Pesky Rabbits

 

That Pesky Rabbit

With crisp, clean cuts like a gardening tool,

This rabbit has taken me for a fool,

He has snuck into my garden while I’m away,

And eaten all my flowering plants today,

I didn’t actually catch him in the act,

But I recognize his poop and, in fact,

There are probably more than one of them,

Having a buffet on all the delicious stems,

But alas, Elmer Fudd and I won’t be had,

I have a plan and it is ironclad,

I have put up a screen, nice and tight,

Along my fence, where they sneak at night,

I dare them to try and feast again,

I trust they won’t be able to get in,

I take great pride in my flower beds,

And don’t want to find my plants in shreds,

These bunnies may be cute, floppy ears and such,

But in this instance, I don’t like them very much,

Stay out of my garden you pesky rabbit,

Find a different place to inhabit!

Tammy Harvey

11/21/2023

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Give Thanks

Sun shines bright on a colorful fall day,

There is thankfulness and joy in the air today,

So much to be thankful for, family and friends,

Sometimes I wish this day never ends,

A cornucopia of delicious food on the table,

Thankful for our health and that we are able,

To join together and truly celebrate,

All that we have been blessed with to date,

The Macy’s parade, a must-see while we cook,

Scurrying around the kitchen, but taking a look,

Remembering my grandmother in her apron of old,

Wiping her hands on the front, and the pie crust she rolled,

Afterwards, when bellies are full and the slumber sets in,

While cheering our favorite football team to win,

We doze off sitting up on the couch or recliner,

Thanksgiving Day, nothing could be finer!

Tammy Harvey

11/23/2023

Reflections of Home

 My eldest son Thomas wrote this story after I put his childhood home on the market while downsizing into my new life as a widow. 

Thomas’ Essay

There’s a 'FOR SALE' sign just steps away from where my dad fingered our family surname in the wet concrete below the curb when it was poured three decades ago. Burnished by hurricanes Fran and Floyd, two feet of snow in Y2K and thirty years of seasons, the letters once etched deep are now well-worn hieroglyphs, faded like the memories made in my boyhood home.
Its occupants, once five, vacated in a slow but natural forward march until only the matriarch came to hold the fort. Her three boys became men, fledged and left her an empty nester before cancer left her a widow. Alone with her thoughts in a place once so full of life, the stark emptiness only served to amplify her losses. A home without family turns back to a house, the studs a skeleton of what once was.
But despite its hollowness, the house does have solid bones - besides the metatarsal (mine) and ulna (my brother’s) fractured sometime in the early 2000s. Perched atop a slope, the steep driveway will likely frighten potential buyers who simply lack imagination and vision. If they were to ask, I would tell them that the driveway is the ideal runway for crude wooden ramps hobbled together by small hands from scrap plywood, two-by-fours and remnant bricks. And that not too long-ago wheels, in pairs of twos and fours, rolled from the top of the incline, their riders descending with the reckless abandon and ignorance afforded only by youthful naivety. Speed led to blood, scabs and scars in a time well before helmets and pads softened our spirit.
Once concealed by towering evergreen trees that finally succumbed to disease, the train track that borders the property’s rear is sure to be another red flag to interested parties. However, had they only experienced the thrill – half fear, half frenzy – of running down and stealing the red safety flag that once flew from the caboose of the slow-moving CSX freight train on its daily run like a western outlaw maybe they would think different. Or had they placed a penny on the flat rail and cheered as the locomotive pancaked the soft zinc coated copper into collectable oval trinkets. Or if they would have learned to decipher curse words from the vivid graffiti on the rail cars or convinced the conductor to sound the horn simply by motioning their right arm… then, maybe they would realize they were on the right side of the tracks.
The house, like the flawed family that lived in it for so many years, is not perfect. The new owners will find the need to update and upgrade cosmetic or otherwise. While doing so they will surely stumble upon my father’s signature and a date written carefully on the nearest piece of drywall, stud or flat surface; the hidden graphite autograph a time capsule to the bygone days I now cherish. It is my hope the new owners will appreciate the pride my father took in maintaining his home; blood, sweat and tears – the home has them all and all for different reasons.
It is my hope that the new owners of my childhood home will see it for what it is, what our family made it. A place for discovery, growth and maturity. A safe haven for imagination and make-believe. A shelter with a foundation strong enough to withstand the storms of hurricanes, three adolescent boys and the stresses of life and death. Mostly, I hope when the new owners get their mail, they’ll notice the faint lettering in the concrete just beneath the box and remember the folk that left the roots of their family tree tangled amidst the front yard’s towering oaks, buried deep in the red Carolina clay.
written by:  Thomas Harvey 

9/14/2021

Don't Get Sick

 

Flu Season

The season is here for getting the flu,

Headache and fever, and frequent “achoo”!

Congestion and cough, feeling miserable and weak,

Body aches and pains, it is nothing unique,

If not the flu, then a new strain of covid is lurking,

Have no fear, the vaccination is working?

Common colds and viruses are also widespread,

Some days it is better just to stay in bed!

But bed is where the sick are found,

So better get up and move around,

Cough in your elbow and sneeze into a tissue,

And don’t let anyone try to kiss you,

Wear a mask, that’s an option,

Drink your mama’s concoction,

Do whatever you need to do,

To try and avoid the flu!

Tammy Harvey

1/20/2023

Rushawn Sings

 

Thankfulness

Recently a song went viral on social media, by a young Jamaican boy,

The lyrics are very simple, but the meaning brings so much joy,

Rushawn sings “Beautiful Day” with confidence and heart,

He probably doesn’t know of all the inspiration he will impart,

He sings of thankfulness and humility, in a pure voice,

His words resonate that appreciation is a choice,

He thanks God for sunshine, He thanks Him for rain,

He thanks Him for joy, and he thanks Him for pain,

Thankful in all circumstances is the message that he shares,

Which brings about an internal peace without compare,

There is a reason for a season of sunshine, a reason for rain,

A reason for joy and a reason for pain,

A bigger picture, a divine and eternal plan,

Be thankful in all circumstances if you can,

Someday we will know the reason for all things, good and bad,

There is no time to be disheartened and sad,

Just remember what Rushawn sings:  It’s a Beautiful Day,

In God’s timing, everything is going to be okay.

Tammy Harvey

10/15/2023