it's so simple it's almost silly;
all I need is to be held

eery; just like smoke

at 23.50

like the upstairs neighbour's cigarrette smoke
creeping into my living room
through the opened balcony door
it's closing in on me again;
I'm so tired

I see the symptoms, I know the cause
just don't know the cure

still don't

but as sure as I'm certain just as sure I remember:
it'll pass

bare with me;
just as I have to stretch and bend
-- you don't do it very well, though, now do you...
"there seems to be nothing wrong.
you have no reason to be such a baby!
it's your own fault, you know"

every evening a new page is turned,
taking me closer to rest

ah, forgetting...
it's the fix -- but not the cure

flying in my sleep

I give thanks daily
(if some time I don't -- well, it's been a very bad day)

I don't know who to address...

so I just think of the things that I'm thankful for
and give them my gratitude,
I thank them for existing in my life,
for letting me sense them

today
I thanked the multitude of swallows
for swooshing and hoovering
over the strip of sky I can see from my balcony

it is quite possible
that someone much greater than me
(than any of us)
once sent the swallows here

and it is equally possible
that the swallows became to be over a long period of time

I have no answers, not even guesses
but I'd ruin the moment by worrying this
so I just thank the swallows
for the play they presented
for the feeling they conveyed

I'll fall asleep
dreaming of flying

In 20 days

Boston
NYC
Philadelphia
Washington DC
Virginia Beach
Jacksonville, NC
Myrtle Beach
Charleston
Savannah
Jacksonville, FL
Miami Beach

what did I see? interstate 95, mainly

what did I do? work, mostly
1300 miles of driving
100 times eating out
60 miles of walking around, pushing the wheel chair, carrying bags
11 hotels
Amtrak, Avis and Chevy

how was it? interesting
what did I learn? plenty; miscellanious observations

such as:

'low fat' is sooo passé, now it's gotta be 'low carb'
-- Atkins must be a multi-millionaire

'Tow Zone. Emergency Artery. No Parking During Snow Emergency.'
1. streets are the arteries of a city, and people are its blood
2. no city in Finland would panic about a little snow...
'emergency', bah humbug

an Irish bar serving Mexican food in an originally English city
is nothing new
-- btw their speciality: Tex Mex spring rolls

the alarms of police vehicles in NYC sound like most 8O's video games

ever sat on the porch of a small cabin in the countryside
and listened to the soothing sounds of pouring rain falling
on the roof and ground?
(not the staccato drop but the continuous hiss)
well, that's what the NYC traffic sounds like,
heard from an open 26th storey window
-- but it's not soothing, when you know it's all man-made...

I demand: bring salad bars to Finland!

'Post No Bills'
-- I know what it means;
but if you look at any dictionary explanation for the main word 'bill'...

am I glad I'm not allergic to any foodstuffs!
it'd be virtually impossible to get anything to eat
that contains no nuts or chocolate
-- or preservatives, colourings or artificial flavourings... yuck

flesh is weak:
Toll House cookies, spin-off chocolate bars and ice cream, AHH
(see above...)

'Thank You For The Concideration To Curb Your Dog'
-- meaning, 'thanks for not letting your doggie pee here'

toilet bowls are icky;
they're shaped in a way which leaves one's excrement
whirl around within visibility for longer than
in Scandinavian toilet bowls...

there are two kinds of phone books: Business and Residential

Southern Hospitality is no myth, it's reality
-- I wish we Finns would learn a touch of that

waiters wages base mainly on tips,
hence they serve you better than their Finnish colleagues
-- good for the customer, bad for the waiter

rain literally falls 'out of the blue';
and when it falls, man you get soaked in seconds!
(undies and all)

tv commercials: if it's recommended by a human being, buy it!
(irrelevant who the human being is and what is her/his status)

according to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
all side effects must be listed in the advertisement
-- honestly,
I don't know how the Americans feel safe buying any drug
when the tv add shows smiling people; children & elderly alike;
taking spoonfuls of some pink goo and patting their tummy,
while a manly voice first declares
the numerous highly uncomfortable side effects
the product in question has
and then says firmly & with calculated warmth:
X, the relief you should buy!

mundane: in the pool

there was I,
floating on my back
looking at the purple sky
with three stars blinking
and pink cloud formations sweeping across

there was I,
listening to the sound
of the water humming in my ears
blocking others out,
closing me in

there was I,
caressed by a faint memory of Her;
put in a giant jar and cleansed by chemicals
but still: her, the first love of my life

I feel confident:
these two will hold me when I'm weak,
they will sooth me when I'm sore
-- and if she won't, at least She will