Nothing like the fresh sea breeze to clear away the clutter… brain clutter, that is.
Wednesday Words…
Which one?
Based on the definition of what community is, or should be, my answer changes. For instance, if I were to look at this prompt with a literal and physical meaning, I don’t really have anything to answer. We just moved into our apartment after five years of wandering, so we’re just now settling in. While I intend to discover ways of becoming involved, I’m not quite there yet!
If the prompt is looked at from the angle of what do I do to be involved in this community, well, that’s easy. The definition gave two directions when I looked it up. One was the physical community that I live in, which I already mentioned. The other direction to consider is those of like characteristics, like science, art, politics, or, in my case, all things literature.
I suppose that this is where I spend a large amount of my time, whether I’m doing the writing… or the reading and commenting. Community! This is the one I pick. Why? Because I value all of you and I think that you care for me, also. Isn’t that what we’re doing here, as we connect with one another from day to day. I think that each and every one of us here on WordPress make efforts to be involved. We contribute everything from music, art, poetry, short stories, and many times, just our thoughts. In a way, we do live together in a sort of virtual community.
Here, as a show of good faith, I’ve spent the whole of the morning in my virtual kitchen just to bake enough cookies to feed this wonderful community that I call family…
Today we set sail… again!
Ok! Once again, we’re all loaded onto the ship and ready to set sail for distant shores. All that is, except for young Henry, the very mouse that we sailed all the way up the river to locate. Why? Well, young Henry has responsibilities to his aging parents that require him to remain at home. Before you start worrying that Tilly will be broken hearted, Brutus saved the day, once again. He’s given Tilly his word that whenever she wants to go and spend time with Henry and his family, Brutus will fly her home and stay til she’s ready to come back. See… problem solved!
Do you know that it’s taken all day to get ready for leaving port, just so that all the babes could pick out their best sailing outfits? I’m not joking! The worst of them was Eustace and Bailey, which I never expected. It’s all about the shoes, according to those two…
I advised Eustace that his choice of enormous backpack and fur lined flip flops would most assuredly cause him to loose his balance and end up over the side of the ship, so we compromised…
Much better!
Now Bailey was more about dressing like a lady, than wearing something that might give off the wrong impression at some port that we visit…
I warned her that she might be mistaken for a caravan belly dancer with these sandals.
As I am Baileys mamma, so to speak, it’s my job to protect her reputation. I like these shoes, because she looks well insulated…
She threatened to stay home, so we had to agree on something we both felt happy with…
There, she can show a little bit of toe… but no more than that and absolutely no ankle showing!
The rest of the babes chose their own outfits and I didn’t even have to say much, at all!
Since we’ve been aboard our ship, Squagon has taken to stretching his ears up into his horns. I know that he looks up to Brutus and all, but I don’t want him to grow up too fast, you know? When I asked him to tone it down a bit, he was quick to adjust them…
Awwwww…. now, there’s my sweet boy!
What is the deal with all the fancy ankle cuffs… sheesha!
Nugget’s favorite snack is honey, so you can see what the problem might be.
While I think the outfit is absolutely adorable… still not gonna work with sticky fingers.
I know it takes more work to keep the hat on, but that’s what ears are for, so it’ll do. Once we settled on the hat, it was easy to get Nugget to lose the sleeves.
Lilly didn’t want to wear anything at all, aside from the hat…
I didn’t want her to get sunburned, though..
Much better, little lady!
Oh, and Tilly?
She’s gonna be just fine… it’s as if she’s a different mouse, ya know?!
Check out Dinky and Boomer…
They chose each others hats.
Why no shoes? Well, Duh! Dragon’s don’t wear shoes, do they.
Anyway, now that everyone’s finally ready to go, let’s do this!
The first order of business is to determine our course. After that, we’re free to set sail. Where will we go first, you might be wondering? Well, without going into too much detail, what I can tell you is that we have a map. If we can successfully navigate to the correct location marked on the map, there is someone waiting… someone who was left behind, just like our young Henry.
This time, however, we shall be traveling for the sake of another… for my grandson, actually. You see, when his family had to move to a new home, they left someone behind. When we talked about his missing friend, the idea came to me that we should seek the little guy out, because it seemed like the right thing to do. No one should feel alone… no one!
His name is Peanut, and yes, he’s a troll. Please don’t judge the little guy to harshly for being a troll. He’s really sweet, honest!
I’ve actually met him, you know. I spied him one day, hiding in the ditch beside my grandson’s house. He’d been watching the children play in their yard, quietly wishing he might join them… I could see it in his adorable eyes. For a time, I actually passed notes back and forth between my grandson and the tiny troll. I believe that’s where their friendship started.
Anyway, I thought to go in search of the little guy, in hopes of inviting him to stay at the barn. We have tons of room now, what with the barn being renovated and expanded. This way, my grandchildren can come and visit him at the barn whenever they wish. Plus, the lonely little troll will have all the babes for company, as well. No more being alone.
A journey such as this seems fitting for our first voyage, wouldn’t you agree?
Wish us luck…
So Many Choices…
With so many brands out there to choose from, how can I possibly decide. Besides, the answer will always change, depending on the cow.
For instance, color plays a big part in deciding what brand works better than others…
Notice how the white lettering stands out well against the darker fur in the photo above. Yet, if we change the coloring of the letters, things are far different…
Personally, it just makes the cow look naked! And it brings a whole new meaning to the question, “Does this color make my udders look too big?”
What about the shape… of the letters, I mean?
Just asking… for a friend, of course!
Finally, attitude plays a big part in how one carries their favorite brands…
Go ahead, tell her that you think cows with udders shouldn’t have horns like a steer… go on, I double dog dare you! See what I mean, though, attitude really does make that brand bling she’s wearing really pop!
I have more proof, in the whole attitude department…
If you have an unsure and confused look about you, it just really clashes with her choice of brands. Oh well, never mind. By the look on her face, I’m not so sure that changing the brand will improve much in her appearance.
Wait… I’ve the perfect idea for our brandless bovine!
See, I told you that cookies make everything better! Help yourselves to a cookie, or three! She’s been at it all morning so there’s a ton of cookies laying about.
Love is a powerful thing…
Tilly is something else! The young mouse is quite the adept navigator, so it seems. Well, at least she is when it comes to her heart!
I can’t say whether it was Tilly’s sharp memory, incredible sense of smell, or her natural way of seeing the forest that navigated us to proper spot, but she got us there! In the search for young Henry, I don’t know why I ever thought that a map would be needed, what with a love sick mouse onboard.
Love is a funny thing… and powerful, too!
So often, love enables us to do things we didn’t think were possible. In Tilly’s case, it was locating young Henry without any maps. Somehow, within hours of landing upon the banks of a familiar river, we found what had once been lost to us… or more specifically, what had been lost to our miss Tilly!
Climbing onto the tiny river boat we’d brought with us, we set to work paddling upstream, in search of clues. After only an hour of paddling, we managed to get ourselves stuck on a sandbar, right in the middle of the river.
There I was, hip deep in the river, trying to dislodge the boat from where it was stuck in the sand, when shouts broke out in the boat. Shouting, and jumping up and down, which rocked the boat so hard that it broke free from the sand. Luckily, I caught hold of the boat and gave it a good push toward the riverbank, where it once again became lodged in the sand. At least we were no longer in the middle of the river.
Amidst all the squeals of delight among my crew, I noticed a very emotional little mouse onboard. Tilly was crying her eyes out and waving at someone behind me, on the opposite river bank.
And just like that, there he was…
What are those odds?
Love really is a powerful thing, wouldn’t you agree?! When one experiences it, whether in the giving or the receiving, the world is so much brighter!
Onboard Navigation System…
Once upon a time, long long ago, we navigated with pencil drawings of whomever had traveled on the road we were on. It’s all we had to go on for directions…
Thank goodness we don’t have to rely on the old way of getting information, right?! Advanced technology now allows us to navigate, via global satellite telemetry, on our handy dandy cell phones… or even our car’s onboard navigation system.
Consider our personal journeys in life like navigating a map, of sorts. We start at point A (birth) and are given a map of life with a bunch of confusing scribbles on it. It seems like we’re trying to follow a map we can hardly read, in the hope that our directions will get us to our destination, safely and successfully.
When you choose what you consider to be your destination, then you’re able to choose your directions. You can decide to attempt travel, only using those maps that time can destroy…
Or…
Download an Onboard Navigation System… that’s what I did, and I haven’t gotten lost since!
Cookie?
Wednesday Words…
Spring is definitely in full swing, with summer already sneaking in, here and there. Every single one of my little plants are stretching their tiny leaves toward the windows. I might live in a tiny apartment, but the plants bring so much color and life to the place that it doesn’t feel so small. And, I feel good every time I look at them.
Eustace has also decided that he likes the whole gardening thing, though I have to make sure he doesn’t eat the ends off the leaves. Oh, and our cultivating camel asked me to give you a message. He suggests that if you don’t have a little green plant on your desk, you should really consider getting one!
Tuesday Tinkering…
How do we get from an idea to an image, when it comes to capturing a new character’s character, so to speak? Call me crazy, off my rocker, or just obsessed with imaginary things, but not just any image will do… I need you to truly see what I see. So, strap on your imaginations, because it could be fun to watch how our young Henry has developed, thus far.
The first thing I did was to create a basic character, in order to help guide the AI generator…
Cute, but too close to being another type of creature, like a cat or squirrel. It may have been due to the image used to create the image you see above. After arguing with the AI for the better part of an hour, I was able to develop the image I used on Friday. While he began to display more of the mouse like features that I wanted, the mouse was far too young for miss Tilly’s handsome suitor. It was back to the generator for some more work…
While I did NOT like the ridiculously fat tail, nor did I appreciate the fact that the mouse looked like you could zip him up in his own mouse fur coat… but I began to see something surface in his expression that seemed, well, Henry like!
One of the wonderful things about the program that I use, is the ability to develop an individual image, whether by adding or removing something… or even alter an expression or body movement. Basically, I can pull the image apart and put it back together any way I want, within reason. I won’t waste the effort on an image, in this way, unless there’s something I really want to keep. This one went to the board!
Something in the eyes and the ears, I thought…
closer…
Nope, nope… eyes need to stay green!
I’m seeing his personality surface in his expression, but not liking the body.
You know what it is? Poor Henry is naked! I think the environment is wrong and our Henry needs to be wearing something. Hang on a sec…
Yes!!!
There, now wasn’t that fun?! I’m fully satisfied with our finished image, what do you think? I mean, not just any mouse will do for miss Tilly…
What exactly do you mean by that?
I had to laugh when I saw this prompt, as it brought up a memory that had been lost to me… so thank you, WordPress!
I swear that I might have been born in the wild, because my earliest memories include riding bareback while still in diapers… ya, I have a mind like a steel trap!
Anyways, camping is something that came naturally to this girl, and so, I passed it on to my children. My daughters have been camping since before they were born, as I freely went camping during my pregnancies. When my girls began to grow, we began traveling with a group of about 4 or 5 other families during the summer months, camping and fishing throughout the great Northwest. From southern Oregon, across Idaho and into Montana, and even into British Columbia.
Needless to say, my family are avid campers, fishers, hikers and hunters! They weren’t always so experienced at this stuff, and it took a great deal of training and practice, especially in the bathroom department, if you know what I mean? I had three girls!
How does one raise a little girl to be a tough camper, and yet still be a little lady? Like I said, we traveled with a huge group of camping families, which meant cooking together, bathing in close proximity to others, and yes, using the restroom in groups, for security! With little ones running around, we grown ups thought it was easiest to make an appropriate code word, to signal our restroom intentions. If one needed to use the restroom, we simply said, “I have to go camping”, and anyone who needed to go, simply agreed to come along.
Now, this went on for nearly an entire summer before one of my girls finally asked, “Mamma, how come the grown-ups keep saying they’re camping and then disappear into the woods?” I explained that it was a polite way of saying that we needed to use the restroom, without saying it in front of others. She didn’t question me further, and seemed not to even understand what I’d said. About a week later, all the families gathered at our home to plan the next upcoming adventure.
There we all were, standing around my kitchen talking, when my daughter marches into the midst of the group and boldly announced, “Everyone, I need to go camping… that means I have to go poop!”
I nearly dropped the plate in my hands! The entire room went silent for a moment, and then erupted into laughter! All of the adults in the room knowing laughed themselves silly, while my daughter marched off to the bathroom. The rest of the day was filled with children running around the house, loudly claiming they needed to camp and then laughing about it!
I’m still laughing…
Want a cookie?
Monday Musings…
As I sit staring at my screen, the desire to offer up a list of my usual Monday Messages is there, but beyond that? Well,I got nuthin.. nada!
Thankfully, the daily prompt kicked me in the bloomers, what with the whole productivity thing.
Fortunately, we’re settling into our apartment nicely, after such a long time in the wilderness, so to speak. One would thing that I’d have a list that’s longer than my arm of all the things I can, and probably should be doing now. I do… but it makes my stomach hurt when I begin reading it.
Perhaps it would have been better to keep a shorter list. Maybe I should have made a rolodex of things during our ordeal, so that my thoughts would be more organized now. I didn’t! Does anybody do that when they’re in the middle of lifechanging events? Unless one is naturally OCD, I highly doubt many would keep such lists.
Besides, once we get to the other side of something difficult, the list wouldn’t really help us as much as one would think. You’re far different than you were before it began, so the list isn’t for you anymore… it was for the person you used to be.
So, now what do I do? No list! No DIY how-to video is going help! Ya, ya, ya… I can easily slip back into the rhythm of a clean house, cooking, baking, and errands, no problem. But, beyond those things, I guess I feel sort of lost at sea, so to speak!
When I saw this mornings prompt it made me laugh. I laughed because the answer I’d been searching for has been staring me right in the face, all along. Just last night I prayed that God would give me a purpose!
It took so long to get here, I truly don’t have a clue what I should be doing now! Sure, I could write the second volume of my fiction series, but haven’t yet started. I aught to do more with all of my little Barnyard shorts, but as most of you are full grown adults, it’s not really meant for WordPress anymore. That would mean going to YouTube with all the babes, but I’d be doing it by myself… alone. I want to write, not produce… I’m a storyteller, not a publisher! Besides, at the end of the day, is it what God desires?
I’m not saying that God is disapproving of anything I write, but am I putting it before His purpose for my life? I can still write stories, as I’m confident that God blesses the work of my hands. My dilemma is that right now, I can’t tell what I should be doing, which is making me feel very nonproductive in every direction.
Don’t worry though, for God has me firmly placed within his hand! In the deepest part of my soul, I hear God remind me that faith calls each of us to walk forward in His calling, even if we don’t know all the details.
Also, I do believe that I’m well established in His purpose, whether I know it or not! Even when I feel lost, or adrift within His purpose… He promises me that I’m in it!
While I may currently be at the don’t have any details part of my journey, I walk in faith, believing that when God asks a thing of me… He always, always, always provides what is needed to be of service!
Til I know more of what God desires for my path, I’m gonna just wing it with the writing. If I write too much about all the babes, the barnyard, or high seas adventures, so be it!
Besides, when have I ever done anything plain or ordinary? That would be boring…
Journey With Me! 