Where the tinkle of wind chimes play

a soft melody in the afternoon breeze.

Where the table umbrella stands tilted,

thrown off balance by last night’s storm.

Where the damp fallen leaves form a

multicolor carpet over the cement.

Where five acorns still cling to a tree

stripped of leaves,

Where the sparrow’s chirping is answered

by the squirrel’s chatter.

Where a garden hose is coiled on the air conditioner

like a snake ready to strike.

Where a few determined marigolds stand in

a flower bed already sleeping for the winter.

Where a tall wooden fence blocks

the prying eyes of the curious

lcpickles

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by it’s own hunger and thirst?  Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.

                 From “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran

Age ??  Kewpie doll, with painted eyes

             Mass produced squeak toy

              Protector of toddler fears

             Time crumbled her into pieces

Age 5    Her name was Joann Jones

              Porcelain head with moving eyes

              Mikey tossed her off the fire escape

              Doll murdering monster brother

Age 7    Cinderella came at Christmas

              High heels and fairy tale dress

              She adorned my bed for several years

              The prince never once visited

Age 9     Betsy Wetsy, as she was advertised

               Almost real, a life like baby doll

               Feed her a bottle, she wet everywhere

               I soon grew tired of changing diapers

Age 11   Introducing Shirley Temple

               Dimpled cheeks and sausage curls

               Tiny movie star of another time

               Tapped danced on my dresser

Age 13    Dolls no longer of interest

               To someone so mature

                Nylons and teetering heels

                Black lined eyes and glossy lips

Age 18    Gave birth to my real live baby doll

                Jerry Michael  cautiously arrives

                Rosy cheeked, always smiling cherub

                We will grow up together

Age 21    Gave birth to my last baby doll

                Steven Wayne bursts into the world

                Temperamental, heart squeezing charmer

                Still I soon grew tired of changing diapers

lcpickles

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."
Chinese Proverb.

Who would have thought??

WATER OR COLA?



This is really an eye opener.... Water or Coke? We
all know that water is important but I've never seen
it written down like this before.
WATER

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often 
   mistaken for hunger.
3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 
   100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could 
   significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, 
   trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen 
   or on a printed page.
8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer 
   by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%,and one is 

   50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

   And now for the properties of COLA:

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of 
   cola in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in 
   two days.
3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Cola into the toilet bowl let the "real thing set for one hour and then flush. The citric acid in Cola removes stains from vitreous China.
4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a
rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Cola.
5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Cola
over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Cola to the
rusted bolt for several minutes.
7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Cola into the bakin pan,wrap the

ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is
finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for
a sumptuous brown gravy.
8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of cola into a load of greasy clothes add detergent and run through the regular cycle. The cola will help loosen the grease stains.  It will also clean road haze from your windshield.






 Info:
1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It
will dissolve a nail in about 4days.Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium 
from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in 
osteoporosis.
2. To carry Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must 
use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive 
materials.
3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of 
their trucks for about 20 years!

     My grandfather was a bear of a man with thick silver hair, snow on top of a mountain.  He would take my brother, Michael and me for long walks in the woods.  When we crossed the field, he would always remind us the field wasp has a nasty sting.    Along side the trail there was a cast off wagon wheel decayed by time.  I would imagine that Indians had once ambushed a covered wagon and this wheel had been lost during the chase.

 The path crawled up the hill like a snake.  When we finally reached the top there was a spring.  A dipper hung from a nail in a tree.  Looking into the spring you could see every stone and leaf on the bottom.  Crawfish scurried for cover when our shadows passed over them.  Grandpa told us that is how you could tell if the water was pure.  If the water wasn’t pure, the crawfish couldn’t live there.  You couldn’t drink that water too fast or your head would hurt. It was liquid ice.

     Sometimes a squirrel darted in front of us.  Grandpa sent us off to catch it.  We ran after it until it dashed up a tree.  He laughed at our amazement that we didn’t catch it. His laughter boomed through the hills as he slapped his thigh. We thought if he said so we should be able to.  The trip back was sometimes too much for little legs.  He hoisted us up onto those broad shoulders and we rode home.

     Henry Worthhart, a father with no time or patience for thirteen children, had hours on end of both for these two grandchildren.  He spent hours on end with us. After 40 years at Goodrich, he retired to eighty-eight acres in southern Ohio.  Retired?  He worked his land and hired out part time as field hand to neighbors.  He came home tired in the evening.  After supper he would sit in his big rocker and listen to his radio programs.  I would sit on his lap.  Or sometimes I pulled up the piano bench behind him, stand on it and brush his hair.  I liked to do that because he enjoyed it so and it made me feel important. On occasion an opera singer would come on the radio.  My grandfather did not like that type of music and he would always say, “Give her a corn cob.”  I always wondered why he wanted to give her a corn cob and what she was supposed to do with it.

    He dug a pit to make a new outhouse. Then muscles straining as if he were Hercules, he lifted a huge concrete slap and put it in place to make the floor. He didn’t seem to realize he was getting older and he should have had help.  It was just too much for him.  The next day my brother and I were surprised to find him still asleep went we awoke.  This had never happened.  We jumped on the bed and did our best to wake him.  But he was never to awaken again.  He was only in my life for six years, but what an impression he made on me.

The moving Finger writes; and having writ

     Moves on; nor all your Piety nor whit

         Shall lure it back to cancel half a line

              Nor all your tears wash out a Word of it

                        From “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”

                                                           THE BUTTERFLY GIRL

                                                        As a child she romped

                                                                on little caterpillar feet

                                                     Such a well behaved child

                                                               the people would always greet

                                                     Then suddenly one day

                                                            without warning

                                                     Terrible, mystifying disarray

                                                            as the changes occur

                                                     Transformation…………

                                                            Wings suddenly sprouting

                                                     With unaccustomed sensation

                                                            in places before unnoticed

                                                     Assaulted by caressing eyes

                                                            and fleeting fingers

                                                     Everyone tries for the prize

                                                            even those most trusted

                                                     No longer sure of what is right

                                                            She attempts to fly away

                                                     But new wings and unsure flight

                                                            cause great despair

                                                     The sole escape that afternoon

                                                            the only way she knew

                                                     To spin herself in another cocoon

                                                            Beauty wrapped in safety

                                                   It’s said she is still there today

                                                       although one day she may reappear

                                                   If she can still find the way

                                                            if she even wants to