Courage

What is your idea of courage? Whats a good example to you of something courageous? Could it be the soliders who are in Iraq fighting to defend our land ? Or those who protest in political rings rallying for rights and laws to improve or empower unjust circumstance or positions? Is it the first time parents be it by birth or adoption, to take on the commitment of caring for another life? Standing up to a bully in youth or adulthood, or taking that first drive with your oldest child just learning to drive ? Where is that line between courage and stupidity? Is a daredevil courageous or insane? Is a good smaritain that runs into a burning building to save a pet a helpful bystander or a crazy idiot?

I have faced something similiar in my own life as far as that fine line. I play a online game called Second Life ( www.secondlife.com ) and met two wonderful friends in the course of playing. I have always had a great fear of flying .. that thought of being trapped in a metal container so high in the sky..no options to escape.. in a train or car you can go out a window.. in a boat you can swim away.. in all you could phone for rescue but a plane .. was placing trust of your life in the pilot and the mechanics of the craft with no rescue plan. As I grew to know my friends in Second Life it was suggested to meet in real life outside of the internet constraints. Being that they were from Sydney, Australia this had me facing a great fear!! I'd have to fly! I had always traveled with a family member .. never despite my growing age, had I traveled anywhere alone.. yet here I was about to take the journey of my lifetime. I will post exerts of that journey in this blog later .. but for this posts purpose its mentioned to say.. Some thought I was crazy.. to fly across an ocean to meet two people I'd only ever known over a internet connection. And some including myself , viewed it as a big step of courage! I'm delighted to say the trip was a huge success and one I'll cherish all my life. My point is .. courage could be anything from journey across an ocean to taking that first step again after a fall , what is courage to you ??


Todays Poem:
The Holidays are wonderful time to enjoy friends and familiy , depite his being gone five years now.. the holidays still seemed empty without my Dad, this poem is for him

Into my life there came a man
a rock he was to me
raising me with wise advice
and love abundantly

I didn't lack for discipline
the word patience he defined
he had a way of teaching me
a blend of stern and kind

throughout my many years of youth
he was always there for me
offering his guideance
and support unwaveringly

and as I grew to be full grown
this man I'd come to see
he had grown himself you know
he was a great friend to me

Through my lifes trials
my rock stood firm for me
humor,love, and wisdom
he passed on these legacy's

it's so hard to say goodbye
one last "HUG" and love you lots
I will miss your being here
my good friend, my Dad, my rock

But our Lord has called you home
I'll be sad, for it is tough
You see, where I looked and found a rock ...
God saw a diamond in the rough.


Thank you for reading!

Appreciation

Appreciation! We've all shared it at one time or another in our life. Sometimes saying "Thank You" is all it takes to brighten the day of another, two simple words that mean so much. Its more than just manners to say "thank you" its the appreciation given for a kindness shared. One of those little things that mean a lot.

But there are sometimes, you just want to say a little bit more than "thank you" in appreciation for wonderful things! I am quite new to this blog world, and as I have posted more and more I've come to enjoy this great expierence and know I never would have known this process and its joys were it not for two very special people. Where I am greatly blessed by all the friendships in my life and do not wish to leave anyone out, this post is about showing appreciation to the two kind souls who have helped me most with my testing the blogging waters :)

Jaycatt Nico-
THANK YOU! Thank you for your kindness and friendship! Your positive comments and support were a great encouragement, seeing you enjoy your own blog http://jaycatt.blogspot.com/ so much inspired me to think perhaps it was a fun thing to try! Your enthusiasm and praise were just wonderful and knowing I had a friend to lean on for advice.. you are the best!!

EricAtRandom-
THANK YOU!! Where to begin in expressing appreciation for your neverending guidance, support, encouragement, and friendship! My blog looks beautiful because of you! You showed great patience in helping me step by step through getting it just right:) I am so grateful for everything you've done to help make this attempt at blogging such a pleasant and exciting start. Your creative input and the contagious energy of your own blog http://ericatrandom.blogspot.com/ helped me to see blogging was a world worth trying. Bless your heart and thank you both most kindly!

Todays Poem:

Computer Headache

I sit at my desk with a rather large frown
sad because my hardrive is down
all my co-workers have all had a good lunch
but all I got was a megabyte crunch

My monitor is dimming..my modem is flashing
Oh Lord help me my whole system is crashing
my program was lost, the back up deleted
just two more lines and it would've been completed

The office is empty I am all alone
just me and my mouse that sits by the phone
Technology is super...technology is great
It must have been humans to make these mistakes..

So why tell me why if the system is so straight
why tell me why do I suffer from.. COMPUTER headache ?

Thank you for reading!

Books

Books! Books! Books! Who doesnt love books!

Who remembers being a young child in school and being all excited it was Library day! Books on the shelf in the library are like picking a dozen donuts from the bakery display you just know all of them are good and satisfying but which ones to start on!

I confess I'm not a very well read reader.. theres many great books and book series out there I have not read but the upside to this dilema is that I can discover them now. I love the world of possibliites books can bring. Escaping into stories of adventure we ride along with the main character.. gasping as each page turned brings us closer to the details of his current peril!

Losing ourselves from days reality as we read stories of fantasy.. flying on a magic carpet or ridding unicorns through the pages of magical lands, faries fly alongside us as we expierence the journey imagination takes us on.

We test our minds in mystery's, flipping the pages back and forth to make sure weve caught and deduced the clues only to chuckle when at the end its revealed in the final pages
..the butler really did do it!!

Reliving events of the past in books on history placing ourselves at the great battles, grasping a better understanding of the choices our leaders made in defending our lands. Marveling at the great strategy's of leaders past.

and last but best.. comedys. I truly loved reading Erma Bombeck! She had a way of writing she could take a common everyday event and lace it with her unique brand of humor and turn it into a great comedic adventure! I could sit and read her books for hours! If ever I were to have any ounce of ambition for being a writer in life.. its Erma Bombeck Id aspire to be most like. I just love when humor can be found in even the darkest of moments its that positive spark that always shows ...hope remains.

I have rambled on today.. but thats the name of the blog afterall!
Thank you for reading!

Here in closing, is todays poem:

Books

Some will judge its content just by its outter look,
Some will find interest with the presence of a hook,
Some will venture inward and find treasures of all kinds
Each finds something different it all depends upon their minds

Some have come to knowledge and wisdom far and wide
Because some have had the desire to discoer what's inside
Some will teach great lessons or have adventures of every kind
Oh their tales will come alive when imagination rules your mind!!

Let your own life be an adventure, solve a mystery or learn to cook
All these things YOU can do , You'll find the fun in BOOKS!!

Pack Rat

Hello my name is Rosa and I am a packrat! It doesnt matter what the item is,
my sense of sentimentality or optimisim for "perhaps someday I'll use this"
has me forever stuffing things into closests or drawers. A old delapadated chair
thats long since seen its last days still sits in a room in my house simply because
its sentimental of Dad. Where is that line between being conservative and being a packrat?? Clothes, long since outgrown hang in the closest for eternity for that "I might fit into it again someday" hopeful goal. Then theres the forward thinking packrat, this I credit to my Dad for teaching me , an example would be .. a common store recipt for groceries.. saved in a book or drawer for the "years from now it will be cool to look back and see how prices have changed" reasonings. Perhaps thats a bit extreme in patrack-isim but still an example just the same :)

Packrats were a happy bunch, content to sit on unpractical treasures for years
clining to our validations of why it has to be kept. We start calling rooms in our
house "the junk room" where all our "someday" cherishables are stored. And if
by some miracle the day arrives we actually do use the long kept item, its like scoring a touchdown! So happy keeping it all that time proved to be worthwhile! The odds of this happening are of course slim, .....but...you never know!!
I recently had to "clean out" my packrat room...yes i have a room...*hangs head* and
being a packrat not much progress was made each item met with the same reasonings..
"I might use this" or " I've kept it this long, why part with it now" haha!
Are you or do you know a packrat too ??

Thank you for reading!

Todays Poem: Mothers Memory

I walked into my childs room
and my eyes they gazed about
just four walls at first it seemed
and a small window to look out
The bed was made quite neatly
the floor was swept and clean
all my life I'd pictured this
but 'twas only in my dreams
I felt the walls looked empty
without the posters many
once a room filled with noises
now I heard not any
I still could picture the entire room
burried under scattered toys
I still could hear "clean up this mess!"
booming from my voice
I turned around and saw
there in the doorway frame
several tiny straight lines
underneath my childs name
several lines upon the wall
doesn't look like much at all
but for a parent who sees through tears
each line was a precious year
starting small they'd start to rise
cant count them all through blurry eyes
up to the top they go so fast
how quickly then the time was passed
I turn to leave from this room
how sad that my exit has come to soon
I retrieve my kerchief that I came for
and full of remembrance open the door
How I long to linger here
and relive the memories of this room
but I have to hurry back downstairs
to hear my only child say , "I do ".

Pictures

I love Pictures! I love pictures of family, friends, places, I even love pictures of other people I dont even know. Its wonderful to look about those frozen moments in time to see a glimpse of what life was at that particular moment. I am a self professed shutterbug, guilty I'll plead to wandering around family gatherings snapping up candid shots , sometimes to the point of being annoying!! I enjoy greatly the scenic nature pictures, the vivid colors that Mother Nature paints
on the canvas of the world :) Sights that when noticed, simply take your breath away.
I used to spend tons on film developing.. tearing into the developed shots like a little kid with the first opened christmas gift, I just couldn't wait to see how they turned out!! It was nirvana when I was given a digital camera for my birthday! View pics right away and endless photo ops!!
Pictures are like windows to the past, preserving memories always to last. What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Todays Poem: Photograph

A tiny box
you hold in your hand
a device which to capture
the faces of man

It stops time
ans suspends it forever
small square memories
for generations to treasure

Capture beautiful sunsets
gorgeous mountains and trees
or some of God's other creations
perhaps you, or maybe me?

Is it a comfort
for us sentimental types
there is a way
to preserve memories of life

For the next time there's a memory
that you've just got to have
click the button on your tiny box
and remember it always in your
Photograph!

SNOW DAY

I awoke Friday morning to gleeful shouts of " SNOW DAY!!" what is it about those two words
that can bring such joy and sparkle to the morning. I think it must be a magical occurance for
how else to explain the transformation of two individuals who were dragging their feet, non chalantly making their way through the morning routine to suddenly become bouncy, wide awake, energetic and happy. It was like getting a bonus that the snow day happened on a Friday!

Two words, just seven letters changed an average end of the week day into 24 hours of possibilities that lay before them. As a kid Snow Days are much wished for rarely recieved
magical days, that reprieve to get out of the anxiously dreaded Math test, or spelling quiz
a day to forget about the academics of the day and plot strategy for snowball fight victories.

As an adult they take on a whole new expierence.. schedule juggling for working parents,
anxiety of "I still have to travel in this?" realization. and the strategy for snowball victories
is replaced by strategy of how to keep up with the kids all day.

Snow Day,...... perhaps its God's way of giving us all a blessing of ..time. Time to slow down in our busy morning. Time to think more about our kids.. Time to spend with family and make joyful memories. What are some of your Snow Day memories???

Thanks for reading!


Todays Poem: Destruction Crew

I sat there in my easy chair
while the destruction workers lunched
how quickly the noise quiets down
when all at once they munch

the breaktime is now over
the destruction task resumes
what I wouldnt give right now
for a nice and quiet room

From where I stand I can clearly view
the damage roof to floor
my patience of the work they do
is tolerant no more

It time to put an end to it
its time their work must end
I never want to see or hear
this kind of work again??

And after I have said my say
to the members of the lot
I'll follow it up by saying
"Now off to bed boys, its eight o'clock!"