Dark and Cloudy Days

Filed Under Inspiration | 32 comments

Remember that when we come upon  Dark and Cloudy portions of our life it isn’t necessarily a bad thing…

We might just have to look closer  with real purpose to see the beauty… because whether  we take the time to “look” or not, it’s still there.

Please visit Susan and the  OutDoor Wednesday gang… there are some smashing sites to see.

Also remember Melissa at The Inspired Room where she has a great apple pie neighbor gift idea.

And Stop back tomorrow when we will have a wee bit of a celebration on EARLY Halloween!

TTFN~~  Claudia ♥ ♥

October 13, 2009 at 11:17 pm | Inspiration | 32 comments

Tuggin at your heart

Filed Under Heart Strings | 29 comments

It’s been one of those weeks when I am feeling a bit over whelmed.  When I get like this I am an easy crier. As in I mean that even a “Bell telephone commercial” can put me over the top! BREAK out the tissues. 

But I find I need good stories like this one to help me realize it really is the journey– thanks for letting me share what a dear friend sent me the other day.

               

(settle in with a cup of tea and grab a tissue.)

 ~~When I was a  young boy, my father had one of the first  telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case  fastened to the wall.
 The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.
 
 Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was ‘Information Please’ and there was nothing she did not know.
 Information Pleasecould supply anyone’s number and the correct time.
 
 My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor.

 Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.
 
 I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone!
 Quickly, I ran for the  footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear.
 ‘Information, please’ I said into the mouthpiece just above my  head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.
 
 ’Information.’
 
 ’I hurt my finger…’ I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.
 
 ’Isn’t your mother home?’ came the question.
 
 ’Nobody’s home but me,’ I blubbered.
 
 ’Are you bleeding?’ the voice asked.
 
 ’No,’ I replied. ‘I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.’
 
 ’Can you open the icebox?’ she asked.
 
 I said I could.
 
 ’Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,’ said the voice.
 
 After that, I called ‘Information Please’ for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.
 
 Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died.I called, Information Please,’ and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, ‘Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?
 
 She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly,  “Wayne always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.”
 
 Somehow I felt  better.
 
 Another day I was on the telephone, ‘Information Please.’
 
 ’Information,’ said in the now familiar voice.
 
 ’How do I spell fix?’ I asked.
 
 All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston . I missed my friend very much.

‘Information Please’ belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the  table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.
 
 Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.
 
 A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle; I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without
 thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown Operator and said, ‘Information Please.’
 
 Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well.
 

‘Information.’
 
 I  hadn’t planned this, but I heard myself saying,
 ’Could you please tell me how to spell fix?’
 
 There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, ‘I guess your finger must have healed by  now.’
 
 I laughed, ‘So it’s really you,’ I said. ‘I wonder if you  have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?’
 
 I  wonder,’ she said, ‘if you know how much your call meant to me.  I never had any children and I used to look forward to your  calls.’
 
 I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.
 
 
 ’Please do’, she said. ‘Just ask for Sally.’
 
 Three months later I was back in Seattle A different voice answered ‘Information.’
 
 I asked for Sally.
 
 ’Are you  a friend?’ she said.
 
 ’Yes, a very old friend,’ I answered.
 
 ’I'm sorry to have to tell you this,’ she said. ’Sally had been working part-time the last few years because  she was sick. She died five weeks ago.’
 
 Before I could hang up she said, ‘Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne ?’
 
 ’Yes.’ I answered.
 
 ’Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called.
 
 Let me read it to  you. ‘The note said, ‘Tell him there are other worlds to sing in.  He’ll know what I mean.’
 
 I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

 

 
 Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.
 
 Whose life have you touched today?
 
 Life is a journey … NOT a guided tour. So don’t miss the ride  and have a great time going around– you don’t get a second shot at it.
 
 I loved this story and just had to share it. I hope you enjoy it and get a blessing from it  just as I did
 
 
 ‘The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.’

Stop by Mary’s at the Little Red House see her fantastic Mosaics and other wonderful offerings.

TTFN~~ Claudia ♥ ♥

October 12, 2009 at 1:14 am | Heart Strings | 29 comments

Nonsensical

Filed Under serendipity | 17 comments

In the world of the Blogosphere, do you ever find your self just wandering through your thoughts and photos?

Tonight when I was beginning to write, I came upon several shots that were favorites of mine but not with any particular theme.

The above shot was a divine little cafe way in the middle of not much of anything. (forgive me if you have relatives that live there and they think its a big metropolitan area) I actually ran in to just take a potty break,  when I stumbled through the doors and found this! Isn’t this just wonderful? The Black and Green were so stunning against the pop of White! It was sparkling clean and the Club sandwich — YUM!!

The Gift Shop was just as intoxicating.

I fell in love with these characters… Do any of you know the artist or maker?? I would love to know.

I need this fairy — as mine are in a race as to who can reach my belly button first! Uggh.

I’m officially in love with Orange and Purple these days.

All these photographs are yet again just another example of how we might think we are going down a road expecting one thing, then the Seren”dipity” road brings one to these lovely finds. Im thankful and hooked on adventure and how unique our world is.

Be sure and stop to see Julia at Hooked on Fridays and Melissa at the Inspired Room and see what the other world of bloggers are into.

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound always hosts a great party — Pink is the Theme, while there is only a wee bit of pink in this I always love visiting those who participate! Happy Weekend all.

As always, I would love for you to say hi in the comment section. Have the best weekend! I’m off to work!

TTFN~~ Claudia ♥ ♥

October 8, 2009 at 10:44 pm | serendipity | 17 comments

Road Less Traveled

Filed Under Inspiration | 9 comments

I rounded a curve that brought me here…

As I drove up the canyon last week I came to a bit of a bend in the road that forced me to make a choice.

The majority of “fall viewers” were driving up the wider and less dusty path… so I took the road less traveled…  the serendipitous road  that made all the difference. Which brought to mind one of my life long poems I love.

The Road Not Taken 

Robert Frost
 
 
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

TELL ME… take a minute to re-read that poem and tell me what you think it means?

Do you think it means : the literal (and more common) interpretation, the poem is inspirational, a paean to individualism, to non-conformism?

Or do you think it means: the ironic interpretation, widely held by critics, is that the poem is instead about regret and personal myth-making, rationalizing our decisions?

Or are you with me when I think it means: Not the opportunities foregone or lost – but rather emphasises on choices made and embracing  and celebrating them?

Tell me– really — I would love to hear what your thoughts are!

Or…

Are we all just a bunch of WILD TURKEYS???   Running a muck?

 

*Amie Beck – pink tree cake* (not my photo)

To my darling Sister, SDD– May you have the happiest of Bdays darling! I miss you and hope you have a wonderful day– you are one of the biggest TURKEYS of them all! Smooch!!

As always visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer where she launches her weekly Outdoor Wednesday party!

TTFN~~Claudia ♥ ♥

October 7, 2009 at 12:02 am | Inspiration | 9 comments

Monday Mosaic

Filed Under Mosaic | 16 comments

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday.

Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older.  And, there on
television, she said it was ‘exciting.’

Regarding body changes, she said there were many,occurring every day…like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first.

The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such an honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words!
“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas lights.

“I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.’

“I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

“I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

“I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.  (I REALLY like that one)

“I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Mary at Monday Mosaic will be hosting again her weekly party, be sure and stop and say hi!

Thanks always for stopping by — I really appreciate all of you!

TTFN~~ Claudia ♥ ♥

October 5, 2009 at 1:43 am | Mosaic | 16 comments

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