Safer?
My photos were safer in boxes
My words were secure in my books.
They say that the cloud’s the solution
For worry o’er fire and crooks.
But woe! I’ve forgotten my password.
My storage is now on the brink.
Marked safe from the physical hazards,
My stuff is a ten-letter link.
One day I’ll be logged out forever!
Who’ll keep all my files alive?
Will history I’ve kept simply vanish?
Not found in the digital sky?
So now, although it gets messy
(The truth of the matter is my
Boxes and boxes of photos
Are stacked up a couple yards high;
And I’ve cartons containing my notebooks,
And calendars lining the shelf)
My thoughts and my deeds are protected
By me, not a cyberspace elf.
Ode to Piggy Wee
—for a friend whose toe was amputated
You’ve served me well dear piggy wee,
And gone to worlds I don’t yet see.
I’m sorry that this had to be
But now you’re gone by Doc’s decree.
You did your duty without pomp,
(Tiptoe, boogie, step, and stomp.)
I didn’t see this coming on;
One day you’re here, the next you’re gone!
My flip flops will not look so swell
Because you do no longer dwell
Next to “had none” piggy. Well,
At least I have a tale to tell.
Some toes you win, some toes you lose
(It may not be quite what you’d choose)
But I for one won’t sing the blues
For Doc did not ban high heel shoes!
Gigi Ryan is a wife, mother, grandmother, and home educator. She lives in rural Tennessee.
Gigi, I share the concern for storing my life’s work on The Cloud via One Drive. In fact, I deleted a lot of material because it said on my email I was at my limit and had to pay for more storage. Fortunately, I did keep all my family pictures in plastic box containers. Your “Ode to Piggy Wiggy” is at the same time funny and sad. I did recognize the toe that had to go from your description.
I have boxes of old photos and such in my attic. While they may be a pain to go through, all disorganized as they are, I realize it is no worse than trying to find a photo I want on my phone! They too need to be categorized and put into “albums.” And yes, I also am constantly being told I need to upgrade my storage. I could spend thousands saving everything in the air only to have it all vanish the day I and my passwords go to the grave.
Here’s what’s a sort of an independent research and home-schooling anthem, written when I thought the damage to my toes might be worse than it proved. By a series of mischances I’d worn shoes which were too tight when wading, and had blistered a couple of toes, which healed up with the loss of one toenail.
The scientist must lose his toes
As he pursues his art
And every time one of them goes
The loss breaks his heart.
The sadness is like that with which
His children go to school
and learn to sit in rows and twitch
As they are taught by fools.
Oh! bring your toes and children home
and spare them grief and grades,
They’ll frolic in the meadows with
The mystic Tardigrades.
14 September 2009: Canada: Quebec: Parc d’la Verandrye: Lac de la Vieille parking area. 46.78417°N 76.21377°W.
I loved, Fred, your mention of Tardigrades. Tardigrada is a phylum I knew nothing about until a few years ago.
I don’t think I would have considered before the similar needs of children and toes staying home, but you have made your point well.
Fun stuff, Gigi, unless it’s one’s own toes or memorabilia that have gone missing. I’d rather be in Tennessee.
Thank you, C.B.,
I am truly thankful to be in Tennessee will all ten toes intact! My memorabilia’s safety continues to be uncertain…
Gigi, your “Ode to Piggy Wee” is a sad but charming tale. As far as “Safer?” is concerned, I don’t trust “the cloud”. I’m with you – I want those photos and hard copies where I can find them, see them, touch them.
Cheryl,
I could never have written the tale without the suggestion from my amputee friend with a great sense of humor. I took the poem to the hospital the day after the request and read it aloud with as much flair as I could muster. My nine toed friend, the patient, and I both were laughing with tears streaming down our faces. Sometimes a little comedy goes a long way, especially with a long loved friend.
Gigi, I’m with you on distrust of the cyberspace elf. What we use to call those spirits in physics and associated technology was “demons.” They have a bad way of frustrating us and robbing us of time and energy! Glad your “Piggy Wee” poem helped a friend in time of need. We’ll all see more and more of those needs arise, and hope for creative ways to encounter them and to encourage everyone we can.
Thank you, Margaret, for your reply. I agree that finding creative ways to encourage others is important. Often there is little I can do, but I can write a poem, for better or worse, to let people know I care deeply and am thinking of them.
These were both great. Thankfully, all my toes are intact and I never wear sandals or heels so I related more to Safer. It’s a great cautionary tale. My son once received a couple of Bitcoins as a prize in Middle School many years ago. They were relatively worthless at that time. We quickly lost the code that came with them. If we hadn’t, he’d be a millionaire now. I prefer the physical to the digital world. I still can’t understand or explain what a Bitcoin is.
The Bitcoin story is sobering and exasperating! I suppose, though, many of us consider how a different decision in the past could have vastly changed our future. Good thing it is all in God’s hands.
Gigi, I’m with you 100% on the ‘Cloud’ front. Giving instant access to WHOMEVER flips the switch in
‘digital space’ bugs the nasty out of me, and I can thoroughly sympathize with your unfortunate toe-losing friend… my neuropathy is scarily close to stealing a few of mine. 2 dandy pieces – Merry Christmas.
Thank you for commenting, Mark. And Merry Christmas to you as well!
I especially liked your ashes to ashes, toe to toe poem, Gigi. A friend of mine lost his second toe on the left foot in a freak elevator accident in Johannesburg and could no longer wear flip-flops. At the hospital, the doctor offered to sew it back on, but this would have interferred with the itinerary of my friend’s road trip holiday. Go figure. Thanks for making amputation (usually such a grim, serious situation) humorous.
Are our memories and information safe in the Cloud? My stuffs all on computer and flash drives and I wonder what will happen if there’s a fire while I’m out. Memories and information, kaput. It’s one of those modern phenomena that we all probably fret about occasionally. You conveyed this idea admirably.
Having known someone who amputated his toe in a freak elevator accident in Johannesburg and could no longer wear flipflops, Ode to Piggy Wee was doubly humorous.
As for ‘Safer?’, Gigi, being somewhat analogue, I too have trust issues with technology. You convey this feeling well.
Thanks for the reads.
Sorry for the double post. The first one got, er, lost in the cloud!
Love it Gigi – and the topic is actually on my mind at this moment. It’s quite incredible that we have had over in the UK (perhaps in the US too?) a spate of major corporations who have been hacked – and they’ve had no physical backup!!! Those IT geniuses who failed to see the potential problem – obviously their salaries weren’t big enough. But it was on my mind because I was thinking of purchasing stock in a UK company that provides precisely those services that guard against IT failure (the company is called, appropriately, Restore PLC). I decided against buying because I thought there was a better option available to me – but nevertheless, I still think Restore is likely to make money in this environment; and your conclusion is spot-on: My thoughts and my deeds are protected
By me, not a cyberspace elf. Thanks – loved reading it.