Fleeting friendship

     Sometimes you don't know what a person has meant to you or the effect that person has had on your life until that person leaves your daily routine.

    I will miss someone named  Stephanie who didn't want to leave, but a family decision requires her to leave the state. As we helped her pack up and carry out her belongings, it hit me how much I will miss her...her loud, raucous music we all could hear, her very strong faith in God and the effect she had on people, myself included. Always cheerful, always sensitive to what might be concerning a co-worker, and not afraid to invite them to let her say a prayer for them.

    She also has a great sense of humor, sometimes a little naughty even...we shared many a laugh, shared many stories and were becoming good friends. Intentions to stay in touch are great, but people get busy, only time will tell if we do.

    Probably every one of us have had a person like this pass through our lives, and we are the better for it. We hope we left them with something as well.

Are the kids alright??

      I wonder why I still am so angry about Tom Brady's debacle. I sat and watched him snicker, sneer, smirk and otherwise act like he has to answer to no one when he was being questioned (by Bob Schieffer?) in that interview with his fans in the audience the other day.

     I wanted to slap him silly, with his non-answers, especially when he said he hadn't read the report on him yet...what, after three days? Right. He would be backed into a corner, play dumb, then wave at his fans who would clap and howl for him. At least it shows what a not-nice-person  jerk he is.

     But, why am I still so mad every time I hear his name?  It is because this whole thing is teaching young sports-minded kids it is the way to go to lie and be sneaky... That it's worth trying to pull off illegal or unethical acts because what do you lose if you get caught? A little slap on the hand, no biggy.  It will all blow over...

     Maybe not in this case...his appeals will keep him in the public spotlight and maybe enough people will see who he really is and how damaging these things are to society.

     I don't care for sports all that much except for Winter Olympics (curling especially), the super bowl and its commercials, and maybe the last playoffs right before the game.  No, it is the lessons that our little people...and their coaches are learning...more importantly, what they are not learning.

     Enough ranting for now....and no, it's not because they beat my Seahawks!

The blessings of today

   Couldn't wait till the end of the day to be thankful for the start of this day and for those blessings that have followed already and it is only 9:30 a.m.!

Blessing No. 1

     At 7:30 a.m., I was clanged awake by the cell phone. I opened one eye and saw that there was a text message. It's too early for my BFF Carol to be sending me a text, as she usually does on any special day, only later.
    The other eye forced itself open and took a peek...the text said "Happy Mother's Day"... it was from the police chief of the town where I work as a reporter! Who would have thought he would find it in his heart to do that, with all the problems he is having right now? I thanked him heartily and wished him the same, since he is spending a lot of time with his "Princess" daughter while he is going through a divorce.

Blessing no. 2

    I decided I ought to call my friend Nancy and tell her I probably can't see her today for dinner because I have to unload all the books from my bookcase and all the breakable items in my collectible case and a lot other stuff to be ready for my carpets to be cleaned on Monday as well as write two stories,

    I wished her Happy Mother's Day and she did the same. Then she said she is having my birthday dinner this evening, since she won't see me on my birthday this week. Yay! Change of plans. I'll have to step it up!

Blessing no. 3

    I am looking at a medium-sized package that came in the mail that I can't open till my birthday. Logic would dictate that the content of the package would be a birthday gift.

 
    So I have to sneak glances at it for four more days and wonder what it could be...hmm...I do so love birthdays...other people's and my own. It's admittedly more fun to think of something someone else would like and wrap it, etc.; still, I look forward to seeing what 's in there.

Blessings no. 5 & 6

Miss Rita

    My darling prima dona kitty Rita's foot is getting better each day.

    She is still limping a little today and resting her foot a lot, but I was very worried about what happened since she can't tell me!

   

  Also, I got out of bed this morning...Years ago, a former co-worker who had conquered prostate cancer said, "Any day you can get out of bed is a good day."

    I try to remember to think about that---it puts things in perspective!

Blessing no. 7

    I am thankful to God for the special friends he has put into my life.

   Here is a reading from  "365 Days of Walking the Red Road: The Native American Path to Leading a Spiritual Life Every Day:"

    You must speak straight so

that your words may go as sunlight to our hearts."

Cochise, Apache Tribal Leader (1812-1874.)

    Have a blessed day!

What's on your mind today?

I am a newbie at blogging and hope I can strike a chord with people who would like to share thoughts at the end of the day.

I have a passion for pet rescue and would like to have people share their own rescue experiences or ones you read about or see on TV.  Feel free to write about anything to do with animals, including pets, wildlife and even farm animals.

Other areas of interest include Irish heritage, language, books and reading, movies, God's gifts in your life, humor...or just try it out and see where it goes!

Today, I heard about an accident on a nearby interstate in which the husband and wife in the car will need to be hospitalized for awhile. They were transporting their horse that was not injured, but had no place to go. The wife of one of the firemen at the scene stepped in and will take care of the horse at their farm until the people can take it home.  Gotta love people like that!

I have personally rescued 15 or so feral cats and socialized them, even though some authorities on the subject say you can't do that. It takes the patience and available time to spend letting them learn to trust you. I have found them homes in various ways, working with pet rescue organizations.

I am frustrated that I can't do more, but the expense of having them spayed or neutered is not in my budget on a regular basis. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Hope to hear from you! I will post and answer any posts, as long as they are not derogatory or profane!

Easter musings

  I wrote a blog today...however, I deleted it. Some things are just too private.




   

Morning musings

     A friend of mine calls himself a motor-mouth. I recently realized I have become the equivalent, except it is with with my fingers on the keyboard, rather than the mode of oral delivery, particularly in emails.

     The problem is I don't know what to call myself...a prolific polysylableist, A digital derelict? A digital dramatist? An effusive editorialist? Over-edifier? Excessive epistileist? I can't find just the right parallel phrase to "motormouth."

    Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

    Another niggling question is, "What do writers fear?" If  you are a writer and you know it, what is there to be afraid of?  You love words and ideas and imaginative communication. You have a computer in front of you and lots of ideas...but you sit down and are met with a blank wall, akin to stage fright.

    So, what is there then to fear? Ridicule? Fear of getting a great start, then suddenly nothing more will come? Fear of readers? Fear you have wasted your time?  The wrath of your writing coach? (Naa...I can handle that... I welcome it even!) That maybe you are just no good?  None of the above?All of the above? Don't know....

    The answer is probably right in front of me... stop ruminating and just do it!

     Well, who needs to pay for Lumosity to stimulate the brain? I can ask myself my own questions!
Still, any input would be appreciated.:)

Wearin' of the Green

We’re coming up on St. Patrick’s Day in about a month. I know it’s early, but I don’t have anything else to write about at the moment. Besides, anyone who reads it will have plenty of time to get ready for the day of celebration and be dressed in the traditional green at the neighborhood Irish pub on March 17, the death date of St. Patrick (c. AD 385–461).

If you are Irish or just Irish at heart, do you know where all the celebration comes from?

This special day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.

It began as a religious feast day for this patron saint of Ireland, but has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, some interesting special foods and the wearing of the color green.

It is believed that the celebrated saint was born in the fourth century into a family of wealth and that his father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian Church.

He was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken as a slave by Irish raiders. He is said to have “found God” while working as a shepherd and was told by God to flee to the coast where a ship would be waiting to take him away. He went on to become a priest, returning to Ireland and converting thousands to Christianity.

Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion,(especially the Church of Ireland and the Eastern Orthodox and Lutheran Church.

Our culture thinks of St. Patrick’s Day not only as the commemoration of the date of his death, but also as a celebration of the heritage of Irish culture, as evidenced in the many traditional activities such as pub crawling, green beer, wearing of green, parties and even the playing of bagpipes.

Other folks go to church services or have Irish family gatherings.

Following are some Irish words and phrases:

Wearin' o’ the green

Where did that tradition of wearing green come from anyway? Sources say that the St. Patrick’s Day custom of things green, whether it be shamrocks or green clothing (the wearing o’ the green), has passed down through the centuries from 1726, because St. Patrick is said to have used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish

Blarney – Talk that is not true but that is nice and somewhat funny and that may be used to trick someone.

Not the full shilling – Not fully sane.

Bucketing down – Raining.

Irish Blessing –May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door

Irish Toast – May you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to repent.

Those are just representative examples of hundreds of fun and interesting Irish tidbits and history that can be found on the Internet by searching for Irish phrases and blessings. So, have some fun, learn something new about the lively Irish culture and be ready to jump into the conversations at the next Irish gathering.

Snow fun

 

Some say the accumulation of the falling flakes is no fun, but the kids in the neighboring areas Sunday thought it was "snow fun!" They were out creating snowpeople as well as a lot of noise. Personally, since the larders were stocked and I had no place I needed to go, I really enjoyed my "snow day."

I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been feeling under the weather, so to speak, fighting off non-stop chills by taking Tylenol, eating chicken noodle soup and sleeping, sleeping, sleeping...like I haven't slept in months.

During wakeful periods, the cats and I looked out the windows to watch the snow pile up. I spied an outdoor kitten seeing snow for the very first time .... it was such a delight to watch it jump into untouched snow, tossing tiny snowballs up in the air, then chasing them and throwing them around. Then the kitty would roll around over and over in the cleared space it had created. I could swear it was smiling ear-to-ear!

I also wanted to absorb some of its energy so I could stay up and work on my projects!

It's Monday now and the pristine snow surrounding my home has been disturbed and dirtied by cars, snow shovels, city trucks clearing the streets and the mailman, God bless his unfailing neither-rain-nor-sleet-nor-snow trek down the street.

The only disturbances in the scenic snowfall I considered to enhance its appearance were the various animal tracks - those of cats tired of foraging arriving at the door to look for a handout, birds walking around in the snow picking up feline leftovers, squirrels shaking various designs onto the snow cover out of the trees and the tell-tale footprints of pesky raccoons who had stealthily sneaked into the garage during the night to steal any remaining cat food.

It almost...almost...makes me sorry spring is coming soon.

'Nitey-nite'...or not?

A literary acquaintance recently went into throes of agony when I used the word “nite” as a shortcut in an email. And, boy, did I hear about it!

“The word in question would be your insouciant employment of ‘nite’ for ‘night,’” he replied.

(Admittedly this sent me to the dictionary to look up “insouciant,” which means “exhibiting light-hearted unconcern.” I did know that once upon a time when my brain was younger and information jumped the synapses in a flash, but, alas, I had forgotten.)

My learned friend with the steel-trap mind went on to say, “Some references call it an 'informal' variation. Others say it is slang, a lazy corruption, or just another prime example of how some Americans seem to regularly misspell even the most elementary English language words.”

I thought he was a little curmudgeonly, even overly concerned about the shortcut, but he is a perfectionist when it comes to use of language and I have to respect that.

He wasn’t finished expressing his disgust, however – in fact, he had just begun.

Random House excuses its usage by calling it a simplified spelling,” the purist continued

He indicated that it didn’t seem worth it to "simplify" a five-letter word by dropping two letters and adding a new one back in to create a four-letter word. I believe he has a legitimate point.

“Such illiterate wallowings may have begun with our construction of the Interstate Highway system, and the willingness to allow sign-makers to replace the word "through" with "thru," as in "thru lane" or "thruway." Next thing you knew, the word "light" had been debauched by "lite." What's next…we go the airport to catch our "flite," or have to purchase new underwear because the old ones are too "tite?"
Are you thru?” I asked.

But he does make sense – not that that will stop any of us from using those fun little shortcuts in an iPhone or an email message.

After that trouncing, I am curious to know what other people think. My own inclination is to go with the correct spelling. On the other hand, when I am in a hurry just to get an email or text out on its way, I like to use the shortcuts even if I do consider them cutsey or la-zee. (No disrespect intended toward my friend---I just couldn’t resist.)

How ‘bout it? Is it okay to use the EZ-to-rite form or should everyone stick to literary perfection?

Lemme know…