brightly-attired
forage-hauling woman
vanishes in fog.
Vanish [Haiku]
1
Tag Archives: Labor
PROMPT: Hard Work
In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled?
Presuming there is a product or productive outcome, therein lies the fulfillment.
If the work is Sisyphean, it chafes my preference for wu wei.
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DAILY PHOTO: Rainy Day Labors
Image
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“Feeling for the Farmers” by Li Shen [w/ Audio]
Hoeing farmer, as heat haze roils,
His flowing sweat waters the soil.
All those who know food on a plate
Should feel each grain comes of that toil.
NOTE: The title of this poem (悯农, or Mǐn Nóng) is often translated as “Toiling Farmers,” though “Compassion for Farmers” or “Pity Farmers” would be closer to the literal translation.
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PROMPT: Jobs
[Takes a deep breath…] policeman, food service worker, writer, editor, inspector, martial arts instructor, yoga instructor, laborer, project manager [/ cat-wrangler,] content developer… Those are the ones that spring to mind anyway.
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“Mowing” by Robert Frost [w/ Audio]
There was never a sound beside the wood but one,
And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.
What was it it whispered? I knew not well myself;
Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,
Something, perhaps, about the lack of sound --
And that was why it whispered and did not speak.
It was no dream of the gift of idle hours,
Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:
Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak
To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,
Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers
(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.
The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.
My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.
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Gravitational Exploitation [Haiku]
the stream carries sand,
dropping it in a broad pool,
clueless of its work.
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Hannah Arendt Limerick
The philosopher Hannah Arendt said, don't define us by how we make rent. like Dopey and Sneezy and George's wife "Weezy" one should be known for how public time is spent.
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BOOK REVIEW: Radium Girls by Cy
Radium Girls by Cy.My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Out: April 6, 2022
This is a graphic novel that tells the same story [based on actual events] as the similarly titled, but otherwise unrelated, popular book by Kate Moore. The “Radium Girls” were women who worked at watch factories, painting luminescent numbers on watch dials. Unfortunately, the luminescent material being used was radioactive, and the painting process that these women were taught involved touching paintbrushes to their lips between strokes, causing them to ingest minute amounts of it everyday, often over many years. In today’s world, a person who found themselves glowing in the dark from a job (without protective equipment) would know something was radically wrong, but this took place about a century ago and understanding of radioactivity was much less – though scientists clearly understood that precautions needed to be taken when working with radium.
This book captures the highs and lows of a small group of workers from one of the watch / clock factories involved, the one in Orange, New Jersey. Ultimately, this is a sad story of deteriorating health and premature death, but it also shows a relatively new phenomena of women holding jobs that allowed them to increase control their own destinies. By showing the women as they tasted the good life, the experience of the bottom falling out created a more visceral experience. The women did earn a good wage — not the kind of money that makes cancer worthwhile, but higher pay than the usual salary available to women of the day.
I thought the story was well told and touching. The art was in an interesting style – sure to be the cup of tea of some but not others – but nevertheless clearly conveying events of the story. I’d recommend this graphic novel for readers interested in the subject.
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DAILY PHOTO: Food For Thought For the Week Ahead
Taken in October of 2014 at Daulatabad Fort
As you enjoy your weekend, if at any point dread of the work-week to come arises, take a moment to reflect on the fact that at least you don’t have this guy’s job carrying stones on your head up several flight of uneven stone steps all day – everyday.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 