"At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet."~ Plato
"Poetry is a form of display. The poet bird repeats vowels and consonants in order to widen his tail. Meter and counted syllables make up a peacock tail. The poem is a dance done for some being in the other world." ~Robert Bly
Today while poking around on a poetry sight I discovered yet another few poetry forms. It seems like every day I find another "new" form. I reckon next year and even the next I might discover yet another Obscure form to try and write. It seems like for as many different forms there are there are at least that many different opinions on how to write each one. I was taught in school that a Haiku always has seventeen syllables. But much to my dismay when I started taking a poetry class that is not what today's teachers say. They want them with a maximum of seventeen syllables and hopefully with as few as twelve. It's really hard to say anything in twelve syllables. Believe me you have to make every one count.
One of the forms I found today is called a Pantoum. It is not about counting syllables or counting words. It is about repeating entire lines in a pattern. I must say that there were several different opinions on the best way to write these just as there are about all the different forms. I ~ being new to this type of poetry~ used their basic form and did my best to write a Pantoum~
Omega
In a place of standing stones
a mighty beast awakens
Ivory ribcage aglow
fire raging in his belly
a mighty beast awakens
scaled wings flutter
fire rages in his belly
he is Omega the last of his kind
scaled wings flutter
Ivory ribcage aglow
He is Omega the last of his kind
In a place of standing stones.
Written By: Patricia Sawyer
12-4-2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another fun form is the septolet. It also follows a pattern. Septolet ~ The Septolet is a poem consisting of seven lines containing fourteen words with a break in between the two parts. Both parts deal with the same thought and create a picture. I had heard of this poem before but spent some time today learning more about them. I found that I liked the one I written earlier more than the one I wrote today! Somehow today's felt forced so I won't bother y'all with it.
Winter Wonderland ~ a septolet
Frosty feet
stomp around
wool scarfed
snowman.
Hot chocolate sippers
hibernate;
soaking fireplace's warmth.
Written By: Patricia Sawyer
11-10-2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have written Quinzaines before. One of the poetry sights I visit has contests of quinzaines quiet often. They will even give a word list or a book title and you have to write the quinzain from that. This one I thought went along well with the first poem of today. Both on the dragon theme.
Quinzaine~ The English word quinzaine come from the French word qunize, meaning fifteen. A quinzaine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables. These syllables are distributed among three lines so that there are seven syllables in the first line, five in the second line and three in the third line(7/5/3). The first line makes a statement. The next two lines ask a question relating to that statement.
Captured Dragons ~ (a quinzaine)
We're not dragging dragons home!
They're Flying above?
Their fires out?
written by: Patricia Sawyer
12-4-2008
~~ This last Quinzaine I wrote for a contest a while back. The word list was from the book Oliver Twist but the instructions did not say the poem had to be about the book. I wrote what I felt from the words. I didn't win but the person holding the contest did comment that she loved my poem. Every word in my poem was in her list. I just didn't use Will as a persons name!
Locket, Pickpocket, Hangs!
Old Sally faces gallows.
Will she eat Jail gruel?
Will monks pray?
written By: Patricia Sawyer
11-11-2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you have enjoyed my poems today. Have a wonderful day!
Patsy
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
National Recreation Month
"Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.” ~ Thomas Jefferson ~
"If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play at it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf." ~Bob Hope~
"The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation". ~Miguel de Cervantes ~
July is Know as National Recreation Month. The Dictionary says that recreation is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. It goes on to add that while leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or rest, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner. Wow that could cover a lot of stuff. I mean I have been doing a whole lot of recreation without ever knowing it.
Cycling, Dancing, Eating and drinking, Partying, Hunting and fishing, All are listed as recreation. Hobbies, Computer games, Reading a book, Shopping, Kite flying, Listening to music, Sports and exercise also all have a place on the list. Travel and tourism, Martial arts, Yoga, Using the Internet, Visiting an amusement park, Singing, Video games, and Watching movies are all also known as recreations. I am guilty of quiet a few of them. I have a few Hobbies like crocheting doll clothes and knitting hats or dish rags.. Recreation!! I love to read and normally read at least one book a week. Recreation again! I sing in the shower so I'm killing two birds with one stone there.. recreation and just plain bathing. That's gotta be multi- Tasking; right? Man I am getting good! And to think that years ago when I was a party goer I was doing something considered good for you..(well yea I know better but I thought...) I guess the Internet and the video Games would be the two recreations I do the most of. And so from now on when someone says to me that I stay on-line too much I will just smile and say that recreation is good for you!
I would like to add some recreations from Our childhood to my list. Hill sliding on the railroad hills. That was refreshing to both the body and the mind. Especially if you didn't hit a tree. I still love it today even though I'm grown. And I haven't hit a tree in years and years. Tunnel digging was always fun too. We would dig out rooms under the ground and furnish them with block chairs and lots of food from Mama's pantry. The jello we ate from the box there was surely refreshing to our sweet tooth.
Tree climbing and tree house building were always great fun too. We had lots of those. We had lots of woods for our recreation time. I guess you could say that we, as kids, had lots of recreation time. Daddy swore Hoeing the garden was fun and it was refreshing to finish.. I'm even going to stretch way, way out there and say that the times Jim looked at Me or Reuben and said "RUN" he was just helping us have some recreation. In Fact it was recreation for all of us as he tried his best to get the lasso around our necks and we tried our very best for him not to. Man all those years I thought he wanted to choke us and come to find out it was something else all together.. Recreation!!! I wonder if he knew that? I bet he will say he did! I guess we owe Jim a thanks!
In recent years, more 'exciting' forms of recreation have received more attention in the public eye, such as: skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, sky diving, hang gliding, paintball, rock climbing, backpacking, canyoning, caving, base jumping, and motor sport. These would be called extreme sports. Or if I was naming them I would say extremely foolish sports. But then again they are Recreation! The only one of these I can claim would be the rock climbing and that was only to climb up the side of a water fall in New Mexico. It would hardly classify as rock climbing but to me and Mason it was scary. My sons snow-board. My oldest son's family all snow-board. I have a board here in my house.. I don't like the way it looks. I'd much rather come down the mountain on a cardboard box.. Flat on my butt.. Most of the others I would be petrified to even try. But I guess that the best part about recreation is that we all get to choose to do what we like.. what we enjoy.
Recreation- any activity that diverts, amuses or stimulates. That definition leaves room for a lot of things doesn't it. Now that I think of it I may tear that definition out of my dictionary.. Otherwise, all the things my kids got in trouble for will now be known as recreation. Choose your recreation wisely. But do choose to do something fun every day. All work and no play really does make a dull life. Try to have fun a little bit every day. Laugh as much as you can and if you are ever in my neck of the woods I'll take you rail road hill sliding. My all time favorite recreation! Have a great day!
Patsy
"If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play at it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf." ~Bob Hope~
"The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation". ~Miguel de Cervantes ~
July is Know as National Recreation Month. The Dictionary says that recreation is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. It goes on to add that while leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or rest, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner. Wow that could cover a lot of stuff. I mean I have been doing a whole lot of recreation without ever knowing it.
Cycling, Dancing, Eating and drinking, Partying, Hunting and fishing, All are listed as recreation. Hobbies, Computer games, Reading a book, Shopping, Kite flying, Listening to music, Sports and exercise also all have a place on the list. Travel and tourism, Martial arts, Yoga, Using the Internet, Visiting an amusement park, Singing, Video games, and Watching movies are all also known as recreations. I am guilty of quiet a few of them. I have a few Hobbies like crocheting doll clothes and knitting hats or dish rags.. Recreation!! I love to read and normally read at least one book a week. Recreation again! I sing in the shower so I'm killing two birds with one stone there.. recreation and just plain bathing. That's gotta be multi- Tasking; right? Man I am getting good! And to think that years ago when I was a party goer I was doing something considered good for you..(well yea I know better but I thought...) I guess the Internet and the video Games would be the two recreations I do the most of. And so from now on when someone says to me that I stay on-line too much I will just smile and say that recreation is good for you!
I would like to add some recreations from Our childhood to my list. Hill sliding on the railroad hills. That was refreshing to both the body and the mind. Especially if you didn't hit a tree. I still love it today even though I'm grown. And I haven't hit a tree in years and years. Tunnel digging was always fun too. We would dig out rooms under the ground and furnish them with block chairs and lots of food from Mama's pantry. The jello we ate from the box there was surely refreshing to our sweet tooth.
Tree climbing and tree house building were always great fun too. We had lots of those. We had lots of woods for our recreation time. I guess you could say that we, as kids, had lots of recreation time. Daddy swore Hoeing the garden was fun and it was refreshing to finish.. I'm even going to stretch way, way out there and say that the times Jim looked at Me or Reuben and said "RUN" he was just helping us have some recreation. In Fact it was recreation for all of us as he tried his best to get the lasso around our necks and we tried our very best for him not to. Man all those years I thought he wanted to choke us and come to find out it was something else all together.. Recreation!!! I wonder if he knew that? I bet he will say he did! I guess we owe Jim a thanks!
In recent years, more 'exciting' forms of recreation have received more attention in the public eye, such as: skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, sky diving, hang gliding, paintball, rock climbing, backpacking, canyoning, caving, base jumping, and motor sport. These would be called extreme sports. Or if I was naming them I would say extremely foolish sports. But then again they are Recreation! The only one of these I can claim would be the rock climbing and that was only to climb up the side of a water fall in New Mexico. It would hardly classify as rock climbing but to me and Mason it was scary. My sons snow-board. My oldest son's family all snow-board. I have a board here in my house.. I don't like the way it looks. I'd much rather come down the mountain on a cardboard box.. Flat on my butt.. Most of the others I would be petrified to even try. But I guess that the best part about recreation is that we all get to choose to do what we like.. what we enjoy.
Recreation- any activity that diverts, amuses or stimulates. That definition leaves room for a lot of things doesn't it. Now that I think of it I may tear that definition out of my dictionary.. Otherwise, all the things my kids got in trouble for will now be known as recreation. Choose your recreation wisely. But do choose to do something fun every day. All work and no play really does make a dull life. Try to have fun a little bit every day. Laugh as much as you can and if you are ever in my neck of the woods I'll take you rail road hill sliding. My all time favorite recreation! Have a great day!
Patsy
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Out Living Youth
Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does -- except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. ~Abigail Van Buren~
The young have aspirations that never come to pass, The old have Reminiscences of what never happened~ Saki~
Every Birthday, you decide whether to mark it the end of your greatest days or the beginning of your finest hour. ~ Oprah Winfrey~
Americans are living longer than ever before. With better health care, early screenings and people choosing healthier lifestyles, this trend is expected to continue. In Fact, the population of elderly is expected to increase. It is estimated that by the year 2040 the Old folks will account for twenty-three percent of all Americans. Nearly one half of those will be over the age of Eighty-five! I plan to still be here annoying my kids and Grand kids when My age group is the largest of all age groups.
When I was very young I always thought my Daddy was very old. This was when he was in his late thirties and early forties. I was always sure he would fall over and die any second. And yet he lived on. The older I got The more his oldness multiplied in my mind and yet he lived on till I was an adult and had began to feel old myself. My Daddy died of Congestive heart failure at sixty-six years old. It was then that I decided that Daddy was quiet young. Especially too young to die. My Mother has reached the ripe old age of seventy-four and as far as I am concerned she is way to young to die. She has some health issues and has lived with both myself and my oldest sister for small amounts of time. But she wants to live alone in her own home. She says she likes doing her own thing. That bothered me. My Mama isn't supposed to be doing a THING. I thought she was too old! Then she reminded me that she is only twenty five years older than me. That really isn't all that much older. She likes her lifestyle. She says she gets lonely sometimes. She knows she could live with some of her children. There are eight of us she could travel around from one house to the other and never get tired of any of us but Like most older people, she wants her own home, Her own lifestyle.The elderly are no different that any of the rest of us. We all want to do things our own way! I do and I'd bet you do too.
I used to run a small day care. I have kept hundreds of children either in my home or when I worked in the day care field for someone else. I have kept bad kids and sweet angelic cherubs. I have changed diapers and wiped noses. I have read stories and watched Disney movies for many years. But I have given that up. I had decided last year that I had to have a break from all of that. It had got to the point that I needed a time out! I had been resting from having a job And then came the phone call from My oldest Brother. He and his wife needed a baby sitter they said. They never doubted whether or not I could do it. They never questioned whether I'd be good at it or not. They hoped I would accept their offer of a new line of work. After talking to them both I accepted their offer and thus began my new Job!
I have always known Miss Kathleen. I have always liked her as well. She and I are both word lovers. She has wonderful stories of how she met her Husband in Liverpool ,England during the second world war. She tells me those wonderful stories every day. And I listen carefully and ask questions of her every day. She loves to be heard. She loves to talk. She and I talk all day some days. Miss Kat is 84. She is forgetful. She has fallen before and broke her hip. She is afraid of falling. She has a walker but she tries not to use that. I encourage her to use it but she doesn't like it because it makes her look old she says. I told her that she was old. In fact I told her she was older than the devils own dirt. She laughed out loud when I told her that and she said to me. " Yes child I know WE are but One never wants to show their true age." And so there she and I sat laughing the day through at the idea that we had out lived the devils own dirt. Miss Kat is lucky. She has been in the nursing home for recovery when she broke her hip. She doesn't want to go back. As long as her health allows she will be living happily with her daughter. She is lucky she has family that wants her to be happy. Not all of the elderly are so blessed.
My Grandmother was in a nursing home. We made long trips every weekend to see her and visit her as long as she lived. Her health was poor, her memory all gone and we weren't equipped to care for her at home. We would have loved to but some times circumstances make that impossible. Grandma was also lucky. She was well cared for and her children cared enough to visit. Not all of the elderly are lucky. Even some with Family aren't treated well.
We all see it on the news occasionally. We tend not to really notice though. Someone has harmed and old person somewhere. We comment that we wouldn't stand for that if we were old. But we wouldn't really have a choice. Sometimes the remains of an older person is found and they have been dead for a long time. We tend not to pay that much attention either. Except to wonder why no one smelled them. We may see an elderly person sitting in a hot car in front of a supermarket. Do we not realize that they are dehydrating as they sit there in the sweltering heat? Or do we see them and look away. If you leave a dog in the hot car they will arrest you. But go ahead and leave Great Aunt Sue. No one will notice. Great Aunt Sue has outlived her youth. We will ignore her from now on. She will be shoved into a nursing home and never checked on if she doesn't have family. And even then she may go weeks and months and even years without a VISITOR. There are many things the nursing staff can do for their childlike elderly patients. Most nursing homes have wonderful caring nurses and helpers. They keep the people in their care clean and fed and comfortable but they are overwhelmed with the numbers. They do all they can. Sometimes it isn't enough.
With improved health care we all stand a chance of living into our eighties, nineties or even for some of us to the ripest of old age beyond One hundred. Last week in the obits in a local paper, the youngest person who had died was a wreck victim who was sixty three. As I sat there reading the obits I began to think of all the Old people I used to see when I visited Grandma. They would gather around and listen as we talked to her. Some would even talk to us as if they were giving us the answers that she couldn't. Since She either couldn't or wouldn't speak we often talked to her as if she was a child. One old lady once told me. " Don't talk to her like she is a fool and she won't look at you as if you are a fool."I never spoke to Grandma in a condescending tone again. I was afraid of her room mate.. I realized that they understood each other even If I understood neither of them.
I am forty eight years old. I know my children see me as very old. I expected that they would. It is the nature of the young to see us that way. Old and in a lot of areas they think we are foolish. They think we have outlived our youth. I figure if I am going to live well into my eighties that I will be older than dirt at around seventy five. Until then I am going to be a rocking and rolling Grandma. I am not going to be told what to do. I am going to do my own thing. Even if My children don't want me to have an own thing to do. And until then I am going to notice the elderly around me. I am going to learn from them now before they truly are gone. I am going to ask them to tell me their stories. Then I am going to actually listen as they do. If I see great Aunt sue sitting in your car in a hot parking lot I am going to call the police. Then I am going to ask her to roll the window down if she can and I will be standing there with her when you come out or the cops arrive which ever happens first. For your sake I hope it's the cops. So if you have a great aunt sue.. don't leave her in a parked car near me.
Finally I have a challenge for anyone who may read this. Do something kind for an elderly person. If you have one in your family, call them when you can spend ten minutes checking on them. If they call you, give them ten minutes of your time. If you have both Kids and older folks in your family. Get them together then sit back and watch the beautiful way they reach out to each other. I love to watch my Grandson read to Miss Kat every day. He reads his homework reading assignment sitting on a stool by her chair. They both enjoy it. But not nearly as much as I do. His young voice is free and strong as he reads her his second grade story. He relaxes and if he misses a word she never notices. He is relaxed so he rarely misses any but she wouldn't care. Her head is tilted just a little to the side and she listens as if the story is a wonderful thing to her. When he is done she always pats his hand and says.. " Wonderful, Simply wonderful. You are a great reader."Then they both grin at me and ask for "tater chips please". I try to take him to visit My Mother when I can. He loves her house. He says she has lots of stuff. And he likes that. If you don't have any old people in your family I am sure the nursing home near you would be happy to help you adopt a Grandma or grandpa from some of their old folks. They will know who would be better suited to a child of what ever age you may have. They will know who has no visitors for days, weeks, months and years. I plan to do what I can for the fastest growing group of Americans before I become one of them. Won't you join me in helping the aged before you too out live your youth? Be kind to the Elderly. Remember that they will most like get to God before you will. He will hear their side of the story first! I'm hoping when he hears about how I treated someone old, he will pleased. After all he is pretty old Himself.
Have a great day!
Patsy
The young have aspirations that never come to pass, The old have Reminiscences of what never happened~ Saki~
Every Birthday, you decide whether to mark it the end of your greatest days or the beginning of your finest hour. ~ Oprah Winfrey~
Americans are living longer than ever before. With better health care, early screenings and people choosing healthier lifestyles, this trend is expected to continue. In Fact, the population of elderly is expected to increase. It is estimated that by the year 2040 the Old folks will account for twenty-three percent of all Americans. Nearly one half of those will be over the age of Eighty-five! I plan to still be here annoying my kids and Grand kids when My age group is the largest of all age groups.
When I was very young I always thought my Daddy was very old. This was when he was in his late thirties and early forties. I was always sure he would fall over and die any second. And yet he lived on. The older I got The more his oldness multiplied in my mind and yet he lived on till I was an adult and had began to feel old myself. My Daddy died of Congestive heart failure at sixty-six years old. It was then that I decided that Daddy was quiet young. Especially too young to die. My Mother has reached the ripe old age of seventy-four and as far as I am concerned she is way to young to die. She has some health issues and has lived with both myself and my oldest sister for small amounts of time. But she wants to live alone in her own home. She says she likes doing her own thing. That bothered me. My Mama isn't supposed to be doing a THING. I thought she was too old! Then she reminded me that she is only twenty five years older than me. That really isn't all that much older. She likes her lifestyle. She says she gets lonely sometimes. She knows she could live with some of her children. There are eight of us she could travel around from one house to the other and never get tired of any of us but Like most older people, she wants her own home, Her own lifestyle.The elderly are no different that any of the rest of us. We all want to do things our own way! I do and I'd bet you do too.
I used to run a small day care. I have kept hundreds of children either in my home or when I worked in the day care field for someone else. I have kept bad kids and sweet angelic cherubs. I have changed diapers and wiped noses. I have read stories and watched Disney movies for many years. But I have given that up. I had decided last year that I had to have a break from all of that. It had got to the point that I needed a time out! I had been resting from having a job And then came the phone call from My oldest Brother. He and his wife needed a baby sitter they said. They never doubted whether or not I could do it. They never questioned whether I'd be good at it or not. They hoped I would accept their offer of a new line of work. After talking to them both I accepted their offer and thus began my new Job!
I have always known Miss Kathleen. I have always liked her as well. She and I are both word lovers. She has wonderful stories of how she met her Husband in Liverpool ,England during the second world war. She tells me those wonderful stories every day. And I listen carefully and ask questions of her every day. She loves to be heard. She loves to talk. She and I talk all day some days. Miss Kat is 84. She is forgetful. She has fallen before and broke her hip. She is afraid of falling. She has a walker but she tries not to use that. I encourage her to use it but she doesn't like it because it makes her look old she says. I told her that she was old. In fact I told her she was older than the devils own dirt. She laughed out loud when I told her that and she said to me. " Yes child I know WE are but One never wants to show their true age." And so there she and I sat laughing the day through at the idea that we had out lived the devils own dirt. Miss Kat is lucky. She has been in the nursing home for recovery when she broke her hip. She doesn't want to go back. As long as her health allows she will be living happily with her daughter. She is lucky she has family that wants her to be happy. Not all of the elderly are so blessed.
My Grandmother was in a nursing home. We made long trips every weekend to see her and visit her as long as she lived. Her health was poor, her memory all gone and we weren't equipped to care for her at home. We would have loved to but some times circumstances make that impossible. Grandma was also lucky. She was well cared for and her children cared enough to visit. Not all of the elderly are lucky. Even some with Family aren't treated well.
We all see it on the news occasionally. We tend not to really notice though. Someone has harmed and old person somewhere. We comment that we wouldn't stand for that if we were old. But we wouldn't really have a choice. Sometimes the remains of an older person is found and they have been dead for a long time. We tend not to pay that much attention either. Except to wonder why no one smelled them. We may see an elderly person sitting in a hot car in front of a supermarket. Do we not realize that they are dehydrating as they sit there in the sweltering heat? Or do we see them and look away. If you leave a dog in the hot car they will arrest you. But go ahead and leave Great Aunt Sue. No one will notice. Great Aunt Sue has outlived her youth. We will ignore her from now on. She will be shoved into a nursing home and never checked on if she doesn't have family. And even then she may go weeks and months and even years without a VISITOR. There are many things the nursing staff can do for their childlike elderly patients. Most nursing homes have wonderful caring nurses and helpers. They keep the people in their care clean and fed and comfortable but they are overwhelmed with the numbers. They do all they can. Sometimes it isn't enough.
With improved health care we all stand a chance of living into our eighties, nineties or even for some of us to the ripest of old age beyond One hundred. Last week in the obits in a local paper, the youngest person who had died was a wreck victim who was sixty three. As I sat there reading the obits I began to think of all the Old people I used to see when I visited Grandma. They would gather around and listen as we talked to her. Some would even talk to us as if they were giving us the answers that she couldn't. Since She either couldn't or wouldn't speak we often talked to her as if she was a child. One old lady once told me. " Don't talk to her like she is a fool and she won't look at you as if you are a fool."I never spoke to Grandma in a condescending tone again. I was afraid of her room mate.. I realized that they understood each other even If I understood neither of them.
I am forty eight years old. I know my children see me as very old. I expected that they would. It is the nature of the young to see us that way. Old and in a lot of areas they think we are foolish. They think we have outlived our youth. I figure if I am going to live well into my eighties that I will be older than dirt at around seventy five. Until then I am going to be a rocking and rolling Grandma. I am not going to be told what to do. I am going to do my own thing. Even if My children don't want me to have an own thing to do. And until then I am going to notice the elderly around me. I am going to learn from them now before they truly are gone. I am going to ask them to tell me their stories. Then I am going to actually listen as they do. If I see great Aunt sue sitting in your car in a hot parking lot I am going to call the police. Then I am going to ask her to roll the window down if she can and I will be standing there with her when you come out or the cops arrive which ever happens first. For your sake I hope it's the cops. So if you have a great aunt sue.. don't leave her in a parked car near me.
Finally I have a challenge for anyone who may read this. Do something kind for an elderly person. If you have one in your family, call them when you can spend ten minutes checking on them. If they call you, give them ten minutes of your time. If you have both Kids and older folks in your family. Get them together then sit back and watch the beautiful way they reach out to each other. I love to watch my Grandson read to Miss Kat every day. He reads his homework reading assignment sitting on a stool by her chair. They both enjoy it. But not nearly as much as I do. His young voice is free and strong as he reads her his second grade story. He relaxes and if he misses a word she never notices. He is relaxed so he rarely misses any but she wouldn't care. Her head is tilted just a little to the side and she listens as if the story is a wonderful thing to her. When he is done she always pats his hand and says.. " Wonderful, Simply wonderful. You are a great reader."Then they both grin at me and ask for "tater chips please". I try to take him to visit My Mother when I can. He loves her house. He says she has lots of stuff. And he likes that. If you don't have any old people in your family I am sure the nursing home near you would be happy to help you adopt a Grandma or grandpa from some of their old folks. They will know who would be better suited to a child of what ever age you may have. They will know who has no visitors for days, weeks, months and years. I plan to do what I can for the fastest growing group of Americans before I become one of them. Won't you join me in helping the aged before you too out live your youth? Be kind to the Elderly. Remember that they will most like get to God before you will. He will hear their side of the story first! I'm hoping when he hears about how I treated someone old, he will pleased. After all he is pretty old Himself.
Have a great day!
Patsy
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Long Way Round
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. ~ Doulas Adams -( 1952-2001)
When I was around five I wanted to be a trapeze artist. I had heard of them from my brother David, He had been to the circus and seen one there. I had never seen one but I knew I wanted to be one. I would hang upside down from the top of our swing set and flip and pose for the entire Back yard to watch in wonder. Of Course the only watchers were the chickens and hunting dogs But still I put on a pretty good show. My brother Frank saw me from the garden where he was hoeing one day and with some rope and an old broom handle he made me a swing high up in the China berry tree. I would climb up the boards he nailed to the tree and climb out onto my swing and practice my moves for hours. I could hear the roar of the crowds and the applause in my young mind. I just knew I would be a famous circus performer one day.
A few months later I decided I wanted to be a ballerina. Jimmy nailed a couple of wedges of wood across the back of the smoke house and after adding the handle from daddy's best shovel he declared that it was now my studio complete with a practice barre. I had discovered Ballet while looking through the New World Books Daddy had bought from a salesman. I would hang onto My barre in the back of the smoke house as I ignored the canned goods lining the walls and the ropes of sausage hanging from the ceiling. I could do all of the basic moves. I could twirl and stand on my toes. I was convinced I'd be a great dancer some day.
I was always changing my mind about what I wanted to be. When I got an easy bake oven I swore I would be a great chef some day. My Oldest Sister Trudy would help me mix up cakes and I'd bake one of the cookie sized cakes for every member of the family. I loved My oven till the light bulbs Burst inside the little oven and Daddy took it away. They made a new version after My own children came along. Both my daughter and my step daughter had their own. They too wanted to be chefs for a short time!
I wanted to be many different things. But I always from my first day of school wanted to be a writer. When they made me read ~run spot run ~ I wanted to be a writer. I told the teacher, Miss Dunbar that I would write better stuff than that . I despised Dick and Jane. I whined over Sally and Spot. Finally Miss Dunbar gave me a book from her shelf. It was called " The Big Yellow Umbrella". She told me that if I could read it and tell her what it was about she wouldn't make me read Dick and Jane any more. I read her wonderful book about an Umbrella and was in love with words. From the day I stood in front of her desk with my hands clasped behind me and told her about the book that she didn't think I could read, I never had to read Dick and Jane again. Miss Dunbar was a great teacher. She realized that I had five siblings older than me. She realized that I might already know how to read some words. She even allowed each of us to write something for the class to read aloud. My sentence was " One day I will be a writer and write sentences that will be read a lot by other people." I was the only one who could read it. But Miss Dunbar let me read it to the whole first grade class. I thought they would cheer; they frowned at me.. They called me names. I was different they said.
I was in love with words. I would read every word I could find. I would write words on the wall inside the smoke house when I was supposed to be practicing my Ballet. I would write words in the dirt with a stick beneath the shade of my china berry tree. The rope and broom handle swing rotting away above my head. I wrote poems and stories for my neighbors children and later for my younger brother and sister. I wrote extra stuff for school. Sometimes writing two or three for each assignment then choosing what I thought was best. I even decided to change the smoke house from a ballet studio to a writers studio. Dragging myself a peach crate in there and setting up my own office. I was going to write a mystery book and My sister Mary who was handy with a pencil and could draw anything at all was going to illustrate it. We were talking about it a while back she thinks we could still write a book like that, maybe one day we will..
And then I became a teenager. I was a good teenager. I always did my chores. I helped out in Mama's daycare center with the small kids. I loved to read them stories or make up stories for them.My youngest brother Reuben,would beg me for stories and I would make them up as I went along. I'm sure sometimes I had facts confused but little kids didn't care they loved my stories. I would write things for school and the teachers would tell me that the stories were wonderful, But that I HAD to write in proper form. I hated that too. It was as bad as reading Dick and Jane. And then I discovered the boys. Writing wasn't as interesting to me as were the boys.
I got married the first go round at sixteen. That marriage lasted for eighteen years. I actually did a good bit of writing during those years. Besides the stories I wrote for My oldest son , who came along when I was almost nineteen, I actually wrote a few times for money. I wrote for a newspaper for a while. My Sister-in-law, Camella, and I often working together. We liked to expose things that we thought were secrets or injustices. We would sometimes cause a stir here in this small town. People thought we were trouble makers. I wrote short stories for a couple of magazines and was published quiet a few times. But even though I was writing, I was way off track. Life wasn't taking me where I wanted to go. I wasn't headed in the right direction and I knew it. But I was; I thought; trapped . Finally I bought a lock box and pushed everything inside it and found me a job in a factory. Living takes money and writing was just for fun. And I was a mother with a child so I had to have steady money. I would write sometimes on my napkin as I ate supper in the green walled cafeteria where I worked. I would toss the napkins into my box at home and never look at it again. I wanted to write but I couldn't, life was leading me down another road.
Life took a big turn for me in nineteen ninety. My youngest child Emily was born just after the new year. Emily was sick from day one. I had two other children too and they had almost become my Mama's kids. Anthony was twelve and Cooper was sixteen months old. I was at the hospital and they were with my parents. I missed them But life was taking me where it wanted me to go. I wasn't writing now. I was to busy worrying about my sons, watching over my daughter, and learning to be a single Mother. I was divorced with a sick child and two sons besides her. I was way too busy to write.
I did keep a diary all those years. I pulled out some of the old ones a few months ago. I laughed about some of the things I wrote there. Entry's like ~Thanks God Cooper isn't a midget~ caused me to roll across my bed as laughter pealed from my lips. Cooper is well over six foot tall. But I remember when the nurse told me they thought he would be a midget. They measured him constantly until he grew a tiny bit.. He grew slow.. He took the long way round to get there but now he is Tall. Other entries caused me to cry. ~ Mike died cause we didn't match~ caused me to hang my head and weep remembering the little boy who was Part of Emily's cancer support group. We were all tested for a bone marrow transplant but none of us matched. I was devastated when he died. I was so afraid that Emily would be the next one to go.. And yet she recovered and will graduate from high school this year.
I married for the second time in nineteen ninety four. This Husband, who remains the best thing in my life, came with two more children and a whole lot more work required as a stay home mom. And even the diary stopped for many years. I didn't miss writing. I was way to busy being a Mom and step-mom and wife. I was off on a new path. I read every thing I could get my hands on and I even have some books where I wrote an extra bit in the back. I guess I didn't quiet like the ending of those so I "fixed" it. But I wasn't doing any real writing.
Last Summer, Dave and I went to the beach for a week-end, Taking Cooper and one of his skater friends along. Dave and I were going for a relaxing rest and the boys intended to skate. We even checked into a motel right across from the skate park so that they could run across to it without us having to drag them every where. Something happened that week-end. I was watching Dave sleep and the boys were skating. words began to pour through my mind. I hunted a pencil and searched the room for paper. I finally found a pen but no paper. I made so much Racket that Dave woke up and offered to take me to wal-mart to get what ever I wanted. He had that, I think she's lost it look on his face but still he was willing to haul me, in my crazy state, to wal-mart. I was ready and in the car before he could get his shoes on. I bought paper and two pens. I bought a folder for finished stuff and a pencil with a packet of erasers in all shapes and sizes. Rushing to get it all and get back to the room Just as my mind went Blank. I managed to hold on to one poem as all the other words ran away. But they were only hiding for the week-end.
I have wrote something every single day since then. I have learned something about me too. I was always a writer. I was writing when I rocked Emily in intensive care and told stories that the nurses would sometimes stand still and listen too. I was writing when I explained to my children that sometimes people just have to move into new houses and families have to divide. I was writing when I explained to my new love what Life meant to me and how he would have to act if he intended to share this wonderful life with me. I was writing when I mitigated problems between his children and mine convincing them that we were all going to make it.. I was taking the long road, But I was headed in the right direction.
Last night I sat in my Baby sisters living room and watched her youngest son climb up and down on Dave's knee. He took a liking to Dave last night like never before. Dave has that effect on children sometimes. All of mine say he's a hero. His know he is the greatest dad. And I tell everyone he's my soul mate. Martha had been sitting quietly watching them, when suddenly she asked me. "Patsy, do you remember taking me, when I was little, to run through Emmett's wheat field?" I smiled because I had forgotten till she mentioned it. She talked about how the wheat felt so silky as it brushed against her skin. She said she remembered that I took her there and told her to run and feel the wheat brush against her. She said I took pictures of her there so we could remember the fun that day. She's ten years younger than me so her memory is better. I asked her where we were heading. She laughed and said.. " We were walking to Grand-ma's House." I frowned and said "well we were way off track for Grandma's house.. We could have been to Grandma's house quicker another way." She just laughed and said.. "Yea Patsy, But you ALWAYS took the long way round!"
My sister was right. I always took the long way around. If I was sent next door to borrow sugar I would go way out in the woods behind our house and then run back to the neighbors house. Being sent to grandma's house just a small distance away often meant a trip to the railroad tracks or through My uncle Emmett's fields. I always looked for something more. I was on the right track all along. I was just taking the long way around! Don't be afraid to try paths you haven't walked before. Never fear the unknown. Sometimes there is a short way to reach your destination. But I'm sure you will have more fun and maybe learn something extra if every once in a while you will take the Long way around! Have a great day!
Patsy
When I was around five I wanted to be a trapeze artist. I had heard of them from my brother David, He had been to the circus and seen one there. I had never seen one but I knew I wanted to be one. I would hang upside down from the top of our swing set and flip and pose for the entire Back yard to watch in wonder. Of Course the only watchers were the chickens and hunting dogs But still I put on a pretty good show. My brother Frank saw me from the garden where he was hoeing one day and with some rope and an old broom handle he made me a swing high up in the China berry tree. I would climb up the boards he nailed to the tree and climb out onto my swing and practice my moves for hours. I could hear the roar of the crowds and the applause in my young mind. I just knew I would be a famous circus performer one day.
A few months later I decided I wanted to be a ballerina. Jimmy nailed a couple of wedges of wood across the back of the smoke house and after adding the handle from daddy's best shovel he declared that it was now my studio complete with a practice barre. I had discovered Ballet while looking through the New World Books Daddy had bought from a salesman. I would hang onto My barre in the back of the smoke house as I ignored the canned goods lining the walls and the ropes of sausage hanging from the ceiling. I could do all of the basic moves. I could twirl and stand on my toes. I was convinced I'd be a great dancer some day.
I was always changing my mind about what I wanted to be. When I got an easy bake oven I swore I would be a great chef some day. My Oldest Sister Trudy would help me mix up cakes and I'd bake one of the cookie sized cakes for every member of the family. I loved My oven till the light bulbs Burst inside the little oven and Daddy took it away. They made a new version after My own children came along. Both my daughter and my step daughter had their own. They too wanted to be chefs for a short time!
I wanted to be many different things. But I always from my first day of school wanted to be a writer. When they made me read ~run spot run ~ I wanted to be a writer. I told the teacher, Miss Dunbar that I would write better stuff than that . I despised Dick and Jane. I whined over Sally and Spot. Finally Miss Dunbar gave me a book from her shelf. It was called " The Big Yellow Umbrella". She told me that if I could read it and tell her what it was about she wouldn't make me read Dick and Jane any more. I read her wonderful book about an Umbrella and was in love with words. From the day I stood in front of her desk with my hands clasped behind me and told her about the book that she didn't think I could read, I never had to read Dick and Jane again. Miss Dunbar was a great teacher. She realized that I had five siblings older than me. She realized that I might already know how to read some words. She even allowed each of us to write something for the class to read aloud. My sentence was " One day I will be a writer and write sentences that will be read a lot by other people." I was the only one who could read it. But Miss Dunbar let me read it to the whole first grade class. I thought they would cheer; they frowned at me.. They called me names. I was different they said.
I was in love with words. I would read every word I could find. I would write words on the wall inside the smoke house when I was supposed to be practicing my Ballet. I would write words in the dirt with a stick beneath the shade of my china berry tree. The rope and broom handle swing rotting away above my head. I wrote poems and stories for my neighbors children and later for my younger brother and sister. I wrote extra stuff for school. Sometimes writing two or three for each assignment then choosing what I thought was best. I even decided to change the smoke house from a ballet studio to a writers studio. Dragging myself a peach crate in there and setting up my own office. I was going to write a mystery book and My sister Mary who was handy with a pencil and could draw anything at all was going to illustrate it. We were talking about it a while back she thinks we could still write a book like that, maybe one day we will..
And then I became a teenager. I was a good teenager. I always did my chores. I helped out in Mama's daycare center with the small kids. I loved to read them stories or make up stories for them.My youngest brother Reuben,would beg me for stories and I would make them up as I went along. I'm sure sometimes I had facts confused but little kids didn't care they loved my stories. I would write things for school and the teachers would tell me that the stories were wonderful, But that I HAD to write in proper form. I hated that too. It was as bad as reading Dick and Jane. And then I discovered the boys. Writing wasn't as interesting to me as were the boys.
I got married the first go round at sixteen. That marriage lasted for eighteen years. I actually did a good bit of writing during those years. Besides the stories I wrote for My oldest son , who came along when I was almost nineteen, I actually wrote a few times for money. I wrote for a newspaper for a while. My Sister-in-law, Camella, and I often working together. We liked to expose things that we thought were secrets or injustices. We would sometimes cause a stir here in this small town. People thought we were trouble makers. I wrote short stories for a couple of magazines and was published quiet a few times. But even though I was writing, I was way off track. Life wasn't taking me where I wanted to go. I wasn't headed in the right direction and I knew it. But I was; I thought; trapped . Finally I bought a lock box and pushed everything inside it and found me a job in a factory. Living takes money and writing was just for fun. And I was a mother with a child so I had to have steady money. I would write sometimes on my napkin as I ate supper in the green walled cafeteria where I worked. I would toss the napkins into my box at home and never look at it again. I wanted to write but I couldn't, life was leading me down another road.
Life took a big turn for me in nineteen ninety. My youngest child Emily was born just after the new year. Emily was sick from day one. I had two other children too and they had almost become my Mama's kids. Anthony was twelve and Cooper was sixteen months old. I was at the hospital and they were with my parents. I missed them But life was taking me where it wanted me to go. I wasn't writing now. I was to busy worrying about my sons, watching over my daughter, and learning to be a single Mother. I was divorced with a sick child and two sons besides her. I was way too busy to write.
I did keep a diary all those years. I pulled out some of the old ones a few months ago. I laughed about some of the things I wrote there. Entry's like ~Thanks God Cooper isn't a midget~ caused me to roll across my bed as laughter pealed from my lips. Cooper is well over six foot tall. But I remember when the nurse told me they thought he would be a midget. They measured him constantly until he grew a tiny bit.. He grew slow.. He took the long way round to get there but now he is Tall. Other entries caused me to cry. ~ Mike died cause we didn't match~ caused me to hang my head and weep remembering the little boy who was Part of Emily's cancer support group. We were all tested for a bone marrow transplant but none of us matched. I was devastated when he died. I was so afraid that Emily would be the next one to go.. And yet she recovered and will graduate from high school this year.
I married for the second time in nineteen ninety four. This Husband, who remains the best thing in my life, came with two more children and a whole lot more work required as a stay home mom. And even the diary stopped for many years. I didn't miss writing. I was way to busy being a Mom and step-mom and wife. I was off on a new path. I read every thing I could get my hands on and I even have some books where I wrote an extra bit in the back. I guess I didn't quiet like the ending of those so I "fixed" it. But I wasn't doing any real writing.
Last Summer, Dave and I went to the beach for a week-end, Taking Cooper and one of his skater friends along. Dave and I were going for a relaxing rest and the boys intended to skate. We even checked into a motel right across from the skate park so that they could run across to it without us having to drag them every where. Something happened that week-end. I was watching Dave sleep and the boys were skating. words began to pour through my mind. I hunted a pencil and searched the room for paper. I finally found a pen but no paper. I made so much Racket that Dave woke up and offered to take me to wal-mart to get what ever I wanted. He had that, I think she's lost it look on his face but still he was willing to haul me, in my crazy state, to wal-mart. I was ready and in the car before he could get his shoes on. I bought paper and two pens. I bought a folder for finished stuff and a pencil with a packet of erasers in all shapes and sizes. Rushing to get it all and get back to the room Just as my mind went Blank. I managed to hold on to one poem as all the other words ran away. But they were only hiding for the week-end.
I have wrote something every single day since then. I have learned something about me too. I was always a writer. I was writing when I rocked Emily in intensive care and told stories that the nurses would sometimes stand still and listen too. I was writing when I explained to my children that sometimes people just have to move into new houses and families have to divide. I was writing when I explained to my new love what Life meant to me and how he would have to act if he intended to share this wonderful life with me. I was writing when I mitigated problems between his children and mine convincing them that we were all going to make it.. I was taking the long road, But I was headed in the right direction.
Last night I sat in my Baby sisters living room and watched her youngest son climb up and down on Dave's knee. He took a liking to Dave last night like never before. Dave has that effect on children sometimes. All of mine say he's a hero. His know he is the greatest dad. And I tell everyone he's my soul mate. Martha had been sitting quietly watching them, when suddenly she asked me. "Patsy, do you remember taking me, when I was little, to run through Emmett's wheat field?" I smiled because I had forgotten till she mentioned it. She talked about how the wheat felt so silky as it brushed against her skin. She said she remembered that I took her there and told her to run and feel the wheat brush against her. She said I took pictures of her there so we could remember the fun that day. She's ten years younger than me so her memory is better. I asked her where we were heading. She laughed and said.. " We were walking to Grand-ma's House." I frowned and said "well we were way off track for Grandma's house.. We could have been to Grandma's house quicker another way." She just laughed and said.. "Yea Patsy, But you ALWAYS took the long way round!"
My sister was right. I always took the long way around. If I was sent next door to borrow sugar I would go way out in the woods behind our house and then run back to the neighbors house. Being sent to grandma's house just a small distance away often meant a trip to the railroad tracks or through My uncle Emmett's fields. I always looked for something more. I was on the right track all along. I was just taking the long way around! Don't be afraid to try paths you haven't walked before. Never fear the unknown. Sometimes there is a short way to reach your destination. But I'm sure you will have more fun and maybe learn something extra if every once in a while you will take the Long way around! Have a great day!
Patsy
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