ThayerRags

Storm Coming

My treadles are readied and waiting to sew,
plus two or three handcranks to stitch on the go,

All oiled and threaded and tuned up for sure,
prepared for a visit from Mother Nature.

The Weatherman says there’s a storm on the way,
prepare for the worst, that’s all he would say.

The part that is most troubling about his warning,
he said “freezing rain” could hit us one morning.

It seems like ice storms happen nearly each year,
and second to tornados, they bring the most fear.

An area becomes frozen under a blanket of ice,
at first kind of pretty, but later not so nice.

The weight of the ice brings down many things,
trees and highlines are common victims it seems.

Broken branches are seen as one looks around,
and utility lines have been brought to the ground.

The power could be out for several days in a row,
that sure brings a change to my life on the go.

Shelter, warmth, and spare water are first on my mind,
without these few basics, I could be in a bind.

But with those things in place, as best as I can,
what to do with my time is the gist of my plan.

The carnage outside, I have generally found,
Is best left alone, until all of it’s down.

So at home here I sit waiting hour by hour,
what else can I do without any power?

There are books and board games and cards to play too,
but after hours of doing those, what else can I do?

I can play games or read, but if I take the notion,
I can spend part of my time with my treadle in motion.

Fabric stitching and sewing is one of my things,
and I happen to have people-powered machines,

The hours will seem shorter, the deafening quiet be gone,
as me and my machine together function as one.

There’s a peaceful sound that to me’s the attraction,
of a treadle or handcrank that’s put into action.

So, I’ll pick a machine that will best do the task,
and quietly sew until this ice storm has past.

I have lots of fabrics that some say I hoard,
so with thread and machines, I don’t think I’ll be bored.

So if for a while, you hear nothing from me,
I’ll just be here sewing and not on my PC.

CD in Oklahoma

Cogito

Very Poetic CD! Who knew! I had some poetry published in college but haven't thought about it in over 30 years. Now you got my thoughts flowing.

Rodney

Very nice CD! I haven't checked the weather anywhere in ages. If there is ice storms on the way I hope you and your family stay safe and warm.
Rodney

sews

Tried out my treadle and played a few old records on the hand crank Edison when we lost power a couple of months ago. Friends couldn't reach me on the phone, got worried, but there I was, enjoying the peace and quiet and then some some songs with hilarious lyrics and sweet melodies.

Great poem, Mr CD !

ThayerRags

I wanted to play ball, or something outside,
but Grandma had told me to stay here inside.

“You stay here with me while your Mom is away,
We’re sure to have a wonderful day!”

“I have some mending I need to get done,
why don’t you watch me, it’s sure to be fun!”

As a young man of five, I wasn’t into fashion,
but arguing with Grandma could get me a thrashin’.

So even though it didn’t seem very keen,
I stood by her side at her sewing machine.

What she was doing with her hands, I hadn’t a clue,
but down by her leg was a wheel that just flew!

As she pressed with her feet on a pedal below,
that wheel by her leg would really get up and go!

As Grandma pressed down with her toe then her heel,
I crouched down to watch that big spinning wheel.

Around and around it went with great ease,
by now I was kneeling down onto my knees.

Grandma was pleased that I found fascinating,
the mechanical action that she was creating.

A very stern warning she did give to me,
“Don’t touch that wheel, just let it be!”

She said I could stay there and watch it some more,
so since my knees were aching I sat on the floor.

Around and around that big wheel it did go,
I sat there with patience and just watched the show.

Then a cramp in my leg, I felt with no doubt,
while watching the wheel, I stretched my leg out.

Oh geez the pain that I felt in my toes!
I’d forgotten how the pedal on the sewing machine goes!

I looked at my foot and discovered with horror,
My toes under the pedal smashed flat to the floor!

I let out a scream and my teeth I did gnash,
Grandma was cussin’ something about a backlash.

Pick up your danged heels! I thought while I wailed,
Can’t you see that my toes have really been nailed??

Once Grandma could see why her mending had stopped,
She pushed down her toes and my toes then out popped.

Crying, rolling, and screaming across the floor I did go,
not knowing for sure, but maybe missing a toe.

Soon Grandma caught up, and gave me the news,
no toes were missing, it’s only a bruise.

Through tears in my eyes, I checked out my toes,
I blinked trying to focus loudly sniffing my nose.

With her apron she tenderly dried out my eyes,
and then gently hugged away all of my cries.

She felt devastated that things happened this way,
and apologized profusely for hurting me today.

I told her that I knew that it wasn’t her fault,
“This sewing ain’t for Sissies, to me there’s no doubt.”

My toes soon quit hurting, as I watched quietly,
and Grandma used her scissors to cut her work free.

As the day finely wound down, and Mother returned,
She asked if there’d been anything that I had learned.

“Did you have a fun day while I was out going?”
“Oh yes Ma’am I did, I learned about sewing!”

CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

Thank you. We may get an ice storm Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Depending on the temperature, it could happen or not, and that’s what inspired me to write the poem today. Thanks for the well-wishes. We’ve been through these before and are as prepared as possible. I used to have to go out and repair power lines in ice storms. I don’t miss that one bit, and will be content to stay home and sew.


Thank you. We played my Maternal Grandma’s old wind-up phonograph the last time that we had an outage here too. An instrumental of “Little Brown Jug” was my favorite.


I wrote this poem and the one before it today in just a few hours. The first one is about real hazards that may come this week, and the second one is part fiction from a period in my life when my Maternal Grandmother lived with our family for a couple of years. She eventually went to a Nursing Home to share a room with another person. I remember her 90th birthday celebration that she had at her apartment, so she was past 90 before going into the home. She took her treadle sewing machine with her as the only furniture not furnished by the home. She sewed for home residents for several years in her room, but I don’t know whatever happened to her treadle sewing machine.

Any other prose or poetry about vintage sewing machines is encouraged in this thread. There have been several of us that have shared limericks, poetry, and prose about sewing throughout Quilting Board threads, so I decided to start a thread to help get them all in one place. Share if you want.

CD in Oklahoma

JudyTheSewer

I enjoyed your posts CD. Thanks.

liking quilting

Nicely done, CD! Best wishes thru the upcoming storm.

Stitchnripper

Great poems, CD. Enjoyed very much.

Sewnoma

Oh fun! I used to do poetry challenges years ago. I'm not very good, but it's fun!

Let me try:

For vintage machines, I've discovered a yen!
I have to bring them home, now and then.

They call out my name, they cry and they plead:
"Take me home and I promise, fabric I will feed!"

"The needle I will flash, the thread I will pull,
Your fabric stash will dwindle, your scrap bin will be full!"

"Feed me some oil, and slather me with grease!
There are quilts to be made, and blocks we can piece!"

"My decals are faded and my paint is getting worn,
but think - I've been working since before you were born!"

"I've got lots of years left for the right pair of hands,
so bring me on home and we'll start making plans!"

I try to leave, to turn and walk away
but I can't and so, it's another day
where I bring home a machine that's tired and grubby
and find a place to put it, hidden from Hubby.

LOL! Ok, sheer doggerel in places but that was fun!