The New One Hopefully For Grand Daughter

What makes Us Happy

Life does not guarantee happiness, we keep seeking it in different ways. But do we already have it and do not see it? That is something that I am contemplating as I sit here  limited in what I can do. I think maybe I am lucky to be able to find happiness in the little things that I can do.
I know I am not going to be famous for my painting nor am I going to get  awards for my writing but do I need them is my question. I go into another world when painting, do I become different when painting or when  writing, it is like I go outside of myself to do it. Now I wonder is that place that I go to the real me, or are we different people for different things.
Was I mother earth when gardening and caring for my flowers? Was I a farmer when caring for the farm animals, or was the  loving caring woman that raised  all of her children, helping them become what they are meant to be. Do we wear different hats for different things. Can we allow ourselves to evolve into  what our potential really is or do we stifle ourselves from fear of failure, or of being laughed at.
As I sat here  yesterday  I was wishing i could do my yard work, that I could get a small camper and just go traveling, then all of a sudden I said  to myself and old adage my mom would say," If wishes were horses then beggars would ride". It was then I had a defining moment, Maybe I am doing exactly what is planned for me, maybe I am happy and do not appreciate the fact that happy isn't always what we think it is.
Maybe if we all just relax, take a deep breath and let it all go for a few minutes and as we refresh our electronics maybe that is what we need to do.Do we really have to worry and wonder if a political party is in office, do we really need to  wish we  could do things we can't , do we need to stress ourselves with needless worries that  have no bearing on our lives in the long run.
Something tells me we are mostly doing it all wrong and the hints we get to make changes are ignored. I for one am going to stop and let things happen for I realize that is exactly what  I do when painting and writing, I never plan any of it and it gets where I am suppose to put it whether its paint or words.

Never too old for a lesson

I am out of practice and that’s a fact,
After hours and hours of  gluing that I did,
All of those Christmas designs  all so pretty
 With glowing lights and garland  they did shine,
 So twenty years  later an idea  came to me


I thought how hard can it be to glue a wreath,
Not for Christmas  but for Summer and me,
So out came the glue  gun, glue sticks and all,
I was so happy with my one of a kind design,


My mind had the idea of pansies so sweet,
Netting for back ground will set it off fine,
And busy I got when my troubles began,
Hands not so nimble, clumsy in fact,

The wreath started to form when I yelled ouch,
It seems the glue went on my numb fingers
Instead of the frame, it caused a heck of pain
Taking the glue off my finger was grim, 

It hurt and took a bit of my skin,
The lesson I learned on this craft day,
If you're going to do what you did back then,
Make sure you have a cool glue gun and bacitracin.
tee 2017

My First attempt at fiction short story

One day Bertie, known as Little bird or her given name Norberta Inez Thankful Van York.  As she walked along through the pine trees, taking in the piney scent as she walked and loving the scents that  fall brings waiting for winter’s quiet time when all was frozen even the scents it seemed.  She was thinking how things went wrong when her parents named her after almost every grandmother and great grandmother all except one. Katherine and Joanna each got one name while she had the rest except that one was missing and  she knew there should be  six names but no one ever said her name. She hated her name, she hated Bertie also which was what her sisters called her and her two older brothers called her Little Bird, which wasn’t so bad.

Why did her mother frown when Ned and Frank called her that, well mothers are good at frowning she thought and forgot about it. What was important, was the fact that she was starting school and what was she going to do about her awful name. As she walked along the dusty road, she realized that she had missed her turn to go to the school house. “Oh, darn and Glory be”, she muttered, having to go to school for the first time without her sisters and brothers just wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t her fault that Katherine and Joanna along with Ned and Frank were kept home to help with the crops and canning the vegetables for winter. Just as she was turning around to get back to her turn off, she spied a little log building in the trees. Now curious she wondered where that came from and realized that the leaves were falling off the trees enough to see it hidden away.

Now everyone knew that Bertie was a bit curious about everything and there she was trying to see what that building was about when a voice quietly said, “Is there something you need little one”? Startled Bertie turned around and there stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

Not that she was young or anything but the braids that hung on each side of her face seemed to sparkle as the sun shone on her silver hair. She was dressed in soft deer hide dress and high moccasins, almost like the painting that hung in the attic except she was older.

Finally finding her voice she said,” I am sorry but I missed my turn to the school, it’s going to be my first day ever, then looking down and shuffling her new shoes in the road dust, she said” I had better get going”. The lady said “, I will walk you back to your turn if that alright with you”.

As they walked the woman asked Bertie what her name was and with a sigh Bertie went on to say her entire name. The woman smiled and went on to say, “that is not what you answer to is it”? Shaking her head Bertie said no, then said her sisters called her Bertie and her brothers called her little Bird. She looked up at the woman and saw a smile that lit up the older woman’s face. Then as they reached the turn for the school Bertie asked her what the woman’s name was, and the older woman answered,” Why my name is Pretty Little Bird”.

As Bertie walked towards the school, she no longer had to wonder what she should be called and now she knew who the painting in the attic was, she was named after all her grandmothers. Into the school, she went and when it was roll call and was asked her name she proudly said, “Norberta Inez Thankful Little Bird Van York”.

Food For Thought, so many possible meanings.

Rep. Steve King of Iowa tweeted, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,”
Now a lot of people think that statement is outrageous and maybe it is. Having said that I pondered his statement a lot last night and this morning and came up with this analysis of what I got from the entire tweet and  the following interview.
First of all he is right in that we kill our babies, the future of America by the millions each year, then rely on foreign peoples to replace them. almost 60 million babies in 43 years  proves that point.
I see that our government is trying to get our dreaded enemy "the Russians' to open up adoptions to the USA...well we did kill a lot of our babies so have to get them from somewhere. Notice I did not mention that our dreaded enemy "the Russians" babies must not be enemies as yet.
Second he went on to say he would like to see that in future generations the racist word is gone and everyone was the same color, meaning  blending the races, intermarriages are a good thing. Now how in the world is that a racist remark, a bigoted remark, a fascist remark ( Aryan race), it is just the opposite.

In my opinion most inter racial marriages seem to work just fine, according to the ones in my family and we have plenty of them.

He also said any immigrants should assimilate into our society, I also agree with that. So I guess he has his reasons for saying what he is saying and the KKK guy sure did not get the meaning of blending and not killing the different races. I know  a few Liberal members of my family who are married out of their race are insulted, because they too did not get what he was saying.

Of course what he is saying is impossible unless its a Stephen king novel but I will give him the benefit of doubt of what I seem to think he  meant, so if others have different opinions lets hear them...

I am Woman!

I am woman without the need to make a point....
I was raised to know I could do anything by a woman who had to do much to survive...
I raised two daughters the same way I raised six boys, to be strong, to know their worth, and to do what ever it is they wanted to do...
I walked the floor with these children when they were sick...
I stopped my housework to lay on the floor to play paper dolls or to color...
I stopped my work to go outside and play catch ..
I did this without making a choice about whether it ws a son or a daughter doing wither...
I sat up all night embroidering a jean jacket for a daughter that just had to look like one of the crowd for that time in her life and we could not afford the expensive jacket the rest were wearing...

And when a neighbor girl saw the jacket said"I wish you were my  Mommy". and now I wish she had been too when I see how screwed up her life is now...
I told them all they were smart, talented and wonderful....
I never needed to prove I was a strong woman, I did it with every jar of food canned from my garden  that I raised...
I did it every time I went and got a job to add money to our coffers and still be mom, housewife and wife..
I prayed a lot  when the children needed spiritual help, letting God decide what I should do...
I am now old and riddled with worn out joints , aches and pains, my family living their lives..
I am still strong in my own way, I paint, I write, I think for myself, I love...
I am woman!

Work and Reward

Back in the day when youngest son was 8 or 9 ( he turned 37 yesterday ) and his sidekick nephew was 4 or 5, we were  living out in the country on the farm on Buffalo Ridge. One day I was looking out the window I could see that the wind or the dog had tipped over the burn bin so the yard was a mess.
About that time a friend stopped in and the boys asked if he would take them fishing.. He saw the messy yard and said ,"well if you boys clean up the mess in the yard I will take you fishing". The boys got busy and soon was tired of carrying a piece of garbage at a time, so geniuses that they were, they went and got an old plastic sled that had seen better days and started filling that with the mess. Both were boys scuttling around picking up the stuff and putting it in the old sled did not notice one important thing. The dog was running behind them and taking everything out of the sled that they were putting in.
Now that was funny to watch, then feeling sorry for the boys I told them to put the dog in the barn while they worked and they were amazed at how much faster their job went. AND they got to go fishing.
Now both boys do not rememeber that day, but the lesson they learned stayed with them, "When you are doing a job and things aren't working, stop and see how you can make it work". They are both successful men with families and I hope they pass on that little bit of knowledge to their children.

Inauguration Day

It is good to see, The Clintons, the Carters, the Supreme court, the Bushes,the Obama family here to honor the tradition. This is what it is all about, not politics, petty hurts, angry protests. It is about the transfer of power to another President just as it was planned.
                                      GOD BLESS AMERICA!

A great week In America, The Changing Of Our leader As Planned By Our Forefathers

This week is completion of the American process of continuing what America stands for. The election cycle, which is way too long and has too much gutter talk, was meant to choose the best choice for the times, which in this case Americans across the country did just that.

What is surprising is the refusal of a group of people refusing to accept the process that our forefathers put in place with good reason. Throughout time there have been winners and losers of each group’s choice, currently there are certainly more candidates being offered. And yes, that does change the dynamics of the elections, 

The what ifs do no one any good, it is what it is, we have elected in a legally planned way for Donald T trump to be our leader for four years and by the time that election time rolls around again we will know if our choice was worthy of him being elected again.

This is the way America has always works and hopefully will always work. The one thing that would benefit all of us weary voters would be passing a law limiting the campaign process to three months, even six months but that is it ,  Then there would be no time for the gutter talk, just tell us why we should vote  your way.

I will be applauding Mr. Trump when he is sworn in, and I know there will be 62,829,831 other voters standing with me cheering him on.