May 1, 2008

Happy patio days are here again

“Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again:
Let us sing a song of cheer again,
Happy days are here again!”

You probably hear the tune as you read those words.

A fellow by the name of Jack Yellen wrote the words of “Happy Days” a-way back in 1929. It my best estimation, he likely wrote it prior to the October stock market crash. Or perhaps he had his life savings stashed in a coffee can under the shagbark hickory tree in the yard.

It would be in 1932 when Roosevelt used the song as a campaign song. Fear not, Angelkeep Journals has not reverted to a political column intent on sending you to the right candidate and the correct political party with the writer’s estimation that I know more than anyone about how you should vote on next Tuesday’s Indiana primary, as though Angelkeep atmospheric conditions has given its inhabitants divine wisdom in correlation to the primary choices forthcoming. And if any of that run-on sentence makes sense to you at all, then perhaps I have a future in politics after all.

The good news is: happy patio days have returned to Angelkeep. Once again the swing is set facing Angelpond. The pond is filled with pollywogs and those that made them. Croaking is drowned out only by the incessant songsters of the feathered families. Nearly every day finds the now well seasoned patio campfire pan sending forth smoke signals toward Heaven. They express thanksgiving for new growth, new warmth, as well as the soon-to-be temporary lessening of political bantering.

I vote to require all political candidates, activists, pollsters, and analysts to have the throat of a golden finch. I cast my endorsement to any candidate that can orate with the cheer of an American robin.

And how about some of the patience of the great blue heron. He stands quietly, ankle deep in water, awaiting for his dinner to swim by his location. Never pushy. Never loud. Never asking for help. Can’t you just hear him from where you are?

“Happy days are here again, the sky above is clear again, Angelpond has fish galore again, fish and frogs are food again.” Mr. Heron hums it softly.

The mud slinging has, unfortunately been on the rise in the past few weeks. Added rain, thanks be it’s not snow, has made the daily trip to feed deer a muddy walk. Some days I do it barefoot, just because it is spring and I can feel the cold mud between my toes. I give it a good kick toward the pond’s direction and the mud slinging is in full flight. What fun. It’s great to be alive in spring.

All the mud reminds me of being barefoot and fancy free on the Uniondale farm as a youngster. I really did like making mud pies. Never ate one. I also made animals and farm implements out of mud and placed them on a sidewalk to bake in the sun. They got real hard, like ceramic ware I learned about in art school years later.

After the “art” dried hard on the walk, we batted them like baseballs. Smash!

We also slung mud balls at the barn wall. It made funny looking poky-dots on the weathered wood. After the spots dried they were hardly noticeable.

Maybe in Tuesday’s primary we could draw life-size images of candidates on a barn. Voters get one mud clod. The last image to disappear from the barn wall is our new leader. While we’re at it, the winner removes all the mud from the barn, shapes small sculptures, sells them on eBay and gives the proceeds to the government. Tax reform! If the winner is good enough with the mud, then they can eliminate taxes.

Back at Angelkeep, it’s time to start this afternoon’s campfire. That’s another blessing about a May Indiana Primary election. Plenty of fire starting paper kindling is left hanging on my front door. There are politicians who really do care.

“Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again…” he sings as he holds his pair of forked franks over the flames.

Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their back yard and have named it “Angelkeep.”

by ALAN DAUGHERTY

Talk about this story in our forums!