Friday, January 27, 2006

Maple (Retro Poem)

This week has been an unpleasant computer week for me. At home, we experienced the hard drive version of Three Mile Island. I've finally retired that old computer, and now I'm busy setting up the new one and trying to recover as much as I can from the damaged hard drive (including the source files for all but the most recent pictures posted here). I don't want to leave you hanging in the meantime, though. So I'm resurrecting one of the poems I wrote when I was a teenager. That old folder of poetry and short stories is sure fun to dig around in once in a while!

Maple
The old tree by the summerhouse
had branches that reached out and
used to scrape the sky.
I spent a childhood there,
cradled in his arms,
but now it doesn't seem so high.
(Written in 1988)

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear about the pc probs...I can so relate!

Shesawriter said...

Jason,

I think I'm gonna need a new one too. Unfortunately.

Tanya

WannabeMe said...

You didn't lose any writing or pics have you? I SO feel for you!

Anonymous said...

Robin, they're SO much fun, aren't they?

Tanya, sorry to state the obvious, but make sure you back up your data often! I lost the ability to use my CD burner software about 4 months ago when I upgraded to XP, and then I got lazy. Well, I was lazy before that also. Except for files for my novels, I didn't have backups for anything more recent than last January. NOT COOL!

Dana, all of our 2005 pictures are at risk, but the disk scanning software I got is able to recover them, but in a most painful way. It lumps all of them as unnamed .jpg files. THOUSANDS of them (for example, think of all the temp files saved as you browse the internet). I think I'll get most of the pictures back. Thankfully, my writing is on a laptop with several backups. If I had lost my novel in progress, they would be fishing me out of the Delaware River about now.

Melissa Amateis said...

My printer died last weekend. I think I'm going to use my lunch break to go and find a new one - this time a laserjet instead of an inkjet!

Hope you didn't lose any writing. I still have a computer hard-drive that I need to pull a ton of stuff off of, if I ever get around to it. :-)

Like the poem. Very sweet.

mermaid said...

Sometimes, reading the earlier works gives the reader a deeper understanding, and the writer a beginning.

The tree appears to be a parent, colossal in her ability to cradle that boy.

Mary Louisa said...

OH MAN, that so sucks. I'm sorry things are so futzed at the moment.

Trees are the most wonderful beings, aren't they?

Linda said...

Love the poem! I just got my computer and was saying last night I need to back up the files thanks for the reminder. :)

Still fighting the migraine but atleast I can focus a little better today.

Erik Ivan James said...

Jason,

This is my first visit. It will not be the last. Your work is inspiring (I'd say beautiful if I weren't a male pig by Bunion standards).:}

Anonymous said...

Melissa, oh yeah, definitely upgrade to laserjet. Say goodbye to smearing. I didn't lose any writing, because most of that is on my laptop and is regularly backed up. Thankfully!

Mermaid, "the reader understanding, and the writer a beginning...." Much wisdom in those words.

Mary Louisa, thanks for the sentiment. And yes, trees are amazing. If I can figure out an interesting way to present them, I'll post pictures of old growth hemlocks from the mountains. They're over 400 years old. Being around such old souls is humbling.

BeadinggalinMS, okay, I COMMAND the migraine to let go!! Any better?

Erik, welcome! Whether "inspiring" or "beautiful," both are high compliments. Thanks! New faces here are always exciting. We've been crossing paths on other blogs, and I've been meaning to visit you. I will definitely return the favor. Hope to see you back!

Jeff said...

Sorry about your PC problem, jason. Nice poem.
You were a teenager in 1988?
By 1988 I was married and had a six year old daughter and a three year old son! LOL

Anonymous said...

Jeff, now don't go making me feel like a kid!! =D Yes, I was 18 in 1988.

Gabriele Campbell said...

Lovely poem.

*goes and makes a backup of her writing* ;-)

At least, my pics are already on CDs.

Terri said...

Sorry to hear about your pc troubles but thx for reminding me to get off my butt & sort my own stuff out :-)

How much fun was it being a teenager in the 80's eh?!

Anonymous said...

Gabriele, backups...very good!! I solemnly swear to be better in the future with backups. ;)

Terri, I'm happy that something good came out of my carnage. Regarding the 80's, I whole-heartedly agree. What a blast! In ten short years, we went from foil TV dinners in the oven and no home computers to computers everywhere and the microwave revolution.

WannabeMe said...

Jason - my goodness. I'd be pulling my hair out right about now.

Ever thought of putting your pics on some online storage? We have our pics stored at www.web-a-photo.com

It's free and private and you can store a LOT of photos there. Just another safeguard, you know.

Anonymous said...

Dana, I do have my novels backed up online. I haven't tried it for pictures, though. Technology has blown wide open since my last computer purchase. I bought an external USB hard drive (40 gigabytes) for my main backups. It was harder in the past when I was limited to 600 mb cd's.