I was trying t figure out what to do after dinner tonight. Once I rolled the trash and recycling barrels to the curb and put the returnable chlorine containers next to the car, I came in the house. I set a couple of mouse traps because it is that time of year when the mice start moving in and around the house. There is something called the Social Dilemma on Netflix that I have heard good things about and I thought about watching that. I also thought about doing the dishes but I cooked dinner tonight and I need to start letting the kids do the dishes.
I finally decided to sit outside on the front porch and read. I really wanted to sit outside. It is getting to the end of September and there are not going to be too many more nights where I can sit on the front porch in a t-shirt and shorts. My dog decided to join me and she sat next to me on the couch. I started reading a book of poetry by Bill Collins. I didn’t know who Billy Collins is and it says in the book that he was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. I’m not sure what the Poet Laureate of the United States is or what they do but Billy Collins writes some pretty good poetry.
I like to read poetry and sometimes write it because it almost feels like not really a commitment. The punctuation doesn’t really count. You don’t need to write in complete sentences. You can write one sentence and call it a poem. Is it because I am lazy? I can write a couple of lines and say it is a poem. I can pick up a book of poems and read a couple and put the book back down.
After reading Billy Collins for about a half hour I started to change my thinking. I completely committed to the reading. I looked at the words and looked up words I did not know. I thought I knew what a druid was but didn’t really know until I looked up the word after reading The Country. His poetry may not always rhyme but it often echoes.
I’m glad that I got to spend some time outside tonight doing something that I really enjoy (reading) while sitting with my dog. I was able to take advantage of an unusually warm evening and learn the meaning of the word druid (noun/ a priest, magician, or soothsayer in the ancient Celtic religion).
