STORYTIME TAPESTRY

March 17, 2005

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 Happy St. Patrick??™s Day everyone. Today??™s issue will be a St. Patrick??™s Day exclusive.

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 Today's Queue Stories

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Midge And the Pot Of Gold

Pamy Blaine

Early one spring morning Midge and Glen were sitting underneath an old wagon playing ???make believe.???  Midge had her doll that Grandma Rosa had made from an old sock and Glen was busy positioning some old boards in a square to keep his pet frog, Jimmy, from hopping away.  ???Move over, Midge!??? Glen ordered her to make room for one more board.  About that time big raindrops began to pelt the wagon and they saw Grandma running in from the garden with her apron full of garden seeds.  She smiled as she saw the children under the wagon and since it was still a good distance to the house, Grandma got down on her knees and crawled under the wagon with Midge and Glen.  Midge began to giggle because she thought Grandma was too big to get under the wagon but she did it anyway. 

???Well, it looks like it won??™t rain for long,??? announced Grandma cheerfully, looking toward the sky and then she frowned when she saw Jimmy.

???Now Glen, put that frog back in the bucket right now!???

???Why? Grandma, he likes the rain.???  Glen said.

???Yes, I know but I??™m not overly fond of frogs and besides he??™ll get away from you???

Glen reluctantly obeyed and just about that time the little shower was letting up and the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the dark clouds. 

???Oh Grandma, look at the pretty colors in the sky!??? Midge exclaimed.

Grandma turned to look and said, ???Oh what a beautiful rainbow!???

???What is it, where did it come from???? asked Midge who had never seen a rainbow before.

Glen looked at Midge and sighed saying, ???It??™s called a rainbow.  Everybody knows that rainbows happen because of Leprechauns.???

Grandma began to laugh saying, ???Grandpa has been telling you stories again!???

???Tell me, tell me too!??? pleaded Midge.

???Well, Midge,??? Grandma began her story, ??? Grandpa likes to tell stories about the land where his family used to live. It is a place way across the ocean called Ireland, and there are many stories about the Little People.??? 

???Little People???? Midge questioned.

???Yes, they say that many years ago in old Ireland there lived the Little People, or Leprechauns.  They say they are very tiny, less than two foot tall!  They hide from us because they think that humans are greedy and foolish.  Leprechauns look like little old men and they dress like shoe cobblers.  They wear old-fashioned green clothes, a cocked hat, a cobbler??™s apron, and buckled shoes.  They make shoes for themselves and all the other Little People.  The Leprechauns are always busy and have to make a lot of shoes because they love to dance so much that they wear their shoes out very quickly.    Grandma whispered, ???If you listen carefully, sometimes you can hear the tap-tap-tap of their tiny little hammers in the forest.???

???Are there Leprechauns in Oklahoma, Grandma?  Are there girl Leprechauns too???? Midge asked excitedly.

???Naw, there ain??™t no girl Leprechauns, you silly ole girl.??? Glen moaned.

???Well, now, you just never know about Leprechauns and where they might turn up, even right here in Oklahoma,??? Grandma announced as she frowned at Glen because he knew better than to be rude to Midge. 

Grandma was getting caught up in her story as she continued, ???You see, Leprechauns have pots full of gold and they hide them, Grandma whispered mysteriously.  They are always moving their pots of gold because the end of the rainbow marks the very spot where the pot of gold is hidden.  Why, sometimes they spend the whole day just moving their pots of gold to new hiding places so they won??™t be found!???

Midge and Glen had been listening intently as they stared at the rainbow spread across the sky before them.  About that time, the rain stopped and Grandma got up, brushed herself off, and said, ???Enough stories??¦I have work to do.  As soon as the rows are ready, you two can help plant the seeds.???   Grandma crawled out from beneath the wagon and headed back toward the garden.

Grandma had no more gotten back to the garden when Glen pulled on Midge??™s arm and said, ???Come on, Midge!???

???Where to????  Midge asked.

???The rainbow, silly, we??™re gonna find that pot of gold and buy Grandma that blue calico she always looks at in the store when we go to town.???

???Grandma says not to call me Silly.???

Glen laughed and put his arm around Midge and with a twinkle in his eye he said, ???Okay Silly, I won??™t call you Silly,??? and then he took off running.

With that, Midge took off after Glen threatening to tell Grandma as they started out across the prairie toward the end of the rainbow.  They ran and ran but the rainbow was further away than it looked.  Finally, they got to where they thought the rainbow should be but the rainbow had faded away.

???Durn it, it??™s gone!??? Glen exclaimed. 

???The Leprechauns must have moved it.??? Midge said sadly.

Glen took Midge protectively by the hand and turned back toward home both of them looking forlorn. The prairie grass was so tall that Midge couldn??™t see over it so she got behind Glen and held tightly to his shirttail.  They walked and walked for what seemed like forever to Midge.

 ???I??™m tired, are we lost???? Midge sniffled.

???No we ain??™t lost!??? Glen said quickly, even though he wasn??™t quite sure.

Just then, Midge could hear the grass going ???swish-swish, swish-swish??? and then a tap-tap-tap sound.  ???It??™s the Leprechauns!???  Midge whispered in fear as she grabbed Glen around the waist and hid her face behind his back.

Midge and Glen stood motionless when all at once they looked up and there was Grandma!  What a relief!  They were glad it was just the tools in the pockets of her apron that made the tapping sound because neither of them were quite sure they were ready to meet up with a real Leprechaun. 

Midge was so overjoyed to see Grandma but then she saw that Grandma??™s face looked very angry. ???What do you mean going off like that,??? she shouted.  ???You know you aren??™t supposed to go this far from home!  What on earth were you thinking?  You must be two miles from home!???

???I??™m sorry,??? Glen said quietly, deciding to take the blame.  ???We...we...were just looking for the pot of gold,??? he sputtered, ???and??¦and we were going to buy you the calico with it.  We didn??™t know it was so far away.???

Midge began to cry.

Poor Grandma, she was so angry and yet so relieved that they were both all right.  Grandma also felt bad because she remembered that it was her fault for telling them the story about the Leprechauns and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Grandma sighed and kissed them each and then took them by the hand.  As she walked back toward the house with a child on each side, Grandma explained that the pot of gold was just a story.  She then told them the true meaning of the rainbow and how God had put it in the sky after the flood to let them know He would not destroy the earth again by a flood.  ???The rainbow is God??™s reminder??¦ like a promise, a covenant, that God made to Noah and to all of us.???  Grandma explained as she leaned down and took their faces in her hands, ???My sweet children, Grandma continued, ???God said, ??? I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth.??? God wanted to show us how much He loved us so he put the rainbow in the sky and that, my children, is worth more than any old pot of gold.???

By

Pamela Perry Blaine

?©March 2005

May the roads rise to meet you.
May the wind be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rain fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(An Old Gaelic Blessing)

About Pamela:  My husband and I live in Missouri.  We have 4 children and 5 grandchildren.  I enjoy writing, music, and country living.  I write "Pam's Corner" for the local newspaper and many stories have been published on the internet as well as in several books. I have loved music and writing ever since I can remember. I play piano at church and I'm an avid reader. One of my goals is to be able to write for my children and grandchildren so special memories will not be forgotten.  We have recently made a new CD entitled "I'll Walk You Home".  If you would like one, they are available by freewill donation.  More information as well as a clip from the CD is on the website at:http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
Send me an e-mail at: pamyblaine @blaines.us
 

"NO ONE IS USELESS IN THIS WORLD
 WHO LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ANYONE ELSE"

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ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

MEAT AND LEAVES BOILED

Joe Walker

            There was only one thing I didn??™t like about Mom??™s corned beef and cabbage.

            The cabbage.

            The corned beef part was great.  I didn??™t even mind the fact that it was cooked with the cabbage.  I could deal with that.  But the cabbage part . . . no way.

Not that I had anything specifically against cabbage.  Mom made a coleslaw that was out of this world, and I liked raw cabbage as part of a salad.  So I was not intolerant of cabbage as a general rule.  But in corned beef and cabbage the cabbage is cooked.  Boiled, to be more precise.  Evidently there are parts of the world where boiling cabbage is thought to be a good idea.  But to me it was like . . . I don??™t know . . . boiling lettuce.  And whoever heard of eating boiled lettuce?

Oh, and in case you??™re wondering, spinach is different.  It??™s the Popeye Factor.  We??™ve seen spinach slide out of the can and into Popeye??™s mouth so many times that we??™ve pretty much forgotten that it begins as a crisp, leafy vegetable as opposed to the limp, slimy canned concoction it eventually becomes.

Of course, Mom didn??™t buy any of that.

???There??™s nothing wrong with cooked cabbage,??? she said every St. Patrick??™s day when she filled the house with the pungent aroma of the traditional Irish dish.  ???In many parts of the world it is considered a great treat, almost like ice cream.???

I don??™t think Mom actually believed that any more than we did.  But Dad always ate every bite of corned beef and cabbage ??“ even the cabbage part ??“ with such undeniable relish that I wondered if maybe I was missing out on something.

So every year I tried it again, usually with some new twist intended to trick my taste buds into thinking I was eating something other than a boiled leaf.  One year I measured every forkful to make sure I had exactly twice as much corned beef as cabbage.  The problem with this technique was I was out of corned beef by the time the cabbage was only half gone.  Another year I tried drowning the cabbage in red wine vinegar, which only succeeded in replacing one strong, unpleasant taste with another.

Year by year I kept tweaking with different additives and combinations.  Some worked ??“ most didn??™t.  One time my big brother Bud had me convinced that corned beef and cabbage was just a fancy version of hot dogs and sauerkraut, and that the whole dish would taste like a trip to the ball park if I covered it with ketchup, mustard and relish.

Bud lied.

Still, Mom made me eat it ??“ all of it ??“ while Bud watched.

And laughed.

The interesting thing is, somehow through all those years of trial, error and ketchup-covered tragedy, I seem to have developed a taste for corned beef and cabbage.  I don??™t know if my taster matured to the point that I could finally appreciate the heady mix of textures and flavors, or if it finally succumbed after being drowned in a sea of mustard and red wine vinegar.  For whatever reason, every year about this time I get a hankering for meat and leaves.

Boiled.

Looking back, it seems there are a lot of things that I didn??™t really appreciate in my youth that I later grew to enjoy ??“ even to savor.  Going to church.  Frank Sinatra.  Sitting in a room with loved ones and just talking.  Hugging ??“ and being hugged.  As we grow, we learn.  And as we learn, sometimes we change.

Even if it isn??™t always a treat ??“ like ice cream.

 
Joseph Walker

Valuespeak @msn.com

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For St Paddy??™s day

Tim Kevin

Faerie dust is often sprinkled
On thoughts in a child's mind
By leprechauns so wrinkled
And small they're hard to find
-
But be there they surely are
Some of them being very old
An boyo' they come from near and far
To prevent you getting their pot of gold
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But should ever you catch a leprechaun
Hold on him very tight an don't let him go
Beware for he'll try'n give you a bit of con
Hold out til you get a wish or some dough
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So my friends this coming St Pat's Day
Be on the watch for the little green men
Hide a baked potato some place they say
An when he tries to steal it grab him then
-
If per chance he sneaks up in the night
An steals the hidden potato from it's spot
It's said that some leprechauns just might
Leave coins for you there from their pot
-
by .... The IrishWarlock

About Me:
-
The IrishWarlock @ webtv.net,
Tim Kevin, is the owner of the Yahoo adult
humor group, BICs_Jokers_Wild and resides in
Punta Gorda, Florida.

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 Writers Feedback 

 
I loved all of today??™s stories and I am glad that Sissy has a place of her own Also the positive note on why you never get lonely when you are surronded by friends and family. I like the lifeboy sags as well. I am so glad that iget your stories every day. i look forward to them

Nathalie Symonds

Johann Christoph Arnold??™s expose on abortion:  What do you expect from a country that also furnishes (free of charge) deadly heroin and other

drugs to it's drug addicts and has government sponsored prostitution?
There are much worse things in other countries though, they just don't get highlighted editorials or are ignored.
Just chalk it off to different cultures?

Mark Crider

A Letter To My Mother ??“ Kathleen Ann Shelton   - A heart winning story!

George Waters Ojeigbe

I will never understand how people can be cruel to animals. God never was displeased with them---but he flooded the earth because of people. Thanks Roger for being a kind, compassionate man

Donna Becker

Trish MacQueen??™s ??“ book -I love this!  Naturally, I am working on a very dry research project,
longing to write in genres more relevant to the
romance/fantasy/romance/fiction that you just treated me to, and now I just
want to go on a date!

Thank you for this break as I work.  I needed it.  Badly!
Lori Jefferson


www.fwointl.com
Free Resources for Writers

 "I'll Miss Him"by Sharon Bryant is a lovely, touching piece. Thank you, Sharon, for sharing your thoughts with us...especially mothers of sons.

Barb Deming