JUST DOWN THE ROAD OF LIFE

(I wrote this today, 1 Sep 2011, thinking about how the seemingly
IMPORTANT things and events in my Life, were but a faded memory
that only came to Call when a song, sound, smell, or visual brought
it to the Fore.)

*** JUST DOWN THE ROAD OF LIFE ***

"As I Travel farther Down the Road of Life, the view in the rear view
mirror takes on a different perspective.   What seemed a major event
at the Time, now seems but a 'bump in the road'!   I am what I am
Today, because of all the 'bumps' that challenged my Mind, Heart,
and Patience!"

{SPECIAL NOTE: Be careful what you ask for or pray for,
because if you PRAY for patience, in my experience you may
most definitely get more 'trials' and 'bumps' to weather,
to Test your Patience (and thereby give you more Practice).
Practice makes perfect - Practice makes Patience.
(AND, more Practice means you will get better at what
you strive for or pray for!!!) } !!! [dht-2011]



[Photo Source: National Geographic online images - Bodie, CA]

[Location Info for Bodie, CA, you can use this link
http://www.google.com/ to do an internet search for Bodie, CA ]

I Still Know Who She Is

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00.

The Nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him. The Nurse saw him looking at his watch and, since the Nurse was not busy with another patient, decided to evaluate his wound. On examining it, the Nurse saw it was well healed, and talked to one of the other Nurses and got the needed supplies to remove the sutures and redress the wound.

While taking care of the wound, the Nurse asked the elderly gentleman if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, since he was in such a hurry. The gentleman said, no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. The Nurse inquired as to her health and the gentleman told him that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's disease. As they talked, the Nurse asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. The gentleman replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him for five years now.

The Nurse was surprised and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?' The elderly gentlemen smiled as he patted the Nurse's hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.' The Nurse had to hold back tears, and had goose bumps, and thought, 'That is the kind of love I want in my life'.


SAYINGS

True love is neither physical nor romantic'. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

Peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank.

The happiest people do not necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

I hope you share this with someone you care about, I just did..

Life is not about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain.

The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family. You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Almighty God, you will make it to a place called Success.

[~unknown]

Just A Candle's Aura

(I wrote this, 15 Jul 2011, thinking about how bright Future's venue from my youth's portal.  The visions of hope from my girlhood, were tarnessed and faded by the reality of Life with all its challenges, disappointments, and distractions.  Now, in the winter years, the bright aura of my youth does not burn as blue a hue.)

There gathered a sense of sharp anticipation
as I stepped through Folly's Door,
to find Future's Embrace.

The brilliant Aura of Youth,
now harnessed by Life's Distractions
and Time's Passage -- fades
until No More.

The Ending of the Day,
has mellowed to a fine Hue,
the sharpness of a stormy Passage.

There a momentary madness
burning high in Youth's Abode,
Now extinguished in Elder Days
of unrealized Wishes, Hopes, and Dreams.

The moment –
Nothing more remains --
Just A Candle's Aura!

[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

WHERE ONLY SHADOWS DANCE

(I wrote this, 13 Jul 2011, in a gray frame of mind, all too frequently occurring.  The "good times" in my life so far removed and their memory fading, seemed to go by too quickly.  Only now as I re-play those favorites,  do I feel I was not prepared to savor the precious few bright and clear moments. With misty eyes and wet checks, I try to recall happier times, despairing at the barriers that the 'bad times" cloud with melancholy.  SPECIAL NOTE --  My own writing offerings, I call " The Unrhyme Prose Poem Style". It is often serious, whimsical, thoughtful, fanciful, full of shadows and light, and of course Nature (birdies, flowers, and such). 

"Which of us, in his ambitious moments, has not dreamed of the miracle of a poetic prose, musical, without rhyme and without rhythm, supple enough and rugged enough to adapt itself to the lyrical impulses of the soul, the undulations of the psyche, the prickings of consciousness?”
[~ Little Poems in Prose, Charles Baudelaire])


The days at times are shrouded 
in unremitting shades of gray.

Dark shadows obscure
the corners of my life.

MELANCHOLY is as a shroud
that allows only gray scales of color –
NEVER the rainbow
rues of LOVE, JOY, HOPE, BELONGING...

The edges of memories blur –
their shape and texture mute –
with a blink of the mind's eye –
they recede.

How strange it seems
they happened Just As Quick
in their Time.

Now replaying those moments
over-and-over,
thoughts drift through Barriers
 NOT even Time's Gate Keeper can Deny.

The vast darkness
 so dense at times, 
the light cannot invade the Expanse
WHERE ONLY SHADOWS DANCE!

[~dht-2011]


[PHOTO SOURCE:  GOOGLE online images]

A TRIBUTE TO NURSES

PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images; NURSE AT WORK]
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NURSE'S DAY – History
National Nurses Week was observed in 1954 from October 11 through October 16, to mark the centennial anniversary of Florence's Nightingale's Crimean War mission, which came about based on the reports making their way back to Britain regarding the condition and care of the wounded.

In the fall of 1854, Nightingale and 38 other female volunteer nurses were dispatched to the Ottoman Empire to the location of the British encampment. There was a shortage of medicine, a disregard for hygiene, and infections were rampant and often fatal. It was here that the dedicated Nightingale earned her famous nickname, "The Lady With the Lamp," because even after the rest of the medical staff had retired for the day, she still persisted in making her solitary rounds in the dark.

It was not until 1974 that Nixon finally proclaimed an official National Nurses Week, and in 1982 May 6th was designated National Nurses Day by President Ronald Reagan.

Not to be confused with National Nurses Day, another celebrated day falls within Nurses Week designated solely to school nurses, and is referred to as National Student Nurses Day. It falls on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week each year.

It is on May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday, when International Nurses Day is celebrated each year. The International Council of Nurses creates and distributes to nurses kits that contain useful information and materials for nurses around the world.

The International Nurses Day (IND) 2011 theme is "Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity."

If you know a NURSE, be sure and remember them with even the smallest token of appreciation on NURSES DAY 6 May 2011.  They deserve it.

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[PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images; "The lady with the lamp", Florence Nightengale, founder of modern nursing]

Nursing is an art:
and if it is to be made an art,
It requires an exclusive devotion
as hard a preparation,
as a painter's or sculptor's work;
for what is the having to do with
dead canvas or dead marble,
compared with having to do
with the living body,
the temple of God's spirit?
It is one of the Fine Arts:
I had almost said,
the finest of Fine Arts.
[~Florence Nightingale]

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Being a NURSE means......
You will never be bored.
You will always be frustrated.
You will be surrounded by challenges.
So much to do and so little time.
You will carry immense responsibility and very little authority.
You will step into people's lives and you will make a difference.
Some will bless you. Some will curse you.
You will see people at their worst-and at their best.
You will never cease to be amazed at people's capacity for love, courage, and endurance.
You will see life begin-and end.
You will experience resounding triumphs and devastating failures.
You will cry a lot.
You will laugh a lot.
You will know what it is to be human and to be humane.
[~Melodie Chenevert, RN]

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FOR A SPECIAL NURSE

Long before you entered nursing
The Lord had played His part,
Planting seeds of love and kindness
In the portals of your heart.
For it's clear that you've been gifted
With a sympathetic ear,
And blessed from the beginning
With a willingness to cheer.
And the people who you care for
Are better off by far,
When they're touched by your compassion,
By the person that you are.
For in times of woe and worry
When they're frightened or they're blue,
No one could be more consoling than the friend they'll find in you!
[~unknown]
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This is dedicated to that SPECIAL person that tends you in times of need—YOUR NURSE.
AND, to a SPECIAL NURSE, my beloved daughter, of whom I'm very proud. [~dht-2-11].

THE CHANGING SEASONS

                              [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

**********

The changing seasons

mark the passage of time

on NATURE's Landscape,

even as the lines on my cheeks

mark the hourglass

of my life's journey.

[dht-2011]

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NATURE'S HOURGLASS

                         [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]
                         (Weathered clothes pins on clothes line in an outdoor setting)

SOME OF MY WORDS

Our middle years are the best of times and proffer a chance to take 'stock' of where we have been and where we want to go. Down the road of tomorrow, the ravages of age will line the face and make us frail. However, these are but layers of time cocooning the child that lives in happy wonderment of making it to another birthday. [~dht-2011]


Each year is a special gift that you can hold and put into your Heart's Treasure Chest nestled with all the treasures and memories of yesterday. [~dht-2011]

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SOME WORDS OF OTHERS


"I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth." [~Jonathan Swift]

Old Time, that greatest and longest established spinner of all!.... his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his hands are mutes. [~Charles Dickens]

A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time. [~Oliver W. Holmes, Sr.]

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. [~Ogden Nash]

They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body. [~Author Unknown]

The other day a man asked me what I thought was the best time of life. "Why," I answered without a thought, "now." [~David Grayson]

Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. [~Author Unknown]

Father Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour. With such people, the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life. [~Charles Dickens]

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. [~Mark Twain]

It's important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle. [Author Unknown]

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. [~Samuel Ullman]

There is always a lot to be thankful for, if you take the time to look. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. [~Author Unknown]

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. [~Bob Hope]

The years teach much which the days never knew. [~Ralph Waldo Emerson]

In youth the days are short and the years are long; in old age the years are short and the days long. [~Nikita Ivanovich Panin]

A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. [~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. [~John Barrymore]

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart. [~Caryn Leschen]

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age. [~Victor Hugo]

Years ago, we discovered the exact point, the dead center of middle age. It occurs when you are too young to take up golf and too old to rush to the net. [~Franklin Adams]

Everyone is the age of their heart. [~Guatemalan Proverb]

Youth is a disease from which we all recover. [~Dorothy Fulheim]

There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going. [~J.B. Priestly]

I still have a full deck; I just shuffle slower now. [~Author Unknown]

To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. [~Oliver Wendell Holmes]

Age is a high price to pay for maturity. [~Tom Stoppard]

The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible. [~Judith Regan]

The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity. [~Mark Twain]

The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion. [~Doris Lessing]

There is still no cure for the common birthday. [~John Glenn]

Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. [~Martin Buxbaum]

You can't hide your true colours as you approach the autumn of your life. [~Author Unknown]

I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates. [~T.S. Eliot]

Whatever poet, orator, or sage may say of it, old age is still old age. [~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]

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TWO SIDES OF A COIN

                             [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]


***************

This Posting was a difficult one for me to 'post',  and I almost did NOT post it.  And then when I did post it, I ALMOST deleted it!!!   NOW, I feel REALLY GLAD that I overcame my "..." , for the comments proffered were very meaningfully to me personally! A special THANK YOU to my Kindred Spirit and Cousin for her comments, which I have posted below (near the end of this posting)!!!

SOME OF MY WORDS

Knowing something and feeling something deeply are two sides of a coin.

Some things that happen are so devastating that they eclipse everything else until healed.

Some things are so wonderful that it's hard to relinquish them.

Two different feelings.
Two different perspectives.

Both powerful responses in a different landscape.

Polar opposites—
sunset – sunrise
night – day
rain – shine
cold – heat
wet – dry
dying – living
death – birth
moonlight – sunlight
endings – beginnings
goings – comings
goodbye – hello
low – high
short – tall
ugly – beauty
old – youth
dull – sharp
sour – sweet
hate – love
down – up
far – near
left – right
east – west
north – south
false – true
fake – real
push – pull
passive – aggressive

JUST A TOSS OF A COIN!

[dht-2011]

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Here is what my Kindred Spirit and Cousin said about my words.

This reminded me of a quote: '"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see... what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something." Richard Feynman, US educator & physicist (1918 - 1988)

‎'Polar opposites', the balances of life.
"Some things are so wonderful that it's hard to relinquish them" = parenthood.  Even though we remain parents after our child have left (as we want them to do), the longing for the child remains. Today's poem/reflection (to me) is all about family and especially about children and also about 'changes' that occur regardless of whether or not we want them.  The question is always:   Will we be able to adapt [to our life's changes]?  Or will the changes encompass us, drag us down and spit us out [a more weary, fragile, and wary person]?  Good points to ponder.

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In this offering: What do you notice about the words? Their meaning? Sentence structure? Pairing of Sentences? First word, middle, or last words of Sentences? What words could be substituted? What connection words added for clarity? What meaning of your own would you assign to these words, phrases, sentences?

--------------- OR, Why didn't you just say so! ---------------
What will today bring?
Are events and circumstance just a toss of the coin in one's life?
If there a choice, on which side of the coin will you live?


(COMMENTS ENCOURAGED and WELCOMED)

THE PLEASURE - THE ROMANCE

A Family Tale—A living history

After we have "heard" a FAMILY TALE or STORY, it then becomes our responsibility to pass the story along to FAMILY and FRIENDS and our CHILDREN; for now we become the STORY TELLER, and have the sacred honor and privilege of passing it on to FRIENDS, FAMILY, and CHILDREN.

In this way, the STORY continues; for you see, a FAMILY TALE or STORY is only "alive" during the telling, listening, and sharing.

If it isn't being told, the STORY dies, FAMILY LORE is lost, and the richness of our lineage is diminished.

The death of a FAMILY STORY is something we must never let happen, for they are our sacred heritage entrusted to our care.

These STORIES are good, remember them, for they help to explain some of the mysteries that we find around us, some things that happen in NATURE, in the FAMILY, in FRIENDSHIPS, and in RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

Family Short Story

In the early 1950s, when I was in Second Grade, I lived for a time with my Maternal Grandparents on the tenant farm they worked and managed in the Township of Pond, which is located near Delano and is in the Central part of California.  It was a flat farming area for miles around with one gasoline station, one store, one elementary school, and one "STOP" sign.  (Use GOOGLE to view this area from your computer and get an aerial perspective.) 

It was during this slice of my life that I learned some of the greatest lessons that would stand me throughout my journey on our heavenly earth!  I have SO MANY memories of just "ordinary" daily living.  Getting up early.  Making my bed.  Dressing for a day of play, school, or church.  Playing in the farmyard.  Watering the "truck garden" and outdoor plants.  Feeding the chickens, pigs, horses, cows, and pets.  Checking the mousetraps.  Sweeping the floor (we had NO vacuum cleaner).  Preparing a meal.  Doing dishes.  Clothing wash day.  "Ironing" clothes, table clothes, pillowcases, Grandpa's handkerchiefs and Gram's aprons.  Playing with my doll.  Cutting out paper dolls from McCall magazines.  Splashing in the farm pond.  Listening to radio soap operas and programs as The Long Ranger, Dick Tracy, Burns and Allen, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, and more.  Celebrating birthdays and other special days as Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  These were the special days of my life that I remember today so fondly full of simple pleasures and the romance of discovery.

It seems sometimes the joy of life that comes with the simple pleasures and romance of daily living can be right in front of you, waiting to be noticed.  And, so much is missed in a hurried life, so that you can find yourself too busy to really enjoy the moment!

When my life gets too busy or my thoughts crowded, these simple pleasures are the first things I miss.  So an intimate awareness helps me slow down and "Stop and smell the roses".  Greeting the sunrise.  Celebrating a sunset.  Walking.  Gardening.  Painting.  Writing.  Listening to music.  Tuning into the rhythms of nature's symphony.  Connecting with dear ones.  This is living.  Slowing my pace allows me to savor the things that matter and feel fully present and real, just as I felt all those year ago living with my BELOVED Grandparents on the farm.

 There are moments in nature, when the simple pleasure of just listening to the frogs, ducks, and other nocturnal creatures rhapsodize of an evening, fill me to overflowing with enchantment.  Just this evening, I went out to enjoy the sunset after a beautiful day.  As the curtain of twilight lowered on the horizon, I began to hear the chorus of the Frog Colony that resides in the wild life reserve a short 200 yards from my front door, as they heralded the coming of the gathering darkness.  The romance of their chorus "lightened" the burdens of my day!

These are the simple pleasures of my life, the memories that stand out, the thoughts and actions that make my life feel very rich.

Sometimes the joy of life that comes with the simple pleasures and romance of daily living can be right in front of you, waiting to be noticed.  Some are so small that they could lie unnoticed right at your feet if your mind and body are racing and if you delay taking time to "Stop and Smell the Roses".

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Closing Thoughts

Here you have a Short Family Story of my BELOVED Maternal Grandparents.  This story began before they were born and continues after their passing, with their descendants and the many lives and hearts that they "touched". 

The testimony of FAITH, FAMILY, & FRIENDS that was the life of my WONDERFUL GRANDPARENTS is their legacy!! 

Grandpa and Gram, I LOVE and MISS you both every day of my life!

 

However, this is not the beginning for there are other family members that traveled this path before, and this is not the end for new generations are yet to come. 

This is just a short story for those family members that are interested in OUR FAMILY STORY and HISTORY.

I feel very honored to be a part of this FAMILY TREE. 

I love being a part of the history of this land. 

I love that my family were here before me ... and will be here after me.

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QUOTES

"At night I went out into the dark and saw a glimmering star and heard a frog, and NATURE seemed to say, Well, do not these suffice?"  [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

 "Stop and smell the roses" [Lyrics by Ringo Starr 1981]

"Stop and take the time to smell the roses,
Stop and take the time to fill your noses,
Stop as you stroll through life, ("pitter patter, pitter patter")
Stop and take the time to talk it over with your wife."

"Well, I was walking down the street the other day,
You know, and I said to myself, what's all this hurry,
What's all this hustle and bustle.
Why don't I just stop, look at the pretty roses,
Smell them for one moment, take the time to see,
Take the time to smell, have a good time in life.
Don't let ev''rything pass you by, you're only here once
And I've been here longer than most of you."

 

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