Simple Things!!!!

Come, Join the Challenge!!!!

"Enchanted Oak is doing a Simple Things Challenge on Saturday. Post about simple things you cherish, link up and for each post or comment on her blog $2 will be donated to a medical clinic in Haiti. Perhaps it will help provide a few simple things."

Brian at WaystationOne wrote this on his blogsite Friday. When you go to her site, Enchanted Oak, Just Chris says that we could either do a post and link it to her site, or just leave a comment there. I was tempted to just leave a comment, but then thought about 'how would others know about this'. She wants to reach a goal of at least $200 to donate, and I hope that we can help her reach it, and then some.

So please visit her site before Sunday and leave a comment, or link up as I am, by posting a few of the Simple Things I enjoy.

Here is my list of Simple Things I enjoy;

A child's smile and laughter.

My cats rubbing my legs when they are happy to see me.

A cold day full of sunshine.

Snow on the mountaintops.

Wild flowers.

Flowers from my garden.

Flowers from other gardens.

Hummingbirds.

Raindrops.

My new puppy, Maggie.

Food, okay, chocolate, cakes, pies, cookies, breads, pasta, pizza, chinese food, mexican food, pretty much any type of food.

Water, milk, juice.

Watching anyone eat something I have cooked, and actually enjoying it.

My grandchildren's smile when they see us.

My mother.

My husband.

My faith and love for God and Jesus.

Helping others.

These are just a few in what I realized could be a very long list. What are your's?

And here is my first attempt at a Haiku:

Titled: My Hair!!!

Raindrops falling near,

Wetting my hair to dry now,

Curls popping up.

Haiku's are a type of poetry that is very new to me, but I am hoping that by studying and learning as much as I can about it that maybe in about 20 years I will be able to do some justice to this style. But I know that if I never try, I will never succeed. So go ahead, let me know what you think. I hope my Haiku's will grow with time and be as sarcastic as necessary.

Theme Thursday...........RED

Opal Nation21

So Father started to quickly walk the rest of the way to camp alone. As Father got closer he started hearing some loud noises that he had never heard before. He knew that he had better be very cautious as he approached camp.

At this point I was torn between wanting to hear what was going on in the camp and the fear of hearing how Father had been in danger while approaching their camp. I started breathing louder than normal and Father stopped telling his story and actually looked at me. He sensed my fear, but at the same time I knew that he had to continue telling me the story. I had been staring out the large window in the library and I knew it was time that I sat down, so I sat down next to Ben on the library couch. I looked at Ben to see how he was doing while listening to Father's story. He looked a little pale but at the same time I could see the excitement in the anticipation of what had happened in Father's camp.

Father took another drink of his Special Reserve and then continued with the story. He told us how he had slowed his pace and was trying to approach their campsite as quietly as he possibly could. The noise was strange, almost like a large whale wailing in sadness, but there was a nasal quality to the sound. He stopped behind some bushes just outside of their camp and when Father slowly moved the bushes to peek at what was making that loud noise he told us how he could do nothing but stare at the site before him.

There was so much blood, a deep, dark red looking blood that was splattered all around their camp. What the hell had happened? It looked like a tornado had hit their camp. Everything was moved and scattered all about. Their neat, orderly campsite had been almost totally destroyed. The sunlight reflecting the red from the bloody objects sitting there. He said it looked like there had been a tremendous struggle in the camp. Then he saw what was making the noise, one of the zerthbeelees was just outside the camp, sitting there with his head raised up, like a wolf would do when howling, only the zerthbeelee was making the wailing noise.

Father circled around the outside of the camp as quickly as he could and slowly approached the zerthbeelee. There lying beside the zerthbeelee was one of the Packwitt's, he was injured with blood oozing through the hand that he held trying to cover the wound on his shoulder. The zerthbeelee was guarding the Packwitt and Father knew that he had to approach them very cautiously or the zerthbeelee would attack Father with his large claws. The Packwitt opened his eyes and saw Father. He quickly said something to the zerthbeelee who had been watching Father and was beginning to crouch down in attack mode, getting ready to pounch upon Father. The zerthbeelee wailed one more large wail and then laid down next to the Packwitt, making sure that he was touching the Packwitt.

Father still approached slowly and all the time trying to talk to the Packwitt to find out what had happened. At the moment when Father crouched down to check the Packwitt's shoulder, he heard a loud commotion behind him in the camp. He turned around to see the other Packwitt and zerthbeelee who had been behind him. The other Packwitt looked at his friend and quickly went to find the first aid kit that the Professor had brought with them. He had shown the Packwitt what it contained, and how if any of them were to get hurt that he should bring the kit immediately to them. The zerthbeelee stayed in camp and was following his Packwitt like a lost child.

When the Packwitt found the first aid kit and brought it quickly to Father, his zerthbeelee followed him and sat on the other side of the injured Packwitt and he soon started wailing as loudly as the other zerthbeelee had been doing. Then the injured Packwitt's zerthbeelee joined in and began wailing all over again. Father said it was a haunting sound and one could hear the sadness that was being communicated between the two zerthbeelees. Father quickly went to work on the injured Packwitt and he was thankful that his training in the military had him well trained in giving first aid to injured soldiers. He gave the Packwitt a shot of morphine and he quickly passed out.

Father removed the Packwitt's hand covering the wound and was shocked at what he saw.........

For those who missed part 20, here is the link. Which also links to parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,17, 18, and 19. For more Theme Thursday's please go here.

5th Annual Cyberspace Poetry Slam

Spring Forward

The days are still so cold,
And the dark night begins early,
The flowers buds continue hiding,
Waiting to spring forth.

The clouds cover, hiding the sun,
Who peeks through now and then,
Bringing light to those below,
Waiting for the warm spring days.

The rains come, then drizzles and pours,
Quenching the dry parched, aching land,
Filling it's greedy, thirsty needs,
Waiting for the seeds to burst through.

The snow sprinkles lightly, then harshly,
Covering everything in a white bath,
Surrounding a land which grows quiet,
Waiting for the melting spring thaw.

The fog drops lower, then slower each morning,
Covering the world like a giant bedroom quilt,
Disappearing earlier with each new warming day,
Waiting for the sunny awakening of the land.

Soon the sun will shine brightly over the land,
Wonders abound, bringing forth a magical world,
Of new birth, of unlimited joy, and a new beginning,
Waiting to spring forward in a new life of love.

by Mrsupole

This is my second year of partcipating in the Annual Cyberspace Poetry Slam. I like to think that my poetry has evolved since last year. To participate you may choose a poem from your favorite poet or post one of you own. I wrote a new one, but an older one would have been great too.

Everyone is invited to participate and for details go visit Cosmology of Reya, Ronda's Wonderland, tut-tut's Inside the Shell, and many others.

I hope you will all join us, for this is our 5th year. Well for me it is my 2nd year, but who is counting.

Meet Maggie!!

Tom over at Half-Moose With A Twist is having a birthday party for his dog Toby. And according to Tom, Toby likes to socialize a lot with all of his friends and so everyone is invted to come to the party and bring their dog, or in my case puppy.

Happy Birthday Toby!!
From Maggie.

My oldest granddaughter brought home this black chihuahua puppy and normally I would have told her to go find it a home somewhere. I am allergic to dogs and we have two cats. But I went online and it says that people with dog allergies are usually okay with chihuahua's and poodles.

My youngest daughter is supposed to be getting me a poodle puppy in March when the puppies, from this litter that a friends dog is having, are ready to go to homes. And luckily I have been doing really good with this puppy, who I think is going to be a tiny, tiny little dog. She weighs less than a pound. I have nicknamed her Mags and hubby and granddaughter call her Maggot (ugh). So after one and a half weeks we are doing well. She knows her name and sleeps in her bed with her little squirrel squeaky toy. See pics below.
Mags chewing her chew stick.

Mags sleeping with her "friend".
So go over and visit Toby and join the Birthday Party.

Theme Thursday...........FELT and IMPRESSION

Opal Nation20

He took Father to the smallest building. Father said the smell coming from this building was better than any bakery we had at home. He said he knew what they were doing, they were baking the bread made from nurth seeds. He had never tasted fresh baked nurthleen and could not wait to try it. They opened the door and Father could not believe his eyes. He was seeing a female Opalite.

She had her back turned towards Father while she continued to work quickly forming and then baking the nurthleen bread. Father was very impressed at how she so easily lifted a large wooden spatula upon which she had placed the nurthleen flatbreads she had shaped into flat ovals. There were two large ovens with which to bake the bread. Her hair was dark brown, straight, and long. It had grown a few inches past her waistline. She was wearing a dark purple gown that looked to be made out of material very similiar to our felt. She turned to a table on her right side and quickly started shaping more of the flatbread loafs.

She then pushed the sleeves of the robe above her elbows and that is when Father really looked. He noticed that her arms were not very hairy, but that they were muscled above what a normal woman would have at home. Then he saw that her fingers were longer than an average woman's fingers would be. What was going on? She was not very tall and she looked to be slender in her robe. Father could not see her feet and he now started to question what he was seeing. Right about that time they heard a loud commotion going on outside the door. The Farmer, Father, the Packwitt, and the young boy rushed out the dooor to see what was going on.

There, about ten feet from the door, stood a zerthbeelee stomping and chirping as loudly as it possibly could. The other workers at the farm were trying to calm the zerthbeelee down, but you could see the fear in their eyes. Anyone in their right mind would fear the claws of a zerthbeelee, and the way this one was stomping his front legs and then raising them upwards into the air, meant that the workers were keeping their distance. This was causing them to be very unsuccessful at calming down the zerthbeelee.

The Packwitt ran towards the zerthbeelee after immediately seeing that it was his pack animal in the yard. He started by giving commands for the animal to lie down to be still. The zerthbeelee would sit, then lie down for just a minute, then jump back up again, and start stomping and chirping as loudly as before. The Packwitt told Father that something had really upset his zerthbeelee and it had to be something very terrible. Nothing could be done until the animal calmed down enough and they could get a makeshift harness on it so that they could take the animal back to camp.

The farm workiers tried to get some ropes around the zerthbeelee's legs. Each time they would get one around one of the legs, the zerthebeelee would start biting and pulling it off. This went on for a while and then when the workers, Father, and the Packwit had given up all hope of containing the animal, the zerthbeelee finally lied down on the ground and stopped stomping and chirping. He covered his head with his claws and began a chirping that almost sounded like it was crying. One of the workers brought the makeshift harness to the Packwitt and he quickly put it on the zerthbeelee.

The Packwitt then apologized to the Farmer and his young son. He told them that he would have to bring Father back to the farm on another day. Father told them that he was so sorry that they could not continue the tour but that they really needed to get back to camp to try and find out why the zerthbeelee was so upset. The Farmer's son ran back into the building that the nurthleen bread was being baked and he grabbed two loafs and brought them out to Father and the Packwitt. They both thanked the young boy and quickly got started on their way back to camp.

The zerthbeelee was trying as hard as possible to not go with them, but the Packwitt kept forcing him to follow. At the rate they were going, this ten minute walk back to camp, was going to take more than 30 minutes. When they started to get closer to camp, Father told the Packwitt that he would be able to get there faster if he went on alone. The Packwitt did not think it was a good idea for Father to go there alone and asked Father to stay with him and they would get there as soon as possilbe. Father refused and said that he would be all right and if he was in any danger that he would come back to the Packwitt as quickly as possible.

So Father started to quickly walk the rest of the way to camp alone. As Father got closer he started hearing some loud noises..........

For those who missed part 19, here is the link. Which also links to parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,17, and 18. For more Theme Thursday's please go here.

******************Note*************************
Hi Everyone,
Sorry this is being posted late, but due to technical problems, being that I could not get on the internet (internet went down) at all, I could not post this installment until now, which thank goodness it is still Thursday. This also puts me behind on visiting all of your sites, which I hope to get to as soon as I am able. And I would like to also thank all of you for putting up with me not be able to write a lot of comments due to my current back pain problems which I truly hope is not connected to my shoulder surgery problems. Aargghh, I am truly sick of these problems. Thank you for all of your get well messages.

God bless.

Please Tell Me About This Song!!!

Muse - Uprising

I am not sure why, but after I heard this song, I just want to listen to it constantly. I am not one to get obsessed with a song, but for some reason I just cannot play this enough. So if you have not heard it, I hope you will listen and maybe some of you can explain why I am doing this.

Plus right now I am having really bad lower back pains and pains on my left side. I can only sit for about 5 minutes on the computer and then the pain is too much. I am not sure what is wrong, they did an MRI the friday before last and I have to go see the doctor and find out what is causing this. Between my shoulder and my back I am surprised I am able to do anything. So I apologize for not leaving messages. I can read, but to be in the sitting position to type is oh so painful. Ouch, ouch, ouch.....

Please enjoy the song and let me know what you think. Am I crazy or am I right that this song is fantastic?

Theme Thursday...........BREAD

Opal Nation19


He had been in the Swirling Marshlands more than once. Father truly believed that the Swirling Marshlands hid the secrets to where the ten large revered Opals in the Opal Nation had been found. For you see, he had once found an Opal of which he swore was even larger than any of the ten that the Opalites worshiped. Then he had lost it, along with his case of journals, to one of the many swamps in the Swirling Marshlands. He knew that Opal would never be found unless the swamp dried out, thousands of years into the future.

Father had cried that night when he had told us the story of the lost Opal. There had been so many stories about the adventures Father, Carlos and the Professor had experienced during those three years they had spent in Opal Nation. As I sat there in his chair I remembered the story about the time Father had gone to visit a weanurthee farm outside one of the many villages during their travels.

Carlos and the Professor had gone into a village for supplies while Father had stayed in their camp with three of the Packwitts. A few hours later, a young boy wandered into their camp. The boy just stood there starring at Father. He had never seen anyone dressed in such a strange way. The Opalites wore a few basic coverings due to the warm weather that occurred during the time of the Opal Nation. The boy was not afraid because he knew one of the Packwitts, and had walked up to touch Father's shirt. He rubbed the material and then gave Father a big smile. The Packwitt told Father that the boy really liked the feel of the shirt and wanted to know where Father had gotten it from.

Father then tried to tell the boy about how they had traveled a very long distance to visit them in their Opal Nation. He was not sure if the boy understood, but Father wanted to make as many friends of the Opalites as possible and so he gave the boy one of his shirts. The boy put it on and proudly walked around the camp showing it to the other two Packwitts and their zerthbeelees. The zerthbeelees chirped while their nostrils were flapping, Father said it almost looked like they were putting on a nostril dance for the young boy. They then knelt down while the boy rubbed the sides of their necks.

All of a sudden the boy looked at Father and asked if he would like to visit his home and meet his family. There was no way Father could refuse such an invitation. Soon he, the young boy, and the Packwitt, who was his friend, were on their way to where the boy lived. Father said it was about a ten minute walk and he soon found out it was a weanurthee farm.

There was a large house with the courtyard in the rear and four more buildings. Father noticed that there were only males working there. He still had hopes of seeing a female Opalite. But alas, today was not the day. The boy's father came over to meet Father, and he too had to touch the material on the shirt the boy was wearing. Father then gave the boy's father a shirt, which proceeded in Father getting a large hug from the man. He then began to show Father the inner workings of the weanurthee farm.

He took Father to the smallest building. Father said the smell coming from this building was better than any bakery we had at home. He said he knew what they were doing, they were baking the bread made from nurth seeds. He had never tasted fresh baked nurthleen and could not wait to try it. They opened the door and.....

For those who missed part 18, here is the link. Which also links to parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. For more Theme Thursday's please go here.