Two Old Women by Velma Wallis

 

 survivors in a hostile land

 

The Gwich’in tribe had decided, and once a resolute decision is made, there would be no change.

Leader Ti’kto’ma approached the old woman with tribal leaders behind him.  The old woman huddled close to the fire, but continued to chew the hide of a seal, softening it.

”Old grandmother!  It is time to leave you in this camp for you to take your final journey!”  Ti’kto’ma shouted down at the elderly woman, where her youngest granddaughter wrapped her arms around the woman.

Old Woman, whose worth now was less than bark on a tree, nodded in submission.  The young girl begged for Grandmother’s life, her bruised deformed face twisted in tears.  Ti’kto’ma kicked her away from the fire.  “The fire is wasted on you!  Return to your mother…she must have some use for you, Mongrel Child.”

Old Woman gazed as the tribe walked off in the distance, clutching her bag and fur scarf tightly. In a day where dusk came as soon as the sun disappeared, she was left in the abandoned camp. She settled her elderly bones onto icy snow, waiting for the cold to take her.

As night crept in and cold settled over her, sounds grew louder in the forest.  Old Woman reached out, finding her grand-daughter.

“Let us both float off in the final journey together,” Mongrel Child whispered.  Old Woman wrapped her shawl and scarf around the girl, and they settled into a final night's sleep.

Elephant’s Child has provided the bold underlined words as a challenge for bloggers to stir the pot and produce any genre using those words.  This week there are six and/or another six words to play with as you choose.  Pop on over to her site, by clicking on her moniker above. These two writers are generous writers:  drifting through life and 

Have you heard of a book Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal and Survival" written by Velma Wallis? The tribe name is true and this ancient custom is accurate.  The story has truth in it as well.  After discovering "two old women" left behind, the starving tribe finds them well, healthy, and with a huge collection of dried foods. Ancient skills which they understood saved them.         

 

The Gwich'in discontinued this tradition. This book is a worthy read, simplistic yet moving. How does the story end? 

More on this history and legends

 

The Life of Nuthin'

 

                         China White pigs; they are mean. Really mean.

Life on a farm can be unforgiving. This usually happens when the sow will reject the piglet(s) at birth if it seems frail in any way. Joining the herd frail or too small meant life or death.

Life was life, and things died—all farm children know the harsh facts. 

 

But, one cold winter day there was a lone piglet that was different. 

Love me for my brains!

He had been rejected by the sow because clearly something was wrong with him.  He had a huge tumor on his left hind leg.  My brother Robert looked down at the piglet in the box as I uncovered it and examined his poor leg.  “It ain’t worth nuthin’.  Should let it die.”

“Nuthin’…that’s what we’ll call him.”  Over the next days and weeks, Robert and I took turns feeding Nuthin’ first from a bottle, and then from a dish.  Nuthin’ grew, and we kept him in a pen in the breezeway until spring came.  By then, Nuthin’ was almost the size of our beagle dog Tuffy, and they played together in the yard.  We called his name, and Nuthin’ came as fast as his crippled leg allowed him.   

 

Spring was moving into May, and Nuthin’ was getting too big to let roam the yard.  Animals reaching adolescence are just like humans; they aren’t the same sweet little kids anymore.  Dad said we had to put him in the barn lot with the three milk cows.  We could still visit him, but playing with him wasn’t an option.  

 

That was when we noticed the tumor on his leg growing.  Day by day, we could see Nuthin’ slowing down, and not eating as much.  One day Nuthin’ lay down, and no amount of convincing could make him move.

The next morning Nuthin’ had disappeared.  No one said much about that, because all farm children know the harsh facts.

 

 First published: Susan Kane  22 March 2011 Robert and I have talked about good ole' Nuthin.over those years since. I had some fond memories, Robert not so much.

Endless boredom

  

says enough 

 

 

Stretched out on the bed, Gwen wondered if life could get much more boring than this.  

Anything…almost anything…would be better than this.

Every last vegetable in the garden that could be canned had been canned. In fact, the garden was a pile of pulled weeds. Yard was mowed.  Siding washed down.  Fence wire repaired.

The hogs were wearing down in the heat.  Which is why she was at home: to spray water over the hogs to cool them down.  

The slightest sound brought Gwen almost to the point of throwing furniture down the stairs or ripping down the laundry line.  

Is this what it feels to be insane, to lose my mind?

The parents were at a church committee meeting.  The older brothers had taken the truck to somewhere.  

That point seemed rather vague.

Lightning had blown out the transformer yesterday, taking all the electricity with it.  No TV.   No one to phone.  No radio.   Nothing.

What do you think a bored teen (boy or girl) would do in this situation??  What would you do?

 

Murder from the Shadows

 

Tom Conway, Brother of George Sanders

 While James appeared to be non-chalant to the point of being flippant at this sad funeral, his insides churned with the anxiety that consumed him.  No one would have ferreted out the source of his distress except Emilia, precious Emilia.

And she lay in the coffin.  Emilia.  How James had loved her.  She held the essence of beauty even now, cold in death. 

Just days before, when truth had come speeding through her understanding, Emilia had faced him.  “It was you!  You poisoned me over time, with mercury.  Why?  Why?”

James stepped out from shadowed staircase.  

”Simple, my love.  You are the only one who truly understood me.  Others labeled me ‘arrogant’, but you knew, you knew…”  

 

 Rachel Roberts, one of Hitchcock's favorite actresses

 

With a final gasp, Emilia crumbled to the floor. 

What was James' secret?  Why did he poison

Emilia?  What.....

 This a re-post, 2014, Wed. Words.

League of Pigs

 

Pigs have been part of my life.  From the days when they were wiggling pink pig creatures until the days when they are 300 lbs. hogs and are heading off to a new place, they were part and parcel of our farm life.

This particular show is called the "League of Pigs", and is incredible in that it draws you in and grabs you for every race.  The above video is 10 min. long, but just watch the first few minutes. This is the first season of the races.

 I am rooting for Ginger, who is consistent in her performance. Enjoy.   Vote for your favorite:

Ginger, Hoshi Oinktu, Piggy Smalls, Pepper Sanchez, Bear Trotsky are the athletes in the first race of the season. 

 

Never ever irritate or offend a goose

There must a universal crazy goose theme to merit a bronze statuette.

This is a crazy goose story.  Apparently there are many of these stories around the world, which scares me a little.  Geese are universally crazy.

My brother Don was driving the tractor from one field down the road to our house.  As he passed Neighbor Jim’s field, he saw a drama developing.  Turning off the tractor, Don watched.

Holiday Ranch

The field was spotted with grazing cows and a bull.  This bull was quite full of himself, with all those breeding cows.

Also in the field was a Canadian goose, injured with a shotgun pellet in its wing.  Not a serious injury, it could still fly across the field, but not all the way to South America.  At least for a few weeks when another “V” of geese flew overhead, crazy goose found shelter with the herd.

One thing about geese is that they eat grain, corn, and its relatives in any form they find it.  Cow patties are full of partially digesting grains, so the crazy goose followed the cows around and happily filled up on what was literally left behind.

 The bull was offended.  He chased the goose away from his cows, strutting in triumph.  This happened again and again.  Crazy goose clearly had to do something.

As the bull grazed, crazy goose waddled up behind the bull.  Going between the hind legs, crazy goose positioned itself beneath the bull’s reason for living: the testicles.  With a well-placed nip, crazy goose hit those testicles with great accuracy.

The bull bellowed, reared and jumped, while crazy goose flew to the end of the field.

Gaining his composure, the bull settled down.  Crazy goose moved in for another strike.  This went on for a good thirty minutes. 

After numerous successful hits, crazy goose ventured up to a warm cow patty, finding some corn right on top.  The bull snorted and moved a good distance away from crazy goose.

An acceptable peace had been reached.  My brother Don started up the tractor and chuckled all the way home.

Just for interest....

This is a re-post from March 12, 2012.  This was posted again in 2015 and 2024. Just saw crazy videos of geese all over the world and they inspired me to put this up again. Don't mess with geese, don't make eye contact, and be prepared to run.

 

 

Shortage of Housing?

 

 Finding a place to live is essential to a good life.  A home can be anything and anywhere. Could you live in any of these places below? 

"Coober Pedy, located in South Australia, is recognized as the opal capital of the world, contributing over 70% of the global supply of opals. Since its establishment in 1915, following the initial opal discovery, this unique town has developed an innovative approach to managing the extreme outback heat by creating underground living spaces."

   

Portugal 

 

                                            In China, 194 grottoes  

 

Built on a cliff, it is even more thrilling than the Hanging Temple. The "Horseshoe Temple" has a history of 1,600 years.

 

A good example of Yemeni architecture, “Iman’s Rock Palace” is five stories high and has a system to cool water in earth ware jars.

Mesa Verde  

It would be a stretch to say I would or could live in any of these. When I viewed these photos, I wondered about the people who lived there with their families. I could almost hear children playing and catch the scent of food cooking. 

Tis home where e’er the heart is,
Where e’er its loved ones dwell,
In cities, or in cottages,
Throng’d haunts or mossy dell,
The heart’s a rover ever,
And thus on wave and wild,
The maiden with her lover walks,
The mother with her child.

source

At a fast crawl...

 

 Billy Sunday

"There’s a storm comin’!  I tell you a storm!” Pastor yelled, pounding the pulpit.  “ARE YOU READY?”

The congregation shouted Amen, Praise the Lord…waking Emily from her nap on the pew.  

 

 

Mama was standing, being one of the Amen group.

Emily rolled and then planted her chubby little feet on the maple floor.  The walking thing was still iffy, but she had the crawl-ing down.  Distance to the pulpit wasn’t far at all, and at a fast crawl, Emily could cover it before Mama noticed.

And, off she took, under pews, between legs, around feet, past purses.  Oh, Emily knew she was fearless, and this would be another time she found freedom, with her white diaper bottom wagging behind.

“Can you make a joyous noise to the Lord??” Pastor roared. Cue the organist, who joined in with a chorus from different hymns.

Emily reached the pulpit and pulled herself up, pounding on the cross

.

Source

  “Root out sin!  Let joy rise as a fragrance to the Lord!” He raised his arms, pointing to heaven.

Emily plopped down on her bottom, onto a loaded and ripe diaper.  You betcha!  Emily clapped and cooed as Mama came running.

Thank you, Elephant's Child  at its original form for providing the bold underlined italicized words!  She tossed 6 to 12 words out at writers to take up a challenge in their writing each week. 

 

 Wherever we go, there are some amazingly cute precious babies. I look at the parents with a smile, pat my chest, saying "Grandma"                                                                                   

 

 

This is a repost from 2022. Wednesday Words is a genre free challenge created by Delores, who probably could not have predicted how it would keep going. 

Crossroads of life

 

Walking on some streets and sidewalks, I have found myself totally lost. At an intersection where nothing is at all familiar has dropped me in a confusion hell. Where is North or South? East or west? God, please help me. And, that was me in Walgreen's store.

 
Facing decisions like that are scary and I always wondered about all those crossroads humanity has faced and abilities challenged..

Ralph Macchio vs. Steve Via

Cy Cooder plays for Macchio who is admired for his mime skill.

The final battle, about 5 minutes long. Watch the final minutes if you don't want to see the whole thing.

 

This movie is Crossroads, a loose story telling of the legendary Robert Johnson where he supposedly sold his soul to the devil in order to have success as a musician. This movie follows the journey of Willie Brown who has done such with his friend Eugene Martone, a classical guitarist at Julliard. Martone saves Willie Brown by offering to play against lead guitarist played by Steve Vai.

Steve Vai practiced for a year to learn how to play badly at the last scene. It was awesome. Macchio spent months training with Alan Roth, a gifted guitarist. While Macchio was not a proficient guitarist, he could sure mime one.  It is so convincing that I had to wonder about it.

And just for the heck of it, here are two other Devil Gets Your Soul music performances:

Charlie Daniel's epic violin and Devil Went Down to Georgia

about 3 minutes long.

Talented musician

Mick Jagger, Sympathy for the Devil

About 8 minutes long

Rolling Stones have put their stamp on this.

No one can beat it.

These performances hang about in my mind even though I am lost at intersections sometimes. My husband usually rescues me, and God provides for me. God holds my soul and heart. Devil does not hang around at my intersections.

Please let me know about crossroads you have had.