Should I be embarrassed to admit that at the age of 74, I still feel like a kid thrilled to be able to live as an adult?
Join Me!!!
The next time you find yourself thinking a surprising thought, write it down and send it to me here. Above is my own surprising insight that caused me to extend the invitation for you to share yours as a comment below. Links to blogs are fine.
Photo thanks to Nik on Unsplash. Used with permission.
Conspiring with the Enemy
Accoutered best for sabotage, they peer over the ridge,
intent now on the enemy crossing o’er the bridge.
All of their stealth and camouflage is not, at last, in vain.
Each inch they push their foes back is another inch they gain.
They’ve learned that cynicism of war as friend becomes their foe.
Each success they win will be another’s loss and woe.
His battleground littered with the corpses, G.I. Joe
now wanders off the killing field, choosing where next to go.
War is not Hell for those who are just playing at the game.
As war games end, the dead arise, as do the halt and lame.
Off to a game of baseball, the conquered and the winners
play together all day long until called to their dinners.
Children could teach their fathers that enemy can be friend.
Oh that their fathers felt the same and war was at an end.
The prompt words today are sabotage, cynic, vain, accouter and friend.
The Defendant
The Claimant
Jurisprudence
One litigant a teddy bear, the other a stuffed bunny.
The plaintiff acting churlish, the defendant merely funny.
The judge’s view obstructed by the toy box’s high rim,
she declared a change of venue out to the jungle gym
where the judgment was decided by an animated race
to see who could swing highest without plummeting through space,
but before the final verdict could even be recited,
it seems a higher ruling had already been decided.
A necessary recess was called for by the judge.
She told the bear and rabbit they should not dare to budge.
When her mother declared nap time, she said that they’d resume
as soon as she was given the chance to leave her room.
She left Barbie, the bailiff, to insure that they’d be good
and both of them assured her that of course they would.
But in the end both parties wound up in custody
after the judge’s jailer called an emergency
made necessary when hard rain and a gusty wind
tumbled teddy bear and bunny both end over end.
So by the time the judge woke up, a power that was higher
had sent claimant and defendant to confinement in the dryer.
Then the rabbit hung from one ear and the teddy from his tie
from the clothesline in the laundry until both of them were dry.
Then there was a happy ending with all of them set free
as judge and bear and bunny wound up on daddy’s knee!
The Judge
The higher power and the bailiff
The prompt words today are view, emergency, churlish, animated and funny. I asked Forgottenman for a sixth and he gave me litigant.
Trick or Treaters
We only had 11 Trick or Treaters who braved the drizzly Halloween weather to visit us for treats. this was half the crowd we had last year. Unfortunately, I snapped the first, a baby who called me “Mama” and smiled and held his hands out to be picked up and only later discovered there was no SD card in the camera. Sad. He was such a cutie and would have walked right in to spend the evening if his mom hadn’t stopped him. The photos I did get are not great as for some reason my camera, only 6 months old, seems not to be focusing with the same precision as before. Double Sad. Here are the cuties, as I caught them. They were a bit soggy but with the exception of one, a pretty happy bunch. Can you identify the kids who came last year who returned this year? There’s a link to last year’s meangerie above, captured in orange.
Click on the first photo to enlarge all.
The Death of Halloween
What if we threw Halloween and nobody came?
If no one came to trick or treat, who might be to blame?
Perhaps they threw a party and we were not invited.
Perhaps the little kids are scared that they might be bited!
Are small girls scared of zombies, little boys spooked by ghosts?
Are all the big boys scared as well, in spite of all their boasts?
So in spite of Reese’s Cups, Hershey’s Bars and Snickers,
no chocolate biters are in sight, no chewers and no lickers.
It seems that Halloween has died. Yearly hauntings are no more.
We might as well eat all the treats, give up and lock the door!!!
After an hour of waiting in vain for Trick or Treaters, just as I was trying to post this post, three groups of them showed up at our door. Halloween has been rejuvinated. Photos to follow. If you need a link to them, HERE they are.
How Not to Walk a Crocodile
I’ll admit, it’s been a while
since I walked a crocodile,
so my technique is rather rusty
and my memory is dusty.
Still, I’ll tell you if you sit awhile
how not to walk a crocodile!
Don’t walk him through the butcher shop.
The butcher will just call a cop.
Don’t visit bakeries at all.
His roar will cause the cakes to fall.
That store where Mother bought her dress?
No place to walk your croc, I’d guess.
And though your pet may need some air,
it’s best that you don’t take him where
small dogs are left out for our viewing
just right for crocodile chewing.
Dog parks do not work for crocs
Find a new place for your walks.
Don’t walk him on your grandma’s floor.
She’ll sweep you both right out the door.
Don’t take him to your Sunday School.
He’s sure to break the Golden Rule.
And if you take him to the deli,
no saying what ends in his belly.
I’ll share a secret with you now.
It is, I really don’t know how
to take a crocodile for a walk.
All of this has just been talk.
And can I guess by your big smile,
you do not have a crocodile?
I guess it was the recent sighting of a croc on the beach at night that sent this little ditty rushing into my head this morning. I would love to have someone illustrate this. Anyone want to try? Send a sketch of your vision of the croc in one of the given situations. You can either email it to me or put it on your blog and send me a link!
Here’s a photo of the croc that was on the beach near the house I rent. You could see my house in the background if it were light! Photo by Susana Vijaya. (She estimated the croc to be 3 meters long!)
Update: If you’re not ready to leave croc world yet, here’s an oldie but goodie. (Thanks to Marilyn for the memory jog.)
Kids’ Tribunal
When wind howls like a banshee to fill the dark night air
and monsters lurk in closets or in creakings up the stair,
when your brother knows they’re out there––these creatures he can’t see,
when nightmares wake you up at night and you have to pee
but daren’t leave your bed in fear those creatures will come “getcha”
(all those night-born monsters that come out at night to fetch ya,)
or when sister wets the bed again and seeks a drier nest,
for lying on her soggy sheets, she knows she’ll never rest––
it’s times like these when all the kids form a small tribunal
and determine that their parents’ bed should be declared communal.
The prompt word today is communal.
What do you consider is the most perfect food for you? Ham and Scalloped potatoes. My mother’s was the best ever and I’ve never duplicated it.
Are you focused on today or tomorrow? Today, but I’m taking tomorrow into account.
If you could interview one of your great-great-great grandparents, who would it be (if you know their name) and what would you ask? Rather than a great-great-great, I’d interview my father’s father, Walter, because he died before I was born and I’d love to ask him what it was like for a gentle baker from Holland to be henpecked by his wife into driving out to South Dakota by covered wagon with his two young daughters and building a shanty and turning into a farmer–something he knew nothing about. (My grandmother and 3 year old son, my father, came out by train a year later after he’d set everything up.) I would love to hear his side of the story and experience his gentle personality.
What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. I appreciate being with my long-time friend Patty, my sister and brother-in-law Jim and my godson Riley and his two adorable boys. You’ve seen them before. Here they are in their newest incarnations:
(Click on first photo to enlarge all.)
https://ceenphotography.com/2017/10/09/share-your-world-october-9-2017/
This is what the kids at Campamento Estrella (Camp Star) in San Juan Cosala, Mexico had to say today about saving their world:
(Please click on first photo to enlarge all.)
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 