I don’t have to think back too far, as we are still living in an RV, living like nomads wherever we go, and for however long we stay. We don’t really have any home left, here on actual earth, so we rumble along on this road trip, taking safe harbor wherever it can be found.
If you think about it, everyone is on a road trip of sorts, and I would imagine that we all feel like it’s quite memorable. I appreciate the prompts use of the word most, while referring to the road trip, as they could have used best, worst, happiest or saddest… but they chose most memorable. Life IS most memorable, wouldn’t you say?!
Don’t we always say things like, it’s a wild ride, it’s gonna be a bumpyride, it’s a crazy ride, or Baby, what a ride? So I don’t need to think hard on why my thoughts drifted this way, once I began reading the prompt question.
Life is most definitely a journey, or road trip if you will!
It would take us all a very long time, to write down all of what we’ve seen, felt and experienced, along each of our personal highways… oh wait… that’s what I’ve already been doing, right here on WordPress… you’re welcome!
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”Martin Luther King, Jr.
While I’m not sure if this is fitting for how I feel this morning, but it surely feels like it!
It is 14 degrees outside, as we usher in day 2 of a deep freeze in our region. I had to start flushing the toilet with an old jug of water I’d stashed away, but we’ve not had water since the night before last… even for that!
In honesty, the part that is more difficult for me, more than anything else in these bad weather situations, is water use and consumption! Things taken for granted, like water to drink, water to wash, water for dishes, and yes… water for flushing a toilet!
Yesterday, I found another resident that shared enough water for half a pot of coffee, in which I mixed chocolate Ice Cream Syrup and half a bag of marshmallows into the cup for some flavor… any flavor! Some folks may not have even had what I had.
Oh yeah… my husband has been a bit under the weather, so there has been no driving to the grocery store for necessitates. It will have to wait until he feels better. Yes, I can now see just fine, and yes we have a fully operational vehicle… but no valid drivers license means that I will not be going it adventure style, as the law is there for a reason.
Amidst all of this funnery, the doctors office called to schedule my follow up for the MRI I had done last week. If you are giving me the option of an over the phone appointment or regular… I just got my answer, as to whether or not the pain I constantly feel is a big deal to anyone other than me… apparently not!
All I am capable of saying about how I feel right now or what this particular Note To Self means, is what I just shared… I’m tapped today, and it’s not even 7 a.m. yet!
Of all the things someone might want to ask me… in a prompt of all places… as a way to elicit my desire to … oh, I don’t know… WRITE!
When given the opportunity to ask something that might bring people out of their boxes and bubbles of solitary writing… all you can come up with is to ask what I want to snack on at this very moment?????
Have I simply lost my mind, or did a bunch of I’s and Q’s just walk off the job, at where ever these questions are coming from?
If it’s an AI generated system, well then, I am confident that we have nothing to worry about with computers taking over the world! Please tell me that there isn’t some think group being employed to come up with these prompts, and they all happened to be hungry at the time of writing the days questions for us.
I suppose we can just wait til tomorrow and see if the next question is, “What do you like to drink after eating too many saltine crackers at one time?”
Maybe this question was meant to be directed at kids… the last I checked, the big thing was eating dry ramen out of the package… go figure!
I suppose if the question was being directed at us, by a physician or nutritionist, I might have a bit more patience in my answer.
The greatest feat they accomplished in this prompt was to place the word Would… not could, not can, not will nor want… but what snack would you eat right now…
Would I eat my snack in my chair or in my bed… would I share my snack with the people in my head… would I want my snack in a bag or in a bowl… would I use a fork or just eat it whole… would I like my snack or would it be bad… what if it were the only snack I really had… would I eat it or set it on the table beside me… trading it for a coffee with creamer is where you would find me!
The next time you start wishing that everyday could be Friday, think again!
What if every day were just like Fridays?
I know it might sound good at first, but after careful consideration, most would surmise that some things… like Fridays… are better left alone!
It’s like eating your favorite meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner… every day! Eventually, this would end your feelings of favorite about the once cherished dish. The things you thought you loved about that meal begin to become the things that displease you, causing you to either avoid or dread the next upcoming meal.
It would be awful for all our weekend Party Warriors, never getting enough time to recover from one bender before you’re encouraged to belly up to the bar again, for another round!
This one will blow your mind! Imagine what most children are like on Fridays, after a long week of alarm clocks, classes, bullies, homework and being generally bossed around by any and all grown ups in the vicinity. Trust me, they are very very ready for their Saturday mornings of sleep, cartoons, and cereal out of the box… no milk necessary!
Now have their parents wake them up the next morning for school, knowing that it’s again Friday… knowing that yesterday had been Friday also… AND knowing that their kids also know that yesterday was Friday and now today is Friday too… again! A lot of folks would be seriously rethinking many life choices, right about here!
Mondays would become a very moody MondayFriday…
Tuesdays would feel more like denial about the whole thing…
Wednesdays would be flipped on its hump, leaving us unsure whether we were coming or going…
Thursdays would just stop serving Happy Hour altogether…
Fridays would see a great many tantrums being thrown on the office floors…
Saturdays would be filled with grumpy resignation at the state of things…
Sundays would become like Ground Hog Day, where everyone tried to be on their best behavior and do everything they thought was good and upright… hoping and praying that they wake up to a normal rainy Monday morning…
Thank Goodness tomorrow is Saturday, for the greater good of all mankind, wouldn’t you agree?
Have you ever dreamt of your favorite pet, but either cannot afford the breeders fee or fear getting something you weren’t prepared to care for? Well not anymore! Here at UPPAA we aim to please any and all who employ our services.
Other agencies only offer the service of inviting you in to view and adopt a pet with all the cleaning, caring, treating and rehabilitating that someone else did for you… no no no… that is considered false advertising around our offices!
Instead of having you come to the nearest breeder or pet shelter, we here at UPPAA employ only the most qualified representatives to collect you, equip you and then, back you up, while you find the nearest stray animal in your area. Upon locating said adoptee, our representatives will then assess whether or not you desire to, or are capable of continuing on in said venture. From your response comes the next part of the package we offer. Here is where we will simply wait in the car, as you approach and retrieve the pet you have selected.
**Stipulations are in place here that you must adhere to, in order for the completion of our services. Not only must it be very clear that these pets do not belong to some one else, but the pet must actually need your assistance. We will not, under an circumstances, be a part of nor participate in the willful theft of the fluffy white puppy living in your neighbors back yard! (this had to be added to our contract for a specific reason)**
Once you’ve selected and retrieved your new pet, following our rules and regulations, we will then deliver you safely home to begin your new life together. There is no need to come back to the office, as you’ve already signed all of the paperwork that enlisted and guaranteed our services, as well as paying all agreed fees, so you’re all good to go!
All of our fees, being quite reasonable, come with a money back guarantee! If, after a full 15 days of care, cleaning, feeding and rehabilitating your chosen pet, you are dissatisfied… we will be happy to come pick you up, return you to the adoption site so that you can put the animal back where you found it. We will also return your fee, minus the fuel.
Our goal, here at UPPAA, is to ensure that you find just the right pet that you deserve, in the most real way possible, so that you truly appreciate who the animal is, where it came from, and what it might possibly be like from here on out! We are able to keep costs down here, by never having to hear why you didn’t know what you were getting into, or that this pet is nothing like what we advertised! We boast a perfect track record of no rehoming pets returned for the third time.
We have representatives standing by right now, waiting for your call at 1-888-PIC-APET. Our first 10 customers will get a complimentary catch pole.
**We are not responsible for lost or stolen common sense, nor are we obligated to provide first aid, physical assistance nor the picking up of poop… welcome to pet parenthood!**
Wow! It’s cold outside right now, and apparently it is about to get colder. With temps dropping and snow inbound here in the Northwest, with many of us holed up in our homes, either binge watching our favorite shows, stressing about not getting work done… or both!
Fortunately, I’m blessed with having all my work flowing back and forth, somewhere between my head and my fingers, most of the time. Lately, I have been keeping myself busy with my novel, discovering that it is not nearly as easy as they make it look on Google!
First of all, I learned how to turn Google off! If I am to fully engage in the telling of this story, I cannot be distracted by rules, instructions and everyone else’s opinion of how I should write this book! If I don’t have a book written, searching around on the internet for help in how to sell said book, is pretty much mute! Too much help has actually been interfering with the telling of the Tale… and that just won’t work for this girl!
The second discovery I’ve made? Writing takes a lot of work… more so than I ever realized! You know that old adage, Rome was not built in a day? If I’d not understood the depth of that phrase’s meaning before, I’ve surely begun to feel the weight of its truth now! In my naivety, I had developed some very unrealistic ideas of how books were written. For some reason, I had it in my head that real writers could just sit down in some fugue state of enlightenment, that then gave way to the spewing out of an entire story… in only a brief amount of time. Maybe some can truly write that way… just not me!
Not only did I discover that I write differently than other writers, which is as it should be, but I learned that I like to build my own literary road blocks, or excuses, so I don’t have to push myself into writing freely. Leaving this way of thinking, is the best way to grow as a writer, in my opinion. That should explain why you’ve all seen my posts about writing more off the cuff, as they say. I’ve changed up my entire daily schedule, in order to structure a more realistic writing environment for myself… earlier rising… quiet time first…daily writings and correspondence here on WordPress… and then I work on my dream!
I am a tortoise, remember, and not the hare when it comes to walking forward in this pursuit. If I rush forward in what I try to get down on the page, it fills me with the worst pressure within my spirit. Therefore, I must pull each thread out of my dreams, very methodically and then carefully sew it into the literary fabric of its creation. I’ve no desire or intention of running over my own typing fingers with the needle of my Brain Machine! While I may end up being the worlds slowest Story Seamstress, Story Seamstress I shall be, none the less!
Every day I challenge myself to pull my chair up to this literary sewing table, whether it be to cut in story patterns, pin sections to one another, or cut away loose threads.
Regardless of what I do at this table, the project goes forward… and yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is coming closer to being complete. I’m going to take my time, learning the process and improving my skill with writing. Timing is everything, as I’ve learned over and over through the years… and I fully agree with whomever first said it. In fact, I believe so strongly in that phrase that I’m willing to take it to the bank… you know… That bank… Eternal Investments and Loans. If you’re looking for a better banking establishment, BTW, this bank only came with one question on the application and they apparently already had access to my background report… and I got an account anyways… crazy right?!
At the end of the day, or at least the end of this article, I still have no idea what I’m doing, nor can I see into the future to where I’ll end up… but I can say that I see growth, I feel peace, and I am finding so much Joy in this journey. If I can say this while living the way I do, through all the waiting, all the hardship of both grief and sorrow, with no clear answer for the end… my prayer and belief is that you can too, in whatever place of your journey that you are on. There is Joy to be found if we push on… whether we need to take baby steps, or at times even crawl!
Life has a way of sometimes being reduced to nothing more than a thing… an item to be played with, bartered, or thrown out when it’s usefulness has been expended!
For many souls it can take an entire lifetime to figure this out, only really feeling the harsh bite of reality, as it begins to surface on or near retirement! Basically, most begin to take more notice of feeling less valuable to society, as the body begins to slow and lose the ability to carry on at the same pace they once kept.
Then there are souls like mine, who learned painfully early in life how little value they held, how they weren’t valuable enough protect and care about… never worthy enough to be saved! This was my dark alleyway of existence, wandering through the night until I found a place to sleep… doing whatever I had to do to secure food, warmth, and sleep… never safety… just sleep! This life was not much but it was mine and I valued it above everything else!
I’m 55 now and nearing the age when most are preparing for retirement and their golden years… not this runaway!
I’m just getting started, I think, as I strive to prepare and strengthen myself for something bigger, better and still yet to come.
It has taken some considerably long years to get my life to this moment, not caring and cherishing it, as the item I valued so strongly as a child… none the less, it’s still in tact, for the most part.
If you’ve any curiosity about what has become of the item I was so attached to as a youth, you need only read the letters I have written to you all, over this last year, here on WordPress.
As this site is really all I have to show for explaining things, it will have to suffice as my best answer!
Todays prompt question gave me a great opportunity to look within the pages of this site, seeking to answer the mission or purpose of what gets published here in The Lobby!
Instead of giving some wordy explanation of what goes on in here, I began pulling up pictures of what I think that I try to do, but maybe you all see it differently. Perhaps I should be asking you what you think my mission is from your vantage?
My intent is that this site reflect how I choose to live, or my mission, if you will. We have all heard the adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, so my desire is to allow my actions to reflect what I wish to be seen as my mission. It is as follows,
To believe…
To seek…
To dream…
To give love…
To share hope…
To speak the Truth in love…
To go when called…
and to fight every battle on my knees…
I think that sums it up! While my mission fluxes and flows, often changing with the tides of forward moving time… my belief in The One Who is Unchanging will not waiver… ever!
What I think of myself and what you might think of me can be any number of things, but my hope is that you see a light in the darkness…
While I don’t think I said anything requiring a cookie to get through, I still want to give you one just because…
As many of you, who follow this column, may already know… My name is Wiwohka. I am a writer…a teller of tales, both real and imaginary. I settled here at WTL news some time ago… ages it seems, but in reality I’ve only been here just under a year.
Apparently, my writing style and general attitude were exactly what the Paper had been looking to hire! As my columns title, The Tuesday Tattler suggests, I have been employed to gather information and put it into a literary form for you, my readers. I have been blessed with writing, for the most part, from right here in the office. Fortunately, I have been assigned an invaluable counterpart, who was actually the one who recruited me to join the staff, here at WTL News!
We’d met some years ago, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that He asked me to consider working with Him. It was a good thing that He waited, as it has taken a considerable effort to develop my literary skills to a level that could be useful for His purposes!
There are a great number on staff here, so my column is only one of many… and they are all overseen by none other than the one who recruited me, as well! My recruiter, by the way, is also the papers Lead Reporter, Human Resource Supervisor, and our Legal Departments Fact Checker. Here at WTL News it is of utmost importance to our Benefactor that we keep our columns free of any lies and judgements, focusing on bettering the literary world that we serve. JC, as I like to affectionately call Him, is always diligently at work, ensuring that we speak the truth in love and keep things real at the same time, if that makes any sense.
Just the other day, as we were having lunch together, JC encouraged me to accept an assignment from our Benefactor, which would require some extensive travel down a very old literary path. All my expenses will be paid and a map with directions will be included with my travel papers. Without hesitation I accepted the job right there on the spot! If the One, who built WTL News from the ground up, asks that I do a thing… I’m willing to go on a little faith and start packing… immediately!
So far, all I know is that I’m to head out first thing in the morning, traveling down an ancient pathway to meet a man named Job. I’ve never met the man personally, but JC has, and he is in complete agreement with the Big Guy on the value of this assignment. JC assured me that my interview of the man is of great importance, whether I understand what that is, or not! WTL News has confidence in me, or I would not have been considered for this job. With that in mind, there is no need to concern myself with the outcome of this endeavor… I fully trust the One who sends me forth!
I am aware of a great many rumors surrounding this man, so my curiosity is definitely peaked, in regards to the truth of things. While traveling to meet with this man, I’ll go back over everything I know about him and review all the evidence that was previously gathered, in regards to his life. Aside from these preparations, I decided to wait on building a list of questions for the interview, until after we meet and get to know one another a little. I want to see how things are from his perspective… his reality.
Tune in for the next episode of Tuesday Tattler, where I’ll be telling you about everything I discovered during my time with this unusual man, Job. Perhaps he was just a nobody… or… just maybe he is something more… sometimes less is more, as they say.
Journey With Me! 