Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

October 25, 2007

Today’s Stories

~**~**~
 
WILDLIFE LIFE IN JUNGLE AND AT HOME

Dr. Harmander Singh

"We are going to a trip to jungle, is not an adventure?" he asks his elder sister.
"What adventure is in it the jungles are just jungles?" she replies.
"You are in grade 7, when you were in grade 3, did not you went to the trip to the jungle, have you forgotten it" he asks.
"No, I enjoyed it, well going to the jungles seems good for children only, is not it?" she ask.
"Can you enjoy the jungle books, I mean books on the jungles?" he asks.
"Yaw, I like it I enjoy to see wildlife on TV, it is so beautiful, is not it?" he says.
"When you can enjoy it on TV, how is it possible that you cannot do while enjoying it in real experience?" he asks.
"What do mean by real experience?" she asks.
"Can you enjoy dogs, cats and other animals in the portraits, pictures, TV and in other animation movies?" he asks.
"Yaw, I enjoy it, it is very gorgeous, is not it?" she says.
"Is not it really gorgeous, when you play with our dog and cat? Should not we leave it in the jungles?" he says.
"Sometimes, you just get crazy, I like jungles and know that it very beautiful, but I never get time out of my studies, so I just said it, why do you take everything for granted?" she replies.
"I do not agree," he says.
"What do you mean that you d not agree?" she asks.
"You have time to see TV, talk on mobile, go to play and do so many other things, how comes that you do not have time to go to the jungles?" he asks.
"Ok, I will go to the jungles with you all of you, I know that you enjoy both your studies and other things, I just wonder why we grow up. I wish I could have lesser home work and more time to enjoy," she says.
"You can enjoy, you just feel you are grown up, do not bother so much about your big body, just feel as if you act like a kid when see children's movie," he says.
"You… I am not talking about big bodies, I am saying grown up, cannot you understand it?" she says.
"You are just a kid you know, if you just look at your big body, even the small babies look big like you, is not it?" he says.
"Are you monkey? What do you mean the small babies look like me?" she says.
"If we were elephant's kids only then it could happen," he says.
"If we were rat's kid then?" she asks.
"Then we would be like tails of the elephants, is not it?" he says.
"O My God, what makes you think of elephant so much?" she asks.
"I like the way it walks and takes bath, I like elephants as you like dogs, and you know the elephant does not bark like a dog. Is not it?" he says.
"It does not have mouth like dog, so it cannot bark, it gives a very good smile, is not it?" she says.
"I always wonder to see it smiling, do you also wonder?" he says.
"I have never seen it smiling, when did you see it smiling?" she asks.
"You say you are grown up, but you know nothing, it always shows its two teeth, I laugh to see it, I do not know why it keeps on laughing all the times," he says.
"It is same as dog, it barks all the time, is not it?" she says.
"Yaw, it barks and wastes so much energy that its tail is always bent and the elephants laughs so much that cannot hide its teeth, they are similar, is not it?" he says. 
"Yaw, do you know why the dog barks at the elephant?" she asks.
"Yaw, I know it, my granny says that the elephant laughs too much and the dog believes that it is laughing at its bent tail, so it barks at it. Therefore, whenever the dog and elephant meet, they cannot talk, one keeps laughing and the other keeps barking. She says that elephant does not bother about dog's barking, as the dogs are good friends, they just bark to tell the elephant that always laughing is not good. Therefore, the elephants become serious when the dogs bark, is not?" he says.
"Yaw, the elephant gets serious because it always bothers about balancing the weight it keeps," she replies.
"Why are you making fun of its weight? It just want to enjoy the bath and sand bath it takes, the dogs just digs it for the elephants so that it can take the bath. It barks because it tells the elephant not to enjoy the bath that way as the sand and mud bath is also important like sunbath, is not it?"  He says.
"Yaw, all animals are good friends when there are laughing elephants and barking dogs in the jungle, is not?" she smiles.
"Yaw, you are right, we will go to see the laughing elephants like Dolphins, thanks for going with us, good night and have nice dreams," he says.
"Good night, always keep smiling," she says.
"All right, we will ask the elephant how to laugh always as well," he replies.
             She smiles and recalls the trip, when she went to the see the jungles first time, while enjoying every moment.  
Let us pause and think about the wildlife and our pets
Are not we great that we have natural gardens grown in jungles?
Is not is Mother Nature's pets enjoying her caring in the jungles?
Is not it beautiful to see hear and read stories about kingdom of animals in the jungle, from others and especially granny?
Is not it blissful when we observe the natural life glorifying itself in the jungles and other natural places like zoo, parks, etc.?

Thanks A Lot for Being There!

Dr. Harmander Singh
Email: bhagouauty@gamil.com
Pen name: (Bhagouauty)

~**~**~

ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.com

CHRISTMAS IN OCTOBER

It had been a long night for Coach Tony Cloward and his Grantsville High School football team – a long night at the end of a long football season.

The Cowboys were just 3-6 on the season and had already been eliminated from contention for a state title. But they hoped to end the season on a high note in front of the home fans in a game against the state tournament-bound Morgan High Trojans.

The first half was a hard-fought battle, and the Trojans held a slight 6-0 lead at halftime. Morgan increased its lead to 12-0 early in the third quarter, but the Cowboys fought back to bring the score to 12-6 entering the fourth quarter of play. Two long drives by the Trojans made the score 28-6 for Morgan, and as the seconds ticked away on the scoreboard clock it became clear to everyone present that once again there would not be a happy ending for the Cowboys.

Or would there?

With just a few minutes left in the Cowboys’ season, a feint chant could be heard coming from the Grantsville student section. At first it was difficult to hear exactly what they were chanting. It was “we want” somebody – but who? As more and more students picked up the cheer, the message was clear: “We want Collin!”

Despite the disappointment of the game and the season, Coach Cloward couldn’t help but smile. Collin Jefferies was a senior, and had been an asset to the Grantsville football program for four years. But as team manager – not as a player. As a baby Collin had contracted spinal meningitis, which left him deaf in one ear, partially deaf in the other, partially paralyzed and mentally challenged. He loved helping the coaches and the team behind the scenes, and Coach Cloward wanted to reward him for his hard work and unyielding good attitude by allowing him to put on the pads and the Cowboy uniform and sit on the bench with the team for that last game.

And now his classmates wanted him to actually play.

Coach Cloward hesitated at first – not so much because he didn’t want Collin to play, but because he didn’t want him to get hurt. But the students were insistent – the chant grew louder with each tick of the clock – and the look on Collin’s face told him that whatever happened, it would be worth it.

“Collin has been here all four years and hasn’t missed a single practice, meeting or function of the team,” the coach said after the game. “He earned the right to get on the field.”

As Collin strapped on his helmet and charged onto the field for the last few minutes of the game the Grantsville crowd erupted in the loudest, most enthusiastic cheers of the night. At first the Morgan High fans didn’t understand why the home crowd was so excited and the Cowboy players were so jubilantly energized when it was painfully clear that they were going to lose so decisively. But one look at the animated, partially paralyzed boy moving into the Cowboy huddle told them that something special was happening.

If this was a Hollywood script I would now tell you that Collin put his team on his slender shoulders and carried them to a stunning come-from-behind victory. At the very least he would score a touchdown – or two. Neither of those things happened. But the official game record indicates that Collin carried the ball four times for 24 yards, and that he caught a pass that was good for 11 yards.

What the record doesn’t show is the Grantsville student body streaming onto the field at the end of the game, most of them with tears streaming down their faces, to carry Collin off on their shoulders, sincerely rejoicing as if he had led them to the state championship. Nor does it show the tears in the eyes of many of the Morgan High players, coaches and fans, who understood that what was happening was more important than a football game, and who embraced the moment – even reveled in it – with a dignified show of sportsmanship and good will. Nor does it show the picture of an extraordinary young man who was so overwhelmingly joyful that he wore his football uniform home and would have worn it to bed if his mother had allowed it – pads, helmet and all.

“It has been like Christmas in October,” Collin’s mother said.

And who could ask for anything better than that – especially at the end of a long football season.

Poetry Corner

~**~**~

    Awaken Me

April Lipscomb

Awaken my quest for knowledge, my spirit of adventure

Awaken my curiosity, my love of life.

Awaken me from this deep dark sleep

Awaken me to the hidden parts of me

Awaken my yearnings, my desires, my

need to feel

Awaken the goddess in my being, the

molten thrill

Awaken in me the passionate persona,

the playful kitten

Awaken me to love and life and don't let

sleep again over take me.

Awaken Me!

Imladybug270@aol.com

Apryl Lipscomb 8-25-07 (C)

~**~**~

 Tree of Life

April Lipscomb

I pondered on the fallen leaves, brown,

dry and dead.

Their colors told the story as on the

ground they lay

I thought of the naked tree, bare and

exposed

I wondered when my heart broke could

the world look at me and know

Did they know my hopes had fallen like

the leaves that lay on the ground

Know they had dried up and were no

where to be found

Was I like the barren branches, exposed for

the world to see

Was I naked before the crowd, visible in

my vulnerabilty?

From their death, new life springs. This song

of golds and reds

Shall my forgotten hopes be a sign of

of rebirth instead?

With the end brings the promise of life

anew

With each ending comes a new season,

where hopes are plenty and doubts are few.

By: April Lipscomb 8-27-07(C)

Imladybug270@aol.com

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