Betrayed and stolen

 

It wasn’t until his fifth venture up into Granddad’s attic that Jackson discovered a burlap covering a satchel, knowing instantaneously what it contained.  The randy old man had told him about a battered bag that held purloined jewelry from his younger days.

“Jest you be sure, lad, that yer Granny never sees what else is inside…”  So Jackson pawed through jeweled rings, necklaces and minute lockets, until he found a crumpled letter. 

 

 “You scoundrel! You ran away with everything I held dear…” and some other words he dare not read.  “Damn your unfaithful heart!   Sincerely, your aggrieved and betrayed, Mary Dent…”

Hmmm, Jackson pondered as he closed up the satchel.  Mary Dent? Aunt Mary Dent? Granny’s sister? Hmmmm...more to the old man than I knew.....

This was a Wednesday Word challenge from 2014. The underlined words provided are meant for bloggers to choose and then stir into an interesting combination. 

Field of Wheat and a red poppy

 

Poppies at sunset 

 

Flying on moonbeams fair

Over flowers and with bees,

Caressing a sleeping child’s hair,

Seeing what only a Fairy sees.

Standing on a mountain peak,

Weeping at the beauty of grass and sea.

Wind sweeping, I cannot speak,

As if God prepared this spot for me.

Gliding hands along heads of wheat,

Almost golden, yet still green.

Discovering a single red poppy

Bravely, gracefully greets and humbles me, 
for what I have seen.

 

by Susan Kane 2014

Each week, Delores created a writing challenge for participants.  That week she also asked for a poem telling what we would do if there were no restrictions placed upon us. Hmmmm...

 What would you write?

 

This is from 2014. We went to Switzerland and our Air BnB apt was near a farm. We had to walk up a steep hill to get to the apt. and this photo was one I took then. When we returned from an adventure, the wheat was in process of being harvested. I was stunned by the beauty in the field. Restrictions? I could not walk into the field.

 

Our Babies with Their Babies

Since 2014, our son is married and has 2 small boys; Our youngest daughter
is married and has 2 sons. Our oldest daughter has two girls, cuddling up to us.

 

We were 10 years younger then, and many pounds heavier. Thankfully, we are thinner, and we are older; things hurt more.

On one trip to Switzerland allowed our three grown-up children and their off-spring to be together.  Like proud parents, we stood back and enjoyed their interactions.  They have grown so much, accomplished more than we or they expected, and become successful adults.

Even in our glowing observing, we could not help but notice that WE were also be observed. 

Christmas 2018 at Disneyland

Sitting in the family room (me on the floor) while we played cars and trucks with our grand kids, these three (with their spouses) leaned in closely, talking in low voices.  

Occasionally one would glance our way and then turn back to the group.  One would point at us.  One would indicate some body part where we were currently experiencing pain.  

All were serious.  Sympathetic. 

My husband suggested,  “They have great senior facilities here…”

I looked at my husband and him at me.  “You know,” I whispered, “Euthanasia is legal here in Switzerland.”

We looked back at our precious adult children.  They quickly looked away and moved to the kitchen.  

Then we resumed play with grandchildren.  Life is good as grandparents when there are Legos and toys available, and the children who have a glow about them.

Someday they will be sitting on the floor with their own grandchildren. Lucky people. Life is fun, life is good. 

New Hope Nefarious, So. Dakota

                            Town of Nefarious, Wyoming or Idaho: pop. 4957...953...236...

"Come Sick, Leave Healthy"

At the turn of the 1900s, Nefarious ** had been a boom town.  Seltzer Springs brought in wagons full of health seekers to use the springs, eat peculiar food, and spend money.

Alas, the Springs started to dry up along with the tourists.  Around 1993, the population itself dwindled.  Then one day, few boys were playing in the empty waterbed when they screamed in delight, ran back to the mayor, Doc Kincaid, who confirmed their big find.  He took to kids to his house and locked them in a closet.  "I'll let you out when the city council men get here."

The council men came quickly as there had been little to do lately.

The boys told them and led them to the creek bed.  "Look, Mr. Jenkins! Look!"  And there it was: the bones of an immense prehistoric boa, 50 feet long with the circumference of 8 feet.  Silence fell.  There was more to be found as they walked along the dried stream, lined with dinosaur bones.

In the quiet dining room of the widower Jasper Fillings way out of town, all men along with the boys sat around the dining table and a plan was hatched.  "In two weeks time, we must re-construct our miserable little town to make it look like it did back in 1890s.   Stores must occupy the empty old stores....and anyone known to be a gossip and who has relatives who are gossips must be confined." He paused and shook his head.  "How, I don't know."  

He continued. "Phones ripped out, Facebook and such shut down...secrecy is the key. Boys?  You wanta help or be locked up in the old boarded up classroom out in the dusty school?"

The town without the gossipy group threw muscle into renewal.  Quilts were ordered from China, tags removed, with new tags added "Hand-sewn by Louisa May Smith".  Rusty tools and blacksmith shop were restored.  Jars and jars of jams, preserves, and candles were ordered.  The labels were stripped off, and new ones put on: Mrs. Tucker's Homemade.... My...Oh, the work. Nefarious appeared to be frozen in the late 1800s.

The gossipy type had been sent on a 21 day cruise to Hawaii on the Holland American vee Dam.  They apparently had a wonderful time, and the cruise had been extended.

Finally, the paleontologists were summoned.  Two wise men, then four, then more:  all agreed that this was the biggest titanoba ever found, and joy overflowed as they walked down the creek bed.

A lackadaisical bearded old man was paid to sit in an old chair with his feet propped up on the sidewalk railing.  Curious tourists with full shopping bags asked him how long had he been there.

There had been no luck finding a old man.  Sam Elliot stepped

up to be the stand in for the weathered old cowboy.

Why? No one ever understood that.

"Heck if I know,"  he answered and then aimed some tobacco spit at the nearby spittoon.  Sometime he hit the mark, sometimes he did not.  All went well in Nefarious here on out.

Sue the T-Rex is front and center at Chicago's Field Museum and was found S. Dakota. Other than that, we will stay with the rugged states where dinosaur bones have been found.

This is a repost of Wednesday Words given as a challenge for bloggers to shake up their writing, to take a break from WIPs, try different genre.  A dear Blogger, Delores, started this challenge a few years back, passing the baton onto other talented bloggers. 

Hand of the Law

 

Samuel stared through the bars as he groaned at this unjust incarceration.  What had he done?  Just the usual stuff, but this time?  I got caught big time.

He coughed up a ball of green-yellow phlegm, spitting it on the floor beyond the bars.  Heh, heh, heh… Samuel had been charged with disturbing the peace, marking graffiti on public walls, and destruction of property.

That last one gave him joy.  With just a plastic knife, Samuel had stabbed a piece of furniture, tossing foam and stuffing everywhere.  Good times.

Samuel then realized that his diaper was beyond damp, it was dripping.  “MAMA!” he cried, with big tears.  Sometimes being the not-yet-potty-trained was a blessing.

This is from 2014 (Nine years?) and the underlined words are from Delores who set up a writing challenge for every writer, Wednesday Words. Delores retired from this and handed it over to some very talented bloggers Drifting through life  and Elephant's Child. Please head on over to those sites, and see what other bloggers are creating.

Band of Brothers St. Crispin's Day

 

  

Choices we make

I loved the nobility and passion of Henry V/Kenneth Branagh’s rousing speech in which he extols his men to remember that battle on St. Crispin’s Day.  Band of Brothers…reminding them how dear this relationship would always be.  Still gives me goosebumps.

 

Standing up, brave and sure, this bold army chronicled Henry V leadership for his short reign of about 9 years. Henry V is the unique king in that he invaded and beat France twice, during the 100 year war.

Kenneth Branagh St. Crispin Day

That given, I know absolutely nothing about the violent history of bloody English wars, or any European war in the 1400s - ? Was any battle EVER dry of blood? Not that I know of, blood and body pieces are the essence of war.

Even here, these band of brothers, will hold on to their comrades and their courage.Just words say it all.

                                            Renaissance Man, 1994

 

Crawling is the first power

 

strong sermon

“There’s a storm comin’!  I tell you a storm!” Pastor Grimley 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 for provided the bold underlined italicized words!  She tosses 6 to 12 words out at writers to take up a challenge in their writing each week.  

Go to her site and check comments, take up the challenge.

This is a 2014 posting.  I am culling through previous posts. Some of them are good, some are mediocre, and the others will never see the light of day.

Side note:  Have you ever enjoyed such a church service? We never had any pulpit vandalism, but had the "amen and praise God" congregants.

What Grows in a Field

Lily and Clara trying to restrain Benjamin, unsuccessfully. He took off in a 2 yr. old run. I barely caught him.

Benjamin was unrepentant, in a cute way.

In 2014 our family joined together in Switzerland to spend time with Mary and Richard McKinley and our grandson Benjamin. It was a fabulous time, just can't tell you how great it was.

John and I stayed at an AirBnB in Kӧnig, a rural area near Berne. We booked it after Mary researched it. What she did not realize at the time that this lovely place had two fairly steep gravel roads leading to the apartment, which was on the second floor.  What she did not take into account was that we were her parents in their 60s.

This farmer owned about 4 John Deere implements, all pristine. 

These gravel roads led to a farm; not just a farm but it was paradise, at least to me. We always stopped at the barn and house where an arch of old barn connected to new barn. We rested for about five minutes because we were knackered before striking out on the next hill.


A farm was complete with cows, apple trees, a garden, and wheat fields. Each day as we walked by the farm, the wheat fields were ripening. What caught me was the red among the green.

So amazing, this lone poppy was a bravely growing flower.  

This is on my sidebar.

Within the second week, we trudged up the first hill and saw that the wheat had been harvested, taking the poppy with it.

It will return next year in another place. Poppies are resilient.