Category Archives: Limericks

2012 Meps and Philip Exploring Ancient Mexico, Friends Along the Way, Limericks, Strange and Silly

Jipijapa

4/16/2012 meps Leave a comment

Up ahead in the road, what is that?
And we swerve so it won’t go “kersplat.”
Then we stop. I run back,
Find it’s just what I lack,
It’s a perfect-fit Panama hat!

On my recent trip to Quintana Roo, Mexico, I didn’t buy myself a single souvenir. I did, however, bring back the cutest Panama hat you ever did see! With the help of my friend and driver, Philip, I rescued it from the middle of the freeway and have been wearing it ever since.

According to my Spanish dictionary, “jipijapa” is finely woven straw, and the term for Panama hat is “sombrero de jipijapa.” Sadly, the tag in my sombrero de jipijapa says, “Made in China.”

Cruising on Flutterby, Friends Along the Way, Limericks, Messing About in Boats

Barry does the laundry

3/2/2012 meps Leave a comment

He was late getting back to the boat,
With the clothing he needed to tote,
And a smile on his face,
For he’d found, in that place,
That it’s great fun to feed a small goat.

Here’s a picture of Barry feeding 4-day old Lucky, the tiny goat who was living in the laundry room at Osprey Marina:
Barry feeding Lucky the goat
~~~

Friends Along the Way, Limericks

Hospital homecoming

10/25/2011 meps Leave a comment

Tomorrow’s a really big day,
My Dad’s coming back home to stay,
And now comes my fun,
Because when it’s all done,
It’s Nurse Meps who’s the one he’ll obey.
~~~
(Don’t tell Dad, but she’s a pushover!)

Friends Along the Way, Limericks

Best place to mend a broken heart

10/19/2011 meps Leave a comment

Mechanics in town all say Stowe,
Is the very best place you can go,
For a quick valve job, cheap,
But he won’t fix your Jeep,
For he just works on hearts, don’t you know.
—
Indian River Medical Center is my Dad’s hospital, just a few miles from his home. We’ve just learned that Consumer Reports has ranked it the best hospital in Florida for open-heart surgery. What an excellent confidence-booster in the face of tomorrow’s heart valve replacement!

Cruising on Flutterby, Limericks, Our Limerick Life, Strange and Silly

A new breed of bird?

10/17/2011 meps Leave a comment

This word once described her: Poquito.
But this bug, with her massive libido,
Must have slept with a cow,
For her offspring are now
Too huge to be called mere “mosquito.”

Limericks, Messing About in Boats

Dry eyes all around

9/9/2011 meps Leave a comment

For over two hours, Irene’s eye,
Looked down on our dear Flutterby,
No damage was done,
And after that fun,
Great news: All our bilges are dry!

All’s well that ends well! Thanks to Kevin, Jonathan, Libby, and Nancy & Kenny for taking care of things in North Carolina. And to our parents for letting us know that everything was OK! Thanks to them, we were able to relax and enjoy our time in Black Rock City.

Friends Along the Way, Limericks, Our Limerick Life

A family affair

8/10/2011 meps Leave a comment

What I wanted was just to relate,
To the mother of my chosen mate,
So we stared at the screen,
Of an Apple machine,
And we chatted of things like baud rate.

Though that’s twenty-three years in the past,
And our new Mac computers are fast,
We still sit back-to-back,
In the family shack,
And we surf and play games — what a blast!

Current Events, Defining Words in Verse, Limericks, Our Limerick Life

Soggy Seattle homecoming

7/17/2011 meps Leave a comment

They held extra rain in the sky,
Until I arrived in July,
A serious bummer,
Because in the summer
Seattle should be warm and dry.

Did you guys save this rain just for me? You shouldn’t have!

—

Friends Along the Way, Limericks, Messing About in Boats, Strange and Silly

Inciting a peaceful riot

7/13/2011 meps Leave a comment

Nick sails Valkyrie, peaceful, serene,
With the engine turned off, no machine,
Breaks the stillness, the quiet,
Til he creates a riot,
With his blender, which burns gasoline.

With a sound like a loud chainsaw roar,
Our Lake Union’s not peaceful, no more,
“Margaritas,” I say,
“Over two miles away,”
It’s Saint Nick, giving alms to the pour.

We went out on Flagrante Delicto to watch Duck Dodge (for you non-Seattlites, it’s a very silly sailing race) last night, and were greeted in limerick form by Blender Boy Nick. Here’s a picture of Valkyrie’s crew (don’t ask me how Nick can steer with this many people in the cockpit!).

The theme for last night’s race was “Bastille Day Night,” which inspired these clever sailors to install a guillotine. Now I know where to put one if I ever need one.

Our captain for the evening, buttoned up against the weather in his MG-B. He says that at 30 mph, the rain just goes over his pith helmet, and he cleverly pulls out an umbrella at stoplights.

Current Events, Limericks

How the West was wet

7/3/2011 meps Leave a comment

As the day breaks, a beautiful hush
Hangs o’er breathtaking fields, oh so lush,
But this deceptive green,
Is the most ever seen,
For the rain’s turned the whole place to mush.

Sometimes it’s the colors that tell the real story, and it’s a tragedy. Driving along, enjoying the lovely green fields in North Dakota and Montana, we suddenly realized: It’s not supposed to be green here! And those blue waters? The ones over the road? They’re not supposed to be here, either.

A rancher in Montana yesterday told us about digging a post hole on top of a rocky hill and coming back, two days later, to find it half-full of water. “It hasn’t rained, has it?” he asked his Dad, incredulous. “Nope.” In all their lives, folks have never seen the ground this saturated. Many folks couldn’t plant their crops. The ones who did say their hay’s not forming heads and ripening.

Our pictures show blue skies, puffy clouds, and vast green fields. The news organizations’ photos show tragic flooding and families fleeing their homes. Both capture the truth of 2011.

Here’s where we crossed the Mississippi.
Flooding along the Mississippi