– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2026)
Notes
This is, of course, a much reduced list of today’s experiences – things heard or seen at home or on walks. Had to keep things short to cram it all into a haiku.
Last night, as I watched the 1st episode of Emily in Paris, which had been recommended by a friend, she was called a "plouc" by her lovely French colleagues. I had not come across that word before and looked it up - it means "hick". Wow! These French people really appreciate their American co-worker!
Sometimes it's even possible to learn something from a TV series.
My recent visit to the small Italian town of Lodi in Lombardy, about 30 km south of Milan, reminded me of the eponymous song by Creedence Clearwater Revival from 1969, which, however, makes reference to the city of the same name in California. John Fogerty, who wrote the song, obviously didn't like it very much (more about this can be found here).
Contrary to this, I enjoyed the Italian Lodi a lot, discovered lots of interesting places while walking through it within the limited time I had, and definitely would not mind getting stuck there again in the future.
Available on rarible as an NFT.
– Alexa, medium height!
– Yes, ma’am.
– Not me, stupid! My heels!
– Can’t hear you, ma’am.
– I’m shrinking! I’m getting smaller! What do I do?
– I can’t answer that, ma’am.
– You were supposed to lower my heels, not me, dumbcluck!
– Sorry, can’t hear you. Too much background noise.
– Get me back to full size immediately!
– Your heels? All 18 inches?
– Me, you idiot! All 5 feet 8 of me!
– Were you really that tall before?
Being out of the
sweltering mid-September
heat having coffee.
– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2025)
Note
I could have been more precise and detailed to say that the coffee was a cappuccino and that I had it at a bar in an air-conditioned shopping center in Rome, Italy. But that would have bloated the haiku way beyond what’s allowed. I also could have said that it was more or less one of those Kristoffersonian Sundays Coming Down, but that would have really killed the poetic form, right?
