Seed pod

Double Exposure

ElfGirl was taught immediately that these plants were poison and that eating or touching them would very likely cause her to never be able to run and play again. Dramatic? Yes. But…she never touched them.

The Retreat

Plan a time when you and that special someone: mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, best friend…can get away from it all. Leave behind all distractions on that day. If possible, pick a spot that has some kind of meaning to the two of you. Think about how your life has been changed by the presence of the other person. How are you different because of them? Some topics upon which you may want to reflect during this time could include:

• The first time I met you…
• My favorite memory with you is…
• The thing I’ve always wanted to tell you but never have is…
• The promise I make to you today with regard to our future is…

(reflections taken from Ways To Say I Love You by Arterburn, Dreizler and Dargatz)

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A friend sent this to me…

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote “The Hokie Pokey” died peacefully at the age of 93.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.

Make sure to visit Sandy for her latest give away. As usual, the prize is lovely. If you’ve never been to her place, do yourself a favor and check out her beautiful blog, photos and superb ideas for becoming a more natural host.
4 Reluctant Entertainers: What’s Your Challenge? GIVEAWAY!

I was over at Poor Richard’s Almanac, swapping stories about chickens, when it occurred to me that perhaps a 150 word comment was better suited to be a blog post…so here it is!

I have only had one extra special pet chicken but her name is giving me the slip right now. It’s not that I don’t know it, it’s just not coming to the surface. I do know her story, though. She was born a factory chicken in East Texas. After a few months of bizarre growing, she was packed into a truck with many of her sisters and on her way to (gulp) her demise. Suddenly, the truck hit a bump and she went flying (probably the only time, ever) from the truck! When I found her, she was contentedly eating bugs in the median of the highway. Now, in defense of what you’re about to read that I did, let me just say that many chickens died by falling off these trucks.  It wasn’t unusual for me to see several white, feathery blobs on the side of the road each day.  That said, to say that I made a spectacle of myself while catching that chicken is quite likely a gross understatement. I chased that chicken around the median until she was resting safely in my arms. Then, I carefully stowed her in the back of my trusty station wagon and drove her to her new home.

Finally, I have remembered that chicken’s name! It was Druscilla–for no real reason other than that’s how names happen around here.

Once our heroine was safely ensconced in my backyard, we began to notice an abnormal growth on her head. My memory is fuzzy as to whether the growth was above or below her beak, but there it was–about the size of a large lemonhead. Our veterinarian (yes, we took her!) removed it and told us Druscilla probably was only a few months old (big shock to us since she was an enormous chicken!) and was otherwise in perfect health. We had so much fun with that giant chicken. Feeding her pizza and other unlikely foods was a much enjoyed past-time. Druscilla was with us for about another year. I received the call while away at college that the big fun chicken had passed away one night in her sleep–quite likely from a heart attack, according to the autopsy report. I’m kidding! about the autopsy. The veterinarian did say it was probably a heart attack, though. My mother found her in her usual resting spot. Peacefully still asleep.

Man, I love having this guy around!

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I have been trying to think of different ideas for the days of the week. Well, I just picked up a new (to us) book: Ways to Say I Love You–To Those You Love the Most by Stephen Arterburn, Carl Dreizler and Jan Dargatz. So far, the really neat thing about this book is that it is designed to be used by any person/persons/or group of people. An excerpt from the intro…

We’ve purposely written each idea so that almost all of them could be used by any two people who love one another. Husbands and wives. Mothers and daughters. Fathers and sons. Lifelong friends. Use these ideas with your grandparents. Grandchildren. Family. Friends.

The first idea in the book is the moonlight walk. How simple is that? Take a walk under the moonlight. I think the best place would be by the water or in a lovely scented garden. But, that’s my preference. What are your favorite surroundings? Find a way to spend that time together! Enjoy your walk and the relaxing time with your loved one.

“Come who will walk with me,
A little way”, I said, and lo!
I straight was joined by three:
Three whom I loved — two had high thoughts
And were, in age, my peers;
And one was young, but oh! endeared
As much as youth endears.
The moon stood silent in the sky,
And looked upon our earth:
The clouds divided, passing by,
In homage to her worth.

–A Walk by Moonlight–H.L.V. Derozio

A while back, I read a brief essay on blessings and being thankful. Basically, the writing mentioned all the things for which we have to be thankful in our lives. It’s so easy to remember the things that aren’t such blessings and wish for them to be removed or lessened from our lives. How about the good things? Do we consistently give thanks for their very existence? How many things do you take for granted in your own life? What if everything for which we failed to be thankful was taken away? What would we be left with?

I felt like today would be as good a day as any to start a new Sunday series On Thankfulness: 100 things in my life.

Though my first choice may seem a bit odd, I wanted to give thanks for my voice. With it I :

• sigh
• sing
• speak
• whisper
• grunt
• give orders
• share love
• read a poem
• laugh

And that’s just a start! I hope you find many things for which you can be thankful today.

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