They were also environmental back in the day ...

Lovely summer so for some reason thinking of silly poetry from my childhood & youth.

Author unknown from an anthology for kids:

I love the good old world, I do.

I sing its praise in song & sonnet.

Strange it's not a whole lot worse,

With everybody picking on it.

That about says it today, not? Then there's that classic of sappiness & inverted tree-anatomy that we all had to study in grade school: Joyce Kilmer's TREES, which starts

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast; It gets even dumber because if the tree's mouth is at the bottom, that "nest of robins in its hair" must be pubic hair, since apparently the tree is standing on its head on Mother Nature's boobies. You don't think about that stuff in 4th grade, but the sappiness comes through & we all ran around making up parodies (which I have mercifully forgotten). But what can you expect from an unfortunate whose mommy named him Joyce? He is at least modest enough to admit, "Poems are made by fools like me". I do remember the brilliant poet of silliness Ogden Nash's inspired take: The Song of the Open Highway I think that I shall never see A billboard lovely as a tree. In fact, unless a billboard falls, I shall not see a tree at all. Ah yes, they were also environmental back there in the 50s when we thought it was all about progress & earning a bundle after the war. Which inspires me to compose my own poem, on the subject of the TV programming here in Denmark. Meaning no disrespect for the brave soldiers & civilian sufferers of that colossal tragedy, but: I think that I shall never see The final documentaree About horrific World War II, But think it's about time, Don't you?

Granny again

Granny again - this time it's number 5. Good number. My daughter is the mum-to-be. Even better. I thought she had decided not to have children; she thought I would not approve if she got going any earlier.

    WATCH WHAT YOU SAY TO YOUR KIDS - you never know how your words will be taken. But ultimately the kids do what they want & that is just as it should be.

    Now the words have been said & the baby is on the way. My first thought was, "Yikes - I'm going to be an old granny," my second was pure elation & that's still IT.

    We live in the best & the worst of times. Our poor old earth groans under the weight of us all; we're changing the climate, chopping down the forests & overfishing the oceans. And we know it. So we are also recycling paper, metal & general garbage, replanting the forests & imposing some stiff environmental standards on shipping & fishing. Young people can't be bothered to remember anything by heart because they go around wired to their smartphones & computers, but Avaaz can collect a million signatures to let politicians & law enforcement - most recently India's new prime minister, who is not too concerned about gang rapes - know they can't hide anymore & just-plain-people power can unseat tyrants too. Not every time, for sure - check out Syria - but before everybody got connected it was almost never.

    It's the best & worst world our grandchildren take over, but they know more than ever before & when they have wonderful parents they will be empowered & ready. (The ones with rotten parents will be part of the problem, as always, but there is more effort to help now.) That's how I see it - even though I'm a granny who tends to worry. On the other hand, is there any other kind? There is still no finer word than "grandparent".