Happy May Day!

When I was in third grade I remember May day. We put on a play welcoming spring and made a maypole out in the playground. We strung ribbons or colored string on the flagpole and then would do a dance where the we would weave them round and round and then unwind them. Can't remember the whole thing, but that was a high light of the year. It meant that school would be out soon and summer vacation.


We also made little May baskets with paper flowers we made in class and then take them home to our parents, maybe hang them on the door and then pretend to find them. It was a tradition to say that spring was here.

Z

Z words are fun and full of frolic and life. I looked them up in my thesaurus and there weren't many, as how could you find alternatives for zed and zoo? I know there are a few, but in the thesaurus there weren't many.
There was zeal, zealous, zenith, zero, zest, zigzag and zone.
You could reach your zenith with zeal. Wind up with a zero as you zigzag through school zones or do all that on a:


Zebra: I watch them with zeal as they roam in their zone at the zoo.


I love words and plays on them, and I really do love zebras. They are like horses, but unlike horses. They are silly and fun to watch tossing their short, brushy manes and nibbling at the grass.


What would it be like to ride a zebra? Are they as controllable as horses? Can you tame them?


What a kick that would be to run free over the African plain with the wind in your hair and the brush of his mane on your face as you lean forward to make him go faster, faster.


May your day be filled with zeal and love of the joy in life.

Y?

Y? Because I love you. That is from the old Mickey Mouse Club song and every time I hear "why" that is what I think of. When I was planning what to write it was right there. I could hear my kids ask, after being told not to walk across the street without looking first, why and I would answer, Because I love you and I want you safe".
I could hear them ask it when all I wanted to do was lock them in their room and throw away the key. I know, I know, child services would be on my doorstep. Again, I would answer them, " because I love you". They did not hear "before I have a breakdown". We do what we do for our kids because we love them. It may not be their idea of love, and I know that people use that excuse to do awful, horrible things, but for the most of us, it truly is an act of love to discipline and take away toys, privileges and send them to their rooms.
This takes me to the ultimate sacrifice our God made: sending his only begotten son to die for us so that we may have forgiveness and everlasting life. When you look at the cross and ask Y? know that you will hear, " Because I love you".


Now, back to the biggest kid. Me. I do this because I love it and love me. Thank you for reading my ramblings.

Xylophones

Xylophones have intrigued me since I saw Lionel Hampton play one on television. He made it look easy and it sounded wonderful. Like church chimes. I never knew how he could play as much music as he could without looking at it, but he did. He kept up his end of the piece.


I thought I could play one. I thought I could do anything I set my mind to do.


What I forgot was that I am basically lazy. By that I mean, if I try something, and try it for a while, I will usually find that it is way more work than I want to produce the effect that I do. I want to be Lionel and only practice once a week. For a half hour. Or less. And maybe only every other week.


I have found musical things I can do that takes less practice to produce the effect that I want. Being good is just fine with me. I play hand bells and I sing in the choir.


But, man, I wish I could like Lionel.

Wishes

What if wishes came true and you knew it? I think sometimes our wishes do come true and we don't know it or acknowledge. Perhaps because they are vaguely worded or, as I call them generic wishes.
You know the kind: I wish it would snow so I won't have work or school tomorrow. And then it does, but not enough to keep you from work or school. But, it did snow, and it is what you wished, so you got one. Or even if you got enough to keep you home that day, what do we usually do? We usually say, ' drat. I have to shovel the stuff'. Which may be why the saying 'be careful what you wish for'.


What if the wish for that A in chemistry had come true and you were heralded for being a chem quiz whiz? And then they discovered you weren't? It was just the wish that made you that way. I will leave the outcome of that in your mind. I already have my version.


On the other hand if every wish came true for everyone, we could be drowning in a sea of mermaids and purple ponies. That would not be fun, because if you are a mermaid how are you going to ride your purple pony?

Valley

Valleys are the low point between two high points. There have been valleys of despair in my life and mountains of very high points.


Valleys can be the prettiest part of the journey. When you come over a hill and see the gently sloping sides that go down to the valley where the green grass is thick and beautiful, you know you are at the end of the journey.


In the valleys are where the grass is thickest and the flowers the most beautiful. The stream splits the valley and the trees grow well near the water.


We sometimes feel like the valley is the low point, rather than a beautiful ending to a journey.


In stories of pioneers, they feel a sweet, sweet relief when they have climbed the mountain, and the valley is there to greet them with shade, grass and water.


It usually is not the end of the journey, but the pause that refreshes so that they may carry on to the end.


And so this should also be a pause, before we get to the end of the journey of the alphabet and our April challenge.

Under the Roof

Our house has a roof overhang over the front walkway. It makes it very nice when the weather is dripping and you need to walk from drive to door.


We use it to hang our hummingbird feeder, wind chimes, Christmas lights and flowers.
Flowers.
Spring.
Nesting birds.
I have a spider plant, some call them airplane plants, that we usually hang up for the growing season and it looks very pretty and adds a springtime look to the front of the house.


We love it.


So do the birds.
 Two years ago hubby hung it out for the season. It was very pretty.


He noticed some activity in it one morning. It was a bird checking it out. The next morning more activity. They were building a nest. Not in his plant they weren't. He chased them away.


Later the same day, while he was gone, they moved back in.




Next morning, tear it out.




Build it back.




He had had enough.
He got some netting we had left from a previous project. He wrapped the netting around the plant, being careful not to hurt the plant.




The next morning the birds were ensconced in the plant. They had found a parting of the upper and lower pieces of netting.


These guys were not giving up. Either of them.




While the birds were out, he tore up the nest, it was really just some grass, and sewed the netting together.


We found the birds hanging on the brick in front our window looking at us.
 A long time.




They tried and tried to get back in. They couldn't.
 Husband was happy.




Two days later we went out the back door to the patio, and...you guessed it. They had set up shop over a light. They got to stay there. This time.




Now, we shall see if they return.

T

Perhaps T could be for Trouble.

Not the life-threatening kind. Just the kind causes inconvenience. Maybe the fun kind.



Trouble does come in all shapes and sizes.


Or it could be for two. Tea for two. Lunch for two. Life for two.


Maybe twins.
 One of my husband's sisters had twins. A boy and a girl. Made for a nice family.
My dad was an identical twin. They had lots of fun and trouble, with a capitol T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool.


Sorry, lapsed into one of my favorite songs from a musical.


Can you tell this is causing me...trouble.


I believe I have had enough trouble for today.

S is for Static

Static is that sound you hear when the radio station is not on, or when you make a statement and everyone around you disagrees, or it is the stuff that makes your skirt stick to your pantyhose.


It is interference of some kind. Not always welcome, but sometimes a saving.


You may find that you have the wrong numbers on your radio dial, or that something has happened at the station that made it go off the air. Either way, you have taken an action and done something about it.


When everyone says that's not right, you rethink it and sometimes they are right, sometimes not. The main thing is you rethink what you said, and make your thoughts on the matter a lot clearer. Whether you finish up thinking the same or differently about the subject, you have honed what your beliefs are.


If your skirt sticks to your nylons you make the decision to change skirts, take off the stockings, or you discover there is something on the skirt that needs to be removed.


Again, because of the static you take an action to correct it.


So, if you have static, check it out.

Relief

Relief that Easter is over. I know. I know, Easter is never over, but the annual celebration is now done. It seems that as a Christian, a Lutheran, it gets to be hectic near and on the annual celebrations of the events of the life of Christ.


Meaning, Christmas and Easter. There are other minor holidays that we celebrate well, but these two have been taken over by the whole world and stores are full of Christmas and Easter items months before the event. The church celebrates with song, scripture and drama and Holy week is packed. You add in personal celebrations and it gets very hectic.


So, when Easter Monday comes, you really do feel relief. Now, you can continue with spreading the Easter message and still take time to put your feet up and breathe deeply.


My relief that Easter has happened is not just happiness that the pace will slow a little, but that the Christ has indeed risen and my eternity is finalized.


Happy Easter.

Quietude

Quietude.


Sounds like a quiet singing group. Or a silent attitude.


It has nothing to do with music.


It does have something to do with attitude. The dictionary says is calmness. Which comes from an attitude of quiet.


I love the idea of quietude. Quietness times many. I like watching people who are quiet. Not the ones that are just refraining from noise, but those who have a calmness in their demeanor. I admire them.


I often feel like a bull in a china shop. Running into and over things to get to the spot I need to be in. Whether is my place in the bell choir or my pew in church. I try to be quiet, and usually don't make an inordinate amount of noise, but there are some who just move in quiet moments and bring them with them.


Quietude. Being still. Being calm.


My favorite Bible verse, among many, is " Be still and know that I am God."


Here is to some quietude for all of us as we contemplate what Easter really means.

P is for Post

When I first used the computer for internet stuff, I thought a post was just a stick in the ground to hold things up. Like a fence, a birdhouse or scare crow.


Then along came the internet and it became more than that and the same as that.


When you post something on a blog or face book page you are wanting to hold something up for all to see or to keep something in one place. On the internet nothing stays in place, but you do put it in one spot, whether your blog, page or website.


Sometimes things get out there you wish hadn't. Maybe a picture of you when you all you wanted for Christmas was your two front teef.


Sometimes you post something multiple places because you want the world to know.
Birth of a child, marriage, or at this Easter time, the fact that Jesus hung on a cross for your sins. All of them. Past, present and future.


Sometimes you post out of gratefulness. An illness is past, a tough trial has ended or perhaps someone has loved you a great deal.


I will end this by saying that with this post I want you to know that I am grateful for the love God showed for me by having his son die on the cross and rise again for my sins and my joy.

Over, Done

I am over and done with Winter and its weather. It should have been done with me in February.
It should have been done in March.
It should definitely done in April. And still cold and sometimes snow. Yuk.


I am over and done with trying to enjoy the weather as an extension of Christmas.


The baby Jesus is born, circumcised, and is now in the Garden of Gethsemane. And tomorrow He will hang on the cross and die for my sins.


Even the sin of grumpiness over the miserable winter weather.


Okay.


Over and done with the weather grumps.


Thank you Jesus for not being grumpy and going to the cross for my sins and rising on Easter for my salvation.


 Without the empty tomb the cross means nothing.


And now on to the Joy of Easter and warm sunshine.

N is for Nothing

Nothing comes to mind.


 Absolutely nothing.


 What do you do?


You have the obligation, okay, so just write something


Anything.

Nope. Nothing is coming.


Of course, nothing is going, either, so nothing lost, nothing gained.


It is a nothing kind of day.
 No scheduled events.
 No work to be done.
 Nothing to do.


Hum.


Do we like nothing days? Depends. If we have no obligations to do or make, sure.


 However, if you do have them and nothing comes to mind as to how to do them?
 Not so much fun.


I am off to do my nothing day.

Music, Music, Music

When I was growing up my parents ran a restaurant and I knew most of the songs of the day, even though I was only nine or so. I knew it because we had a nickelodeon. A record player, not the cable show. You would put a nickel in and pick a tune by number and it would play.


I got to the M in my A to Z challenge and it was natural to pick music.


The title comes from an old song of the 50s by Teresa Brewer and the lyrics are:


                                            Put another nickel in
                                            in the nickelodeon
                                         All I want is having you
                                         And music, music, music


The song played over and over on our nickelodeon. It had a peppy tune and made me feel happy.


Music has always been a part of my life, whether through the nickelodeon at the restaurant or home
from the piano my mother played by ear.


As I got older I sang in the choir in grade school and then when I was home I would listen on the radio to music. This was before we had a lot of talk radio, but we had DJs who would talk about the singers and the songs.


After I was married I still listened to the radio and my records.


Then we had children and I sang lullabies and silly songs.


Now, I play hand bells and sing in the choir at church.


And, finally, the birds are singing because it is spring.

LOVE

I started to write this on love and how wonderful it is and all the fabulous things I could think of.
We acquired a set of figurines over the week-end that are four little bears each holding a letter of love. On each are a couple of words about that letter.
L-Lucky Love
O-Obvious Love
V-Visual Love
E-Eternal Love


I took pictures.
I was going to include them here.
I downloaded them or uploaded them, whichever, from my camera.
I then attempted to upload them to the blog.


It did not work.


I now have an entirely different outlook on love. Snarky. As in I LOVE technology. Or at least I do when it works.


Rant over.

I wish I may, I wish I might

When I was young we used to say that to the first star we saw at night. The complete verse was: Star light, star bright. The first star I see tonight : I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.


I don't remember any of the wishes I made at that time, but as I grew older I made many of them to make my life better, my children healthier, to have more time. They probably didn't always come true either, but they were made just the same.


Dreams are wishes our hearts make. Isn't that what the Disney song says? How many dreams have you had that didn't come true?


I think that getting the wishes is not as important as making the wish. It gets you to think about what you want. What makes sense. They don't always make sense.


Wishing I had bright blue eyes instead of the hazel green/blue ones I have was made out of envy because someone admired the bright blue eyes of my best friend. I wanted to be like my friend.


Even now wishes usually revolve around wanting to be like someone who is admired and loved. Not that if I had bright blue eyes they would admire or love me, but that seemed the easiest way to be loved.


I know that wishes won't bring me what I want. Prayers won't either, but prayers will bring me into God's presence and his love.


Wishes also brings to the forefront what is upper most in our desires. If we wish and dream about something, it may well be that from that we figure a way to get what is important for us to have: a sense of ourselves. Acceptance of ourselves for the people that we were, are and are to become.


My grandmother always used to say, " If wishes were horses we'd all be riders."


I wish you the best dreams and the best selves you can be.

Kind

When we teach our children the way to behave with other people, one of the first things we teach is to be kind.
We don't want them to snatch things from other children because it is not the kind thing to do. We should let them have the first turn at the swings, ask if they want the toy we were going to pick out, and let them choose which dessert to take.


When we have a party we especially want our children to be kind to the others who were invited.


If we get a puppy for them we tell them to be kind and gentle with the baby dog.


There is also something else we say, " Don't be that KIND of person". Usually, we mean don't be thoughtless or rude.


We love it when people are kind by surprise.


Thank you for being kind and stopping by.


Have a great kind of day.

Just

It is "just" a name.


It is 'just' the paperboy.


I am 'just' a stay at home mom.


It is just that he was acquitted.


Just is such a simple word. It conveys not worth much, or not valuable.
Most of us tend toward the not worth much definition. When we say it is just the paper boy, what we really mean, is it wasn't whom we were expecting.


When we use it as just a wife or stay at home mom, it probably means not worth much.


All of the above mean a lot and that is why people say not to say, 'just a mom


It can also mean the way it should be as in it was a just verdict. We also say he got his just desserts.
That means he got what he deserved either good or evil.


When I hear he got his just desserts, I wonder if it was chocolate or ice cream.

Impossible

When I was thinking of what to post for I day, I came up with several and have landed on impossible.
So much seems impossible when we contemplate it.


It brings to mind the Bible verse; With God all things are possible. That is Luke talking. I don't always listen. I know that, from my Bible reading that all things are possible with God. But, if I am invited to go hiking with a friend, I know that heights are not comfortably possible for me. By that I mean that in my head there is a little person jumping up and down screaming, " Are you nuts? That's a TOWER you talking about hiking to and climbing. Do you know how tall it is? It's TALL."


On the other hand I see Jesus saying, " I am here come to me". If I listen, I know he will take care of me, even if I fall he will catch me.


So, I climb the tower. The view of downtown Branson, is gorgeous and lets you see that we really live on a mountain and the roads go round and round.


Deep water is something I am still trying to trust to swim in. I have managed to trust in a boat, but when deep water calls, I think, where are the stepping stones? Again, Jesus says "Come" and when I don't I hear, " oh ye of little faith". My faith is getting stronger, and I know he won't turn from me, so I will plug on to the impossible, knowing that they are possible in Jesus.


Come on along to the impossible that is possible.


As I re-read this is may appear that it is more about possible than impossible, but it about doing the impossible because of my faith.


So, as I said before, come on along for the trip from impossible to possible.

Hither and Yon

When I was growing up that phrase was used often and sometimes in conjunction with thither.


It meant you were not focused. Another way to say, ' running around like a chicken with it's head cut off'.


When I was growing up I often was not focused and just let life happen as it will. I thought of going to college, but had no real idea what to study for and didn't think to ask anyone.


I thought of being a teacher, but when someone said that was what all women wanted to be, I immediately decided I would not do that.


What I can remember wanting to be all along was a wife and mother. That did not take a lot of thought, no, really it didn't. It was what happened to girls. We became wives and mothers. And were good at it. I never thought any one was bad at it. Even if I knew people who ended marriages. I just thought they needed out of the marriage. I know, sounds silly now, but that was what I thought.


I met my special boy and we married. We moved far from our parents and siblings, a twelve hour drive away. We thought it was fine. Pretty sure parents were not so sure.


It worked for us.


It may have looked as though we were going hither and yon, changing jobs, moving into different houses, into different towns, but there was a plan. God's plan. It worked We have now settled within a few miles from my husband's boyhood home, and we love it.


Hither and yon may not be a bad way to travel through life.

Gift

I tried thinking of all the G words I could.


 I didn't write them, just thought them.


The best of them was Gift.


We all receive gifts every day.

A kiss from a loved one. A note from someone we had not heard from in a while.


A smile from someone you see in the store when your feet hurt and you have to hurry home to make dinner and the sky just let loose with rain.


The best of these is the one least expected.


May you have the best of all gifts today.

Friendship

Friendships come in all shapes, sizes, endurance and depth. You can have a friendship since babyhood and enjoy it everyday of the endurance of it. And you can want it to be different at different times.


We usually find friends at a mutual point. Meaning at something we obviously both enjoy. Sometimes that something is a one time thing for one of you and a long time thing for the other. I have met people at social functions and had great time with them there and exchanged numbers and it has continued into something special.


I have also met people that I thought would be fun to know, but they didn't share that thought.
What makes a friend a friend?
Mutual likes or dislikes. Sympathy for your sorrows, whether major or minor. Involvement in your life.
There are immediate friends . There are works in progress friends. And there are longtime friends.


Immediate friends are those that when you meet you have camaraderie with that rivals friendship from the cradle.


Works in progress friends are the ones you meet and like, but time intervenes and you lose contact, and then there they are again. And this time you work a little harder staying in contact and the relationship deepens a bit into a friendship that is close.


The longtime friends are the ones you usually meet when you are young or you children are young and as parents you have a mutual ground to work from.


And sometimes you make friends and never meet. I have several friends that I have never met in person, but have met online. I have some of those from a group of writers that met through the group 500 Words a Day.


No matter where you meet, it seems the same thing is true of all friendships: they fill a space in your heart and life that needed an oomph and a love.


Here's to all my friends: Thanks for being there.

Election Day

In my area it is Municipal election day this upcoming Tuesday. That means cities elect mayors and school boards are elected.


It is not a very well-known election time, seemingly. Perhaps I should say it is a low key time for voters but for  those involved  it is important. School boards are the people who overlook the education of our children and this is the time we get to have a say in who these people are. We should take advantage of this freedom. It is a freedom that we should participate in and take pride in.
There are places that don't have that option.


This is getting a little heavier than the rest of my A to Z posts, so will lighten it up by saying that the election could be like the small town of Dorset, Minnesota where they elect their mayor every year for Dorset Days by selling votes for a dollar a piece.  Two years they  elected a three years old and boy. I think he is going to try again in August when they hold Dorset Days. Sounds like a real bargain at a dollar a vote. The voter has to pay the buck.


Come to think of it, that may not be a whole different from the real thing.

D Words

Do you know how many 'd' words there are when you try to pick one to write about?


There is drivel.  Which can be nothing or drool. Nothing if you are being silly and drool if you are smelling a really divine meal.


Dash. Means to shatter, or run, or bespatter, which is to throw roughly such as paint on canvas or water from a spill.


Dash. Hum. Yesterday I spent some time with a friend shopping, dining and chatting. During all this we had to dash. Very quickly because a rainstorm came up while we were shopping for some of our favorite things and had gotten caught up in conversation over our mutual love: card making, with the person at the store.


It banged and drenched the world with water.
It was still drenching when we left, so we had
 to dash when it was less threatening.


We dashed and discovered she had left her window down more than normal.
We now had to dash the water from her seat with whatever we had at hand.


Tissues. 


Enjoy. I have to dash.  

C is for Computer

If you have been reading my blog, you may know that I know just enough about a computer to be dangerous.


You turn it on, um, boot it up by going to the start button.


You close it down by...going to the start button. I really have that one down.


Then there is the paste/copy/cut or vice versa thing. Have had several people tell me what to do. Still haven't quite figured that one out, as you can see, below.
When I did my blog the other day someone suggested I do something about the word thingy you have to do to leave a comment.


She was kind enough to tell me what to do. I finally found the settings and comments and the word verification button to change. I did it. So proud.
And I have another question: I was supposed to put a badge on my blog to indicate that I was participating in the A to Z challenge. How
Now, back to the cut and paste/copy.


In an e-mail you are told to cut and paste or copy and paste. Which scissors do I use?


What paste will survive the internet?


Oh, wait. Computers + Liquid= Disaster


Whew! Disaster avoided.




I am learning.

Babies

Babies are always a popular thing to talk about or write about.


I birthed three babies and they have each birthed some of their own.


It is always a happy event when you find you are having a baby or your baby is having a baby.


You wait in high anticipation for the birth and the growing of the baby. You plan, and plan. Then the baby comes and they have their own plans. They don't like to sleep at night.


You do.


It sets up as a battle of wills. You figure you are bigger, you win.


They are smaller and louder. They win.


Then they walk. Yea! Now you don't have to carry them everywhere. They can go anywhere.
And they do. Whether you are there or not, they go.


Then they drive. Yea! No more late night waits at the school after basketball games.


Now, there are late night waits at home, with frown on face and grudge in heart.
Then they call and there is a problem. The car ran out of gas. You take the gas can and go find them and get them home.


Home. Where you will ground them and not worry about anymore late nights. Ever. You will lock them up and home school them until they are 25.


Two days later of home schooling, meaning you got their homework from teacher and you tell them you will gladly take them and pick them up from school. And no, they may not have their iPhone back.


Two days later....they have the iPhone and the car.


A year later, they are packing to go off to college.


Two years later, they are back. For the summer.


Two years and graduation.


Home for a while till they get a job.


And now you retire and they work.


" Mom, where are you going?"


" Out."


And that is babies.

Ageing

Ageing is not something you think about.


 It just happens.






Wrinkles also just happen. Some of us think of our aging as something to brag about. Or at least to talk about.




When you are young you don't think of getting older as ageing. You think of it as getting to do...
walk to school by yourself, staying up till ten, getting to drive.




Then when you are older still, you  go to college, have your first alcoholic drink, and move out on your own.


After a time, you pass all the important ages like 16, 21 and 30.
 Thirty is a big one, because lots of younger ones think you have gone over the hill.




Suddenly, it is forty, fifty, sixty, and seventy.




Where did the time go?




A better question is what did we do with it?




We played ball.



We studied for tests.
 And passed them.




We went out with boys to find the right one to marry.




We married the right one. Some of us only thought he was the right one, and went on to others until we found the right one, or decided that we didn't need the right one to be happy.




We had children.




Some of us lost them.




We were happy, and we were sad.




 We celebrated and enjoyed.




So, here we sit at whatever age are and decide that it was worth it and let's get to the next birthday.