The Winter of Our Discontent

I finished the longest book I've ever read. The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck has 298 pages in this paperback copy, a "Bantam Seventy Five" printed in 1962.  And "NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED."

And now for the weather on the other side of these window panes.

Today

Sunny. Highs near zero. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Lowest wind chill readings 25 below to 30 below zero in the morning.

And to think, no razor required for the protagonist, just one of his late night walks. And then the question of his intention. Found under a drift and the razors in his pocket.

But Ellen knew all along.

www.natehoward.com: Sign and Date, by Nate Howard

www.natehoward.com: Sign and Date, by Nate Howard.

Chicken and Cigarettes

Poultry or tobacco?
Which came first?
I eat the poultry to make the tobacco taste better.

The Professors Failed Me

I am a Wiki user, without a 4 year degree. The truth shall set you free.

Man, you should see my collection of books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Natehoward

To be a photographer...

"The photographer is filled with doubt. Nothing will soothe him."
 -- Raymond Depardon
__
Austin, MN 2009
Nate Howard

Lunch Break

Lawn mowers, cut grass, fresh after the storm lightening cracked thunder thumped and a bowl of chicken vegetable soup, home made, with extra pepper and birds singing between storms, with the motorcycle starting without needing to kick start and then the humidity dissipates, and condensation on the Pepsi can, until it's empty and I ride down highway 218 once again.

Lawn Mowers

Lawn mowers, cut grass, fresh after the storm lightening cracked thunder thumped and a bowl of chicken vegetable soup, home made, with extra pepper and birds singing between storms, with the motorcycle starting without needing to kick start and then the humidity dissipates, and condensation on the Pepsi can, until it's empty and I ride down highway 218 once again.

Lukas Discovers Google

"invention that stoped pony express. for kids . social sdudies . please . for sacred heart school . second grade . february 24 ,2010 . please"
My son Lukas enters this copy in a Google search today. February, 23, 2010.

Manitoba, Canada by Motorcycle

View Motorcycle, Canada Manitoba in a larger map
May 29 to June 6.

When I Got to Go

January might be Chicago.
June to Manitoba.
August is Mexico.
But most important is Canada.
Where the pavement ends
And gravel roads reveal
How to heal.
When the ailment is a mystery.
And caution opens the throttle
to let me be me.

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Nobody Knows Me

I'll give blood to the nurse
I'll let them know
what's in my purse.
It's got my medicine.
Nice tits nurse.
It reveals my sin.
Battle and bombs.
And the steel guitar strums.
To stars and snow storms.

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Old Poetry

January 11, 1998

Two beers on an empty stomach

Two beers on an empty stomach
has me singing, stretched out in the hammock.

Next to the stream and under the trees
listening to the wind shaking the leaves.

Looking high into a blue sky
No need to worry, no need to ask why.

Beauty in and all around
A birds song fills the air and the rushing waters sound.

But when I awake, I brush off the flakes.
For it is February, as my cold heart aches.

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Chinese Restaraunt

12-9-2005

I was looking at the dead man's shoes.
He wore a size 10 1/2 DD. He wore dress up shoes.
The kind you polish, with thin shoe strings, and the extra piece of leather over the toes.
Maybe wing tip shoes, whatever they are?
I don't know. He wore Rockport walking shoes. All black, two pairs almost identical.
Then he wore some dress up slip on suede shoes.
Shoes you might see on a cruise dinner night but I've never been on a cruise so I don't know.
The Rockports he wore the most, the cruise dress up loafers he wore the least.
His size is too big for me. I wear a 9 1/2. So then I turned to the coats and I found an all wool tan coat.
It was only $3. Roxana, my coworker, think it is too big but the clerk said it looked really nice on me.
I think both of them are correct.
I'm wearing it and I feel good in it. I'll just move the three buttons over to tighten up the front. I'm eating at the China Restaraunt.
That's the name, China Restaurant.
I'm listening to Handel's Messiah. I think, which ever one sings Hallelujah!, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!.
The owners are Buddhist.But the Christmas Carols continue. Now it Silver Bells.
I'm listening to Silver Bells and served by a Buddhist waitress who has a unique beauty.
Subtle, soft, as if a servant. She calls me sir. I wonder if she keeps a journal. Is she this submissive sexually?
I wonder.
Can I ask her that, no.
My vegetable tofu soup is $4.25 less than a value meal and it serves two. Now it's Ave Maria.
It really is about satisfying the customer.
Tomorrow I go back to the Senior Center thrift store and write in detail about the dead man's shoes. Where have they traveled. And this coat, is it from the same dead mad?
I really think so.
The coat seems completely proportionate in size and soul to the 10 1/2 DD shoes.
I really want to buy a Tsing-Tao beer but I need to turn in photos from the basketball game.
The Austin Packers lost to Mayo. Do the Chinese eat a fortune cookie after their dinner?
I doubt it.
I felt authentic in the meal, but the Christmas carols and fortune cookie skewed the Asian experience.

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In Minnesota, in January, there is snow. - Nate

Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota

The roadside attraction of Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota by Nate Howard

Wall Drug is a bizarre place to visit. I recommend you stop and take your time, lose yourself.

Wall Drug South Dakota by Nate Howard

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Poetry

when you're wasted
at 1 in the afternoon
Go and find yourself a loaded gun.
You find yourself a rabbit on the run
And the silence gives to the blast
and stillness
blood freezes on the snow
North of Lyle, MN
right off the tracks
reddish, orange sky
the sun was setting
One farm was in the distance
and in the other
was nothing.

11/3/2009

Nate

Rabbit hunting

There was a loud bang when the rabbit exploded from the snow covered brush.
There was a soft breeze when death told the rabbit hush.

- march 2001

11-26-2001

November

Here comes winter.
Slumber into white.
Rain to ice to snow.

Eyes watering, gasping for air.
Breathe through your nose.

Will it stick?
What's the weather?
You remember the winter of...?

Rusty red pick-up,
among dead leaves ,
glistening from November rain.

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not yet

I'll wait for you
you, waiting for me.
To find home
Having never been there
Those red lights again
Guess my intention
Got more to share
than a friend
Gonna run out the back door
Gonna be forever more
You photographed the coffe cups

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