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Things I Think about

Viewing comments for Chapter 13 "Friday Traffic Means..."
thoughts that consume, worry, intrigue, and tickle

14 total reviews 
Comment from Liz O'Neill
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My friends live between 1/2 -2 hours away. Our roads are not very busy. One of them I take is a 5 mile dirt road that is great to drive unless it is muddy. Then it can be quite intimidating. It's uncanny how as I get closer to VT from MA everything slows down. There are very few cars, where just a little earlier, it was very busy.

 Comment Written 19-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 19-Apr-2021
    When I visited and drove around VT, MA, etc after 9-1,1 I couldn't get over how close together the states were. It takes days to drive across Texas.Lots of people are coming here to SA- getting tooo big.
reply by Liz O'Neill on 20-Apr-2021
    The thing I notice when I was in NM was how brown it is. No green except near the Rio Grande. Whar a thrill to see the river the cowboys in our tv shows slept by, had campfires by and rode their horses through to cross the Rio Grande.
Comment from Jennifer L Newcomb
Exceptional
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What a talented writer you really are! I have not read one writing of yours that I have not enjoyed. Not only do I enjoy your topics, your style, and your choice of imagery, I always leave with a feeling of lightness as well as a thought that is like a gold nugget. The humor you squeeze in there sets is off to new heights! Thank you for that!

 Comment Written 19-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 19-Apr-2021
    Well, that is the very nicest thing anyone has ever said! I am thrilled and can't tell you how much I appreciate it and how flattered I am! wow. You have certainly made my day!!! That is something I am going to print and keep! - a true "feel good." thank you!
Comment from Raffaelina Lowcock
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Yes, I get it. Friday Traffic is unbelievable. Yet, one wonders? The City Council folks. Surely they know of this congestion. Do they ever come to the conclusion that something should be done about it? It seems not since it happens everywhere and never stops.

Ralf

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    True, and coming home this evening (seems it gets earlier and earlier), it was lots of traffic, too, but not bumper to bumper.
    But, to tell you the truth, Ralf, there are so many worse things that need taking care of, like closing the damn borders so they don't keep pouring in!!!! sorry.
Comment from Dilettante junior
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Very nice. Quite humorous too. I appreciate your imagination and thoughts flowing about a topic like traffic which would have left me blank. Love the 'dilettantes' too. Bravo.

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    Had just been in it, so the frustrating trip was on my mind.
    Thanks for your neat comments!
    Katharine
Comment from T B Botts
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Well done! You hit the nail on the head. I moved from a town of about 850
people with about four miles of paved road, to a place spread out over I don't know how many miles, but everywhere I want to go is miles away. You've got it right about the young folks too. I don't think they sleep. At midnight I still hear the traffic, and here, big trucks with loud mufflers seem to be the preferred mode of transportation. I wish I could find a happy medium, but don't think I want to move again.

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    Thanks for your nice comments on this piece.
    I don't know anything about the cities in Alaska. Do you have any family or friends in a medium sized city? Come to Texas. We have lots of small and medium sized towns. Friendly people, on the whole.
    My house is in a usually quiet neighborhood,(except for one teen on his motorcycle) and one thing I do enjoy, in the Fall, is listening to the high school band at their football games- a happy sound.
reply by T B Botts on 17-Apr-2021
    Thanks for the invitation, but I don't think I could stand the heat. We thought about going to Idaho, but changed our minds when we saw the temps. Alaskan's and Texan's have a lot in common I believe. We're still trying to adjust, and we do have a daughter here. Have a great day gal.

    Tom
reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    Yeah, you're right. Our summers here are horrible. AC bills reflect it, for sure. But I love Texas. Am glad we have a straight-shooter governor, and I'm glad the gov of my home state, Ga, FINALLY did the right thing. Of course, if he'd done it sooner, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in!
reply by T B Botts on 17-Apr-2021
    Agreed!!
Comment from Jannypan (Jan)
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Traffic is like that here at that time and in between--esp Friday afternoon, Pome Lover. There are so many rude drivers, too, and those that got their license from a cracker jack box. I enjoyed your fun poem. Your rhymes work well, there's good flow (unlike the traffic jams), and great details. Your words are filled with great imagery, too.
Thanks for sharing.
Respectfully, Jan

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    I love your little "good flow" pun, there! Many thanks, Jan, and you're right. It used to be young drivers showed a little respect for older people, now they cut you off, honk their horns, and worse. And when they come barreling onto a freeway, they don't YEILD! aarrgghh.
    Now... thank you for your many nice comments! I think, however, I need to change my meter - be more varied. going to try.
Comment from Dolly'sPoems
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Oh this write reminded me of my journey home when I used to work and I was held up in traffic jams in the rush hour. It was a nightmare and I am glad I won't ever have to do that again. Much enjoyed, good rhymes and a fun subject, love Dolly x

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    thanks, Dolly.
    Our city has grown too big - tall freeways crisscrossing up in the air. Our lovely, slower-paced city is no more.
Comment from Jeff Watkins
Exceptional
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Clogged traffic--the whooping cough of modern life. However, the narration of your social life and writing habits are the most interesting aspects of this poem.

Even in Missoula, a small university town in Montana, the traffic is exponentially increasing, but not because more people are living there. They are living elsewhere
because the city's policies
create the sea
of traffic coming from a beautiful valley
to the south
in the morning pouring
out of it's mouth,
and in the late afternoon
it will come pouring back soon.

And if you think this poem
is not fit for your eyes to roam,
well, I retort,
I am not of the poetic sort. Jeff



 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    Jeff, that is really good! much better than my same meter for every line. I must get away from that. Yep. I like yours much better!
    And I am very appreciative of the 6!!
    gracias! Katharine
reply by Jeff Watkins on 18-Apr-2021
    I believe repetition of sounds from anywhere in words anywhere in the lines can be more effective than predictable, required rhymes. You've inspired me to resurrect and restructure a poem. Those sounds can also emphasize syllables as well as meaning. Consider the s's in the previous sentence. Prose can be poetic. Perhaps in a few days.....Jeff
reply by the author on 18-Apr-2021
    I agree. lesson learned. hopefully remembered.
Comment from Begin Again
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My, how our lives change as the clock goes forward in life, we tend to move ours back instead. Going home as the young come to life at night. Your poem said it all. Well done -

Hope you'll stop by my place once in a while. I like seeing your smiling face. Smiles - Carol

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    thank you and I certainly will.
Comment from royowen
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That's true when I was young I was out all Friday night, but when I became a little more advanced in age, I was and am at home, well a lot of the time. This is a superb example of a well metered rhyming poem. Well done my friend, blessings Roy

 Comment Written 17-Apr-2021


reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    thanks, Roy! We do home a lot, too, but as we each live alone, it's nice to get out and go somewhere some weekends- be around people (and not cook) ;)
    Thanks for your very kind words!
    Katharine
    PS did you see the service for Prince Phillip - beautiful, small, traditional.
reply by royowen on 17-Apr-2021
    It was most of our channels here, a very royalist country, ours.
reply by the author on 17-Apr-2021
    si ;)