A forgotten poem rediscovered

I’ve found that having an achy knee means a lot of time in my recliner - and therefore, time to work on a neglected project.

Over the course of nearly 20 years and almost 3500 posts, this blog often contained comments and observations related to my travels. Observations about countries, activities, and “travel tips” were fairly frequent - as they are now in my post-retirement ramblings. So I am collecting them into a single document - Travels with the Blue Skunk.

One of the delights of doing such a project is running across materials I’d shared before such as this poem I discovered while in Ireland. Enjoy…

Pangur Ban

I and Pangur Ban my cat,
'Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

'Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye,
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

So in peace our task we ply,
Pangur Ban my cat and I;
In our arts we find out bliss,
I have mine and he has his.

written by a 9th century Irish scholar-monk

Thoughts while folding laundry…

Image source

A strained knee, limiting my ability to hike and bike, has gotten me contemplating my own mortality (again). 

Life’s too short to:

1. Fold fitted sheets
2. Fuss about splitting a restaurant check
3. Use coupons
4. Hold a grudge and harbor regrets
5. Finish reading a book you are not enjoying
6. Read newspaper articles that are irrelevant
7. Drive ten miles to save a dollar
8. Worry if one’s socks match
9. Watch stupid television shows
10. Live unconsciously

Life’s plenty long enough to:

1. Stop at yellow lights
2. Take a trip
3. Take a nap
4. Play a few games
5. Contact a friend
6. Go for a walk
7. Cook a meal
8. Write a bit
9. Send a thank you 
10. Brush twice a day

And on your lists?

Off to the Y to soak my knee in the whirlpool.

The pleasure of being published

I am a has-been. My days of being recognized in the library and educational technology field passed when my day-to-day involvement with schools passed on my retirement five years ago. But as they say, “Better a has-been than a never-was.”

When the Minnesota Star Tribune published one of my submissions for its opinion page, I was tickled. This was not a letter to the editor but a genuine commentary. The piece has since generated a couple letters and references in other editorials. Somebody actually read it.

“Influencers” have increasingly moved to social media platforms to share their thoughts and opinions. I am not one of those. I share links to blog posts on Facebook’s Blue Skunk page and on LinkedIn. But no Twitter (now known as X) or Instagram or TikTok. I write, mostly in complete sentences. I don’t dance, sing, or share selfies of me or any body parts. (Lucky you.)

Not too long ago, those of us who appeared in print may have been called the influencers. While the LM_Net listserve (formed in 1992) foreshadowed today’s unedited, conversational, more spontaneous communications, most librarians and tech directors depended on professional journals and books to stay up-to-date on trends and philosophies.

From approximately 1990 to 2015, I published a lot of edited columns, articles, and books. In a fairly wide range of print journals. As I count them:

• 149 articles
• 246 columns
• 7 books, 2 second editions
• Oh, along with 3200 blog posts

So I was perhaps a bit jaded when that School Library Journal or Kappan came in the mail with my name in the table of contents. But no longer.

My view of publishing reflects my generational values. That column in Library Media Connection didn’t just appear instantaneously. It underwent editorial scrutiny first. At times, quite critical. And I’ve always felt that two (or more) sets of eyes on a piece of writing generally improve it. So not only did I have to feel the piece was worthy of sharing, so did one or more of my colleagues or a professional editor.

I seriously doubt I will ever develop a level of post-retirement expertise in any field that allows me to write with confidence. But it sure is fun to see my occasional diatribe in actual print. I am jaded no more.