Fickle Words

 

Words linger in silence

Just outside my reach.

Once easily they popped to me,

Now, those damn words will

Scamper and bound away.

#//=&$

Perhaps what scares me most

Is when the words pause in mid sentence,

Leaving my brain 

To scramble through the files there, 

Searching for the right words.

Words, words, words.

Words that sing and shout.

Words that fly about.

Zing, zap, and zoom.

Winging their way with wonder

Denying grasps, causing gasps

Written in 1971, at college during teacher training.

A writer in a hazy world

Is a sad writer.

We're on the one road, maybe the wrong road....

Liam's grandfather had told him stories of life in Ireland, how farmers and their harnessed draft horses plowed land and brought in harvest. These images were so compelling that one day, Liam and wife Betty headed to the 'auld country themselves.

Irish Travellers

Liam had rented a traditional traveler caravan, and plodded out onto the dirt roads, being pulled by a harnessed draft horse, named Billy. Sean and Dermot, owners of Caravan Travels, watched them leave, whispering, They'll be stuck in mud before the day's out.

First few miles, Liam and Betty were filled with energy, singing every Irish song they knew, which were many. Over the hours, as energy seemed to drop and sag, they decided that left lane at the fork looked more promising and shorter to the pit stop where other renters would gather and sing more Irish songs.

Mud grabbed their wheels which locked the caravan stock still, while Billy quite happily grazed at lush green grass. Betty began to weep and Liam was dismayed, feeling betrayed by his grandfather's stories.

Then, a fine old black and white tractor came chugging and howling to this miserable couple, followed by Sean in a Ford 150, who fixed the problem right and proper, pulling them out of mud, with a loud SUCK.

Back at Caravan Travels, Liam doled over more pounds to rent a mobile trailer, hooked on the trailer hitch of his rental car, and drove off in a bright red shade of embarrassment.

Tourists. Dreamers.

We are contemplating a journey to Ireland. No traveler caravan, just something safe.

This was a post from August 2015.

Time to serve and save

 

True story of Granite Hill Fire

Chris had never been known to be a “waiter”; instead he always threw himself headlong into many diverse adventures…here, there, here...He loved the adrenalin rush, the way it drove him. After that rush came his pride and carelessness.

Who and what Chris was then changed radically when he became a man whose greatest desire in life was to wait upon the Lord.  

Be intense, diligent… …taking on the most mundane of tasks.  Wait upon the Lord…were the words running through his mind when the alarm bell rang.

“Take it, Chris!” cried out a fellow fireman. At the clunk sound of hose thrown to him, adrenaline surged. Gripping the heavy hose tightly, Chris reminded himself ”Time to serve!” as he raced into the blazing house.

YouTube from movie "Fireproof". Video is about 4 min. long.

2015 Yarnell Arizona Fire

June 30, 2015

Arizona family

The underlined words are from Wednesday Words, from April 2015. These are for challenging writer, once provided and encouraged by several bloggers. 

The Granite Hill fire was a horror we cannot ignore. Wildfires spread so quickly.