STORYTIME
TAPESTRY
March 10,
2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Animal awareness
series endorsed by Shiloh and Hank our
mascots; all stories must receive their approval.
Now onto the good
stuff...
LATE BREAKING NEWS ON SAM
BY LOREN MOORE AND FRANCES
DAVIS
SAM THE VARMINT
DOG HAS A NEW JOB. HE IS NOW A NANNY TO A MOTHERLESS
CALF. THE CALF'S MOTHER DIED A FEW DAYS AFTER THE
CALF WAS BORN.
THIS IS
THE STORY TOLD TO LOREN BY
FRANCES,
WE HAD TO BRING THE CALF TO THE HOUSE FROM ANOTHER
PASTURE. WE HAD TO
BOTTLE
FEED IT THREE TIMES A DAY. SAM'S JOB WAS TO
CHECK ON
"LITTLE
BIT" (THE CALF) ALL DURING THE
DAY.
BUT THE MOST
IMPORTANT THING SAM DID WAS TO LICK THE SLOBBER FROM
THE
CALF'S FACE. HE WOULD
AND STILL DOES GO INTO THE PIN AND PLAY WITH
LITTLE BIT.
SAM NOW HAS A CURFEW. HE IS OUT AT DAWN AND IN BY
DUSK. HS HAS
LEARNED TO
SIT AT THE DOOR AND WAIT FOR ME TO OPEN IT FOR HIM TO
COME
IN. THIS KEEPS HIM
OUT OF THE SKUNKS
WAY,
LAST WEEK
AUSTIN KILLED FIVE SKUNKS IN SIX NIGHTS.
WE HAVE BEEN OVER
RUN WITH THEM THE LAST TWO YEARS. GUESS WE ARE
LUCKY THEY CAN'T
GET
UNDER OUR HOUSE LIKE THEY DID ONE OF OUR
NEIGHBORS.
SAM HAS
THIS DEAD SNAKE JUSTIN KILLED IN THE FEED BARN ABOUT
TWO
MONTHS AGO AND THREW
IT OUT INTO THE PASTURE. SAM FOUND IT AND NOW
ANYTIME SOMEONE COMES UP HE HAS TO GO "KILL IT" SO
THEY WILL
KNOW
HE
IS DOING HIS
JOB.
A FEW DAYS AFTER
AUSTIN CAME OUT OF THE HOSPITAL IN MAY,
SAM WAS
BARKING OVER AT THE BIG BARN. I CAME INTO THE HOUSE
TO GET A GUN AND
GO SEE
WHAT HE HAD. AUSTIN WAS RESTING BUT INSISTED HE GO
WITH ME AND
SHOOT WHATEVER IT WAS.
HE THOUGHT I MIGHT
SHOOT A HOLE IN THE BARN OR SAM. HE SURE
DOESN'T
GIVE ME MUCH CREDIT WHEN IT COMES TO SHOOTING A
GUN! AS IT TURNED OUT
THE
CREATURE IN QUESTION WAS A COTTON MOUTH WATER MOCCASIN.
AUSTIN
SHOT IT AND I THREW IT IN THE POND. SAM WENT
SWIMMING, TRYING TO FIND
HIS SNAKE. HE WAS VERY UPSET WITH ME. SAM IS MORE
LIKE A PERSON THAN
A
DOG.
SAM IS SHEDDING
NOW GETTING READY FOR HIS WINTER COAT. BEFORE HE
COMES INSIDE I TELL HIM TO SHAKE AND HE DOES. HE
HAS A SPLIT
PERSONALITY,
OUTSIDE HE IS TEETH AND TOENAILS AND INSIDE HE IS VERY
LAID BACK. HE LOVES HIS PLUSH BED IN THE LAUNDRY
ROOM.
STAY TUNED FOR
THE NEXT EPISODE OF SAM THE VARMINT HUNTER. IT WILL BE
A WHOLE NOTHER STORY FOR A DIFFERENT
TIME.
?© COPYRIGHT
2004
Loren
Moore
caddo @ digitex.net
MY NAME IS LOREN MOORE AND I'M 72 YEARS
OLD AS OF 11-12 04. I
HAVE BEEN MARRIED
TO MY
WIFE JOHNNIE FOR 53 YEARS AS OF
11-14-04. NOW THAT I'M IN MY OLD AGE I
DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS
THAT HAPPENED TO ME AND
MY FAMILY. THESE
STORIES
ARE 90% TRUE AND 10% FICTION. MY
WIFE JOHNNIE SAYS THEY ARE 10% TRUE AND
90% FICTION. MAYBE THEY
ARE SOMEWHERE IN
BETWEEN.
BE THAT AS IT MAY HERE ARE MY
STORIES. I HOPE YOU ENJOY
THEM.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Queue
Stories:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stand on the
Merits
Claudia Kerens
One of the most tragic things I know about human
nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some
magical rose garden over the horizon -- instead of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today-- Dale Carnegie
Given how the year 2004 began and given how the
last year and a half has been a juggling act of successfully gaining a MS Ed.
Administration degree while still maintaining a teaching assignment along with
advising a local high school paper, ???enjoying the roses that are blooming
outside our windows today,??? has not been on the top ten list of things to do.
The last year has taught
several lessons in that regard.
I have been schooled not to demonstrate knee-jerk
reactions; rather, stop, listen, consider and logically develop a course of
action that is beneficial for ???the forest.??™ Towards the end of his life, Bob, my
father, thought I was being a coward because I was not ???in your face??™
confrontational when dealing with my detractors. Ergo, many of our last
conversations centered around my not following his advice to sue everyone.
At the time, I recognized
that Bob was reacting out of parental love, concern and, of course, desire, to
protect his ???baby-girl.??™ He knew he could not go out and protect me like he
might have forty or so years ago. But, he did want justice against my detractors
because he had seen enough evidence of these folks acting out of self-interest
rather than for the good of all.
???The good of all??? is the key piece of knowledge one
must know to understand Bob. He was a learned man who had never stepped into the
public school system to receive an education. He was privately educated in
parochial schools. His family was strongly connected with the Catholic Church as
Cardinal Glennon baptized him, gave him first communion and confirmed him.
As we studied family
roots,[without Bob??™s help] we further discovered that the same Cardinal Glennon
held a very personal relationship with Bob??™s grandfather, a major 19th century
entrepreneur and the last American Ambassador to the Court of Franz Joseph
[Austria-Hungary] prior to WWI. In fact, Glennon, as a young priest, blessed all
of the churches Bob??™s grandfather built from
W.
VA to CA along some of the railroad
routes he developed.
All of that information- Bob didn??™t deny; BUT Bob
also refused to aid us with his own personal information. Upon that realization,
one has to know Bob wanted to stand on his own record ??“ not on that of his
family. And, that is what he expected of his children: ???Stand on your own
merit.??? That was an admonition I can recall hearing more than once.
My perception of standing
on my own merit was to fulfill my professional and educational responsibilities.
For my students it was to deliver the best educational service I could fathom;
for me, it was to truly gain additional knowledge to learn how to maintain and
operate the entire forest. While that may have been my mantra for the beginning
of the school year, that was not the reality I faced after two weeks.
First of all, I started
the year recuperating from major surgery; so I was not quite up to snuff but I
was more than treading water. I was teaching seven class periods with five
different preps. And the first part of the year is usually all about getting
everyone in the groove of ???Yes-siree??”School is in session??? so it??™s time to open
the books, etc.
Secondly,
I had voluntarily given up my planning period, a decision made based on 25 years
of past practice in the district, in order to keep the journalism class on the
class schedule. This had been done the previous May in order to prevent a
program from being cut. And the 25 years of past practice should have been
sufficient to meet union standards.
Not! My detractors were adamant in their aura of
immaturity and thirst for some kind of comeuppance [revenge] had determined this
was the moment to ???get even??™ for whatever they had determined my misdeeds to be.
The union that I had faithfully supported, took leadership roles in, and had
worked hard for whenever required dropped an unfair labor practice {ULP} on the
district for having allowed me to voluntarily cede my planning time. Need I say,
I pay the same dues as anyone else ??“ ergo I should receive the same level of
support?
On a Thursday
afternoon, while I was instructing the new staff as to the new wherefores, etc.
that we were going to initiate to improve quality and design of the paper, I
received a phone call from the office telling me to send the entire class to the
office as they were going to be forced to change their schedules. The class had
to be cancelled due to the ULP. I replied, ???What ULP????
Yup, that??™s right. The union didn??™t provide any
forewarning [remember I pay the same amount of dues]. This was an effort to make
me pay in front of my students. And it was an effort to punish those students
for having signed up for the class as well. Needless to say, I was stunned. It
is an understatement to even try to describe the kids??™ reaction. They were mad,
angry, some were crying real tears, and others were focusing on, ???What are we
going to do???? The bottom line was they refused to go to the office.
Still shocked, I felt
like an outsider watching a bad dream. The students were gearing up for a
protest. They discussed all views and avenues they had to protest such a move.
Another phone call came. I told the caller that the students refused to give up
the class and hung up. I still have not voiced anything further to the students
because I flat wasn??™t sure what to say. It??™s not often I am stunned speechless.
This was one of those moments.
Finally a school official came to the room and
said, ???Either you report to the office to change your schedules or you are going
to be expelled!??? The students still protested. After several more admonitions,
they struggled out the door and told me they were going to protest all over the
place.
I found what voice
I had and told them, ???Whatever you do, remember you are representatives of this
school. This is not the 60s, be polite -use manners and use common sense.??? Also,
I informed them that given professional standards, I could not play any part in
directing, suggesting, or orchestrating any student response to this situation.
And, I didn??™t.
Those are
the professional boundaries that were required by me; though I can??™t say my
detractors rose to those standards. They were too busy laughing in front of
their classes that they finally nailed me.
In the end, it wasn??™t as hurtful to me that ???they
supposedly nailed me,??™ it was brutal that they even thought it was okay to mess
with the students to get at me. Educators who operate under that kind of aegis
certainly are not to be admired.
As for standing on merits, as Bob would say - they
had none.
Three weeks
later, a deal was cut, the journalism class returned to the schedule. In the
final analysis, the staff produced 16 issues of a paper that garnered a high
school press award and they learned something about the democratic process of
enacting a petition drive.
So, when it??™s not all fun and games, when the times
are hard, students can still learn. This was one event the graduating seniors
said they would never forget. They were also not going to forget the educators
involved.
Me? Given all
the things 2004 has had in store for me- I am going to take more moments to
leave the ???drama??? behind and smell the roses a bit more. Maybe I will get my
watercolors out and paint them.
Claudia
Kerens
Mina1986
@midwest.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
???You??™re not my Aunt Cutie anymore!
You??™re Aunt Meany!???
Claudia Kerens
Many times I have heard parents speak about the
beauty and maturity their children have displayed way beyond these ???angel??™s??™
young years. I myself, though I was not graced with children, have practiced the
same behavior when speaking of my two nieces and my nephew.
It seems so easy to
imagine greatness in the innocent eyes and hearts of those not quite yet
corrupted by the vagaries of our culture. There is great honesty in their view
of the world.
Who else
will scream across Wal Mart in all earnestness, ???Hey! Aunt Cutie (that??™s me BTW)
I saw the fattest person in the whole wide world!??? I crawl around in the jeans
aisle hoping no one connects Sophia to me.
I am not a mother, so I am not sure I know how to
just grin and bear it and still love the child! I always thought that was one of
those inborn maternal instincts that didn??™t get turned on in a woman??™s body
until after having survived childbirth. I love my niece dearly but I must be way
too conservative.
My
mother, Millie, and my sister, Dana, are laughing- hiding their grins from
Sophia. Then Dana tells her daughter, ???Sophie, remember we are in a store and
out in public. How did I tell you I expected you to behave????
???But, Mom, I wanted Aunt
Cutie to know I saw this huge, huge lady! I have never seen someone who wears
sheets for clothes!???
Have
you ever noticed that kids don??™t know how to speak softly? They must come with
high-pitched volume with their speakers tuned to the number 9 volume scale,
nothing more and nothing less.
Dana is a persistent mother. ???Sophie, what is the
rule????
???Aw, Mom!???
???Sophie,??? Dana says very
firmly That tone is something Sophie is going to recognize. That??™s another thing
moms can do. There is a very specific tone that will scare the Be Jesus out of
the child. All Millie had to do was use that tone and raise her eyebrow. I was
marching to her beat in a nanosecond.
A contrite Sophia said, ???I am supposed to have
respect for everyone, not to be mean to anyone, be on my best behavior in
public.???
???What happens if
you don??™t live up to your end of the bargain????
???It means I don??™t get to go out in public ever
again!???
I look at Millie
with the ???I don??™t even think that??™s logical??? glance but Millie shakes her head,
Aunt Cutie is not supposed to say anything during this maternal guidance lesson.
Millie doesn??™t need to say my name in that tone of voice that shakes the
interior walls of one??™s heart. She can slay me with a glance. I have been well
trained.
That was
Sophia??™s training by the time she was 8.
When Sophia was 5, she was a terror in Wal Mart.
Sophia could charm a present out of anyone, even strangers. They would just look
at her and give her a candy bar or a stuffed animal. Waitresses in restaurants
always added a dish of sherbet without putting it on the bill. Sophia just had
things handed to her. Still, I invited her to come along to Wal Mart to help me
pick out posters for my classroom.
Dana viewed me as a saint. She told me Sophia
really wasn??™t a very good shopper. But, I said, ???I teach kids all of the time! I
know how to handle them! Don??™t worry! We??™ll be fine!???
On the drive to the store, Sophia and I made the
deal that if she helped run my errands at the very end, we would find something
in the $5.00 range for her reward. But, if she embarrassed Aunt Cutie, Aunt
Cutie would leave the shopping cart right where it stood, and we would leave the
store at that moment. Sophia agreed to the deal.
We seem to be moving along swimmingly. Sophia
displayed a fairly good artistic eye that appreciated color and dimension of a
picture. So it was easy to allow her to pick out the posters. I needed to pick
up a few things that were on Millie??™s shopping list. I told Sophia once we had
finished that list, we would mosey over to the book section and see what we
could find for her reward.
Again things were going well.
I didn??™t bargain on the
impact that ???The Lion King??? had on children. Nor was I aware of the phenomenal
marketing of the movie. There were ???Lion King??? sheets, blankets, pillows,
pajamas, sweat shirts, slacks, shoes, slippers, shirts, dolls, stuffed animals,
games, toys, coloring books, action figures, video, CDs, stationary, watches,
alarm clocks, night lights, and I figured if I looked hard enough there would be
???Lion King??? toilet paper. I was appalled not only at the volume of items but at
the price of them as well.
The massive ???Lion King??? display was the minefield
that exploded the Aunt Cutie ??“ Sophia Wal Mart shopping trip. Sophia couldn??™t
pick; there was too much to choose from.
The ice cream was beginning to soften in the cart
so the impatient Aunt Cutie implored her niece to find something within the
price range and add it to the basket.
Sophia kept going from one thing to another to
another. A friend stopped by and chatted. When I turned back to the basket,
Sophia had piled it high with ???Lion King??? merchandise.
???Sophia!??? I said in exasperation. ???You can??™t have
all of these things. We need to put all of this stuff back!. Remember the deal!???
Sophia did not want to
remember the deal. She wanted the whole display. When she realized that Aunt
Cutie wasn??™t buying into her demands, she attempted to manipulate Aunt Cutie
with those big soundless crocodile tears guaranteed to melt the heart of anyone
in the world. But Aunt Cutie wasn??™t buying into that either.
Sophia, thoroughly
frustrated, howled beyond volume 9 in to decibel levels sure to be heard all the
way home, ???You??™re not my Aunt Cutie anymore! You??™re Aunt Meany! I am going to
tell all of your students your new name!???
The crying, howling and the name change spurred me
into action. I picked the martyred child up and carried her out of Wal Mart like
a surfboard. I was glad I had started lifting weights because I was able to
deliver Sophia to the car, strap her in, and head out of the parking lot.
The crying continued
until Sophia realized we were almost home and she would probably have some
explaining to do.
???I??™m
sorry. ??“Hic-cough- Can we go back? Isn??™t Grandma going to want her groceries????
???I am sure Grandma will
wonder why we aren??™t going to have any bags when we get out of the car. But, no,
we can??™t go back the deal was broken.???
Sophia shuffled up to the front deck while Grandma
looked at me wondering how I may have tortured her little angel. I said nothing.
While Sophia told her tale of woe, Grandma worked her maternal magic and Sophia
agreed to take a nap because Aunt Meany wore her out at Wal Mart.
Grandma looked at me when
the Aunt Meany thing came up. But she smiled at me over the dratted niece??™s
shoulder as she took her in for her nap.
Millie came out to the deck about ten minutes later
and said, ???You really didn??™t leave the cart with everything in it, did you????
???Yup,??? I said. ???That was
the deal.???
???I see, ???
Millie replied. ???Don??™t you think you ought to go back out there and retrieve
it????
???Nope,??? I replied.
???The place is open 24 hours. I will go back in the dead of night when all of the
people who were in the store should be fast asleep.???
???Perhaps you should consider returning sooner after
all, some of those things were supper for tonight.???
Who can deny a simple request from this work of art
that suffered through similar bad behavior.??? ???Oh, Okay. Maybe they haven??™t put
everything away. But I bet the ice cream is nothing but a puddle by now.???
So I went. And actually
the cart was right where I left it. I did return the ice cream to the freezer
guy and told him it had melted. He gave me another carton.
When I returned home with
the bags, Millie said, ???You know, you??™ll always be Aunt Cutie to me.???
Claudia Kerens
mina1986 @ midwest.
net
About
Me:
General Bio - 51
year old educator who has
worn several hats in the broadcasting,
office and restaurant
worlds. Turning 50
is a
freeing experience thus most of my
writing revolves around lessons learned
and wisdom to pass on so
that others don't
hit the
same brick walls I did. The sooner
folks love themselves, they can give love
to others. And that, is
the greatest
gift of
all.
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
My God Can
Sharlette Hunt
I have a God can, so easy to
do.
It used to hold
coffee, and when it was through,
I use it to hold my petitions and
such,
To a God I hold dear
who loves me so much!
When I have a problem, I write it and
say,
Dear Lord, it is your
will and not mine today,
I
fold it and place it inside of this can,
No longer mine, it's in God's Divine
Plan.
My prayers are
all answered in His loving way.
I'm grateful to have Him in my life
today!
I know that this
might sound quite silly to some,
But I know the answer to my prayers have
come.
I believe in my
God can and that's how I know,
When it goes in that can, it's time to let
go,
The relief that I feel
when I do it this way,
Helps me feel so peaceful and happy
today!
Sharlette
Hunt
Sharlette863
@aol.com
About
Me:
I was born in
Alabama, the middle of
seven children. At about age four we
moved
to
Central
Florida and I have lived
here
most of my life. I am a
Viet
Nam Era
Veteran. I have always enjoyed
writting
and as I get
older it seems to come more
naturally to me. I believe
everyone has many stories inside them
and
some are blessed to be
able to share them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer
Requests/Answers
Hi
Dear friends and prayer warriors. I just got word that my son is being relocated
to fort
Dix to
prepare for going to Iraq. I
know that this has been coming for a long time but it doesn't keep the fear from
creeping into the very fiber of my body and soul. Please pray for him and
all the men who are going over to fight to keep our world free.
Bill
was in the Gulf War and came back so thin I almost didn't recognize him. He's
still having nightmares. I pray that this won't be too much of struggle for
him.
My
sister in law said that she would pray that he wouldn't have to go at all.
I don't see that happening but then I'm limited in my thoughts right now. Please
if you would pray for him. Thanks and God Bless you all Barb.
Please pray for Miss Leni, I work
with this lady and her arm is
hurting very badly. Plus she has arthritis and
lots of pain all the
time.
Also for her brother. I do not know hs name but
she calls him Dee Dee.
His foot is hurting and the doctors do not know
why.
Lisa M
Father I come to you to ask that
you touch Bill, Barb's son keep him safe if it is
your
will for him to go over to
Iraq father you know what needs to be
done. It is in the name
of Jesus Christ the Holy son that
I pray amen amen!
Father who is in heaven I come to
you to ask that you touch Miss Leni and help her
with her arm, and I also that you
touch her brother Dee Dee father you know his needs.
It is in the name of Jesus Christ
the holy son that I pray Amen Amen!
To All;
Here is the link to Richard's
prayer request page guestbook where you all can leave
all of your prayer
requests!!! http://www.freegb.net/gbook.cgiz?133176
Please leave
your E-mail addresses and prayer
request so I can send you all your prayers!
And HELP me keep the prayer
request page going! God bless you all and be with you
always!
Richard D.
Sims
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SENIOR WRITERS
Agee,Vance, Apted,Violet, Baker,Kathy,
Batt,Al, Berry,Nell,
Boda,Ginger, Bryant,Sharon,
Cassady,B.J., Crider,Mark, Deming,Barb, Goodier,Steve,
Harris,Kathy Anne, Hunt, Sharlette, Jacobson,
Gary, Kiser,Roger Dean,
Jenkins,Pamela, Liles,Norma, Mazzella,Joe, Moore, Loren,
Ojeigbe,Georgewaters, Sims,Richard, Vaknin,Sam,
Walker,Joe, Whirity,Kathy,
White,Robert
STORYTIME TAPESTRY
STAFF
Publisher: Carol Roach-founder
Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder
Chief writer: Loren Moore-co founder,
Moderator,
Publicity Director
Moderator: Clara Westerfer
