Moving day

sheesh I hate to move BUT looking forwards to haveing a place by the window for my desk a big yard and a nice kitchen .. so with that thought in mind I am pulling the plug here for about a week and doing my thing.. wish me luck. I will be back soon to tell you about the adventure called moving to a new place

The Leaf and the Wind

Leaf looked out across the broad, dawn-pink sky and down over the beautiful spring garden. The dewy breeze grazed it and left it shimmering, fluttering. As it moved, Leaf saw all the corners of the garden with its flowers, bushes, trees and animals. Leaf stretched to catch every sight and sound. It was a new leaf at the top of a very old tree. Leaf adored all the elements - wind, sun and rain. But it was in love with the wind. Wind gave it the freedom of motion. Without the breeze it would never have seen the world below or from side to side. Wind rocked Leaf to sleep and shook it awake. Wind made Leaf dance. Wind whistled haunting tunes through the branches, it whispered and sometimes it even sang. On many days, Wind told Leaf of the places it had been. "All across the Rivers and down to the sea have I been," whispered Wind. On that day, Leaf could even smell the scent of the water and salty places of which Wind spoke. "High up the mountain to the very door of Heaven today," Wind told, as the fresh clean smells settled down upon Leaf. "I have seen where the Blue-sky ends and birds cease to wing. I have heard the voice of Life itself and it is so beautiful." Leaf shuddered with the thought of having Life speak to it as it did to Wind. "When will life speak to me?" Leaf asked Wind. The breeze warmed as it blew over Leaf and Wind said softly, "You can Hear Life's voice in me." Whenever it blew past, be it a breeze or gale, the little green leaf waved a joyful greeting to Wind - like the hand of a happy child to a loved one. "I will love you for all time," Leaf whispered to the moving air around it. "I could not be happier." Hearing this promise Tree itself shook and emitted a deep chuckle. "I am glad you are happy now," the tree said. "Enjoy your youth and beauty while you can, for soon enough you will be withered and brown, dry as dust and blown away with by the same breeze that stirs your heart today." Leaf stiffened at these words. The other leaves said nothing. One or two fell like tears before their time, so stricken were they by the sadness. "That is not so!" Leaf cried. Tree shook again and said, "Oh but it is true. I have seen many, many leaves from many trees fall and crumble. Your time will come to curse the wind and the way of things. Wind is old and you are young. Ask Wind sometime." The tree said no more. Leaf tried not to think about what Tree had said. Of course it had heard the stories of how leaves grow old and die, but still it would never be hateful. That very day, Leaf made a decision. It shouted to the world, "I will Never hate Wind. I will not give in to fear or unhappiness." Still, the next time Wind came to call, Leaf could not help but ask. "When I become old, dry and brittle will you destroy me as Tree says," Leaf asked. Wind was silent for a long moment. "I will not destroy you my dear one," Wind said. "All Earthly things grow old and dry. That is not my doing." Leaf was shaking and Wind could see the fear beginning to overtake Leaf. Wind added, "Keep your promise not to give in to hate and sorrow and when the time comes for you to fall, I will be there to catch you. It will be a beginning and not and end for you." Again Leaf felt strong. "Tell me of your travels," Leaf said. Wind spoke well into the night. Time passed. Leaf grew and changed. At first it became very big and strong. Then, as the air grew chill, Leaf began to take on the most magnificent colors. First a yellow cast and then little patches of red and gold began to creep across it. "You are most beautiful today," whispered Wind. "I do not think that of all the leaves in the world there is one to match you." Leaf shook a bit, knowing full well that many of the others had also begun to change and take on different hues. Still, the words brought joy. "It is the beginning of the end for you and all your kind," Tree said. "Soon now, oh so soon, you will be nothing but a speck in the dirt." All the other leaves began to droop and some even tumbled from their homes early as the weight of that unhappy thought dragged them down to Earth. Not Leaf. "Words, words, words," Leaf laughed. "You cannot harm me with words. I choose to be happy with my fate. Others choose to be sad. The only one who will be sad when I am gone is you old tree for then who will you talk to?" Tree shook with frustration and anger. "You will see," Tree bellowed. "You will be dirt!" As days passed Leaf began to feel thin and tired. The bright colors that covered Leaf darkened to brown and Leaf knew its time grew short. Still it would not be sad because each day now Wind told Leaf of the wonderful adventures that were to come. Just seeing Leaf cling to happiness while all those around it fell made Tree angry. One day it could stand it no more and when Wind came to call, Tree shook for all it was worth and Leaf snapped away from its branch and began to fall. Tree watched and waited for Leaf to scream and cry, to realize what horror had just befallen it. Instead Tree heard the sound of laughter. One moment Leaf was held fast to Tree and the next it was falling, flipping end over end. "I am flying!" Leaf laughed in pure joy. "You are falling! Plunging," shouted Tree. "I am soaring like a little bird," Leaf sang out. "See how I go!" Leaf felt something lift it up. It was Wind come to keep its promise. "I cannot take you far right now, just to rest on the ground. No matter what happens, do not be afraid. I will return for you." Wind carried Leaf ever so gently to the ground and allowed it to rest there. Leaf could feel the rumble of the roots from Tree as it laughed and said," You see? Now you are ready to become like all the others. It is all just as I said. Just give up now." Leaf was not stirred to sadness by Tree's words. It did not answer, but lay quietly looking up at the world. It all looked so different now. After a time, Leaf nodded off to sleep and a long time passed before it woke. Instead of feeling old, stiff and papery, Leaf felt suddenly free to move about. It could hear wind singing softly through the trees and felt itself being lifted and spun higher and higher. "Did I not promise all would be well," crooned Wind. "You have become the dust of the Earth, so light and so fine that I can carry you anywhere with me." And so Wind did carry the dust of Leaf and scattered it over fields, onto the backs of birds that flew to mountains and into streams that led to oceans. Finally Wind seeded the clouds with the last few tiny grains that were once Leaf and Leaf came back to Earth with rains and snows. Everywhere it fell the remains of Leaf brought a grain of pure joy, a drop Of hope and touch of love for wind and life. One day in springtime Wind rustled past Tree and heard Tree telling all the young leaves about the Leaf that had loved the Wind and perished in the dirt. Wind came back through Tree singing a breezy tune, "Listen my children, but not to those who tell you that your fate is in the dirt. Listen to me instead. I will tell the tale of how you will become Heaven's Dust. Believe and you will never dread." If ever you wonder which leaves listen to Wind and not Tree, look up on a stormy day and see, which ones wave, a joyous greeting and which fall down in sorrow.

Pandora ( a short story )

Pandora retold pagan style
The Maiden, being young and giddy, was watching the Men and Women as they played and laughed in the Garden one morning. She turned to the Fool, blinked her eyes, and said, "They are so fine and good, smiling all the time. How will they ever learn and grow if they have no obstacles; if there is no pain?"
And Trickster smiled a mad smile, and gave the Maiden a box. It was a small box, of something that might have been wood, but wasn't, and it had no lock on it. It did, however, have a small, neatly lettered sign on its lid.
Trickster pointed to the sign, and said, "That's called 'writing.' I haven't invented it yet."
"Oh," said the Maiden, "But what's in the box?"
"Oh," said Trickster, "You don't want to know!"
"I don't?" said the Maiden, slightly miffed, "But I'm Deity!"
"I know that," Trickster grinned, "But you still don't want to know."
"Well...all right." And the Maiden flounced away, very much put out.
Trickster watched Her go, and grinned. He then put the box down where the Maiden could see it whenever She looked in that direction, and sauntered away, eating an apple.
The Maiden looked at the box for several days.
"I wonder what's in there..." She would think to Herself. "That Person is always up to some trick."
Finally, Her curiosity got the best of Her, and She walked into the Garden and picked up the box.
She sat down under the apple tree, and spread Her skirts about Her, and placed the box on Her lap.
She looked at it for a long time, and then thought, "Well! A little peek inside can't do any harm..." And She opened the box.
Immediately, the lid sprang off, and a cloud of tiny things flew out! They were like flies, or mosquitoes, and they buzzed crazily about Her head for a moment, and then flew off in all directions.
Trickster stepped out from behind the tree.
"Well, now You've done it," He said.
"Done what?" asked the Maiden.
"Let loose what was in the box. Pain, and Suffering, and Envy, and Hatred, and Jealousy, and War, and Covetousness, and Sloth, and quite a lot more."
Just then, the box gave a great heave, and a very tiny, very bright little Something flew out.
Trickster smiled a warm smile, and said, "...and Hope. I'm an eternal optimist. Want an apple?"
"I guess so," said the Maiden. "What did it say on the lid, anyway?"
"The usual. You know, 'Do Not Open This Box.'"
"Oh. I guess I messed up, huh?"
He smiled at Her, and said, "Not really. We would have had to do it anyway, and this makes a better story, though they might get it wrong."
They both looked at the Men and Women, who were now sitting around on the grass arguing with each other. A couple of the Men were fighting, and a group of the Women were talking in whispers about another group of Women. Another Man had fenced off a section of the Garden, while another was coughing a little with a bewildered expression on his face.
"Excuse me for a bit," said Trickster. "I guess I have to be the One to finish this, and get them started up the Path."
He walked briskly over to the Men and Women, changing His Aspect as He went, until He appeared as a different sort of Being indeed.
"Time to leave," said the Angel to the Men and Women.
"Yes, we know," they answered, only half sadly, and the Men and the Women started out from the Garden, out on the Path Of Being Human.
Trickster watched them go, out from the Gates.
"Good luck..." He murmured, and he sheathed the Flaming Sword and closed the Gates of Innocence.
Thus it was, and so it is, and evermore shall be so!

HELP!! I gotta start tossing this junk!

STILL Packing, does it never end? oh I do wonder .. I got very early this morning to start on my computer cases and asst puter junks .. Just tossed out at least a 1000 old floppies from my first computer sheesh we have come along ways baby my new computer doesn't even have a floppy drive !!I have 5 keyboards 7 assorted colored mice ( all new never used or opened, I have to tell ya why; they are the regular old fashioned mouse .. sorry no good for me .. I use a marble ball mouse and will never go back to that damn squeaker style ) two new stacks of CD's and cords for speakers for power for pereferials and shesh you name it PLUS tons and tons of paper copy .. I saved everything it seems stuck it in a box and never looked at it again .. it is definitely toss time. I also have 4 complete computers and the towers for two more.. they all work to .. just need monitors is all sad part is I only use two the dell and the new gateway.. Guess I need to sell some stuff .. yeh!! yard sale time is coming up can do that really easy now since we now have a real yard to do it in.
I do believe we will have a good one to we have so much junk stuck away in a storage room or two .. baby stuff that needs to be sold off, toys , small accent stuff to make the house prettier than it already is .. I guess we are civilized pack-rats here an extra microwave we didn't have room for and everyone hated because of its size and all the complicated crap that ya had to deal with just to use it to reheat the coffee in yer cup .. TWO blenders? .. now how the hell did that happen?....oh yeh I was hunting thru the puter crap .. yep yep got 3 printers all used but they worked until I ran out of ink .. now why did I store them ?? cant buy ink for the one anymore its a very old style printer .. yanno the kind that used the folded paper .. loud pissy and ink gobbler I think that was the first printer I ever bought .. still hate to toss out working items .. bet most of you have the same issues with good working tools as well. well this one I know I have to toss cant buy ink for it anymore and not about to sell it to some poorer than me fool who only wants to have a slice of the great pie called computer toys. What else is here ? BOOKS on everything from your first computer to the idiots guide to repair to an aol handbook on learning how to computer .. omg that funny as hell to me because my first computer was an old Packard Bell- Windows 95 and had it hooked to aol because I didn't know any better. :: dies laughing now:: sheesh it still has the aol 3 on it now that's old stuff !! oh yeh I do still have the Packard Bell.. oh thats funny to see how far I have come since 1999 when I first got on line.. that old clunker let me into the world of la la land and let me learn to type .. spell checker was broken so that didn't happen and for some one like me who was not tech smart that was an awesome window .. what the hey the old clunker still works is just slow at times to load but has a ton of memory on it yep still good can set it up for the g/kids who like to play simple computer games .. OMG !! I gotta go thru some of those tossed floppies theres games on them for the kids that work on the Packard Bell!! See ya later I gotta get that bag outta the dumpster !!

In Sand & Stone

TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING THROUGH THE DESERT.

DURING SOME POINT OF THE JOURNEY,

THEY HAD AN ARGUMENT;

AND ONE FRIEND SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE IN THE FACE.

THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED WAS HURT,

BUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING,

WROTE IN THE SAND: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

THEY KEPT ON WALKING, UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS, WHERE THEY DECIDED TO TAKE A BATH

THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING, '

BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.

AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM THE NEAR DROWNING,

HE WROTE ON A STONE: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE ".

THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND ASKED HIM, "AFTER I HURT YOU,

YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,

YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?"

THE FRIEND REPLIED "WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.

BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,

WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE WHERE NO WIND CAN EVER ERASE IT."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

THEY SAY IT TAKES A MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL PERSON,

AN HOUR TO APPRECIATE THEM,

A DAY TO LOVE THEM,

BUT THEN AN ENTIRE LIFE TO FORGET THEM.

SEND THIS PHRASE TO THE PEOPLE YOU'LL NEVER FORGET.

I JUST DID.

IF YOU DON'T SEND IT TO ANYONE, IT MEANS YOU'RE IN A HURRY AND THAT YOU'VE FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.

TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!

DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE !

AND IF I HAPPEN TO GET IT BACK,

THEN I KNOW MY PLACE IN YOUR LIFE

~*~

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know whats inside until you take a bite"

* Forrests Gumps momma

So it is with friendships whether we make them on line or off.. I thought the story was a wonderful thing to share this morning and of course the quote from Mama Gump.. Na Not in a personal sharing mode today .. to busy packing up my house and getting ready for the move to a bigger place.. sheesh gotta go buy curtain rods for those windows, at least I don't have to paint its all done and everything looks nice and fresh. gonna be fun blending styles .. transitional modern with old victorian . I gotta go make a pot of coffee and get started this morning.. you all have a great day inn life hear? :: hands out a small chisel and a hammer for the stone work ahead::

make it a good one folks

/\

Foxie

Balloon story

A little boy blows up a balloon and starts flicking it all around the house with his finger. His mother tells him to stop it as he's liable to break something, but the boy continues. "Johnny!" Mom screams. "Knock it off." You're going to break something. He stops and eventually Mom leaves for a short trip to the shopping center. Johnny starts up with the balloon again after his mom has left for the store. He gives it one last flick and it lands in the toilet where he leaves it. Mom comes in and while putting away the grocery, gets the urge. A diarrhea run. She can hardly make it to the toilet in time and SPLASH, out it comes. When she's finished, she looks down and can't believe what she's seeing. She's not sure what this big brown thing is in the toilet! She calls her doctor. The doctor is baffled as she describes the situation, but he assures her he'll be over shortly to examine everything. When he arrives she leads him to the bath room and he gets down on his knees and takes a long, hard look at the thing. Finally, he takes out his pen and sort of touches it to see what it might be and POP! The balloon explodes and poop is everywhere. On him, the walls, etc.
"Doctor! Doctor! Are you all right?" she asks. He says, "I've been in this business for over 30 years, and this is the first time I've ever actually seen a fart !"-

~*~
You're laughing aren't you..I know you are!!!

Oh Joy .. Packing up

getting ready to move .. sheesh didnt relize we had so much stuff.. kinda a downsize yet its not that bad a deal, going from a 4 bedroom to a 3 bedroom but the trade off is worth it .. the 4 bedroom is a walk up flat on the 2 floor of the building no yard for my grand kids and no place to park .. the new place is a 3 bedroom street level with a yard and off street parking plus a city park right accross the street & still with in walking distance of everything we want or need not so bad.. still shareing a bed room with my granddaughter but no biggie but the new place has a dinning room and lots of windows and such. anyways all this stuff!! omg I gotta stop shopping.