I have figured out our world crisis problem, I am sure of it this time! I know that this may seem impossible, but hear me out before you scoff…
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com
I know we all cringe at the idea of having everything you think pop up above you in a thought bubble, right? I also know that I have loved Willy Wonka since I was tiny, and my favorite part was when they drank the fizzy juice and got all floaty. Here is my version of a beautiful futuristic modern society…
I think that we are advanced enough with Big Pharma, that they have for sure got the skills to create a fizzy juice, like Willy. Then they can put it in our water, because no one has thought of doing that before.
Now, this is where it benefits Us, finally!
Imagine if you will, a society that has been drinking Pharma Fizzy Water. Whenever you feel angry, or unhappy, you begin to float like a bubble… no time to slap or shoot anyone when you are pinging along your ceiling, or stuck in the vent in the office bathroom. As long as you are not happy, you continually produce bubbles that keep you in the air. Oh yeah, and if you think you can just bob around up there spouting how you feel, all that will come out are bubbles until you can use your big words.
If I think about it, Disney figured this out sort of, back when Mary Poppins arrived in theatres. It was backwards, however, as coming down off the ceiling was brought about only after being sad. Well, I say, let’s turn that frown upside down…
I will add in a caviot that allows for all toddlers to have natural immunity to this, as all parents need to go through the trenches of toddlers, it builds great character! Besides, I do not want to imagine dirty diapers and soggy teething biscuits dropping out of the sky, willy nilly.
My new bubble idea has many great advantages, though I will admit that there are some challenges, possibly even some flaws that I have not foreseen. But as our world has taught us, so fully, this planet is filled with many souls who rise to challenges, and are also the inventors of the future, and nothing beautiful that we have ever dreamt of comes without a rough draft…
I left some drinks for you to take, and I tried to make sure there would be a flavor for everyone’s liking… Trust me, it won’t hurt, and it will be over before you know it…
My girlfriend and I took a drive up the pass of Snoqualmie the other day and it was absolutely spectacular! The great state of Washington, for me, is the only place where I can do absolutely any outdoor activity or sport, by simply hopping in a car and toodling less than 2 to 3 hours in any direction. Speaking of activities, our beautiful drive gave me pause to reflect on several really good memories that I had forgotten were there.
I was born in the country, raised all over the place, and gained a passion for camping and the outdoors from very early on. I was sitting on the back of my own pony, Candy, from the time I was 2; growing into an accomplished rider, I might add.
So, what do you think was going to happen when I had kids? I was camping with my baby in a front pack, and by the time my first daughter was 15 months old, I had her in a makeshift harness that I strapped to my chest, and we did a full on Poker Run (she only rode for tiny bits). With the addition of each baby, I gained at least one dog, bunny or cat to build up our menagerie.
My children became the most proficient campers, fishermaids, horseback riders, and pet owners known to man… Mamma is PROUD!!! Of all our adventures, I have to say that fishing was foremost their favorite activity; they never even flinched at worms on hooks, or descaling, or even gutting, and let me tell you they would desolate a foil packet filled with garlic butter covered Rainbow Trout!
And so, without further ado, I will relate one such memory that came to mind as we drove through the mountains the other morning…
Doesn’t she look like me? Well, I think so …
It was the North Cascades that drew us on that particular weekend. There was a group of about 5 families, connected through the girls dad, that always gathered and planned for at least 4 or 5 trips a year. I was so excited for this trip, as I had heard about the Rainbow trout in the area, so off we went in our Suburban, loaded down with kids, dogs, gear, food, and the like. It so happened that our family drew the straw of arriving early and claiming space for the small village to arrive later in the day.
Arrive early we did, and set about the campground to make ready the central cooking pit area where all the food would be served. I was so excited about fishing, I was simply milling around the campfire spilling orders out to my minions, waving a rolled up magazine, ridiculously, as if I were the conductor of a symphony. This isn’t the reason for my funny story, but I am telling it anyway since it makes me die laughing at myself.
As I was standing there barking orders, I saw the biggest, furriest, and loudest Black Bumble Bee I have ever seen… In my life! I saw this thing from all the way across the fire pit, as well as everybody else, due to the fact that it buzzed so loud… it was like slow motion. Keeping this in mind, I have written it out play by play… sorry … it only works this way…
I saw the bee slowly move toward me from across the pit
It just slowly advanced
I thought… it’s not gonna keep coming, nah…
Kept a comin … steadily advancing… like it knew me, or something…
All I had in my defense was a stupid rolled up magazine…
Don’t do it… I will swing mister…
It came for me… So I swung with all my might… smacking said bee right down my shirt… where the bugger stung me right in the chest… knocked me to my knees…
Did anyone come to my rescue, you might ask, nope… they were all rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically at what must have looked comical, to say the least. Yes, I lived… duh… country born! This funny event set the tone for a hilarious camping weekend with friends, but I will take you to the favorite bit that I cherish.
meher
My middle daughter, is the most like me in both character and nature, so she was our most skilled at this sport as she got older. On this trip she was sporting a brand spanking new Barbie pole, that she was so so proud to use. There she was that Saturday morning, out on the dock, with us big dogs and all our poles in the water; sitting in a tiny chair, holding on to her Barbie pole while patiently watching the little bobber out on the water.
In the blink of an eye, she snagged a fish, and it yanked the pole straight out of her hands and out into the middle of the lake. There it just floated around in a small circle, breaking my poor baby’s heart. She just stood there quietly, with little tears falling down her cheeks, but trying so hard to be a big girl and not make a fuss.
Forget her, we all lost our ju ju’s! Absolutely outrageous!! As we were looking around for a boat or something, our friend (an avid fisherman) simply took his pole out, and with practiced ease he cast out and full on hooked her pole, I kid you not! He just slowly and methodically began to reel it in, with all of us cheering and laughing, totally forgetting our little Fisher maid momentarily, in all the fuss.
As God is my witness, when he pulled the pole out of the water and handed it back to my princess, she reeled in a Rainbow Trout bigger than any we had already caught, or ever did catch that weekend.
Listen to? While I appreciate the innocence of the above question, one might seriously begin to worry about the profiling going on around these here parts…
What kind of shenanigans can we get into if we simply change a single word in the prompt question, for example:
Who do you listen to while you work? That asks for a name, but it offers the choice of what comes out of their mouth… music, literature… the list goes on and on.
Why do you listen while you work?
or
How do you listen while you work? Are you wearing a headset, listening to a radio, or maybe you work outside or even in a library… that would change things up.
I will bend your brain a bit more by switching to the end of the question. One can come up with even more rabbit holes in this prompt by changing the last word a few times.
What do you listen to while you play, sleep, eat or work?
Let us not forget to change the middle while we are at it…
It might not just be for while I work, but also where or even if I work?
The point is, I have no intention of sharing personal information about what I am doing and I am stalling long enough to put out this plate of cookies for anyone who was actually curious, in any fashion, as to what I listen to while I work… maybe I just whistle!
I am going to be honest in sharing that living life as a hobbit is not always as easy as it is cracked up to be…
The only consistent feedback and healthy criticism, comes primarily from God, as He is always near. While this is actually what I feel safest with, it is not completely without flaws… Not His of course, but rather, mine…
I sometimes find myself using God as my excuse to stay safely hidden away, tucked into our RV to be left alone. The price of living in this world has been costly to my spirit, but there is also much joy and hope, love and happiness, and KINDNESS… yes, there is still some of that out there. God has been faithfully healing all of the wounds inflicted, undoing damage that I believed to be permanant. While there will be scars that I carry and tend for the remainder of my life, I will endeavor to continue LOOKING UP!
Whenever I am faced with having to venture out, expose my mind and heart to a world I struggle to engage in, I will literally feel my intestines begin knotting up! My frenemy IBS starts pacing the inner corridors of my heart, giving rise to an emotion of fear. Here I am, a 54 year old woman of God, chosen, set apart, by the very King of the World, and I get scared! I know, right?!?
Well, that is the truth of it! Most of us carry on with smiles and faith, while we still have days that make us want to run and get back in bed. So….. I have thought of a gift for any of you, living like I do, one day at a time…
Isaiah 41:10
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
If you read this far, then I hope you are left with the fragrance of my love, His love in truth, that flows from a fountain that I drink from quite often. For those of you that stayed, I have set a table of refreshments to share… Please, help yourselves…
I know it might be too much, but I did not know how many might show up, and I wanted to make sure there were eno…. oh for crying out loud, I like donuts, and if no one eats any, then I get them all … muh huh huh hah hah…
Spanish 21 for me… and my kids, of course! Yup, I will confess that I did, in fact, teach my children to gamble. Don’t Judge… you can be judgy after you lock YOURself up in a camper with three loud, and very bored children… and no electronic devices… none! No cell phones, vcr’s, radios, or the like… Just us, all trapped in a camper during a rain storm.
All we had was a deck of cards, a heater for warmth, and a bag of M&M’s and one of Skittles. What’s a mom to do? I doled out a pile of each candy to my kids, and us grown ups, and we all separated our candy currency into color coded piles based on value. From there it devolved…
The game was hilarious, looking more like a game of go fish, or spoons, with all the yelling and grabbing. Right in the middle of the game, one of my daughters began teasing me with her sticky little candy fingers, as if she was going to wipe candy on my face. You know how when you are playing with a child and teasing them like you are gonna nibble on their fingers or something like that?
Tears sprang to both our eyes… her tears were obviously due to shock and pain, while mine were of shock and sincere sorrow for causing my baby girl pain. I want you to know that what makes this story so good, is not that I bit her finger, but the moments right after… I do not think it was more than 5 seconds of the shock tears before the entire table erupted in laughter. We were all looking at her and she just burst into rolling laughter, pointing at all of us, and hiccupping through tears, “you should have seen all you guys faces, it was so funny”. That was what broke the shock part, for us all.
Never fear, she has all of her fingers to this day, and just so you know, I didn’t ever break the skin when I bit her, but her fingers did taste like cherry… and I liked it!
Somewhat like the words of the Abominable Snowman, I will love her, and water her, and hug her pot, and she will be my friend, and I will call her Sis, after my grand daughter, who just had a birthday!
Why do I chose to refer to the plant as a her, you may be asking yourself… well, I am going to answer as if you did ask…
I believe it to be a girl, because she is a tough little thing… her life is difficult, as she lives in a very rough environment, just like her mamma…
And yet, she is sassy, stubborn, and refuses to lose, again, just like her mamma. My sweet friend gave her to me when she was still floating in water (the plant that is, not my friend). Such a tiny thing back then. I truly thought that I would have killed her already, either by over watering, once I put her in this tiny pot, or simply because the air in our RV is not conducive to growing anything other than dust bunnies or cob webs… we don’t even own a vacuum cleaner.
I am so very proud of her, don’t laugh, this is a major win for me in the green mom thumb department. I for sure need to get her into a bigger pot with better soil, now that she has her own baby to raise. Winters in our space can be brutal, so she may be sleeping with me next to my bedside each night and light will be tricky in the darker months… but I have faith in her… she is a fighter!
With this renewed green pride, I am going to do whatever possible to give her a good life.
(In terms of the real world of RVing, if I ever post a picture of a completely different plant, and make a feeble attempt at convincing you it is her, you gotta play along for my sake, and don’t judge me if I kill this one on accident.)
Thanks for having my back, and she cannot see what I am typing, so if she finds out I said that, I will not offer you any more cookies since your the only ones I told. Here is your advance payment for said silence…
Though I may be cooking with just a Ninja foodie nowadays, living in an RV and all, I have always loved to cook. I must admit, I am quite average when it comes to the savory side, but on the sweet side… I knock it out the park! My first love is Cheesecake! I make an awesome Snickers one, and an Oreo one, but one time my husband and I did an Old Fashioned cheesecake and then poured a galaxy colored glaze over it… so much fun!
I learned how to make Indian Fry Bread when my kids were small, and their favorites were Banoch Burgers and Indian Tacos… good times…
I could make an awesome salsa that was delish, though it melted your face off!
BROWN SUGAR BURGERS…MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…
My mother’s homemade chili and cornbread…
My husbands favorite is those cool bread bowls and then I make either homemade clam chowder, or a thick potato soup.
I will leave you with just these few, because, I am a writer and I love to cook so this could rapidly become a lengthy novel…
My all time specialty happens to be enormous Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter cookies… gooey on the inside, but lightly flaky on the outside… now you know why I like to leave everyone cookies all the time.
Remember when I told you that I had not seen The Pottsworths for some time, you know, Bob and Netticia Pottsworth…
Well, as I was walking the other day, I ran into a local that happened to live near my friends… you would be surprised at how much information can be forthcoming if you have a peanut!
When I asked of the Pottsworths’ whereabouts, I was so pleased to discover that Bob and his family were not missing at all, but had actually just moved down the river a bit and on the opposite side of the trail. Of course, once I knew they had only moved, I inquired further as to the reason for the move… Why… because I am nosy, that’s why…
It was purely an accident that I ended up stumbling upon this news, and I thought I would tell you about it, in part to convince myself that it actually happened…
this is not one of my pictures, fyi, I just wanted to add some cuteness…
Apparently, there was a big to do over something Netticia said, regarding what she heard about the widow, Hazel Nuttlavios, who lived just next door to the Pottsworths. I will back up a bit, to fill you in on those involved in said kerfuffle.
In this small community, I am personally only aware of several families, so the others possible involvement is purely speculation, on my part. Obviously, I know Bob and Netty POTTsworth, and I have to admit that Netty does have a tendency to stick her nose up at others in a bit of a judgy manner. This has apparently been a problem in the past (rumors). Just next door to their tree was a small community of Squirrel folk, of which I have met several families, one of which is the Beechnuts, Henry and Barbara. Henry is often working in the meadows, and I have only met him once (seemed very kind and quit in nature). Barbara, on the other hand is a bit of a busy body… always needs to be nuts deep in everyone else’s business.
Again, this pic is not one of mine
Now if you had ever met the widow, Hazel Nuttlavios, you would think it absurd that she would be involved in something as scandalous as what Netty blurted out at the Saturday Squirrel Social… I feel badly for Netty, as in truth, it was brought on by none other than the busy body Bushy Barbara Beechnut (no wonder Henry works away from home so much).
Here is what went down, to the best of my knowledge, as my informant talked with a mouth full of peanut the whole time we chatted… this cost me 6 peanuts by the way…
While Barbara was down by the river, washing her dishes, she thought that she saw the wild Rico Pistachio, sneaking out of the back door of Widow Hazel’s home, but she was not 100% sure. Instead of either minding her own business, or simply clarifying things with the widow, Barbara made the mistake of sharing her thoughts with Netty over tea, about an hour later. Yup! I think we all know where this is going…
From the time of their morning tea, Netty stewed and fretted over her neighbors shared thoughts (gossip), and by the time the social began, she wandered from group to group of other squirrels, whispering her judgement and disdain for the Widows inappropriate behavior… scandalous!
Here was the problem… Rico, happened to be the widows distant cousin. Neither Netty or Barbara knew this, but point in fact, there were a good number of other river folk that DID know…
Long story short, the uproar that occurred from words exchanged both in private, as well as at the social, destroyed not only the friendship between the two squirrel neighbors, but the trust within the small community of Squirrel folk…
Well, I am not only very nosy, but I also believe in forgiveness, and second chances, so I sent a request to the village council asking for an audience with their elders… perhaps, a little more than peanuts is called for in this situation. I am not clear, at all, as to the things I might say to the council, but I care for the families that live in this place. I know that Netticia was kicked out of her own nest as a young squirrel, through no fault of her own… she has carried the weight of feeling wrongly judged all of her life. I am also aware that Barbara’s husband, Henry, is not exactly kind or tender with her in any way… he is rarely home, and when he is there, he simply sleeps to avoid spending any time with her ( their marriage was arranged).
Of everything that I uncovered, something humorous… the widow… she thought this whole thing was an absolute riot… her family comes from a long line of nuts…
I give you my word that I will bring you up to speed as soon as I meet with the council. Oh, and by the way, in the event that you are wondering about the wedding in Acorn Valley, it has been postponed for a short bit. There was some sort of massive human gathering within the valley and there was an enormous amount of trash left over. The valley is a mess, and the decision was made to push the nuptials off by a week, in order to allow the valley to recover from all the garbage still being hauled away by the city workers.
Journey With Me! 