the ditch and remember trying to avoid the grasshoppers jumping up on us on hot summer days hoping the wouldn't spit tobacco juice on us, as we had always been told. I went to first grade and half of second grade in the Washington Country School, a one room school where I was introduced to learning. Learning was and is the greatest joy of my life. Learning to read. Learning how to do arithmetic for the first time. Spelling was always my forte. I a

READING IN HEAVEN, ETC

READING IN HEAVEN, ETC. A FB friend asked me if I thought we would read in heaven because she didn't have time to read "down here". This was my response and since then several other friends have asked me to re-post it. Of course we can. The actual translation of "in my house are many mansions" as in John 14 is "In my house are many rooms". I take that to mean heaven is one big house for the one big family of God with all these different rooms. #1 the most magnificent library ever. Remember that John wrote that if he had been able to write down everything Jesus said or did, that the world could not contain all the books that could be written! But heaven can! God wants us to have knowledge. I think it was Hosea who wrote that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." #2 the largest dining room ever imagined. The Bible says we shall eat angels' food and refers to the corn of heaven so I am thinking the longest fattest cobs of corn

Food and Medicine and China

Worries About What You Use From China (This is a column I wrote early 2020 just as the pandemic was breaking out. Information is now more important than ever.) February 1 2020 Let me be entirely transparent here. I love Chinese food and I especially love Chinese buffets at local restaurants. But would I eat food from a Chinese street market or one that is identifed as a “wet” market? Absolutely not, although there is no danger of my ever being close to such places. Wet markets, in case that’s a new term to you as it was to me, are places that sell dead and live animals out in the open to be used for food and medicine. This includes poultry, fish, reptiles, and pigs (and sometimes other items that our palates would deem to be too gross for human consumption). By now, you’ve all heard the rumors about the coronavirus being caused by the Chinese habit of eating bats and other disgusting creatures. The video which has gone viral on Facebook has been debunked as not even taking p