Sunday, May 26, 2013




Teddy Tennis Ball
I’ve been in this package with five other tennis balls for a long time.  I wish something would happen.  I’m getting bored.
Okay!  We’re getting dumped into a basket with a bunch of other balls.  Here comes a ball boy.  He is picking me up and we are heading to the center court.  A big match is going on.
The ball boy handed me to the number fifteen seed who is about to serve for the final point of the final game of the final match of the tournament.  What an honor for me!
Wham!  Boy, this kid has a wicked serve.  Back and forth.  Exciting!  An amazing exchange.  My underdog wins!
With all of the exchanges I got a little scuffed up.  What is the ball boy doing with me?  Why is he putting me in a basket with a bunch of scuffed up balls?  I was just part of one of the biggest upsets in the tournament.
It looks like we are headed for the practice courts.  I should be more important than to be relegated to being batted around by a bunch of amateurs.  Oh well, it’s a living, I guess.
Hey!  I just got hit over the fence, into the bushes.  Aren’t they going to get me?  I guess not.  It’s gotten dark and they have all left.
It’s been a couple of days and I am still here.  Am I going to rot here under the bushes? That’s not a fitting end for a ball that was part of the biggest upset in tennis history.
Wait!  Here comes a big black lab, sniffing my way.  He is picking me up in his mouth and we are running toward a young man.  The man praises and pets the dog.
We seem to be heading to a park.  Yes, the man took me from the dog and threw me into the park.  The dog is running after me.  He picked me up and ran back to the man.  The toss-and-fetch process has gone on for some time.  It is really fun!  A much more fitting end for me!
Robert Niel Beatie – April 11, 2013

Tuesday, May 21, 2013



A Day in the Life of Curtis, the Desert Tortoise
Hi!  My name is Curtis.  I am a desert tortoise.  You know, one of the endangered species.  I think that I am between forty and fifty years old.  Tortoises do not have calendars and do not celebrate birthdays so I am not sure.  Anyway I have been around a while.
I have had a busy day.  This morning I awoke with a grumbling tummy.  I was hungry and needed to get something to eat.  So I set out for my favorite breakfast place.  About half way there I encountered a pesky coyote.  He was determined to eat me.  I retreated into my shell so that as he tumbled me about he could not get to me.  Finally he left, discouraged, leaving me on my back.  Let me tell you it is a real pain in the neck for a tortoise to get off his back and onto his feet!
At last I arrived at the batch of dandelions along the stream.  Dandelions are great for breakfast.
Having satisfied my grumbling tummy I set off for my mid-day nap spot.  It’s a small burrow where I can catch my forty winks, out of the hot desert sun.  Alas, as I approached, there was Bridget, waiting for me.  Bridget is a young cotton tail rabbit who says she is in love with me.  I tell her that I am a tortoise and she is a rabbit and I am much, much older than she.  Yet she persists.
Anyway I managed to back into the burrow and retreat into my shell for my nap.  (Maybe I’m much older than fifty.  I always need my daily nap.)
I awoke just in time to see Bridget take off with Harry, the jack rabbit.  He’s been after her for some time.  Maybe she will forget about me.  But she is kind of cute.
On my way to round up some tidbits for my evening meal the local road runner hopped up.  He challenged me to a race.  I’m not sure why he is so persistent.  I beat him the last four times we raced.  He is not as persistent with his racing as he is with his challenging.  I declined and suggested that he go catch a young rattlesnake for his dinner.  A suggestion he took to heart immediately.
I then harvested a couple of fresh sprigs of sage to season my dinner and was back at the stream.  Not for dandelions this time.  Dandelions are for breakfast.  No, the lush green grass and broad-leaved plants are what I like for dinner.
So, with a full tummy I am back to my private place, under the rock pile by the old saguaro cactus.  It’s a very safe place where none of the wild creatures around here can get to me.
Robert Niel Beatie – April 4, 2013


Haiku Triptych

Snow capped mountain peaks
Reflecting on alpine lake
Pine scent, fir forest

I5 corridor
Clouds of pink almond blossoms
Corn fields; rice paddies

Waves washing the sand
Driftwood beyond water’s reach
Small crabs scurrying

Robert Niel Beatie – March 7, 2013



“nine-two-nine Grass”

Fire sirens are blaring!
Rush out of class
Bound down the stairs
Race to the fire station
Jump aboard the water tanker
Sirens screeching, lumber to the grass fire
On the hillside behind the campus
Too late, as usual.  Fire’s out

Frank has the top bunk
Next to the bulkhead
Where the fire gong is mounted.
When someone “pulls a box” somewhere on campus
The gong loudly proclaims the location of the box
“KLANG, KLANG, KLANG----KLANG, KLANG----KLANG, KLANG, KLANG---“
A specific code for each box.
That’s a LOUD gong.
Folks can hear it clear across the Quad.
Frank once slept through an alarm
His head no more than two feet from the gong.
Some people are heavy sleepers.

Robert Niel Beatie – February 24, 2013