Stuff & Nonsense by Celeste Parsons: JESTER, A Poem of Autumn

 

In spite of the drought, we have been luxuriating in perfect autumn weather, like a parade to mark the end of summer.

JESTER

Autumn arrives in pomp and pride,
Banners abroad on the countryside.
Autumn demands, percussion and brass--
"Out of your buildings to watch me pass!"

Autumn capers lively and lean,
Frolic cymbolic and trumpetine.
Autumn leaps with elastic joints;
Autumn speaks exclamation points.

Autumn's attire is gaudy and bright--
Flaunted brilliance of jewels by night,
Flamboyant patchwork color by day,
Parading in motley, mad display--

A final flourish across the hill,
And the world left behind is grey and still.

(c) Celeste Parsons, 1993

Celeste Parsons lives in a log house built on a former dairy farm with her husband Jim, her Westie dog, Spook, and a revolving population of deer, turkeys, chipmunks, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. She has written poems, plays, technical documentation, and newspaper articles since childhood, and is the editor of Nelsonville from A to Z. Her first children's book, Wait Until I Grow Up!, released in 2021. Celeste is the also the author of Two on Two Wheels: Adventuring on a Bicycle, released in 2024.

Stuff & Nonsense by Celeste Parsons: The Tyranny of the Garden

The Tyranny of the Garden

This is the season that I refer to as "The Tyranny of the Garden."  Although things are somewhat late at our house, probably due to the lack of rain, there is now an assortment of produce in the vegetable garden which, if not picked when it is ready, will rapidly become inedible. So, at least every other day, I go out with my picking basket as I did today and return with okra pods, a carrot or two, green beans, lima beans, black-eyed peas, golden zucchini, and scores of tomatoes. As I sat on my couch shelling the limas and black-eyed peas, I watched a hummingbird at the feeder which had decided today (for the first time all summer) to play Keep Away, perching on the wire from which the feeder hangs and chasing off all other hummers who tried to come get a drink. 

I mused about the contrast between the urgency of dealing with the veggies and the waiting for news about a dear friend who is finally losing a lengthy battle with cancer. In the liminal space between "Gotta do it now" and "Can't do anything now," the other activities of life--preparing meals, bicycling, reading--seem somehow unreal. I wonder if the hummingbird is feeling something like that tension in his tiny brain, something between the frantic activity, now over, of raising a brood and the need to fly south. "Not time yet . . . but I need to be ready . . . I'll just guard this food supply and wait."

It's helpful to have something to keep yourself busy.

Celeste Parsons lives in a log house built on a former dairy farm with her husband Jim, her Westie dog, Spook, and a revolving population of deer, turkeys, chipmunks, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. She has written poems, plays, technical documentation, and newspaper articles since childhood, and is the editor of Nelsonville from A to Z. Her first children's book, Wait Until I Grow Up!, released in 2021. Celeste is the also the author of Two on Two Wheels: Adventuring on a Bicycle, released in 2024.

Stuff & Nonsense: Celeste Parsons, Two on Two Wheels: Adventuring on a Bicycle!

Celeste Parsons @ Athens Cycle Path, Athens, Ohio
Left to right: Carol Ault, John Lohse, Steven Dierna, Celeste Parsons
Special thanks to Athens Cycle Path for hosting! 

Book Launch!

Here are a couple of pictures from the launch of my brand-new book, Two on Two Wheels:  Adventuring on a Bicycle. I've drawn on over 50 years of bicycle touring with my husband to provide alternating chapters containing suggestions for planning and taking bike tours, memories of past cycling adventures, and Songs of the Bike--poems written on and/or about bicycle touring. You can purchase Two on Two Wheels at Amazon or Barnes and Noble online.

About the launch: Well, after my usual jitters about "Will anyone show up?" vs. "Did I bring enough snacks?" everything went off very nicely. People were walking in the door 15 minutes ahead of the publicized start time, and many were still around an hour later. One of our friends took pictures throughout--here's a link to those.

Celeste with Uke: Singing one of the Songs of the Bike from her new book

Editorial Review:

Within these pages, you will find sage advice, marvelous exploits and great wit. The trials and tribulations sights, sounds and smells of the open road make this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Maxine Rantane and John Lefelhocz

Proprietors, Cycle Path Bicycle Shop, Athens, Ohio

Editor's Note:

Our best wishes and congratulations to Celeste for her hard work in putting together a volume that every reader will enjoy. Follow Celeste and her husband, Jim, as they travel far and near to showcase fascinating places from a tandem bike perspective. Recommended reading for all ages. 

Celeste's new book is available in hardcover edition where quality books are sold. Her book is available locally (southeastern Ohio) at Little Professor, Athens Cycle Path, and White's Mill. For autographed copies or to schedule a book event with the author, email mondaycreekpublishing@gmail.com. Have a copy? Leave a review on Amazon! 

Celeste's Facebook Gallery

 

Stuff & Nonsense: All-American by Celeste Parsons

We have now celebrated three of the major summer holidays, and are a month and a half from the holiday that traditionally brings summer to an end. While winter holidays are occasions for gift-giving and family merriment, the summer holidays are times when we reflect on what makes the United States of America what it is. Memorial Day is for honoring those who have fought and died for our country and for its ideals.  Juneteenth remembers the day when the final communities of enslaved African-Americans learned that they had been freed. The 4th of July is Independence Day, when we commemorate the events and personages who declared that the American colonies of Great Britain "are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States." And Labor Day recognizes the contributions of the working men and women of this land to our national prosperity, and their rights to have a level playing field in negotiating working conditions with their employers.
 
When my husband and I were bicycle touring along the upper Mississippi River, we rode into Quincy, Illinois, past All-American Park, which turned out to be a dirt bike course. This got me to thinking about all the ways in which we use the term All-American and resulted in the following poem.
 
All-American
 
(Angie)
I’m the All-American girl, that’s me, 
And my forebears fought over stamps and tea.
They came to this land with their hopes and dreams
And a passion to succeed.
They were people of thoughtful and learned bent,
And invented our laws and our government,
But applying a theory to practice means
Things weren’t always what was agreed.
 
(Shandra)
I’m the All-American girl next door.
My forebears came chained from a distant shore.
They were snatched away from their hopes and dreams,
And they hungered to be free.
So they persevered through the toil and pain
Till the words of freedom were proclaimed,
But applying words to actions means
Things weren’t always what was agreed.
 
(Kaydee)
I’m the All-American girl you know.
My ancestors hunted the buffalo,
And they passed to their children their hopes and dreams
And a reverence for the land.
They were stripped of their homes and the lands they knew,
And their children were stripped of their language, too,
For the ones who said what the treaty means
Didn’t always state what was agreed.
 
(Nina)
I’m an All-American girl also.
My grandparents walked in from Mexico,
And they held on tight to their hopes and dreams
As we lived ten to a room.
We worked in the fields, we cleaned, we learned,
And we took the jobs that others spurned.
We paid our taxes on what we earned
Even though that wasn’t agreed.
  
(All)
We are all Americans, just like you.
We are choosing to live red, white, and blue,
And we all have different hopes and dreams
And different lives to lead.
But the Liberty Tree will grow strong and tall
If it’s nourished by and shelters all.
Separated we fail, but together succeed—
And on this, we are all agreed. 

Celeste Parsons lives in a log house built on a former dairy farm with her husband Jim, her Westie dog, Spook, and a revolving population of deer, turkeys, chipmunks, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. She has written poems, plays, technical documentation, and newspaper articles since childhood, and is the editor of Nelsonville from A to Z. Her first children's book, Wait Until I Grow Up!, was released in 2021.

Stuff & Nonsense: Blackberry Games, A Read-Aloud Story by (c) Celeste Parsons

 

Celeste Parsons lives in a log house built on a former dairy farm with her husband Jim, her Westie dog, Spook, and a revolving population of deer, turkeys, chipmunks, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. She has written poems, plays, technical documentation, and newspaper articles since childhood, and is the editor of Nelsonville from A to Z. Her first children's book, Wait Until I Grow Up!, was released in 2021.

Stuff & Nonsense: Introducing Celeste Parsons, Ohio Writer

Greetings from southeastern Ohio! My name is Celeste Parsons, and I live here on a 48-acre former dairy farm with my husband Jim, our Westie dog Spook, and assorted songbirds and other wildlife. Blessed with too many interests for my own good, I have a hard time finding time for all the gardening, fabric arts, reading, writing, and puzzling that I love to do.

One thing that my husband and I have enjoyed doing together since we were married 58 years ago is riding bicycles. We have used them to commute to work, run errands, and simply for the pleasure of exploring our neighborhoods, and since completing a trans-America tour in 2001 we have taken an extended bicycle trip (between 300 and 1200 miles) every year. As we travel, we send daily reports via email to a number of people, and several of them have asked why we didn't write a book. Now, Two on Two Wheels will be published this year.

More about other writing topics another time, but right now the weeds in the flower bed are calling.

 

Across the meadow
Photo by Celeste Parsons

Celeste Parsons lives in a log house built on a former dairy farm with her husband Jim, her Westie dog, Spook, and a revolving population of deer, turkeys, chipmunks, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. She has written poems, plays, technical documentation, and newspaper articles since childhood, and is the editor of Nelsonville from A to Z. Her first children's book, Wait Until I Grow Up!, was released in 2021.