Pay It Forward

          This is an idea that Becky Povich is passing along. Someone before her passed the baton to Becky, and someone before them put out the offer and so on...  I think Kevin Spacey originated it.  (His "gift" was a home-recorded CD of Benecio Del Torro and himself doing duets during the time when they were filming The Usual Suspects.  I wish I was one of those lucky five!)
 
          Becky proposed posting about the gifts we all have, and hopefully, participants will join in.  We are writers. But that is not our only talent. This is our chance to pass on to others--directly---our gifts.

           So, if you are interested, post a comment here to let me know.  The first five who say, "I do," (I do want to participate) will receive a handmade gift from me.  (I'm getting one from Becky. How about that!)  And if you agree to play along and pay it forward, you'll post the proposal on your blog and make a gift for five people, who will post it on their blog and send handmade gifts to five other people, and so will it spread and expand, like the ripples in a lake.

photo by Alane * Maria Julia Biscuit

          It is up to you what you consider a "homemade gift."  It could be a photo you've taken. It might be a framed poem written by you.  You could unwrap store-bought rice krispie treats and press M and Ms into them.  You could take your eyebrow hairs that have been plucked out, and you could weave them in a bracelet.  The sky is the limit!

            Let the fun begin...  

photo by bluelightson

            After all, we should have some joy in our lives as we catch our reflection in the mirror and weep at the sight of our "pudding-bag-tied-in-the-middle bodies." (Pauline's great phrase---see below) 

            And before I end this, I'd like to thank my newest four followers. Thanks, Not the Rockefellers and lightverse.  If you have a blog, please let me know and I will include a link.

             Nana Jo has a blog.  She has a lovely post about the reality of romance called "Late Roses."  Romance ain't just for the young and foolish...

              Pauline has not one, but two blogs. Her jaw-dropping line above came from her more humorous blog.  It seems she has not actively posted on it for a while, but read through the posts that are there. She treats aging with humorous stories (even though it makes our bellies jiggle and our laughlines get more pronounced as we read them).  Pauline, could you merge the two blogs?  You have an amazing gift for deft levity!

             Her other blog is more serious and introspective. If you'd like to go snow-shoeing (from the comfort of your familyroom chair) check out her January 17 post entitled "Come for a Walk With Me."  Pauline dug deep into her belief system as she dug up snow in her January 21 post called "You Never Know."

         I will end with a quote that Pauline included in her most recent post: 


"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary."--Aaron Rose


         

The Chicken Made Me Do It

          Sometimes Many days Always, I appreciate being able to start the day off with a laugh, because later on in the day, my laughter might border on the maniacal.

          Today's post on Savage Chicken, there is a hilarious "checklist" you can print off and tape to your noisy neighbor's door. (Just kidding, at least about the idea of affixing it to your neighbor's property.)

          This post is always a cartoon done on a post-it (or two or three or four).  And chickens are the stars!

          Make sure you read it all the way through--it won't take more than half a minute. The last item is one of the funniest (in my opinion warped sense of humor).  Janel, you should definitely check out this site today. Wasn't it you that had problems with your neighbors' dogs?

photo by Eric Spiegel

         And thanks to my newest follower, Lynn.  From the blogs she follows, I am assuming she is a writer. Lynn, if you have a blog, let me know and I'll include a link. And, thank you for becoming a follower.

          

Today's Magpie Tale

          Magpie Tales--every Tuesday---has a photo or drawing to inspire you. Write a poem or a vignette. Tess Kincaid makes every Tuesday special. Below is mine.



                                                                        That photo,

the one from our trip

through the woods

to find Flat Creek...

it was crammed at the bottom

of a drawer.

Almost forgotten...

I pulled it out yesterday,

(the coldest day

my heart's ever seen)

and absently began to dig a line

into the slick surface.

The more I dug,

the more I thought:

Some change has to come.

With markers and white out,

I made the tree branches reappear

and allowed the arrow to surface,

ghost-like,

hovering over where we once stood.

If only real life was that easy---

having a giant sign in the sky,

pointing the way...



       Usually I look--hopefully--at my followers every time I post, to see if I have a new follower.  Imagine my surprise when my vigilance lapsed, and I then found not one but four new followers!

        Kim Sloggett and Lynn Obermoeller have just joined as followers.  Thank you.  Lynn, if you have a blog, please let me know and I'll slip in a link.   From the blogs she follows, I presume Lynn is a writer.  Thanks for checking out my blog.

       Kim is a fellow blogger, a writer, a teacher and is into pets big-time. Check out herblog about pets and her blog about teaching.  She's a writer, and after reading several of her posts (about the importance of getting to know your students, rewarding kids, and a humorous take on the mistakes we make), I can say that most teachers would enjoy her blog. Thanks again for becoming a follower, Kim. 

       Cathy C. Hall is a writer with countless publishing credits to her name. She recently included a link to a magazine story of hers. For those who still have their Christmas decorations up, or for those who are looking for a way to streamline their after-the-holiday routine next year, read her piece in Modern Senior Living. (She has a link, so you can read the piece--in the January edition, on page 6, without having to buy the magazine.) It's sharp and funny. Her blog is chocked full of links to contests and stories.  (If you click on her "Finding My Fame and Fortune" button, you can read a funny piece on smoking.) Cathy--thanks for following.

      Pearl writes about riding the bus, she writes about her holiday parties. (Which resulted in me preparing the best appetizer I've had in a long time and blogging about it. Check out my post on January 2 for the recipe and photos of this delicious bit of heaven.) Most of her posts are hilarious, but her warm, intropsective ones are just as good. (We laughed. We cried.)  When she falls flat on her face as a blogger, she is going to launch a new business--Pearl's Pap and Pedi (make sure you empty your bladder before you read that post so there is no "leakage" as you're reading it).  Seriously, she has almost 800 followers, so when you wonder why you don't have as many as you'd like, it's because Pearl is a blog-hog. Thanks, Pearl, for following...

       And if you're one of the 13 bloggers in the country who are not following Pearl's blog yet, peruse her posts. She takes the ordinary, makes it twistedly extraordinary.

Dinner for 25 Cents

             Three decades ago, when I was a single mother, I was broke. I was doing work I loved, but the pay was poor.  I was going to college, and, thanks to my grandparents, I had a place to live, but there was little money for food.

             And there was also the little one to worry about...

            As a mother, it was my job to sacrifice if needed, to ensure my daughter had what she needed to grow and flourish.  She got sausage and eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch was at her daycare center.  And dinner--for her--was usually some sort of "hamburger helper" along with whatever vegetables I could entice her to eat. One box and a small mound of meat would last for several meals for her.

         On the other hand, I ate macaroni and cheese most evenings. In those days, there was a section of "plain label" groceries---plain white boxes and simple black labels---and you could get 4 boxes of macaroni and cheese mix for a buck.  That meant a dollar would buy me dinner for four nights. (If I was living particularly high on the hog, I would add some sauteed onions, which elevated them to "gourmet.")

photo by Laura A

         Today, I still love macaroni and cheese, with some sauteed onions thrown in for a zing of flavor. It's strange how we return, again and again, to get comfort from the things we had to eat when things were tight.

          Almost forgotten, these memories were unearthed when I read Pearl's heart-warming post.  It's called "Wherein I Get Sentimental About a Bird I Once Knew." Usually, Pearl is irreverent and gut-bustingly funny.  This one is poignant.

          Check it out. It'll warm you up tonight, despite the cold weather...



icicles hanging right above our front door



snow in the great white North (County)

I Love a Man with a Suit!

photo by mrdavenixon

CBS News Correspondent: What happened? Tell us your story...
"Fountain Lady":  I was just walking along in the mall, and when I fell into the fountain, no one rushed over to help me. No one! (dabs at her eye with a tissue)
CBS: Where did this video come from? 
"Fountain Lady": It must have come from the mall's security department. And instead of coming and seeing if I was all right, they were watching me (sniffles) and laughing at me. I mean, the fountain could have been empty and I really could have gotten hurt. I could have been a child, or an elderly person that fell into that water.  
CBS: (thinking, But you aren't a child or a senior citizen.  What you are is an idiot!) I understand the video then went viral. You got a call from a friend two days after it happened, telling you they had seen the video on youtube.
"Fountain Lady": Yesss. (dabs at eye again, adds a quivering lip in for a bit more effect)
CBS: Let's take a look at the video.

                            .......................................................

CBS:  I noticed in the video, you had your head down as you were walking, and it looked like you were preoccupied with something in your hands.  What was going on?
"Fountain Lady": I was texting.
CBS News Correspondent: You were texting?  What were you texting that was so important?
"Fountain Lady": A friend wanted to know my birthday and husband's birthday. I know now that I should not have been texting while I was walking through the mall. But no one came to see if I was okay (manages to squeeze a tear out of one of her eyes) until twenty minutes after it happened.
CBS: I understand you're going to sue the mall? (thinking, What kind of protection for "stupid" should the mall provide?)
"Fountain Lady": Yes. (dabs at eyes) My attorney says I have a good chance of winning buckets of money.
CBS: Luckily, you weren't hurt, were you?  I mean, you fell into that fountain and then just popped up immediately and stepped out of the water.  You weren't injured, were you?
"Fountain Lady": No, I wasn't, but my...my...(sobs) my Blackberry was ru-ined! (sobs some more)
CBS: I am so sorry for your loss. (Correspondent pats "Fountain Lady" on the shoulder as he turns his face away, trying to suppress his laughter.  Suddenly a colleague walks over and hands him a sheet of paper.) Uh, I just got a report that you have outstanding charges against you.  You used someone else's credit card and charged $5,000 on it?  Altogether, there are five felony charges against you and...("Fountain Lady" rips the microphone off and rushes off the stage) Ma'am! Ma'am!  Why are you running off? (turns to the camera) I guess this interview is over. We'll update you with more details when they're available.

photo by MarkScott2011

(Note:  There IS  a woman who fell into a fountain at a Pennsylvania mall while she was texting.  She DID get a lawyer and planned on suing the mall, but then 5 felony charges against HER surfaced and suddenly, the law suit was dropped. Perhaps it's just a coincidence?)

photo by Daisy.Sue

A Slower Pace

       While reading Joanne DeMaio's guest post , I was reminded that photographs can breathe life into a blog.  If you're in a blogging rut, on the brink of catching cabin fever (and your family is not in the mood to reenact Stephen King's The Shining) include a photograph and let the image inspire...

        After I read it, I thought about all my photos from my last trip to France.  (Don't!  Don't run away!  I do not have three carousels full of slides to show you. I promise!)

         Three times I've gone. Three different love affairs. (Okay, so I am just imagining that I was successful in my stalking, and only in my dreams did I find Johnny Depp. Let me hold onto this fantasy for just another few moments.)  Each trip found me deeper in love with with the countryside and the people.

         What was Paris like?  The only glimpses I've seen of Paris is what can be seen at the airport, before catching a smaller plane and heading to Toulouse or Pau.  Some Many Most would say that it's a crime to travel to a country more than once and bypass such a famous city , that Paris is a city that should not be missed.  What can I say?  The France I love is slow-paced, it's full of rolling hills and gorgeous mountains, it offers food that is meant to be enjoyed as well as warm, funny people.

         In other words, the France I love is the rural France...The France in the midst of fields of sunflowers and hay and vineyards...The France nestled at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains...That's my France.

This is my sister's sister-in-law.
This unassuming vegetable dish was delicious,
but very rustic.

          What keeps me coming back?  I could say the bread. (True!).  I could say the out-of-this-world cheese. (True! So true!)  But what pulls me the most is the people's determination to enjoy life.

           Lunch at home takes two hours. There is freshly-baked bread to cut.  Several times during the meal. There are separate courses---some fresh fruit, then the entree, some salad, and then some cheeses to choose from. 

          Dinner takes three or four hours. The food is eaten leisurely, and whether it is at the noon or the evening meal, conversation and jokes and water and wine flow liberally. 

The Pyrenees Mountains

          Their love of life is evident everywhere. Flowers dripping out of flowerboxes. The tables outside restaurants and cafes, full of people drinking beer and wine as they savor their conversation.  Salad dressings made from scratch for the about-to-be-eaten salad.  Their fondness of open markets and walking places and little specialty shops, instead of huge department stores.




the outside wall of an ordinary home, made
more beautiful with flowers


       So, if you have had snow dumped on you and you're still stuck in the house, savor the slower pace today.  And if you are able to get out and about, try to enjoy the smaller pleasures of life. Celebrate and revel in the little things!