Dances in the Dark

 

“This vegetarian lifestyle really sucks,” Dina sighed, tugging at the weeds surrounding peas, tomatoes, and beans.

Dewy leaves now were dried in midday sun. Dina stretched and arched her back, standing to look around fields. People and friend were just like her, hard at work on summer harvest.  What life had been when all of this began…

Oh, the times Dina relished when she had whirled around nightly fires, sparks rising up into a black sky.  Fairies had danced upon her fingertips and elves had woven rainbows through her hair. Dina had laughed, swirling and loving all in a colorful world.

Now hippy life and love appeared less and less meaningful after three years. The world now was black and white, the fires less, and fairies gone.  Dropping the clumps of weeds to the ground, Dina strode along the damp earth. I am outta here.

All things come to an end.


The underlined bold italicized words are this Wednesday's Words.  Hope you enjoyed how they were used. This comes from 2015. This was fun, but then, hippies had way more fun than I did in college. 

One Piece at a Time

 Johnny Cash is a headliner at our house. He was a talented man, one who gave rather than take.

That a given, what do most people listen to when his music appears.? Here are two of mine:

One piece at a time

Our oldest granddaughter will be 17 in a month or two. There is much talking and planning about a car for sometime soon. Her father would love putting a car like this together. Mommy? Not so much.

And then there is this song: Hurt. This is almost painful to hear and understand. Johnny Cash is old, and the lines on his face tell a lot.  The voice says more.

Hurt by Nine Inch Nails

When the leaders of Nine inches nails were blown away by his interpretation, they said  "It's his song now".

Just a side note about  One Piece at a Time.  One fellow blogger and friend loves vintage vehicles, http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/  He is a good storyteller. Look him up!

Windmill of Lies

 

windmill blades
for sale as wall art

Danny burst through his apartment door, staggering and dripping from rain.  He tore at his clothing, wanting only to strip down naked.  He wanted to be cold, so cold that every part of his body shivered. Freezing cold. Numb.

Danny had flown headfirst into a relationship with Kerry, lovely lovely Kerry. Then he quickly discovered Kerry was superb at creating an intricate windmill of lies. Each lie swirled and whirled, each spreading in the wind.

These were so preposterous, linked together with a weaver's skill. Each lie was more elaborate than previous ones. Only Kerry could make her deception an art form.

Yes, Danny wanted to shiver, freeze to escape Kerry's windmill.

WedWords were first created years ago by Delores.  She did great battles with her computer and took time off.  Other bloggers have taken up the baton.  

Comma, Period

hmmm

I have reached the end of my patience. Spelling and grammar seem to be optional.

pinterest

memes

intentional misspellings

sigh

anus=angus

protest at its best?

Oh, so many times I have wanted to doodle on student work, but didn't?

Does this lack of simple language principles drive you absolutely crazy? 

 Please, oh dear Lord. I do not know how much longer I, as a retired teacher, can stand this slaughter of language. The carnage is unbearable.  

Thankfully, God is in Charge

 

I am.

Who's in charge here? I have heard that question in so many voices, situations. 

Sometimes I am in charge, good or bad. I gladly ceded that responsibility now that I am retired. For twenty years and six-hundred students, I was in charge. 

Parents, we were/are in charge. For feeding, clothing, and all sorts responsibilities for our children, we were/are in charge.

Paying bills, having the oil changed, finding lost items, etc.--we adults: we're in  charge.

Given all that, some of the most amazing I'm in charge here people are children. They have no power, no reason to believe that they are in charge. 


Even though you and I know that a child should not be in charge in critical areas,  they are in the sweetest and most amazing ways.

(The longest video is the last one. The others are less than a minute )

I have shown them before, but darn it, they are so cute.

A three-year old taking charge here, maybe

Expressing himself to one he loves

Helping mommy 

Who in charge here?  Both.

There are many elements in all lives when exasperation leads to a  real question:  Who is in charge of me?

He is.

We are traveling to Switzerland to see our gr-sons and their parents.  I won't be posting anything for part of the time in early October.  I know, it hurts. But it has to be done.  I am not super human, not sub human, just me.

I will be gone until mid October. Please continue to comment, since I will repost a few semi-good posts.

This is repost from 2019 April. 

Forever is not Forever

Forever 21 was on the verge of bankruptcy when it was purchased by some company called Forever 91.  No one knew what to expect.  

Grand opening showed a line that stretched from Cheesecake Factory to Red Robin, with a mixture of girls and old ladies.  The girls clustered and giggled as they watched the old ladies laugh at the girls. Apparently they had worn that stuff in 1969, and they looked better in them, way hot. I know I did: hot!

The doors opened and the females moved in quickly and then they screeched to a stop.

When stores close

Where had the store gone?  Where were the skater shorts? Crystal Doll? City Studio? Swimsuits that exist in the strands of fabric only? Jewelry was obscene and expensive.

Forever 91?  The open door provided shopping carts and scooters ready for use, to be used by the 91 group.  Old ladies races to the carts, shrieking and laughing. The lady walkers were the best, quicker. 

styles across the ages

WELL, the carnage did not go well.  Old lady clothes someway appealed to the skinny giggles 16 year old girls. Why, it is not known. 

So there you have it. The Old may be old, but oh my, do not get in their way. The youngsters lost interest, decided to go to local arcades. 

I told my gr-daughter (8 yr. old) about turning store to a Forever 91 really upset her. We went to Starbucks, all was well with the world.

Wisdom of the Cowboy

                                                                       common sense

cowboy logic

sounds normal

I love this man.

The Gambler

"Heroes have always been cowboys." What about you? Here is my own cowboy.

My brother Bill and his quarter horse Sonny
He moved to Texas, lived there the rest of his adult life.
He was my favorite cowboy.

Bill Peck: 1955-1999
6'4", tall and lanky

Remember

 

Even though this is a digital world, our brains will grab our memories and hang on  to them.  Our great-greats will be able to see our own world, our goofy clothes, and places we have been. As the generations pass, we will appear on slides and our own "Super 8".

Remembering  and being able to remember is the challenge. Wanting to remember may be good or bad. Or it would be memories that are hard copy, paper to be held in our own hands.

ABC news

ABC news

These videos are lengthy, 5-8 minutes. Watch whatever, listen to the words spoken, and think about that attack and the men who fought to save those in the embassy. 

What difference does it make?

ABC News

No Clinton bashing here. Just information that is being released now always is a great read.  What will happen next?

 

On the Clotheslines

 

Allposters.com

Wet clothing pinned and clipped on lines

Towels and pants on one high end,
Sheets and shirts other end of twines,
Hanging down low as centers bend.

But, in the middle, too shy to publicly fly,

Hangs the underwear, bleached and white.

Playing hide and seek from those near-by,

Wanting oh-so-badly to take flight.

Oh, for a strong wind to play,

Coming across and sweeping away
The blues, the whites, and the gray,
Onto tractor windows, passing this day.

Bras, panties with hearts, boxers brave

Landing square on a farmer's face,

No dignity there is left to save,

Underwear at last has found a place.

How to hang up clothes

I have had much experience with laundry on the line, years and years of it.  

I wrote this poem with a head full of memories and my mother's commands to hang the underwear in the middle of the second line, out of sight.  "We don't want neighbors to see what we wear." 

 Neighbors?  The nearest lived a half  a mile away.  The lines were behind the house.  But I was obedient. 

If anyone wants to sing the praises of laundry drying on clothesline, go ahead. I will not be agreeing with you. Too many images carrying laundry basket after each other has left me with a desire to never hang clothes out blowing in the wind. Sorry.

This is a repost from 2015 in A-Z Blogfest, U is for Underwear. Dang it, it was entertaining to my brain to toss around.

100% beef on a sesame bun

 

I'm lovin' it!

So here we were: sitting in a line of 20 cars at McDonald's, because the debit machine was broken.  Grumbling is at a mild roar.

Since my gr-daughters have helped me become more tech aware, I used my android to visit Google: What is in McDonald burgers? It tells me 100% beef, and shows a site where more info can be found.

Going to a non-McDonald site, we learned much in our ten minutes.

What is actually in their hamburgers?

  After you watch the first minute or so, skip to 6:37 where you will see more.

This is just in case the video itself gets blocked.

Beef by-products are meat and fat scraps, connective tissue, and bone bits.  These are the ingredients of the absolute cheapest dog food.  BUT, add some ammonia and voile’! There you have 100% beef.  And, by all definitions, it IS 100% beef with a secret pink sauce added. 

EEWWW

The bun consists of 28 ingredients. First three are flour, water, and barley flour. The rest are unpronounceable words, all science stuff. 

I then looked at Chicken McNuggets. This info is guaranteed to be nauseating.

Our turn came up and we drove off with diet Dr. Pepper.  Yes, it is chock full of chemicals.

Coffee and soda are our usual purchases.  Now I know why.

Vintage 1970s commercial

P.S. Nearly every web site visited, I encountered all sorts of blockades, and videos simply disappeared.  Some sites I had just visited had been removed or an error message appeared.

This is a repost back from 2012, after sitting in a line and reading the above. Diet coke, decaf coffee, ice cream cone, and that's it: I order these items and maybe a pie. 

Since this reveal was opened up a decade ago, the McD industry has done a lot of backpedaling. I am sure the factories no long have ammonia in the pantry.

CostCo or Sam's Club

                                   

CostCo (and Sam's) is a horror to experience on any week, any day, or any hour.  So much fortitude is required to gird up any given body part when entering its gates of hell.  Once a membership is flashed to an employee, air is sucked straight out of one's lungs and a spectre of doom hovers around anyone with money in pockets or purse.  

Common sense flees, prices seem reasonable, and the hunt begins.

We had a list given to us by his sister:  a specific list for specific number of guests.   Twenty hamburgers,  twenty hot dogs, and six chicken breasts to be halved seemed very reasonable. 

When reaching the meat section, my high I.Q. husband starts figuring and asking, "Does one hamburger really mean these? Where each is larger than my hand? Six pounds--is that enough?  Chicken? Nine pounds?  Can one chicken breast really be halved and be substantial? And, hot dogs?  Surely not the cheap ones, skinny and pathetic.  Let's buy these."

$25 + $25 + $40 + .... It was $175 totaled up for twenty people to eat just grilled meat.  What are our relatives?  Ravenous cannibals, piling plates with nine dollars worth of meat? 

Then John reasoned buns and condiments were necessary.  Throw in a jar of jam, a new purse for Mother's Day, a three-pack Redi-Whip, and some vitamins, our wallets opened as spectres vacuum green bills, and a nice cashier smiled, "Have a good one."

God help us.  We are too old to take this pressure.  When CostCo was Price Club 30 years ago, we called it the One-Hundred Dollar store, enjoyed strolling the aisles.  Now, it is closer to Two-Hundred-Fifty Dollars, and our legs hurt.

We still go to Sam's Club, it is closer and more user friendly.  CostCo or Sam's club...It is an addiction, either one.

Wikipedia

Just a note: our BBQs usually end up with some charred meat.

It is always good.

Temperatures here have been 100 deg F. Hot so hot, and people head to cooler places.  Sam's Club is our favorite, and Lowe's is next. Lowe's is actually more interesting.

 

Walk through the Fire

  

Disasters storm through our state in greater numbers.  

Here in S. California, wildfires are vacillating from 20-??% containment so far, in our Riverside County.

Chaparral Fire, Murrieta, CA

About 40 miles away

We can see the smoke, 

10% contained.

These photos were taken from our yard. These were about 

20 miles away, 2008

This is always another cycle, annually expected and dreaded. Equally disastrous is the current Hurricane Ida, and eventually other hurricanes. The earthquakes in Haiti have shown the power of a restless earth. God bless and keep those people in the pathway of that horror. 

BUT