Bumblebee

In the springtime, big fat bumblebees

fly clumsily and bumble-y.

They fly close to the ground.

Visit the crocus and the new grass.

Bumblebees are irresistible!

Fun to watch and fun to follow!

They let me listen to their buzzzzz language.

They let me smell them.

They let me put them on my tongue.

Why does Martha snap and push the

bumblebee out with a stick????

Not a cheese stick. A bee stick.

It's no big deal, I mumble and grumble.

I like the humble bumble.

It's only a bee.

I like when Jacoby makes a beeline to catch a fly ball.

He has a "B" on his baseball cap.

This silly man has BEES on his baseball cap.

I like when Tom tries to fly like a bumblebee.

Bumblebees are beeeeeeeautiful!

I like the poem: "The Girl with Bees in Her Hair"

by Eleanor Wilner. It's kind of gothic.

The bees in this poem are sort of scary.

Not like the bumblebees here that are

superbuzzy and nice and

tickle tongue crawly.

There's no mystery.

Bumblebees are irrepressibly velvety

and chuckle chummy great!!!!!!!!

bzzzzzzzzz, woof - Li Lu

How To:

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for more about the 1919 red sox,

check this link

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for more about Captain Carl

check this link

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Chrysanthemum

No one really knows where the Shih Tzu originated.

Our history is shrouded in mystery and myth.

A Shih Tzu can enchant anyone if we wish.

Both Tibet and China lay claim to our development.

Ancient paintings and art objects depicted our early times.

We have a noble heritage and were prized by royal families.

Shih Tzus lived in Imperial palaces and lounged

upon embroidered silk pillows.

We have been called chrysanthemum-faced dogs because

the hair on our faces grows out in all directions.

The chrysanthemum flower has a long horticultural history.

Pictorial evidence of its cultivation dates back

as early as the Shih Tzu's. The chrysanthemum was

brought to Europe by plant collectors in the 1600's.

It came to North America with settlers in the colonial days.

After centuries of hybridization, there are thousands

of named chrysanthemum cultivars.

Chrysanthemum-faced Shih Tzus were highly prized and

remained with royal families in Asia until a few were

exported (stolen) and landed in England in the 1930's.

The American Kennel Club admitted the

Shih Tzu to registration in the 1960's.

After centuries of Shih Tzu breeding practices,

there is still only one perfect dog.

In Japan, there is a Chrysanthemum Festival

that is held every year in October.

In Florida, you can view more chrysanthemums than

you would believe possible at Cypress Gardens.

In Boston, there is a famous chrysanthemum-faced

dirt dog that we all love.

He is almost as lovable as a Shih Tzu!

Woof! - Li Lu

Hairdo

I need a new hairdo! I'm tired of looking like the Brewster Chubacabra!

My sister, Hazel, was going to make a verse about the Brewster Chubacabra.

She said, "the only things that rhyme with chubacabra are candelabra and

my aunt Barbara. How can I work with a macabre word like chubacabra?

Take out a wand and say, 'abracadabra'? Forget about it!"

I want a hairdo that makes me look as smart and stylin' as Sonia Sotomayor.

A piquant curl here, a controlled upsweep there. Hair that will flow back when I run after squirrels and return to waterfall bangs that stay out of my eyes if I need to

answer questions from Senators during a job interview.

Is that too much to ask from a groomer?

Last time I was at the groomer's studio, I asked for an

Annette Funicello 'do.

Not from when she was a Mouseketeer with her short Italian 'fro;

but from later years,

when she was a beach blanket babe in teen movies and had

records like "Pineapple Princess".

My beautiful black hair was long enough for a teased-up bun,

a flip behind my ears,

and flirty bangs. But, no!

The groomer shaved me and said I had fur matts!

When Sonia Sotomayor was young, she had a hairdo like

Annette's Mouseketeer pixie pouf.

I don't want that. I'm going for a look that says brainy,

refined and job serious

with a little bit of dance-party, fun puppy too.

This time, I'm bringing a photo of

Sonia Sotomayor to the groomer so she can copy the cut.

When Sonia Sotomayor has some down time, she likes to go to Puerto Rico.

She was born in New York, but her parents came from Puerto Rico

and she has cousins who live there.

The lovely island of Puerto Rico is where the first chubacabras were

seen by reliable witnesses who saw them in their car headlights

on the way home from salsa dance parties in the middle of the night.

Puerto Rico is also a place where pineapples are grown commercially.

In Puerto Rico, pineapples are used in many recipes.

Here is a link to a recipe for

spicy Puerto Rican pineapple pickles.

And above is a photo of an actual Pineapple Princess.

With my beautiful new coiffure, I could enter a pineapple pageant too!

Sonia Sotomayor is (unfortunately) a lifelong Yankees fan

and we question her judgement on that.

She can't help it. She grew up in close proximity to Yankee Stadium.

At least she likes baseball.

We recently spotted one of our favorites from Baseball Nation

at a salsa dance party in Boston.

He spent childhood years living in Puerto Rico too!

With my serious-yet-sporty nueva Latina hairdo,

maybe Mike and I could

convince Sonia Sotomayor to give Fenway a try.

Mofongo and a mojito could sweeten the deal.

Woof! - Li Lu

Shoes

I love shoes! I can't help it!

They reflect the scents of the inner souls that reside in the soles of the feet that wear them.

Shoes give off the smell-image of people.

It's a dog thing.

I subscribe to the 'Imagist' school of poetry.

I would have made a good lap dog for an Imagist poet like Amy Lowell

who won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926.

It was a posthumous prize. What a gyp.

Amy Lowell liked shoes too! She published a poem called "Red Slippers".

It is one of my faves.

I have an older sister named Lesley who lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Amy Lowell lived in Brookline too!

Amy Lowell was chubby, short, smart and rich.

I am chubby and short too!

Amy Lowell was well-read and self-taught. She was not allowed to attend college because her prominent family did not think it was proper for a woman. Two of her brothers prospered in college: one became a famous astronomer and one went on to become the president of Harvard. Gyp again, Amy!

I am not allowed to go to college either because I am a dog.

Amy Lowell lived in the narrow-minded culture of her time.

Mockery and ridicule came from fellow poets like Ezra Pound who referred to her as a "hippopoetess" My sister, LiLu, has called me a "chubba bubba" so I know how Ms. Lowell must have felt. Big laps are better for lap dogs, right Amy?

Amy Lowell smoked cigars constantly.

Another of my favorite Lowells is seen around Brookline with cigars today.

In 1925, Amy Lowell died at the tender age of 51.

She is buried at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, just outside Boston.

It is a beautiful place with rolling hills, lush landscape plantings of botanical gems, and meandering walking paths that weave through the resting places of the famous dead.

No one has come along to fill the shoes, or the slippers or the great lap of Amy Lowell.

Dinosaur

Today I will be a dinosaur!

A Stink-o-saurus Rex!

I will sniff the world outside the door

Until I find strong scents galore.

Dead worms! Wild-thing pee!

Flip over, spine grind it.

Gleeeeee!

I'm smelly. I'm proud.

Oh for barking out loud.

Why me? Woof