Sunshine and Blue Skies

Good morning.  What a beautiful day in paradise.  Sunshine and blue skies.  The rain is gone and the sunshine is tempting everyone to come outside and see a new world!  Today is a remembrance of an old lesson I learn over and over and it always seems new, each time.

Don’t you just love a brand, spanking, new opportunity?  I do, even when I am sad or disgusted with the reason I had to seek the opportunity to begin with.  Sometimes we don’t need to be reminded of the old lesson we are learning new again.  My father borrowed a phrase somewhere, and I always give him credit for it since he imparted it to me. 

“Life would be easy if it was a straight highway from birth to heaven, but it isn’t.  There are always detours.”

Some of them are forced detours and the only thing we can do is take the detour and make the absolute best of it.  Others we bring on ourselves, knowing that they could end very badly, we still choose the detour.  If we can think of these as presentations on a stage of life that present a brand, spanking, new  opportunity, then we can accept the challenge and pray and think, seek advice, even cry, well complain, yeah-complain, and we work it all out.  Look at all of the things that brought us to a solution for getting us back on the highway, since that is the object.

We complain about the drudgery of the highway until we have to detour!  Wow!  I am singing blue skies by the time I am back on that highway!  The washing was good for us and we stand a little taller,  show a little more gratitude, see more good around us, and thank God and all of those ears, eyes, and hearts involved in our detour.

Today I am on detour but I refuse to take it lying down and I refuse to see it as a negative.  I know some of you call me the ultimate optimist, and I may be, but life is too good to look at the pain for very long.  Embrace it and then cry, complain, or whatever it takes to get back to that highway.  Before you realize you were gone you will be back up there.  Sunshine and blue skies!

Have a beautiful day!

 

Animal Neighborhood

Good morning.  The animal neighborhood is quiet this morning and Mr. Cat has found a place in the den beside the window to welcome the morning sun.  Shane is asleep on the front porch and Eli has gone to visit somewhere in the neighborhood.

The telephone was ringing about eight this morning and I answered it using the phone in the kitchen.

“Hello.”

“Good morning Ms. Ina.  How is Mr. Cat today,” inquired Mr. Logo.

“Good morning Mr. Logo.  Thank you for inquiring of his well-being.  Mr. Cat is resting.  Actually appeased with his situation and taking advantage of the sunshine.  How is the Monkey today?”

“He is not happy to be kept in the house all day but I think he needs a change and I want him to have a name, so I have called my cousin to come and pick him up and keep him for two months.  My cousin can teach him to become a show monkey and he will earn a very fine Greek name.”

“The animal neighborhood will be boring without monkey but I know you are correct.  He will be happy once he is given the opportunity to be all he can be.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Well this is the Animal Neighborhood and there are many lessons we can learn from our animal friends.  When you read them again they will be in their own book.  There.  Now I have told you.  The Animal Neighborhood will become its own world.

Tomorrow I will resume with some of my happy family stories.  Thank you for reading each day.

A Celebrity Among Us

Well, hello.  How is your day?  The animal neighborhood began too quiet this morning and I had not seen the Spider monkey.  He usually paid everyone a visit early in the morning to extract his share of each food bowl and create a stir in the process.    I decided to go and check the food bowls in my yard only to find Mr. Cat lying across the walkway.

“Oh Mr. Cat.  Your foot is bleeding.  Whatever have you done to yourself?  Ok, be still and I will bring a towel and your carrier because we will have to go to the Veterinarian’s office and have the doctor look at your paw.”

“Okay Shane.  You will be in charge while I am away so keep a sharp eye out for that monkey.  We will be back soon.”

Mr. Cat would remain with the doctor until after they bandaged his paw, administered vaccines, shampooed his coat, trimmed the tufts of fur from around his ears and evened his nails.  At least he would not have to worry about that monkey, because his doctor visit would take most of the day.  Well everything was quiet and Shane was sleeping on the porch while Eli played across the street with the newest member of the animal neighborhood; a Chihuahua puppy.  I truly hoped he didn’t decide the puppy was a water fowl and throw him across the yard with his big jaws only so he could go and retrieve him.  Dear me; something new for the monkey to torture so I hoped Eli did not join the monkeys ranks.

A cup of coffee and my laptop were in order for my day along with this peace and quiet.

Momentarily!  Of course!  That monkey had the dogs riled up again.  The barking began with dogs that were two streets over but were moving closer and closer to my house.   Oh yes.  Eli first, then Shane! Shane barking meant that something or someone was coming into my yard.  That monkey must be up to something if Shane is calling for quiet.

“Hello.  Is there anybody home?  I need to speak to you please,” a man called from the front yard.

I made my way to the front door and discovered the man calling out to me was the spider monkey’s owner.

“Hello,” I replied back to him. “I am Ms Ina.  How may I help you?”

He removed his hat and said, “I am Mr. Logo and I have come for my monkey.  He seems to be missing today and I am sure he is here.”

“I am quite sure he could be anywhere in this neighborhood.”

“Oh no!  He will be where your big, yellow cat is. There were sprinkles of blood on my stoop and I think maybe your cat has injured my monkey.”

“Quite the opposite, I am sure.  I took the cat to the Vet this morning because his paw was bleeding.”

Mr. Logo looked so sad, so being a good neighbor I volunteered to assist him in his search.

The troupe followed us as we traveled around the neighborhood, but no monkey.  We finally arrived in Mr. Logo’s yard and he invited me to see the stoop where the blood was.

“My monkey has no name,” he remarked, rather out of the blue.

“You just call him monkey?  Why?”

“If you would not be offended, I would like to show you something.”

“Of course I am not offended.  Lead the way.”

Inside Mr. Logo’s house were posters and photos of Spider Monkeys in costumes and hats on every wall.

“When my father became ill, I moved here to his house.  His monkey, Hero, had died and I did not know he had ordered another one.  One week before my father died a friend of his delivered the monkey you know and I could never get rid of the monkey.  It would be going against what my father asked me to do.  Do you understand?  The monkey comes from a line of show animals from the mid 1800’s.  My grandfather brought his monkey to America as a stow-away.  When they arrived there was no work and so he dressed him up and the monkey danced while my grand-father played music.  Those were sad times for our family but the next generation, my father and a new monkey, Hero, found work with the circus and they were a huge success.  My father sent me to college and I cannot bring myself to go to the circus.  I work from home as a computer analyst.  My monkey does not know how to put on a show.  I am disgracing my family because I have not taught him to perform. If he could perform, I could give him a name.”

“Nonsense!  That monkey is the most entertaining animal in this neighborhood. I promise you that he can perform, and how.”

“Oh we must find him.”

The phone rang and Mr. Logos went to the kitchen to answer it.  When he returned he was smiling but his eyes were not happy looking.

“The monkey is at the Vet’s office and he is causing problems.  Would you please like to go with me to bring him home?”

“Oh yes!”

We went outside and got into Mr. Logo’s truck.  He had a camper shell on the back with windows and screens in the sides of the camper shell.

  Arriving at the Vet’s office we walked in gingerly and hopefully.   Hopefully the monkey had not destroyed the office.  But we could hear that he was creating a racket and had several animals joining in.  The ladies at the front desk were laughing and told us to go to the right and then to the end of the hallway.  The doctor was sitting on the corner of his desk feeding the monkey a banana and the monkey was throwing pieces of banana across the room to Mr. Cat who lay inside a crate just giving that monkey a dirty look.

“Well come in,” Dr. Adams cheerfully addressed us. “We have had quite a show today and this monkey is a born entertainer.  He loves to aggravate Mr. Cat.  They appear to be inseparable friends and my guess is that they always try to get one up on one another.  Quite a pair!  The monkey came here looking for Mr. Cat and danced on the porch until a patient finally opened the door wide enough for him to get inside.  He went straight to the back and found his Mr. Cat. "

Mr. Logo, the monkey, Mr. Cat and I were happy to return to our respective homes.  Mr. Cat would have to stay inside until his paw healed so we will see how well that monkey handles this problem tomorrow. 

 

The Wind Party

Writing has always been my passion and finding a quiet place to observe my surroundings and write is the reason I chose my little house.  Tranquility!

Today was especially windy.  Leaves clung to their trees and the blooms of spring were hesitant to open to a new day.  Eli, the lab pup, was barking wildly and running about chasing the wind’s flying debris.   The peace was temporary.  Yep.  Eli was just being a normal pup and the spider monkey could not help but be his normal self as well. That is how the rumpus began.

The spider monkey was in the small stand of long leaf pine trees extracting their blooms and tossing them into the wind.  The squirrels had entered the arena and up and down and up and down they went on those pine trees.  The monkey began to shriek and within minutes the entire neighborhood of pets and wild life that lived here were in my yard and each of them was contributing to the conversation! 

Shane came off the porch and tried his best to calm them but only a few dogs sat down and quietly observed.  There were at least eight cats perched on my lawn furniture hoping to catch that monkey off guard.  The wind would sway the young pine tree the monkey was sitting on and he would jump to another limb or another tree. 

I wished for one fleeting second I had an air gun because I would have shot the limb that monkey had begun to dance on.  My next idea; however was best because I began to throw small sticks up in the tree hoping to deter him and eventually force him to go back across the fence and disappear.   I soon ran out of sticks and the yard yielded nothing of consequence for ammunition. 

“Well that does it,” I pronounced rather loudly, as I went back into the house allowing the door to slam behind me.  Upon my return the ammunition had changed drastically and the small apples I brought with me did the trick.  I almost hit that monkey by accident and he stopped and looked at me.  I wasn’t sure what he was planning but I was ready to go to war.  Quiet settled over the yard preceding the monkey’s exit across the small bridge bordering the fish pond and finally over the fence and out of sight.

The animals turned and starred at me as if I had committed a crime in their kingdom.  Even Shane lowered his head and returned to the porch prompting all of them to find their way back home.

Now there is a very good lesson here.  Never break up a party that you are not invited to.  If you do, the party animals will shun you and the next time they gather for over the fence gossip, you will be the subject of their conversation.

That Spider Monkey

Our neighborhood had a yellow dog named Shane, a black lab pup named Eli, a big yellow tabby cat named Mr. Cat and this you will not believe, a spider monkey.   Yes indeed. An elderly man the same size around as he was up and down, with total absence of hair on his head, and a cigar in his mouth during waking hours, was in possession of a spider monkey. 

The monkey knew nothing at all about keeping the peace, obeying the rules, distinguishing between night and day, and minding his own business.  Nope.  That monkey just lived like he was the only creature on the earth that should be cared for at all times.  When he was ignored he produced screeching noises that he considered verbal communication, and these noises   kept every animal within ten miles in a stir when he proceeded to exercise this communique.

My small house with a large yard was very comfortable with only local traffic on the street where it was located.  The major streets were several blocks away and all of the animals roamed freely except when they were a problem.  The city wanted them all to be fenced but we were not used locking our pets away and they were careful about where they roamed.  Well, all of them except, you guessed it, the spider monkey.

That dog Shane loved to nap on the front porch and he preferred napping without being disturbed.  You see he was the eldest and all of the neighborhood pets respected his highness, the Golden Retriever.  All animals, except one, that is. You guessed it!  That spider monkey.

I brewed a fresh cup of coffee and decided to take my morning break in the den today where the coolness of the back door gave me fresh air as well as the sweet fragrance of the honey suckles.  I chose a notebook and pen for writing today rather than a laptop.  It just seemed like a great time to write while the neighborhood was quiet.

I could see Mr. Cat as he slithered and crept through the lawn grass believing he was being hidden.  He moved from one side of his defined circle to the other around a small bush housing a family of rats.  He had worked his way to the edge of the bush and was preparing to pounce when the spider monkey came from out of nowhere and pounced on the bush, coming up with a medium sized rat.  That monkey was screeching and jumping from bush to bush and across the lawn furniture holding the rat by the tail.  Mr. Cat was right behind him with a determination to claim his prey.  I was on the patio by this time and wanted to go and pick up Mr. Cat but he was not to be detained. The look in his eye gave me reason to think he was more interested in catching the monkey than retrieving his prey.

The spider monkey decided to climb higher so up into a tree he went but holding on to the rat was not part of his success. Mr. Cat did not slow down and up the tree he carefully made his way, ignoring the falling rat.  Eli the lab pup was at the base of the tree by this time and barking and jumping wildly.  When Shane reached the fracus the monkey was at the top of the tree and Mr. Cat was right behind him.  Shane rose up and barked.  He barked again. The fray ceased and they all stopped right where they were.  Well, all except that spider monkey.  He jumped and missed the tree in the yard next door so his landing was a long way down.  The fence between the yards hid the result of the landing.

I called them all to me and Shane and Eli came gingerly to receive my petting but Mr. Cat took his time cooling his anger as he made his way down the tree and across the lawn to where I had taken a seat beneath an apple tree.  He rubbed my legs and decided that was sufficient finding his quiet spot under an azalea bush. 

Things were quiet once again and we all managed to return to our original tasks.  

 

A Letter of Love to My Children

Good morning all.  Sometimes it is time to write a love letter and I have always written letters to my children.  A new year is a new beginning and I would like to share the letter of love to my children today.  Oh the original is far more personal and detailed but the ideas of the message are clearly defined in this one.  I hope it brings joy to your heart as well.

Good morning my Dear Children.  When you are where I am in life, I want you to have things differently. We always want to give the next generation better than we had. Please take hold of the people and things that really matter and make your life count with them.  Make it real and do NOT set yourself up to be questioned by those who love you the most.  They should know how you feel by your telling them and showing them.  Children have to be taught.

I am on the other side of this coin now and looking back the picture is not always pretty, so please learn from the lessons I did not learn soon enough.  You two held me together and held me in high esteem through all of the joy and pain.  Yes, listen to your heart but think with your minds also.  Yes you should have the kind of love you give but it comes with a price.  Love with absolute selfishness.  Do not apologize for your love but do not sacrifice the joy, love, respect and happiness of those who love you to have only what you want.  Looking back you will realize the value of loving and being loved.  Accept no substitutes. There are no escape clauses at the end of it all.  Be open, honest and ask questions!!!!!!!! You cannot know people without asking them the hard questions.  I know you both and you always do the right thing.  Thank you for that.  You two are my crowning achievements in this world and I feel selfish taking credit for any of your learning and knowing and being.

I did not realize how hurtful people could be.  It often seems you cannot get over the pain and disappointment.  Sometimes you may think it is just you and you are not everything you should be, but the truth is people are users and selfish. It is “One dog, one bone,” as they say.  They know how to protect themselves but they also know how to make you think you are important and loved by them.  That is the double standard.  Beware of it. The pain is when they pass you over for other people and even things.  That pain can go deeper and cause you to feel unimportant and devastated.  You must remain real, honest, and a caring person who would do almost anything to help others.  All of this pain makes you feel that you are the selfish person and you only do for them to make yourself feel good.   That is not true because you do things unselfishly on purpose and many times automatically.

Are you selfish?  Yes you are.  You do not think of yourself first but you do think of yourself, your needs, your wants, and your happiness

Always know where you came from:  GOD

Always know who you are:  GOD’S CHILD

Always know where you are going: BACK TO GOD

Allow Me to Be Reminded

Allow me to be reminded.  Today is a beautiful day even though the temperatures are cooler than normal; the sun does shine in Florida.  There are times when it appears the sun shining cannot affect your day and you allow yourself to be reminded of all of the things that have made you unhappy in the previous days or in the way past.  When this happens it is a good thing to remind yourself of the wonderful things that have happened in your past days or years.  These two little stories are good reminders for me.

When my son was an infant both sets of grandparents would babysit for me because I worked a lot.  His father was on active duty during the Viet Nam war and I had a lot to take care of by myself.  I had accepted a grave-yard shift position in a very busy all night coffee shop.  On Easter morning I was off work about sunrise and I was driving south to my parent’s home to spend Easter with them and my infant son who was already there with them.

The interstate around Jackson, Mississippi has been under construction since the beginning of the interstate.  When going South on I-55 you travel through an area of interstate that allows you to veer to the right and travel East on I-20 or veer left and travel South on I-55.  The area between was still under construction and piled high with barriers and dirt, and it was hard baked dirt that had been there for a while.

Well, I fell asleep before I reached the area and suddenly I was awakened and looking at that pile of dirt.  Immediately I swerved the car and veered left.  I pulled off the interstate and looked around me.  There was no one in sight.  I cried for a few minutes and I thanked God for being there and taking care of me.  You know he has these angels who are always on the job.

Many, many years later after my children were adults with their own families; I was traveling with my husband.  We were in Virginia and it had been a long, hot Labor Day.  Having awakened at four in the morning and traveled North of our hotel to spend the day tramping around a flea market, we were both tired.  The road we were traveling was narrow and mountains were on both sides.  This can be boring after a few miles and I fell asleep.  My husband was driving and I just dozed off not knowing that he dozed off also.  How we stayed on the road is amazing grace and then we left the road and landed in a front yard stopping just before we hit a giant oak tree. I looked around and this house and the barn across the road were the only areas that were not mountains.  The owner of the house came out and looked at the car, shook my husband’s hand and shook his head back and forth. 

“Mister, God is taking care of you,” he said. “It is amazing that you left the road in this spot.”

We felt humbled and blessed.  After we returned to the road and found our way to the interstate, I opened the car window just to breathe the mountain air.  I smelled fuel.  We exited and found a local hotel so we could inspect the car.  The hotel owner gave us a parking area where the car would not be sitting flat and the fuel would not seep out overnight.  The next day we had the car repaired and were on our way home. 

Ahh yes.  Please remind me of your goodness and grace when I forget to count my blessings.  I know I have much to do that I have not yet applied myself to and I am preparing to do just that. May his blessings be your blessings today, and be reminded, yes be reminded, of all of the good things.

A Song of a Childhood Memory

The splash captured my attention immediately and I turned to try and see the fish that caused such a great splash.  I had spent the first two months of the summer growing taller, so my cotton dress was plenty short enough and there was no concern that the hem of the skirt would become wet while I waded the creek.  I loved this shallow body of water that was always cold and shaded by the trees.  I was only seven and the types of fish were not important to me so I never bothered to ask for the identification education of creek fish. I backed up and parked my backside on a large slightly flattened rock to watch the sunlight filter through the tree leaves and dance along the ripples of water moving across the creek bed.

This place and this day resembled what my idea of what heaven must be.  I did not know of any other kid in the world who had my life.  Oh there were plenty who lived like us with farms, fields, cows, chickens, and huge gardens but I felt exceptionally privileged compared to all of the others.  I spent my days at home with my Mother instead of working in the hot sun and she talked and taught me everything about the garden and the chickens. She explained why she did things as well as how.  During the harvesting time the older girls were always home for canning.  One day a week they were home for the washing.  I hated wash day especially the scalding hot water pots that were used for rinsing and I was grateful that the older girls took care of these tasks.

I dug my toes into the soft creek bottom where the mud was a whiter color and giggled aloud.  This is what happy really was.  No one needed me or expected to see me for a while and so I looked around and realizing no one was within earshot I began to sing.  I sang loudly and joyfully about God and the earth and people I loved.  It was so easy to sing and be so happy doing it.  Time seemed to fly and the sun changed its position in the sky.

I could hear the cows being herded to the barn and I knew that my day would soon be over.  Supper would be served and a bath behind the wood stove in the kitchen was on the schedule for me so I ended my song, swished my bare feet through the creek water and stepped up the creek bank while I held to a young sapling growing crookedly out of the bank. Once I was in the soft grass I began to skip all along the way to the edge of the back yard.

One day in my life as a seven year old girl still gives me a peaceful place to escape to when my days are strained and unpleasant.  It gives me a sweet memory when I have a day of joy and happiness with my family.  Ahh memories.  How sweet the sound of childhood memories.

My Pet Chicken

“Hey Grandma.  Do you want to see my chickens?

“Oh yes I do.”

“They should be right over here.  Oh well.  They must be in the back corner.”

“Oh these are the older chickens that you showed last year.  Are they still laying eggs?”

“Yes Mam they are still laying.  Oh here they are Grandma behind these shrubs. Come on babies.”

“Oh they are beautiful!  Have they started laying yet?”

“Probably will in February.  They are larger than the others were so they may lay by the end of January.”

“I think they are winners and as soon as you can measure them you will know for sure.  I love the color.”

This is the conversation I had with my granddaughter today about the new chickens she will show this spring in the 4-H competition.  I was reminded of my chickens and I asked her if she remembered the story about my pet chicken.  She laughed and said, “Yes I do Grandma.”

“Well I think I will tell the story tomorrow.”

“That’s good Grandma.”

This is the story of my pet chicken and unlike my granddaughter, I never named my chickens because I had a chicken house and a chicken house yard filled with them.  We ate the laying hen’s eggs and we ate the pullets.  The pullets were raised for consumption and their life span was merely less than a year.  You picked her up and decided if she was heavy enough with eating flesh to have her for lunch or supper.  Sometimes the smaller ones were crowded out at the feeding and they grew slower.

My pet chicken was a pullet.  She never missed a feeding and she only loved me because I had the feed.  When I opened the gate and sat down on the stoop she rushed to my lap and I fed her from my hand.  Day after day this ritual continued until on August eleventh when I was sent to help with the peach harvest.  That day my sister went to the chicken yard and you guessed it.  The pullet rushed to her and you can bet she was quite fat being hand fed. Naturally there was no other work needed except to extract her head, pluck her feathers, and clean her inside and out with the help of boiling water.

I was already ill from eating so many peaches and when I was called from the couch to the table for dinner I only had half of an appetite. 

One important thing to remember is the cold hard fact that secrets between the sexes does not exist when the sexes are siblings.  Nope.  I do not remember who ratted my sister out but one of those boys knew that pullet on the platter, fried all golden brown and being served with mashed potatoes, field peas, sweet corn, tomatoes, gravy and biscuits, was my pet chicken.  The announcement devastated me and I rushed back to the safety of my couch and continued to war with my internal fluids to remain in my digestive track. My heart was broken and my birthday, yep it was my birthday, was ruined.  Just ruined. 

I returned for the birthday cake but it was pretty disappointing also.  The moral of this story is to never have a pet chicken that you are not willing to give up for the chopping block or for the hen house laying party.  She was my last pet chicken.  She was the only pet chicken I ever had!   

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I welcome 2016!  While change is a welcome relief, there are many constants that I truly wish to keep and enjoy this new year,  I am stopping in today to say, Happy New Year and God's best to you in 2016!  You are certainly a constant I wish to keep!  I hope your holiday has been wonderful and your expectations for Christmas were truly a reality.
Pre-Christmas was wonderful enjoying my grandchildren at school and church.  I personally enjoyed another year with my daughter and grandchildren, my son (who visited Texas), so we celebrated via telephone, and two very special furry friends.  I am so blessed to enjoy the quiet, beauty of the beach and my two friends.  He is nosy, and probably ADHD while she was born to sit on a pillow and look beautiful.  What a joy to have family and friends!  My expectations were truly met. 
I am looking forward to sharing stories with you this year and for now, raise your glass and salute!  Enjoy your day and count your many, many blessings.  Look around and kiss the ground beneath your feet if you live in this great United States of America. Give it forward and that includes the smiles. Thank you for being a part of 2015 and please stay right here for a new year of stories.