Love... Beauty... Fellowship... Joy... Peace...

"Not just Christians and Jews, but also Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and the followers of many other religions believe in values like peace, respect, tolerance and dignity. These are values that bring people together and enable us to build responsible and solid communities."

~ Alcee Hastings

"In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher."
~ Dalai Lama

"Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself." ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

**********************************

As September the 11Th draws closer more and more controversy is heard about the Church In Gainesville Florida that plans to burn a copy of the Quran.. I'm almost sure you have seen this on the news but if you haven't .. You can read more about this here.. here.. and here.. Many of us have sent photo's of what we feel brings peace to our lives.. Others of us will be posting photos on our blogs of things that represent the same things in our lives..

Personally I feel that the burning of any Holy Book is a bad idea.. the fallout could impact many innocent lives.. I feel that it could endanger our soldiers in many places world wide.. I also just simply think that it sets a bad example for our children.. If we hope to raise children who love each other .. tolerate differences in others .. and live in peace then we must show tolerance for others now... Tonight I will be sharing photo's of things that represent the Title words to me... Thanks for stopping by.. I welcome comments.. Have a great day!

Patsy

....LOVE..

Beauty~

FELLOWSHIP~..

... JOY~

.. PEACE~

Rain .. Rain.. Rain.. COLD rain!

"The good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the Universe which runs through himself and all things." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Wait until you are hungry to say something, until there is an aching in you to speak."
~Natalie Goldberg

"Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain." ~ Billie Holiday

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has rained and rained all day.. I have piddled around inside.. pickling quail eggs and besides that doing not much of anything all day.. I went through some old pictures..I have planned the foods I will carry to the poetry club feast tomorrow night and even wrote the poems that they assigned for us to bring with us.. I even wrote a poem for my class on AllPoetry.com.. I had waited and waited for months before writing this poem.. It wasn't that I didn't understand the concept.. I just couldn't decide on two words..

Acrosteleostics~ the third form of acrostic poem.. two words or two messages..one highlighted on each side..

I know the words love and hate have been used poetically for centuries.. I racked my brain to think of different words.. finally today as the rain fell outside I just wrote the poem that came to me when I first got the assignment.. I like it.. I hope you do to.. have a great day!
Patsy


What a Difference a Day Makes


Loyal listener.. perfect friend..
keeper of my secrets..
I feared you knew not your wortH!

Offering your shoulder...
my burdens to bear..
How we laughed at life's DramA.

Velvet lies dripped from your tongue..
enticing a confession of my Love..
I prayed that we never parT.

Enchanted by your smile..
infatuated by your embrace..
I gave to you my lovE

-----------------

How could you..
You knew what my heart felt..
I loved you so welL.


Affection dead and buried..
remorse holds my hand..
my trust just an empty echO.


Tenderness has deserted me..
callousness floods my soul..
I would have your heart on a shiV.


Emotionless I see the real you..
my devotion dead..vengeance flickers
I step across the fine line
I shower you with hatE!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
11-22-2009

Friday~ Yes Kids I'm back!

"Love your children with all your hearts, love them enough to discipline them before it is too late.... Praise them for important things, even if you have to stretch them a bit. Praise them a lot. They live on it like bread and butter and they need it more than bread and butter."
- Lavina Christensen Fugal

"Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower."
- Shigenori Kameoka

"Give me the fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself."
- Vilfredo Pareto

Did Y'all think I was gone? I bet at least one of my "kids" was hoping I was done with the Friday's advice for the kids... No such luck.. I love giving advice to those younger and even older than me.. Now on to today's advice!

1:) Hating everything and everyone around you doesn't help! I know because I have tried this myself.. some mornings I even wake up mad with the whole world.. You might even ask me.." for what?" and I would have to reply.. "just for!" Sometimes people do things that make you angry.. sometimes it just seems like absolutely nothing goes the way you want it too; or feel that it should.. that's the days that most of us hate the whole world and everyone in it.. I guess it's just the way things are.. I don't think fate has anything personal against any one of us.. then again he has been rather nasty to me.. I have never won any lottery.. I didn't have any rich uncles to leave me a pile of cash... I can get both ends to meet in the middle every once in a while but I have never had them tied.. Not even once... and yet My oldest son says that I always survive.. he said it like that was a bad thing.. Maybe I won't be mad with the whole world.. just those who inhabit my own personal world.. do I have any volunteers to be first on my list?

2:) Just because someone else stopped talking doesn't mean they agree with you and what you are saying! This happens to me a lot.. when I am fed up with trying to tell someone something and they are obviously not paying any attention to me.. I just shut up and move on... if someone shuts up and walks away you should not assume that you are right.. you should instead realize that you just made it on to someones "I hate the whole world and everyone in it" list! ...Wouldn't you like to see where you are on other people's Hate list? Sometimes I'm sure I am way up near the top of every one's list.. other times I wonder why any one could ever dislike a wonderful humble little old lady like me.. ( WOW!!! I even scared myself with that comment!) I guess it's a good thing we don't all write down our "lists" otherwise we might all see just where we stand in the eyes of others.. I think I'd rather be ignorant...

3:) Going on Reality TV is not cool!!! First of all ~I truly hope that Not a single one of my "children" have ever done anything that Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil.. or any of the other TV hosts would find interesting enough to put on their show.. If you have done anything that stupid and have it hidden away like a skeleton in your closet~ then please keep it right there in your closet for here ever after!! If you ever go on any TV show and parade 100 baby daddies across a stage looking for a father for your baby~ I will put my foot in your behind.. If you don't know who the daddy is then let that be just between you and God and the woman at the welfare office.. the rest of us would rather not know!! If you are one of the hundred baby daddies there for the same woman.. I will put my foot in your behind still....If you ever go on any of those shows for any reason~ I will put my foot in your behind.. If you have done something that stupid.. try to forget it.. Let the rest of the world forget it.. because every time you remind me of it~ I will put my foot in your behind!! I don't care how much they paid you.. if you went on their show now the whole world knows you are stupid and careless it wasn't enough money... I might even show up there and put my foot in your behind for the whole world to see.. Just thinking about it makes me want to put my foot in some one's behind!!!

4:) The main difference between a cat and a Lie is that a cat only has nine lives... Daddy used to say that if you are planning to lie you should also plan to have a good memory... That is because a lie will be repeated and told over and over.. you will need good memory to keep all your made up details straight for the million and one times you may have to tell the same story... Have you ever noticed that people will believe the most absurd things about others and will carry a rumor all over town and it will get more and more outlandish with each re-telling? A cat you can kill.. you might have to run it over and then drown it and shoot it.... electrocute it.... stab it.. throw it to the bull dogs.. hit it with a hammer and lay it out on the tracks for a train to hit..... But eventually a cat will finally die and be no more.. Not a lie... and the more flamboyant and outrageous a lie is.. the longer it circulates.. if you don't trust me on this.. make up a "secret" about yourself.. let it be something harmless... lets say.. You fell into a sink hole and had to climb out while wearing only purple underwear..... it took you all day.. now tell this lie to a couple of people.. with-in a few days someone will ask you about your adventures in the sink hole.. So be careful what you say.. never make up or add to stories about other people.. you can damage someone for the rest of their life with just a few words spoken untruthfully.. Honestly I think it's better not to say anything about someone at all, unless of course, you know something good to say about them... Somehow though people usually only re-tell the bad things... apparently the good things about others are boring...The old saying about sticks and stones is ~ is only half true.. sticks and stones will break your bones; but WORDS do have the power to hurt others too....

5:) Go fishing! ~ It sounds simple doesn't it.. it is hard to be mad at the world~ ( and everyone in it) while you are sitting on the soft grass beside moving water.. Even at a pond or the Lake the water will lap the shore and every once in a while you might spot a minnow rushing by going about his tiny little life doing his minnow things.. If you are lucky and the time of day is right you may catch a glimpse of an old gray heron or maybe just a noisy quacking duck.. But there will be something there to take your mind away from your own troubles even for just a little while.. Anthony and I have caught our supper on baby diaper pins in water so shallow I just knew we were wasting time... Cooper and Emily have caught bream on sticks with line that barely reached the water. There were happy and I was getting a wonderful break from the same old same old of everyday life... I don't actually fish... I love to watch others.. the kids or even Dave fight and struggle and talk a fish up onto the bank.. It is like the closer the fish gets to shore then the more excited they get.. when they hook a fish even if he's just a tiny bait stealer their adrenalin kicks into overdrive and the battle begins.. I can sit in the sun on the grass or on an upside down bucket and crochet until they hook one.. then I just watch and enjoy.. I also love to lie back and listen to the sounds of the water and look at the clouds.. Go fishing.. it will relax you and things won't look so bleak afterward .. who knows you might even catch enough for supper and even if you don't catch anything you will have had a good time.. you will have relaxed for a while.

That's all of my crazy advice for today.. I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!
Patsy

I love the lists! They Feed Imagination!

"Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible -- the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family" ~ Virginia Satir


"There's no vocabulary For love within a family, love that's lived in But not looked at, love within the light of which All else is seen, the love within which All other love finds speech. This love is silent." ~T S Eliot

"Here is my List~ Granny Jean, Jack, Love, Hope, Family~ see what you can do." ~ Camella

" I give you the gift of one word ~Fire!" ~ Anthony



I love the lists. I get them from family and friends and strangers. I get them from old spelling books sometimes if I am out of lists from people. I also like the word search word lists because they usually all pertain to a certain subject. But I really like lists that people give to me. I know they are excited to see what I can do with their words. And I am always excited too see what I can do with their words too. There have only been a very few times that I have not wrote from a list that was given to me. I have even wrote from one word lists. Words like fire, Anger, and even the word whores have been sent to me. I wrote for each of them. But today I am posting two poems. The first is from a list of words that Camella sent to me. A short lists as you can see. The shorter the list the harder it is to write. More words for me to pull from my own brain. The Second poem is from a one word gift from Anthony. I hope Y'all enjoy today's writings.
Have a great day.
Patsy


Not What I Had Imagined!

Delightful Meaty, spicy
aroma's spilled into the air
from the red brick Building
and I felt sure that the People
boating, on the two blocks away,
Lake were sniffing the air.
Head tossed back In awe
of the wonderful smells.

"Jack's in the kitchen"
I heard him say as they pulled
into the empty parking space
next to mine. Smiling!
Glad to see us there.
Frank was in Love.

Coming around the red mustang,
grinning, in his new blue jeans.
Helping His new love from the front seat.
Settling the Child upon his hip.
Natural, the way the three of them
seemed to fit. A budding family.
Camella smiled eyes filled with hope,
reaching out for Anthony. Laughing
as he threw his year old self into
her welcoming arms.

Laughing her way up the sidewalk.
Passed the pots of vibrant blooms
resting there on the narrow steps.
" Welcome Home" they seemed to say
in the bland neighborhood. Yellows and bright
reds tumbling from their clay pots.

I was a little bit afraid. About to meet
My brother's, new Love's family.
What if they don't like me I wondered,
will it make them not like him?
I'll be on my very best behavior!
I promised myself silently.
Just before Granny Jean threw
open the front door. Standing there
with pocket novel in her hand
and a welcoming smile in her eyes.

I was about to be introduced
to my new Lifelong friends.
Not at all what I had imagined.
But oh so much more than I had hoped.
I was their new son's little sister.
That made me family in the Brown House!

written By: Patricia Sawyer
11-4-2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fire

fierce
inferno
raging and
engaging!

written By: Patricia Sawyer
2-18-2008

Camping My Family style!

Camping is a great pass time. I enjoyed it when I had only one child.. I enjoyed it when I had three and then five; even more. The little ones are lots of fun when camping. But can you imagine going camping and taking along eight kids. Eight of your own kids. MY parents did it all the time. They loved it as much as we did. Daddy would catch so many fish.. We would fry fish and there would be a crowd of people around by the time they were done. Nearby campers would come and comment on the smell of Daddy's fish frying in the cast iron Pan. Mama would be steady crocheting. Us kids would be at one of the tables playing checkers or reading. Sometimes we could walk around the first loop of clay road nearest to where we were camped. But we didn't cause no trouble.That would have been trouble for us.


This is Camping week. I would really love to be camping at the beach Or at Some of the places we camped as children. Camping is very relaxing to me.. Quiet: near water and hopefully in the woods.. Peaceful time to me. I could tell so many great stories about camping. So many funny things and a couple of frightening things that we saw as a family while camping. I have so many that I couldn't choose just one for this posting. So instead I wrote an Anagram Poem
called Camping The Black's Family Style. I hope you enjoy it.. And to any sibling of mine who might accidentally read this.. I hope your memories of our camping are as great as mine! From Bell's Winter Park to the State Parks I loved every single camping trip! Get back to nature.. Take a camping trip.. Relax .. Rest.. smile at the stranger on the other side of the woods. ( Well, you don't have to smile at the stranger.. But I would!) Have a great Day!!
Patsy



Camping The Black's Family Style!!


Cot's for each of us
Army style
Made up
Perfectly
Inside of a
Neatly set up
Great big green and white


Tent.
Home to all 10 of us. For the weekend.
Everybody in one tent. Sleeping, Laughing.


Breakfast, eggs and grits on paper plates.
Lunch, cooked on the grill. Mama's Potato salad.
Always people to meet. Most to never see again.
Camping.. I am talking about Camping..
Kids tuckered out and ready for bed before Dark.
Soft. Soothing voices you hear from nearby.


Friends made and enjoyed for a few days.
Always something new to discover.
Mary even danced once in the pavilion.
I wanted to dance too but no body asked me.
Later I did win at Bingo though. Reuben won too.
Yes.. we did all those things deep in the woods. Down a long dirt road.
while we were camping!



Swimming in the lake.
Taking walks around the park. Clay roads. Dark.
Yet exciting to walk around at night. All together.
Listening; Laughing; Loving
Each other for wonderful camping weekends!
!!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
6-26-2008

Daddy's Crooked- Legged Hen

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. ~Aesop~


“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”~Arnold H. Glasgow~


I was six when we first got the chickens. We loved to go to the chicken yard and stick long pieces of grass through the wire to see them snatch it and run away. Daddy would come out every afternoon and scatter corn and scratch feed around on the ground for the hens to eat. He'd always fill the troughs with fresh water and laying mash every single day. Daddy took very good care of his chickens.

He would gather their eggs while they scratched and pecked at the food he had scattered.One Friday afternoon daddy was running a little late getting to his chores. He had had a bad day at work and then it seemed like everything that could go wrong did that day. He sent me and Jimmy to the chicken yard and told us to just scatter some scratch feed and gather the eggs. I reckon that he planned to see to everything else early Saturday morning before he went to work.

Jimmy scattered the feed and told me to get all the eggs from the nests. I checked high and low in all of the baskets until I got to the very last nest. Sitting there in the last basket was an ornery old hen we all called big red. Big red never missed a chance to peck you. She would peck at you through the fence if you got too close. I told Jimmy I wasn't bothering big red even for eggs.

Jimmy and I were standing there trying to decide what to do about this mean old hen when Daddy came out to see what was keeping us. He told me to bump the bottom of the basket and scare her down. When that didn't work he tossed a handful of feed right in front of her. She still sat there looking at me with her beady little eye. Finally Daddy went into the pen himself and I backed away under the shed because I knew he was mad. He was mad with everything right then and he was especially mad with big red.

Daddy reached under that mean old hen and grabbed her by both feet. Just as Daddy closed his hand on her feet she pecked him hard about ten times in a row. My Daddy was a kind man and as gentle as any person I ever knew but right then he lost his temper with that mean old chicken and tossed her to the ground. I watched in amazement as she squawked and limped across the chicken yard. Clucking and falling over and over. Daddy yelled at me and Jimmy to get inside and get washed up for supper. We ran for the house; Glad to be away from daddy and his rare anger.

Daddy stayed outside for a good while that evening. Mama had already fed us kids by the time he came inside with the eggs. He didn't say what had happened to that mean old hen and we didn't dare ask him. I thought for sure he had buried her behind the pen where I had seen him bury other chickens that had died.Saturday Morning I woke up early and decided to go and see where daddy had buried that mean old hen. I just knew daddy had killed her for pecking him and making him mad. I hurried out to the pen and ran around behind. No where could I see any turned over dirt. No where could I see where he had dug a hole for a mean and nasty hen. Suddenly with a cluck and a squawk I saw the mean old thing coming for the wire. Striding along on her leg taped up with two Popsicle sticks was big red. My gentle daddy had fixed her broken leg rather than wringing her mean neck.

Big red always did have a crooked leg after that day and Daddy and her seemed to have an understanding between them. I never saw daddy snatch her off the nest again and I never saw her peck him again either. Big red set her nest whenever she wanted to and would hatch at least a dozen bitties every year. Daddy always had a soft spot for her after that and I would sometimes catch him tossing a worm from the garden right to her in the late evening time.

My Daddy lost his temper and then regretted it. That crooked legged hen lived a long long time to remind him and us that he was human. I had never thought so before that day. To loose your temper is human; to be sorry for it should be human also. Have a great day!
Patsy

Animal Parade!

The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too.
~ Samuel Butler~


Money will buy a pretty good dog but it won't buy the wag of his tail.
~ Josh Billings ~


Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. ~Mark Twain ~


My first was Diablo. He had short brown hair and deep brown eyes. He had very short legs But he was perfect for me. I loved him with all of my six year old heart. He was my best friend for a few years. I cried as I searched for him one Cold November Afternoon. He was missing. I was certain My cousin took him because she didn't have one like him. I cried and searched till Daddy came home. Diablo was gone, Daddy had found him that morning on the back porch steps. Daddy took me out back near the chicken pens to show me where he had buried my friend. Daddy explained that Diablo was old But I didn't care. I said I didn't want another one! EVER! Daddy just laughed at me. He already knew what I would learn. Diablo was my first but he wouldn't be my last. I was an animal lover. I loved Dogs!


I have had many furry friends over the years. I think they are like people in a way. Some impress you more than others. Some you remember for a little while. Some you never forget. We all loved animals.
I was a country kid. That meant I lived outside of the Small town. My Daddy wasn't actually a farmer. My Uncles had farms growing hay and corn and soy beans. They had mules and tractors and Combines. My Daddy just grew food crops. Tomatoes, peas, some corn, String beans, Butter beans, cabbage and Okra. Daddy grew what we ate. That included some of our meat. That meat came from animals.


Daddy never let us name any animal that we might eat. We could name the Hens and Daddy had one old Rooster for years and years. He called the old Rooster Captain. Young Roosters were for the soup pot they were all known as pullets. My Sister named a pig once. We all loved that pig. When it came time to Butcher that year we all cried and begged and pleaded. We hated bacon, we didn't want any sausage that year. We weren't going to eat Madam no matter what Daddy said. Even Mama shed some tears. Daddy called uncle Oneal to come and get Madam. I am sure that he butchered her and ate her. My daddy was upset over the whole ordeal. That night he made the no naming food rule. But that was also the first time we were allowed pets. An animal of our own.


We still couldn't have just any animal. No snakes or Big lizards were going in Mama's house. Mice and rats were also out. No wild animals. Grandma swore they all had rabies and we ate rabbits and squirrels so they were already part of the food rule. We already had some cats around even though they were all half wild. I only recall two of them that ever had real names. They were "Old Black Mama," Called that because she was solid black and the mother or grandmother to every other cat there; And Tinkerbell. I found Tinkerbell after she was abandoned by Old black mama. She was half starved and I fed her milk with an eye dropper till she was old enough to eat on her own. She would purr and rub against me. Grandma said she thought I was her Mother. I liked her all right. I just wasn't really a cat person. I Still had Diablo then. I was a dog lover. I had already made my choice as to what would be my pets.


After Diablo came Dave and Bruno, Sugar and Lucky, Lady and Mister. We had Daisy and Doll, Doobie and Shadow. There was Red and Blackie and Brownie and Twitch. We had Piggy and Spanky and Sissy and once we even had one called Pot head. Not because she smoked pot, but because she had showed up at our house nearly starved to death with an old pot stuck on her head. Jimmy freed her from the pot and fed her and she stayed. We had lots of dogs that just showed up there. Daddy said the town folks dropped their unwanted dogs off in front of our house. He always said we weren't keeping any more but he always fed who ever was there at feeding time. Somehow we always had at least one extra dog.


After I was grown I had a parade of animals. We had horses and ponies and spiders and hamsters. We once even had a snake. We had lizards and gerbils and turtles. We had fish ... so many fish. I still have thirteen ponds full of Koi and gold fish and frogs. We have a blue million frogs. We have had rabbits and squirrels and ducks and chickens. We have had a few cats. But mostly we have had dogs. We have had all kinds of dogs. We have had purebreds and mixes and just plain mutts. We have had barkers and growlers and one that people swore could talk. We have had big dogs and little dogs and Middle sized dogs too. I loved them all. I love them too much. I want them all. I once had, including puppies, thirty-two dogs. Dave said they had to go. He was nice about it. We couldn't afford all those dogs. I got to choose their homes. I wasn't very happy about it, But he was right That was too many and they had to go.


Since then we only keep four or five dogs at the time. Usually having three outside and one inside dog. Last year was rough for us and our dogs. We had had all of them for a good while. Max was 14 years old, Hot-dog was 25 years old and Piglet was 4 years old. They all died. We think a car hit Piglet but the others ate tainted food. My heart was broken. That left only Buddy outside and Cocoa inside. Cocoa fussed and whined for days until finally we let her go out with Buddy. She refused to come back inside. Colt was brought to us by a friend to replace Hot-dog. He is crazy but he's lovable. Since Cocoa had decided she was a yard dog we had decided that we wouldn't get another inside dog. Then we met Little Man.


We debated it. Since all the children are grown and gone we could go places and do things. Not if you own an inside dog. They have to be let in and out and washed and brushed. They have to be petted and fed and played with. Outside dogs need the same things but inside dogs are different. You can leave outside dogs for a short time. Inside dogs are harder to leave. But< I argued he is so tiny and he won't get bigger and he fits in a coffee cup. We can take him with us! And we did! He'd sit on the console between the seats in Dave's truck or on the front seat with me in my car. He loved to go visiting and even went all the way to Tennessee with us to visit Dave's Aunt Ruth. We fell hard and fast for that tiny dog. He became Dave's friend. Dave's dog! I'd catch Dave talking to him when he thought no one was listening. He followed Dave everywhere he went. Until last week. Last week Little Man wouldn't come when we called him. He was no where to be found. I thought someone had stolen him. I searched till bedtime but couldn't find him anywhere.Dave found him the next day out near the trash cans curled up in a ball. At first he said he thought, (I feel hoped is a better word for here), that Little Man was asleep. He was not asleep. Our tiny dog had died. Our friend was gone.


Dave buried him out where all the others are. Hot dog and Max; Trigger, Boo and Smokey. All our animal friends who enriched our lives. Some for years and some for only short times. We agreed that we will rest for a while. Dave said he didn't want another inside dog right now. I agreed. I washed and cleaned his dishes and toys. I packed everything inside his kennel box and put it away. I had just carried it all out to the shed when Dave called from work. He had found out about some new puppies. They are tiny tea cup Chihuahua's just like Little Man. I reminded him that we are resting.We are he agreed. He just thought we should know where we can get one. Just in case he said. I figure that we will rest about five more weeks. By then the babies will be old enough to take from their mama and we will have rested from having an inside dog for about as long as we can. We are animal lovers. We are dog people.


Not everyone is an animal lover. If you aren't then admit it and don't have pets. There is no shame in not being an animal lover as long as you don't harm them. If you love animals but can't keep one, there are plenty out there in shelters who are looking for homes but need to eat Every day! Help them if you can. Remember to help control the strays by having your pets spayed or neutered if you can't or don't want to raise puppies. Train your animal to be a part of your family But never forget that they are an animal. Love them, Laugh at them, and enjoy them for how ever long they remain with you. We are resting, But only for a few weeks. We can't help it. We are Dog people! Be kind to animals! Have a wonderful Doggy Day!
Patsy

The Invisible Man

No one is asking what happened to all the homeless. No one cares, because it's easier to get on the subway and not be accosted. ~Richard Linklater

I would do anything for my Mother. That is how I became aware of the invisible man. Last July Mama got sick. Now Mama hates hospitals almost as much as I do and had never been admitted to one except for the times she was there to have babies. She doesn't count those eight times. This time though Mama wasn't going to come home with a bundle of joy. I wasn't sure Mama was going to come home at all. But for now she and her sick heart were upstairs under the attention of her other seven children and her first Non baby toting nurse. I was leaning against the ashtray outside. I was trying to get me a few more puffs in before I had to return to the sterile heart ward to guard my Mother through the night.

I watched him walk past me and then come back and ask for a light. I shared my lighter and small talk as he lit a half smoked cool and propped up there beside me near the ashtray stands. He wore jeans slung low on a skinny butt. Much too thin for my taste even had I been in the market for a man. His hair could have used a trim but wasn't unfashionably long. It appeared clean. He had a tattered gray backpack hanging from one Bony shoulder. His green eyes smiled as he stood laughing as I related to this stranger how the ambulance driver had scared me on the sixty mile ride from My Tiny town to this bigger, better equipped for sick people, City. He agreed that they could be scary behind the wheel. I was sure he was a Doctor or at the very least a medical student. He wished me luck as I turned to go back inside. I did look back once as I walked away. He was tucking something into the side pocket of his Backpack.

Morning finally came peaking through the clouds.. A light rain was falling as My sisters came quietly into the room. They were glad to take over the guarding of our mama and allow me to get some coffee and a smoke. I rode the elevator to the lobby amazed at the early morning bustle of the large City Hospital. Our own tiny hospital only a forth the size, if that, of the one where they had sent my Mama. Congestive heart failure meant Mama had to be moved. And I knew Mama wouldn't go alone. So I had come with her. I would do anything for my mama..She would do anything for me.

I followed my nose to the coffee shop once I reached the ground floor. Just as I went in I saw my stranger friend from the night before cut across the lobby. He was again carrying his back pack. On the way to learn more about Doctoring I thought Watching him hurry to catch the elevator.

I was glad to see others near the ashtrays this morning. I like people in general and like to listen as other people talk to each other. Some call me nosy. I just think I'm curious. I had found me a spot on a ledge near the stands and was enjoying the vacation planning of a couple near me when I first heard the angry yell. "Who took my coffee?' the man yelled looking around at the rest of us. No One answered as he continued to look around for his missing cup. I looked around too, now fully alert and on the look out for a thief with a coffee cup. I only saw the young man from last night as he turned the corner heading away from the pack of early smokers. Just as he turned his profile was turned to me and I saw him drinking from a large coffee. He almost seemed to be laughing as he hurried away into the parking garage. Something about him stuck with me as I walked back to the elevator. I didn't know what yet but I was nosy. I would figure it out.

The rains came hard and fast that afternoon as Mama slept a drugged sleep. I decided a cup of soup from the cafeteria would sooth me. As I walked down the hall towards the elevator I caught a glimpse of the young man again. He was hurrying away from the trash can; Near the snack machines in the Lobby; right beside the nurses station. He had His back pack off and was stuffing it with packages half full of crackers and some sandwiches that they had taken out of the machine earlier that day. Out of date food and two past their prime apples. It was then that I realized that the man I had thought was a doctor was Homeless. It broke my heart. He seemed to be totally invisible to everyone else there. I even for a second wondered if I had seen a ghost. But as he turned and smiled I knew he was really there. He commented on the storm and then said he had to go.. he walked along to the elevator with me. We got on and he pressed the Button to get off one floor down. I guess he was checking the lobby's on all the floors. Filling his pack. His version of buying groceries.

I stayed with Mama a whole week in the big Hospital. I spent a lot of my time watching her sleep or talking quietly with her when she was awake. I knitted things that I gave to the nurses who cared for her so sweetly and some doll dresses for my Granddaughter But mostly I worried about the invisible young man. I watched as he moved about the hospital unseen by anyone but me. He would take coffee from under the nose of people smoking outside and I even saw him walk past a table in the cafeteria once and after he passed the woman was looking all around on the floor for a banana. He could have taken some ones purse or wallet or other important things but he didn't. I watched him fill his cigarette pack from the ashtrays every morning and every night. Yet I never saw him ask for a cigarette. I felt as if I was as invisible while watching him as he was to the world that moved around the hospital. I wanted to offer him something. Maybe a meal or a few dollars but for some reason I felt that he would be embarrassed by my offer. I started buying a sandwich from the machine late at night and leaving it sitting on top of the trash can. Hoping he would find it still fresh for his breakfast. I left whole cigarettes for him in the ashtrays. I'd smoke one and leave one. I even put a clean Tee shirt in the lobby trash can and was pleased to see him wearing it the next morning.

It must be awful to be invisible out by the ashtrays. Where people plan extravagant dates and dinner parties and discuss new clothes and expensive pleasure trips. Never looking at the less fortunate ones around them.
I pray for my invisible friend every night now. Him and the many others like him. I pray that he has found a safe place to dream and a dream that will take him away from the streets!
Have a good night, remember to count your blessings; though they may seem to sometimes be few.
Patsy

Daddy's Dating Rules.

One of life's greatest mysteries is how the boy who wasn't good enough to marry your daughter can be the father of the smartest grandchild in the world.”~ Proverb

“Watching your daughter being collected by her date feels like handing over a million dollar Stradivarius to a gorilla.”~ Jim Bishop

My Daddy was a kind and gentle man. He loved us all dearly. I don't know if he ever discussed dating rules with My brothers, I'm sure he did that privately with them. But to date one of his daughters could be a dangerous thing. Daddy had certain rules that he expected us to follow as young ladies and The boys we might date were expected to do certain things. First of all we were not to call boys at all. Back then it was considered "Ugly" for little girls to call boys. There were a few girls who would called our house to ask for one of my brothers. Most didn't call more than once. Mama always gave them the girls shouldn't call boys talk and most never called again. Boys could call us, If they didn't mind talking to Daddy first. I was in the second grade when the first one called me. I heard daddy ask him why was he calling.. Then after a brief pause Daddy told him well you call back in ten years son and he hung up on the young fellow.. I didn't ask who called or why.. At that point I didn't like boys anyway.

My oldest sister Trudy was the first one to reach the magical dating age of sixteen. One of our cousins had asked Mama and Daddy if She could go on a double date with a boy none of us knew. I remember Daddy telling them that he didn't mind If Trudy went on a date but that the Boy better come to the door.. No horn blowing .. That he would have to know who the boys "people" were.. Couldn't be No jail birds or jack legs. We weren't allowed to date those... If he had long hair Daddy knew a good barber.. Or Daddy had some dog clippers. Either suited Daddy. He was not to buy Trudy any gifts of clothing of any kind.. Any boy who bought you clothes either wanted to help you into the new ones or out of your old ones. and Both of those were a good way to meet Daddy's double barrel. She had to be home at a decent hour lets say eight pm. Seven, forty five was even better. When you bring her home You do not sit in the car in the dark in the yard! You do not put her out at the road. You pretend to be a gentleman and walk her to the door. At which point you Thank her for a lovely evening and get about the business of leaving. And Daddy's last rule and the one I personally never understood was.. Don't come to my house without your socks on. There was nothing Daddy hated more than a boy who wasn't fully dressed to go on a date and that meant SOCKS and shoes..

Well the day of the date came and the young fellow came along with my cousin and her date to pick up my sister. They all came to the door and Daddy let them in.. The young man began by taking of his hat at the door and offering Daddy his hand.. I was sitting on the floor in the dining room sneaking a peek at the young man who would be the first to date one of my Daddy's daughters. I thought he was doing pretty good so far. Daddy shook his hand and told them to come in.. His hair was neatly cut and combed into place. Mama was sitting in the living room along with Trudy. Sue and her date Mark came in and sat down.. daddy invited the other young fellow to sit as well. Then began the questions.. Where are y'all planning to go? What time are you planning to be back? Who is going to be driving? Who is your Grand-daddy? And on and on.. Finally daddy having decided that the boy was harmless stood and said " well y'all young folks better get on the road if Trudy is going to be home on time." I really though the young man had passed the tests. I think Daddy thought so too. They almost made it out of the house before the crazy boy messed up. He turned to Daddy just as they were about to leave and held up his foot. He had on his socks just as Daddy had said he should but he had them on with sandals. He said " And Mr. Black Look I wore socks just like you said." I saw the frown turn daddy's smile upside down as Daddy pushed the door shut in his face.. He looked at Mama and said "I ought to Call her back in here; You see what a smart Alec jar head he is.!" But Daddy didn't make her come back in the house.. She went on that date with him.. But she never dated him again. Later I learned that Daddy always gave us girls two things before we went on a date.. A dollar and a dime. The dollar was to buy yourself a drink if you accidentally got out of the house with a boy to cheap to pay for you a soda and the dime was to call Daddy to come and get you should you find yourself on such a date. And we were to call first and he would be there by the time we finished our soda. I feel that it was a lucky thing that neither of the four of us daughters ever had to use our dollar or our dime!

I guess it sounds like Daddy was a hard man. He wasn't. He just wanted us to be safe. He was going to see who we were leaving with. He was going to say a few words to them before we left. And he would be waiting up when we came home. Daddy was always nice to the young men who came to carry away his daughters. He just liked things to be a certain way.

Times have surely changed from way back then when Daddies met young men at the door. Daddies don't know who their daughters are dating any more. Girls call boys and think nothing of it. Girls will come to get the boy and will wear his clothes if she can get them. If there are any rules for dating the young people break them all. My children said I was out of style and old timey when they were here at home and dating. I just smiled at them and said.. "yea, well be glad you didn't belong to my Daddy!"

I laugh often when I think about the rules Daddy had for dating.. They really are funny. especially the rule about socks. But I'm glad my Parents loved us enough to try and keep us safe from the world. I felt the same about my kids.. I hope my son will feel the same about his daughter. And since I know how my son loves his children, I think socks will be the least of a young mans worry when he attempts to date my Grand-daughter. Thanks for sharing a smile with me tonight!
Have a great night!
Patsy