Barbara`s Travels

The Question

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Interview question:

Barbara, what did you do today that would surprise me.

I found a parking spot right in front of the grocery store.

You did. How did that happen. I can never get that parking space.

As I was driving around in the store parking lot I turned so I could head back toward the best parking spots at the store. Then I said to myself...I want to park in front! There will be a space. And there was. It was like I made that happen.

Well...

Really, I am as surprised as you!!!

b

Karma vs Fate

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Image by Franco_pt via Flickr

In yesterday's post I talked about living with intention...the idea was that if you or I really are desiring to attain a particular goal then we will go about making that become a reality. Our Karma or energy and how we use it will determine what our destiny is.

Several people commented that they not only believe in Karma they also believe in Fate. Fate is that other side of karma...the side that is not in our control and has things happen totally by accident. Random occurrences. That would be those things like a car being hit by a rock falling from a cliff. If that person has hesitated for one second at anytime during their journey the rock would have fallen behind or in front of them and they would have escaped without harm. We have all know someone that had this happen to them. These things we accept without question because there are those things we cannot control...gravity, the rotation of the earth...we do all we can to avoid those freak events. But in spite of that "stuff happens". So be it.

But I am talking about selling your house or getting a new job or even investing your money. On this day we know that our house, for example, is worth a lot less than it was a year ago. Now is the time to know that value is all relative...you may sell for less but you will buy for less. So the question is "Do you really intend to sell you house?" If that is what you truly intend then price it so it will sell...period. You need to truly intend to do what you set out to do. Life is not and never has been a matter of luck or pipe dreams. Living with intention is being true to reality and then setting the wheels in motion. I do not believe that greed pays or dishonesty will work. I would ask you "If you want a job, are you really trained for it and do you have the ability to do that job?" If you do then go for the job in earnest and believe in your own heart and mind that the goal is achievable then do it. Live with the intention. In the case of the house we can be pretty sure that if you set out to gouge someone, the house will not sell or if it does you will pay a price in one way or another. So, with the full intention of selling the house, price it right and you will sell immediately. Live with intention!!!

There are those of us that would like to write books...but unless we do our homework, have a truly unique and worthy idea it will not happen. If we want to do that, we need to find out how to go about it and then set out with true intention and focus. It will not happen by magic. Very few things do!!

So Karma, those things that we do that determine our destiny and fate, those thing that happen with out our control do walk, hand in hand. People that are truly talented and focused AND are treated kindly by fate are those people that we call lucky! The rest of us must work a little harder. But, I think, that we under estimate what might be possible. So I am your cheer leader and coach. Live with intention!!!

b

IIIWW Karma, Obey, Wither...Living with Intention

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:40:00 +0000

Three Word Wednesday

Karma
Obey
Wither

Karma is the belief that the effects of a person's actions can determine his/her destiny. Yesterday I wrote about living a life of intention. Rather than wandering about with the idea that "what will be will be" could it be that we can take certain actions that will change the way we feel, the way we react to situation and in fact might actually have more control over our lives? Do you believe that...do you believe we can change outcomes by doing things intentionally, even symbolically? Meditation probably is a good example of directing our energy toward those things we desire most. I, personally, have not come to grips with how our lives path is set out. I have never believed that I was in control...so is the belief that we somehow are controlling our destiny true? Can we control more of those events in our lives than we believe we can? Could it be possible that we can even effect our good fortune by living with the intention of succeeding? It is indeed a great mystery to mankind.

But when we obey those principles we hold dear...honesty, decency, kindness, industriousness to name a few...and act on them with intentional it could be that we are, in fact, changing our life path. That was what I spoke about yesterday when I wrote the short poem/prayer with the intention of speaking to those that would be my/our enemy...both close to home and far away. This practice of thinking loving thoughts about those that anger or frustrate me has always changed my attitude. And for some reason it also seems to be a two way street. So maybe it can help in other ways. The simple little prayer went like this:

With the intention of seeking peace
We pray for your heart
That you may see that we are
Not your enemy.
We are your family.

Amen

So whether I am feeling full and gloriously happy or old and withered, I will try to greet each day with the intention of seeking peace. That is at least one step. And I might add, I will focus more intently on goals and fully intend for those things that I desire to really happen. No more "what will be will be". I will try. I am going to put the "karma" idea into practice. We will see. How about you?

b

Did you know that if you put the earphones to you ipod up your nose....

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Did you know that if you put the earphones to you ipod up your nose....

Posted using ShareThis

A Prayer for Our Enemies

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Yes my dear comment friends, we are going to have another grandchild at the end of February. A little boy will grace our family. On this day I wish that every child that were born into this world could be greeted with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that were willing to love them like our new baby Brysen will be. We all intend to raise our children together...a village of sorts.

I might also add that I have decided to pray for those young and old people at war no matter their religion. If we live with intention we should know that those we call our enemies need our concerns too. Somehow, I think, this will help the hate to go away...in fact I will be doing this for anyone that despises me for one reason or another. It seems that rising to the bait and trying to convince another that they should believe what I believe does not help! I have chosen at other times in my life to think a kind thought instead of a hateful one even when I do not feel it. It has actually changed my relationship with people I thought I could never care about. So I for one will try to take a course of loving intention...that will be my choice!

With the intention of seeking peace
We pray for your heart
That it may see that we are
Not your enemy
We are your family.

Amen

Have a wonderful day!

b

In the Arms of an Angel

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Image via Flickr

Listen for my message on the evening breeze
Whispering to this heaven on earth.
I am living for now on the wings of a wind
Waiting for the beauty of birth.

b
2009

Willa Cather's One of Ours...Dan Brown and Noetic Sciences

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:38:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Reading is doorway for me. I have traveled to every corner of the earth and man's mind while reading what I consider to be some of the best authors in modern times. I am guilty of choosing books based on prizes given for the best of the best. A National Book Award or a Pulitzer Prize winner will get my attention and my favorite book store of all, Powell's, in Portland Oregon has a whole section devoted to just the prize winners.

So this winter when my husband and I left our Oregon home to come to Arizona for the winter, I made a trip to downtown Portland and the old multi-storied book store set on Burnside. The books line shelve, the new with the used, in a store made up of a labyrinth of stacks that is very confusing. It is the most wonderful place on earth. What could be better than to be lost in a book store?

I have begun to read the books with the oldest Pulitzer Prize winner that they had on that day. In 1923 Willa Cather won the prize for a book named One of Ours. The book details the life of a mid-western farmer from the time he was a young man until the end of World War I. I can honestly say it is probably the best book I have read in years. Cather managed to capture the small town mentality and the dissatisfaction of a young man that craved so much more that his small world could ever offer. I felt that I was reading a timeless story of young men, war and the void it filled in many of their lives. I suppose that forty years ago when I read Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls I felt much the same way. The difference now would be that I have lived a long time and have know countless men that could have been Claude in Cather's book.

Tomorrow I will begin on a Dan Brown's book, The Lost Symbol. This is a side trip from my Pulitzer Prize book reading quest. I have a friend that is a member of the Noetic Science group and she lent me the book. Some would describe the science as the study of the paranormal but I think those that belong see it as much much more. Noetic Science organization, IONs states their functions as exploring the frontiers of consciousness and lists the focus of the group as:

Builds bridges between science and spirit
Researches subtle energies and the powers of healing
Inquires into the science of love, forgiveness, and gratitude
Studies the effects of conscious and compassionate intention
Seeks to understand the basis of prevailing worldviews
Practices freedom of thought and freedom of spirit

It seems that Brown used the group as part of his story line. My friend attended their bi-annual meeting here in Tucson this last summer and has had an opportunity to visit with Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, co-founder of the group and the current president/ceo, Marilyn Mandala Schlitz. Schlitz is the person one of the main characters in the book was patterned after (I am told!). My friend underlined all the passages that deal with Ions and I am looking forward to reading it.

Have a great week and please keep on reading.

b

Adventure: It's All in Your Attitude

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Saturday, October 31, 2009

#187 - Adventure

Setting out on an adventure is one thing...planning on climbing a very high mountain? Pack your gear, plot your course, invite a friend, check the weather and tell everyone where you are going. You are setting out on a BIG adventure.

We, on the other hand, have never really SET OUT to go on an adventure. An adventure is what happens to us on our way to do whatever we had actually planned to do. My husband and I always feel a little sorry for people that live where ever we are going. Whether they know it or not, they are probably in for a storm, earth quake, war or something even worse. At this point in our lives we just expect that an adventure will happen. Our children hug us extra tight when we leave...I once told other tourist on a beach in Mexico that we were going deep sea fishing the next day with an untried old fisherman with a questionable boat and if we don't come back "tell my family I love them". My husband insisted that we would be just fine. I was not all that certain. Of course I planned on coming back but I was thinking just in case....

G. K. Chesterton said "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." I think that is very true. Life is just too uncertain to take anything seriously...I have come to believe that life is all about adventures and bragging rights.

Have a wonderful week...

b

Dancing in the Graveyard!

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:09:00 +0000

Deviant Art
©2009 ~mariano7724

He was dancing in the graveyard. The trucks were swinging in and out to avoid him but he just kept right on walking down that little white line. The police finally came but he just paid them a never you no mind. We don't know what he was thinking but Lila called and said he had stormed out. Said he was real discombubulated and didn't even stop when that old black cat went running in front of him. I think he was just spooked...that's what I think.

You know Frog never did like this time of year...that day of the dead stuff just always did push him sideways. Then that there letter came in the mail this morning. Lila said it was from someone named Etta...you know her? She was someone he knew way back when. I think she must have been a secret love or something. I guess he thought she was gone to heaven you know...passed over we used to say. But then here was that there letter and then he just went walking out the door kinda nuts like.

I went on over to keep Lila company and I did take a little peek at the letter and there was a legal looking piece of paper and it had his name on it. There weren't no money or anything like it inside but just words and numbers. You know honey I don't read so good. Frog has been coming over and reading to me ever since he came here a long long time ago. His daddy was my third cousin.

So anyways honey he is back home now...sleeping like a baby. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal I suppose. I like it when that old Halloween is over and people quit dancing in the graveyard...taken chances is never a good idea.

Well I gotta go now...I have some other people I want to call.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Vintage (1964) Mobile Home...we need to sell/donate soon!!!!

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Note: This is a post I wrote for IIIWW. The mobile home is real and we do have it for sale.

Vintage Mobile home looks like
this inside only less furniture. And of course no Lucy! 1964

Today my husband and I went to see a mobile home we received as a small part of the value in a trade for our motor home. The idea that we would be able to use the mobile home somehow had been incubating in our head for a few weeks. We had hoped that it would be kind of okay so we could salvage our vanity and at least not inherit a nightmare. I am really not sure where we are now. The mobile home is in wonderful condition...I am the one that is feeling very old and smelly!!

The mobile home is 10x54' and was built in 1964...can anyone say Lucy Ball??? It is very clean although the carpets are very old. On the up side they have been shampooed recently. The refrigerator is very nice...looks like new. The stove is the cutest shade of pink you ever saw and it too looks like it is almost new. And it matches the kitchen sink and bathroom wash basin. A dining room table of the 1964 vintage sits under ruffled curtains. When the curtains are open it is very light inside. The bedrooms are just the right size to house a double/queen bed and a twin. A new shower and hardware have been installed. All the walls are covered with real wood paneling stained naturally gold...something I had not seen in many years. The thing that really surprised me was the fact that it apparently has never been home to a smoker. It smells as fresh as if it were brand new! There are so many second hand stores in the area that I probably could even pick up mid-century furniture to furnish it. If I were younger I would lay new carpet (Lowes has installation specials going now...$39 for the whole house if you install what they have on the rolls) and furnish it in keeping with the vintage structure. Then I could enjoy living in the solid structure for many many years. But I am not and I like where I am now. (So does my husband...that is a good thing.)

So I have found a place that may take a donation. I have also listed it on Craig's List (listing here.) in Phoenix.

I am not discouraged. I would love to sell it to a loving owner.

Note: For more information on owning this piece of Americana contact me at orencoopinions@gmail.com. It is an opportunity to own this little baby for an incredibly low price and sit in the sun for part of each year! Rent on the space is less than $400 per month plus utilities. Or, since it has a Carrier air conditioner and storm windows, so you can be comfortable living there year around.

Let me know if you need more information.

b

Our Vintage Mobile Home

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:22:00 +0000

See revised version of this post. Our Vintage Mobile Home

b

Sunday Ramblings...poetry, blog names and Jake

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:55:00 +0000

From my comments:

Renaming my blog

I've been thinking about renaming my blog. One day this last week I posted a poem about words and where they come from. I want the new name for this blog because the one I am currently using has too many fences...the story is not about travel, it is not even about me. It is however by me...I arrange the words and my mind directs the whole thing. I don't even promise that it is worth your time! I just write because I like to...nothing less and nothing more. Rebecca at Just a Thought suggested A Day In the Life Tales, Thoughts, Words and More, Simply Words..., Barbara's Nook, A Gust of Words, Wind Blowing Words, Brief Rush of Thoughts and Such, Tales in the Wind. Guin Brown from fmd suggested Wind Blown Mine. I actually keep coming back to something my granddaughter would say when she had made her brother mad by talking too much...I Was Just Saying!!! The implication was "I didn't mean to make you mad but you will have to admit I am right!" It always amused me...A LOT!!!!

Poetry

Simple Gifts (sung at Obama's inauguration)

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shall not be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Simple Gifts was written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. in 1848. It was first published in The Gift to be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs. Simple Gifts was a work song sung by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (more commonly called the Shakers, an offshoot of the Quakers).
From the Japanese Religious Society of Friends

Brought to my attention by Awareness in a comment on my post Pollyanna. If you want to read a truly WOW blog, go to Awareness...you will not be disappointed.

Dogs:
I began thinking about Jake last night. Jake was a dog that came to my son when he married his wife, Amanda. The dog was a wonder of a lovable, giant slobbering, fetching, couch destroying, Chocolate Lab. His face was big and his eyes were brown, deep and adoring.

Jake had one job in his life from the day he was born until the day he died. He needed to go and get what you threw away. He always pooped on the bush you demanded. It had to be a bush because, even though he was a giant creature, he was also very modest about that private part of his life. Even in his old age, he was easily bored and would upset a whole house in an afternoon...rugs would be crumpled, couch cushions strewn about the house, tables knocked over...general mayhem all around. When he lived in Saudi Arabia with the family, they had to get a cat to keep him company. The cat, being of the Arabian variety, was just what he needed. Jake learned a lot from that cat about survival...lessons taught by a cat are always the best kind.

But Jake was, above all else, a wonderful fetcher of balls. On mother's day one year we took the whole family on a picnic...family including Jake of course. The yellow tennis ball was thrown in turn by 4 grandchildren all afternoon. It was the only time I ever saw Jake call a halt to the game. When the grandchildren were distracted, Jake took the ball behind a bush and lay on top of it. His face told the rest of the story. We all know that, if a child had come and taken the ball from him, he would have gone to get it. He would have died fetching that ball.

We miss Jake a lot. The last time I saw him he was very old and ill. But he came to the door, tail wagging and a stuffed animal in his mouth. His eyes said "Can we play catch just one more time?" How can you help loving a creature like that?

A trip around inside my head...just for fun!

b

Pollyanna

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:03:00 +0000

Eleanor H. Porter
Author of Pollyanna
1913
Image via Wikipedia

Remember Pollyanna? She was a character in a book, childish, happy, always finding the best in people and situations. I have been accused of being her. Simple things just delight me beyond measure. Clean windows, a phone call from a friend, plants given by or to a friend.

Today is one of those days. I called my daughter to tell her how wonderful my day was. She just laughed and said "You really are a simple person mother and love simple things!" I was complimented beyond measure. What a shame I can't feel this way each and every day. When I do though, I am so very grateful. Wouldn't you be?

I hope your day is the same.

b

From Wikipedia
Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature. The book was such a success that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed; the most recent, Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, was published in 1997.

For other uses, see Pollyanna (disambiguation).

Words...all mine?

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:04:00 +0000

I am seeking a new name (not address) for my blog. Barbara's Travels just does not fit anymore. "Mine" seems too little so "Wind Blown Mind" keeps creeping up on me. The name may be simply "Words...!" Does anyone have a thought? Does anyone actually read this? :) Or am I left with a decision that only I can make? Could it be like naming a child...we can name them one thing and call them another? I will give it some thought.

b

Image via Wikipedia

The Wind

Where does it come from
The wind that blows my words about?
If I could see the river bed that carried them to my place
Would it lead me to a soaring mountain or
The desert dry and lifeless?

Wondering, wandering the night
My words are cast about without
Pattern or rhyming, leaving the them
Haplessly scattered here and there.

The day or week is not counted.
Every time of day will find the
Wind blowing my words toward
an ocean that I cannot see.

Are you, like me, seeking an answer?
It seems we should know.....
Is it possible
They have never been owned by
A spirit or a being since
The beginning of time.?

b
2009

Glistening Sidewalks

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:54:00 +0000

The side walk shown with
the glistening of rain falling
for the first time in the autumn changing.
That it happened a million times before
was of no consequence.
Golden leaves hung clean from trees
that had begun to hide beneath the winter sidewalk.

They glanced from the window
high above the world,
paused with a glass of wine in their hands.
An image of people
rushing to warmth and
arms of lovers or children
met their gaze.
Umbrellas were the disguise
they wore on that black windy evening...
a yearning for what they could not see
lay in the breasts of those that watched.
What, they thought, did that night
hold for people rushing from
what they had known into the glistening void?

b
2009

The Habit of Thinking

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Heartache
Jangle
Reckless

He had grown up with the conviction it was beneath his dignity to explain himself.... On the farm you said you would or you wouldn't, that Roosevelt was all right or that he was crazy. You weren't supposed to say more unless you were a stump speaker....if you tried to say more, it was because you liked to hear yourself talk. Since you never said anything, you didn't form the habit of thinking. One of Ours, Willa Cather, 1922. (Pulitzer Prize 1923)

It has always been a puzzle to me...the thoughts that went on inside a silent person's head. There surely was not a jangle of information crawling around in there...surely not. Being married as I was to a man that never made a reckless comment or even felt the need to explain himself, I often felt the heartache of being shut out.

I am dying now and he has been gone for...how long has it been? Even thought he has been out of my sight for all these years his inability or unwillingness to speak only the most necessary of words has stung. Still wondering what he would have thought of my colored hair or choice of clothes, I hesitated. I heard the silence inside my head. He had never said one way or the other then so, after he was gone, my life of words remained very much the same. The most I ever got out of him was "It's alright!" Because there was never a word of approval, I always thought him unhappy. He did tell me once that if I was not doing things right he would let me know. I waited but I guess he changed his mind about doing that.

So now I am wondering if he actually did even notice. Was there nothing that he felt worth saying? Roosevelt was "alright" but motor cars were for other people. He never felt the need to explain. Perhaps because he never spoke he never grew or learned. Yes it could be that he even forgot how to explain where things or places were...he knew but could not give me directions to their place.

In the beginning I had been very drawn to him. I did have an education and had begun my life in a house where a lively discussion or argument was expected. We talked about books and tried to understand from a distance what life must be like in New York or even Paris. The field of possibilities did not stop at the horizon. There was more to life than what we knew...or at least that is what we believed. So when he began courting me, I thought that he must already know the answers. He seemed so sure and he courted me with candy and music.

He owned a business, had his own coach and horses, and his mother thought him a very responsible, loving son. I believed in his mind.

Now as I reflect on our life, I know that he was what I saw. Nothing more. It makes me sad even now.

b

Three Word Wednesday
Fiction....2009

Malcolm Gladwells Tipping Points! Lifesaver Water Bottles...ViRob Robots in the Blood Stream

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

I have, on many occasions, written making reference to Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point. The book is a mind bender I think. If you have not read it, you should. Through out the book he explains how one person or one small incident can change the world as we know it. I found the book fascinating.

This morning, as I wandered through my computer's virtual landscape reading snippets here and there, I saw a number of items that caught my interest. Here are a couple I think could bring about huge changes...these are very exciting times.

Robots Crawling Through Our Bodies:

Twitter took me to a blog called 50 Something Info Blog. In her article the author gave reference to an article in Discover Magazine (available online for $19.95 a year...I don't subscribe, sorry.) She briefly told about a discovery scientist from the Israel Institute of Technology have made that makes it possible for a robot to travel through the blood stream, seek out cancer tissue and administer the chemotherapy directly do the affected site. She said that the "tiny robots will be able to travel through body fluids, find a tumor and zap it with drugs (chemotherapy)." The group are even hoping that they can attach a camera or even a pair of tongs. They will present the device at the ILLC conference in Israel next summer.

This robot is a type of technology that could possibly change the effects of chemotherapy, allowing patients to live the time they have left or possible cure them quicker. We are all hoping that our vision of the threat of cancer will be totally changed. It seems to me that people are living in fear which is not living at all. This could be one of the tools that will change all that.

...water filter turns filthy water drinkable

Then I saw an article on the TED website after one of my facebook contacts pointed it out. This one, my friends, could be the tipping point for the way we treat disasters like the tsunami in the Indian Ocean several years ago or hurricanes like Katrina. As Michael Pritchard pointed out in his presentation called Michael Pritchard’s water filter turns filthy water drinkable at a TED conference in London, a water bottle or jerry can would allow people to stay in the area of a disaster and begin to rebuild and clean up almost immediately. Instead of huge planes landing with water, people traveling to live in camps to get it and then the airlift needing to happen again tomorrow, planes to bring the bottle/jerry cans, making the trip only once. No disease ridden camps, no homeless people and no endless recovery period. Imagine! People that live with filthy water all the time could live healthier and therefore more productive lives. All because of a water bottle similar to the one we buy to carry when we go hiking. Amazing!

Information on the Lifesaver Bottle is available at their website Lifesaver Systems.com where there is information on purchasing the bottles.

There you have it for the day...a couple of possible tipping points. Very exciting!

Innocent Art

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:29:00 +0000

I have known for always that youth is a gift.
In children, ideas run free as the wind.
When the mind of a child keeps living on,
An artful innocence will flow from the canvas or page.

Only the purest or wisest of us all have
Ever come to such a place. We
Leave the artless vision of childhood at the first grade door.
No one will miss it until they see
The art of a child in an unusual place.

I have seen this a number of times.
Machines that never will fly yet lines
Mark the progress of it's wingless flight
Across a childhood landscape created by
The mind of a child in a grown man's soul.

It is a miracle!

b
2009

Sunday Ramblings...comments on the week!

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Image by Always at Home via Flickr

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
from Stewart Little "There would be a lot fewer wars if more people would just give up."

FAMILY
Our grandson, Brayden was born at the end of March in 2008. He is is almost 19 month now. This last week he got his first flu shot...not a good thing in his world. When the nurse approached with the needle he realized that he had been snookered. His mother held him down and the nasty needle really hurt! As the nurse left the room he turned to his mother and yelled, "Bad Mommy, bad, bad mommy". Sometimes we wish he weren't quite so perceptive.

BLOGS OF NOTE
I had been reading a blog by Whitney Johnson's daughter, Miranda. Whitney writes a blog called Dare to Dream. Miranda's blog is about dogs. It is just perfect. Miranda is less than 12 years old and writes words that fit her world. I find her to be observant, organized and youthfully delightful. But most of all she writes because she wants to...or at least I think so. Isn't that wonderful. NOTE: I am not giving you the link to Miranda's blog purposely. I would prefer her mother choose who does and does not read this little girl's words.

Note: Miranda has given me permission to link to her blog. Miranda's Dog Blog.

WILD LIFE
The desert is a very active place. Night before last we decided that a wild life convention was being held in the neighborhood...owls hooted messages back and forth and coyotes yelped causing dogs to reply with gusto. Then the following evening a rattle snake came wandering across the street to visit my flower bed. Such a tiny little rope baby of a snake! My husband got the red reacher, carried him to the hedge and tossed him into the desert. The temperature is going to reach the high 90's again today and we have been running the heat pump almost 24 hours straight. I do love this place a lot.

COMMENTS
I just keep writing. Sometimes I feel inspired, sometimes not so much. But still I keep writing. I am trying to decide if writing for a prompt just to keep my hand in is a good thing. Are those people that post prompts picky that we always write to their word or would they like it if we just picked the best for the week. Maybe the quality would go up. I might start a new site devoted to only the best that you have posted...even to other prompts or even on k*rtsy, etc. I will give that some thought. If anyone wants to dive in before me, feel free. I would like that to happen.

I had a comment this last week on the post Has Anyone Seen Wanda?. The person said:

"Is this an attempt at a Rashomon situation? At least 3 different eyewitnesses with three different descriptions of the same event. A little confusing, ... to me, anyway. I~would~ like to know what happened to Wanda, tho... I'm sure she opened the package... right? :D"

I had to look up Rashomon situation. They said, "It is named for Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon, in which a crime witnessed by four individuals is described in four mutually contradictory ways." I guess the answer would be yes, I was attempting to do that Rashomon thing but didn't know it. Wikipedia also gave a link to unreliable narrator which I think describes me completely. Where the words come from is a mystery to me sometimes. But in the case of Wanda I could only think if the reader was confused can you imagine how the police felt when they tried to find Wanda? And, YES, she did open the package.

CARRY ON TUESDAY
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice the I've been turning over in mind ever since. from The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Never keep company with a woman that you would not marry he had said. Very old fashioned, the advice was I thought. After all in this day we tend to gad about with women that are merely friends or companions. Men and women tend to enjoy each others company. Nothing more or less. So I ignore the words for as long as I could.
She was sweet and lovely. A hint of perfume on the air would let me know when she was coming near. I loved to dine or dance or even just sit and talk. But she knew that I did not intend to marry ever. It was very clear from the beginning.

Then one night she told me she would marry a man she had just recently met. They didn't have a long relationship but they thought they were in love.

Then it came to me after my youth was spent and she was gone. What he had intended for me to carry away from the advice was that when we fall in love we may not know it...not until it is too late. It seems, even friends or companions can fall in love.

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One Man's Junk Sunday Scribblings

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Please check out this link to TED. I think you will all find it most interesting. It is a new way of looking at how we provide drinking water for third world countries. When we talk about JUNK filthy drinking water is one of poor people's worst dilemma.

TED talk: Michael Pritchard’s water filter turns filthy water drinkable

Sunday Scribblings...junk!

Homeless Woman: Junk, it's my junk, bought and paid for junk...don't owe nobody nothing. I don't like livin' like this much. The pavement is hard and I feel dirty but it's my junk. Don't touch my stuff or look down your nose. Do you own all your junk? How much do you owe? I am choosing to live this way until I can do better.

A Man: One man's junk is another man's treasure. What you don't want someone else will. Lids to long lost pans and casseroles are much sought after treasures. My table is filled with them. People come to touch my junk. They are always lookin' for a lid to something. I own this junk...it's mine and no one elses...so I'm willin' to sell a small part of my collection, so what? My tooth is hurtin' today so I am not as happy as I usually am. What? Yeah this is my cart...some lady gave it to me. She couldn't garden any more. But the junk and the cart are mine and I be livin' owin' no body nohow. Yes sirree!

The Woman: I know my apartment is filled with remnants of other people's lives. I try to fill every corner so nothing can creep in and live there. A friend will offer to help me clean and she calls real often.I don't like her to come. She cleans out my corners and that worries me. It is my junk and I didn't owe a soul. I don't need company...the voices keep me occupied and the more things I bring in the safer I feel.

Me: It has occurred to me that I should not spit the word "junk" from my lips but understand that we all live how we have to live. Others have not had my opportunities or were not born into my culture. What I see is not what they see. I am even beginning to find the treasure in the junk pile and have been known to bring my own little pieces of other people's lives home. It is all a matter of degrees.

Just a thought.

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Has Anybody Seen Wanda?

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:20:00 +0000

I was there you know. I saw what was happening. A car came from around the corner...one of those big cars. Red. Yes I'm sure it was red. We were playing baseball in the street and we had to move out of the way. It drove on down the street and then stopped in front of Wanda's house. I didn't see what they took out of the trunk but I know for sure it was something...a package or a sack of something. Well, anyways, they took it to the front door and just left real sudden. I didn't even think anymore about it until I heard about Wanda.

I was there. I was just looking out the window. The kids were playing ball and I always watch to make sure they don't hit anything toward my house. If they break a window I think their parents should be made to pay...anyway a car came driving up the street...black I think. The children didn't give an inch. They just kept on playing and the car practically had to drive through the Poulos's yard to make it by. It hardly even hesitated. I saw the package come flying out of the back window. It landed on the porch. I didn't even think a thing about it until I heard about Wanda.

I was there. I hate to admit it but I was cutting through Wanda's yard to get to the alley behind. I kinda like to look in Wanda's windows. I had just rounded the corner into the back yard when I heard a roar of a sports car coming up the street real fast like. I didn't see it but the wheels spun on the pavement and I heard a thump when the package hit the ground. I didn't think anything about it until I heard about Wanda.

My name is Wanda...I found a package on my front porch. Someone told me a tall dark handsome stranger left it there. Do you think I should wait to open it?

Has anybody seen Wanda?

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M....musing m-m-m-m! ABC Wednesday!

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Image by Always at Home via Flickr

M-m-m-m.....thoughts flashed here and there.
What was in that hole in the dirt just by the front door...m-m-m-m-m-m! I suppose a rock will be enough to keep who ever is living down there from escaping. I really hope so. But what if it is a...m-m-m-m-m-m. No I don't think that could be. I suppose I should get up and check just in case....m-m-m-m-m-m.

I wish I had an ice cream bar. Chocolate covered vanilla would be nice. But then so would a day at the beach. What do you think? M-m-m-m-m-m...

Thoughts flash here and there. A wish, a worry, a feeling of unease, a shiver of excitement...a joyful noises. M-m-m-m-m....sigh!

M is such a special alphabet letter!

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Do you believe in Angels?

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:08:00 +0000

Image by Always at Home via Flickr

I spend the majority of each year in a place I love to call "The Waiting Room for Heaven". We all are 'of an age' and each year is a gift. To say that we appreciate the sunrise would be not enough.

We live in little 'doll houses' my friend Carole always says. Each year when we return to our families we give up a little slice of youth. While we all know that family, home and the responsibilities and pleasures that come with that life, are what leads us to love the Waiting Room. On the ride back home each spring we will talk about how long before we can return and what we will do when that time comes.

Image by Always at Home via Flickr

So when I write about Angels, there must be one looking over my shoulder. I am not a religious person in the traditional sense of the word. My beliefs are mine alone and I would not dream of ever trying to convince someone to follow me. The sense of not being alone is very mystical to me. I don't expect to go to heaven in the sky. I am simply grateful to live this one life. So where the Angel that sits by my grand children's bed comes from is a mystery to me. Yet, somehow, it seems very possible. Could it be Love that lingers near by to take them safely to sleep or through pain? I do not know.

Here in the Waiting Room life goes on as expected. My friend Katherine needed a kidney transplant and was on dialysis. A living donor offered to help her and this summer what we had all hoped for happened. In this particular case, heaven can wait. She is truly a beautiful addition to our lives...a little angelic one might say.

We are now safely in our doll house for another winter. My friend Carole lost a very elderly (90) friend here in Tucson today so I will go and say good by for her on Thursday. Some might think that this sort of thing would make us sad or afraid or worried...after all we are facing the same thing. But aging happens only in the mirror. Our souls are young until the day we are through. But most importantly, we are happy.

The angel that guards the baby truly gives me a peace that all other things can not. So to answer my own question I guess the answer would have to be "yes" I do believe in Angels.

Please have a wonderful day. You can tell I miss my grandchildren but I know they are well and happy. We will be together again very soon.

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The Guardian Angel

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Bump in the night...the baby heard the sound and cried. Unknown to it's ears, the sound woke it from a dreamless sleep. As the parent rushed to it's side, a guardian angel brushed the babies hair from it's brow and before the father could reach the room the baby was sleeping peacefully. Both were unaware that they were being protected by a power bigger than anyone could ever imagine.

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The Truth

orencoopinions@gmail.com (b) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:52:00 +0000

Fallow

Limit

Vocal

Very Old But Still True

Dreams lay fallow in the field
waiting for decisions to be made.
In that field their possibilities were endless...
they floated through the air without limit.
The speaking did not make them so...
even when the vocal sounds resonated across the land.
It was only when one man lifted a shovel and began doing
that the dreams became a reality.

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October 8, 2009