A Really Short Story ... Rubber Bands

I haven't been writing of late with  this being a rather tough term at school,but here goes it on a Friday morning ...

http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=rubber%20bands&order=9&offset=60#/d2dvyvg

Just one of the many joys of life, as I find, is cracking open those crispy little fortune cookies,with the crumbs going everywhere and scooping out the small bit of paper inside. There are those odd times where they tell you things you weren't ever aware of before.

And so I said: "What is it that it tells you?" to my smallish friend. Her name was Charlie. I called her Charles. It sounded much more sophisticated, in my mind.

"It says: good luck and good fortune are coming your way." she said, and ate the cookie shards all in one bite.

I carefully halved mine, and used my ring finger and thumb to pull the fortune from it's hold,trying not to make to big of a mess. And so, I looked at it. And it told me.

"The rubber bands are headed in the right direction."

To which I, and my friend, so very intelligently replied:

".....whut?"

The Delight

The Delight

1.

The lady’s house sat alone, down a dirt road in the middle of a rolling field. Her lawn consisted of dazzling yellow dandelions that were blooming in full. In her garden were fruit trees and climbing Romano beans, every kind of tomato, numerous vegetables ripening in the warm summer sun. Off to the side of an octagon cedar gazebo was a particularly noticeable raspberry bush.

Behind her porch was a single stone path that ambled straight through corridors of lavender, chamomile and an assortment of mint. It met a small koi pond that had blooming lilies floating on its surface.

The dress she had on was silk, very fluid and perfectly white like fresh snow, or perhaps a swan’s wing. The skirt was full length and golden ribbons served as a belt and trim to the neckline and hem. Her mahogany hair had been curled and hung in long loopy tendrils past her shoulders to her mid back. She looked in a word stunning, and yet …

She invited the gentleman in and showed him her cottage. It was hand built of stones and bricks, with wooden rafters from which there were thousands of scented leaves and sprigs drying. There were large glass windows which let in the moonlight and stood open to let in a gentle breeze tickling the Scottish Lace Curtains. Her bookcases were filled with knowledge, adventure and mystery. A river rock fireplace took up a wall of the kitchen, a large stone basin stood next to it.

The lady had counters of polished blonde oak, and cabinets full of dishes, some brightly colored, some of simple clay, all of her hand. She smiled at him and produced an old copper pot, which was filled half full and set over the stove. She turned on the burner as she rolled fresh Moroccan mint and buds from the lavender and set them afloat in the water. After it had boiled, she strained the moss colored liquid into two simple clay mugs ….

2.

“Where is this place?”

“You’re only dreaming”

This was a short story done for my fiction class a few  months ago. My instructor made the comment to class no one should ever end a story with "and I woke up," or something like that. Of course I had to try ...

September 11, 2011

As we look forward to our week of remembering 9/11, I offer the following hymn of peace for your consideration today.

“…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.” (Micah 4:3-4, ESV)

I can’t believe its coming on 10 years since that day. I think the real message in September 11 is that there is a lot of pain and anger in the world. This world really needs hope and love. This morning I finished reading Philip Yancey’s “Where is God When It Hurts?” and he had something in there that startled me. In India only 3% of the country is Christian, yet Christians in India are responsible for 18% of the health care. In India when you ask someone what they think of when they think of a Christian, they think of love, compassion and graceful health care to the poor. Wouldn’t it be great if it were like that in the United States?

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth. Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. Amen.

Klamath Tribes Restoration Pow Wow 2011

All is quiet on this Monday after Pow Wow, and normality, such as it is, has return to our usually quiet mountain town. But allow me to share with you some photos from Saturday afternoon's Grand Entry.






For more photo's check out my other blog:

http://thundercatt99.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/chiloquin-pow-wow-2011/

The Klamath Tribes Restoration Pow Wow Parade 2011

This weekend is the Klamath Tribes Restoration Pow Wow, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Klamaths regaining tribal status! To celebrate I'm offering pictures to this years parade ....



Yes .... Oregon Duck fans abound here!


More pictures are at my other blog:

Thundercatt99.wordpress.com

What If Social Media Were High School?

An interesting tidbit to share with you all. At a place called "Flowtown", they have created a funny infographic about the social media landscape in 2011. Basically the question is ... If you were in high school right now, would you be the Digg boy, or the band geek? Or the Jock?

Or perhaps ... The Gossip Girl (Twitter), the Teacher’s Pet (Quora) or the English Geek (WordPress)?

Here is the chart:

Social Media Class of 2011 Yearbook

http://www.blogherald.com/2011/07/27/the-social-media-high-school-yearbook/

It pretty much had me pegged with my Flickr account and Wordpress blog with a touch of Twitter thrown in. How about you?

"brave"

I’m writing this on an early Wednesday morning, looking for inspiration and understanding in the words of Madeleine L’Engle. This is what she has for me today:

“We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are, to see through plastic sham to living, breathing reality, and to break down our defenses of self-protection in order to be free to receive and give love.”

I think it’s interesting that she placed “receive” before “give.” Some days, like today, I don’t really feel "brave" enough for either…