STORYTIME TAPESTRY

April 19, 2005

Now on to the good stuff..........

Animal awareness series endorsed by Shiloh and Hank our mascots; all stories must receive their approval.

Look What I??™ve Got!

Kay Seefeldt

I??™ve forgotten whose idea it was to catch a baby skunk for a pet, but I
definitely haven??™t forgotten our falling out with Flower.

The spring I was in seven grade, we moved into our small camp on Sandy
River Beach in Jonesport because my family had bought a grocery store
(Pic & Pay) with a lunch counter at the back that my brother managed
and named the Gedunk Center.  Never before had I lived on the main
land, ridden a bus to school, or noticed that boys were cute.

One morning as my sister Sandra and I walked toward the bus, we nearly
stepped on a baby skunk near the edge of our driveway.  We were
petrified we might get ???skunked.???  It looked harmless enough with its
adorable face, and we soon forgot our fear.

When Bubba got home that afternoon from his day job, I excitedly told
him about the baby skunk. We??™d surmised a family of skunks was living
under our camp, but this was the first actual sighting.  ???Come on let??™s
go.???  He winked and jumped behind the wheel of his old Ford panel
wagon. Always ready for an adventure, Sandra and I slid onto the back
seat.

Arriving at the camp again, we discovered four baby skunks basking in
the fresh air and sunshine.  Bubba whistled and one of them raised its
tail bravely like it might spray, but thought better of it and
declined. Next Bubba kicked a bit of sand towards the little guy. It
stomped its feet and lifted its tail again, but still retained its
ammunition.  Quickly, Bubba grabbed the striped baby by the tail and
dropped it in a crate in the back of the vehicle.

Driving back to his house Bubba explained, ???If it hasn??™t sprayed by
now, it??™s probably too young to make a stink. We??™ll take it the vets
tomorrow to have his scent gland removed. Skunks make great pets once
they are de-scented.???  Once inside the house, we sat on the floor and
watched as the skunk investigate its new surroundings. Eventually, it
scrabbled back on brother??™s lap.  Several fleas crawled from the skunk
onto brother??™s hairy arms before returning to their home turf. ???We??™ll
have to get him a flea collar too,??? Bubba chuckled.

For being a mild mannered pole cat, we??™d decided Flower would be a good
name, if not original.  ???Bubba, let??™s go to the store to show Mama what
we found,??? I begged.  When we entered the store, a young fellow and a
couple young lady friends were sipping sodas and eating world famous
Gedunk Grinders at the counter.

Hopping off the stool, James rushed over to our brother and begged,
???Oh, let me have him to show Linda.???  Before Bubba could say boo, he
lifted the skunk from Bubba's hands and bee lined for the girls. 
Holding the skunk inches from his girlfriend??™s face. He bellowed, ???Hey
Linda, look what I??™ve got!???  Instantly, he got all the little skunk had
to offer.  Some guys will do anything to impress a gal.  The screaming
girls rushed out the door.  Alternately apologizing and gagging, James
stumbled after the girls leaving us in a cloud of skunk haze. We wanted
to rush out behind them, but a good proprietor goes down with his shop.

Picking up the bewildered little skunk (I don??™t think he knew what hit
either), Bubba evicted him from the premises. Tugging Bubba??™s arm and
pleading the skunk??™s case, I sobbed, ???Bubba, he didn??™t mean to do it. 
Please, can??™t we still keep him and take him to the vets tomorrow????
???Sorry, once they learn how, we will be skunked a dozen times before
getting to Ellsworth.??? I think he was exaggerating, but it didn??™t
matter. In Bubba??™s opinion, skunks now stunk as family pets.

Before leaving the store, Bubba turned on the huge fan over the grill
and said, ???This is probably the demise of the Pic and Pay! Barring a
miracle, our groceries will be ruined.??? Early next morning, Bubba went
to the store to do a sniff test.  Amazingly, there wasn??™t a trace of
eau d??™ pew left. Either the fan was all powerful or the skunk??™s "old
spice" was not.  The Pic and Pay lived to run another day. The store
would eventually go under, but not from skunk fumes....it was more to
do with a couple cute chicks giving cute guys astronomical deals on
mountainous ice cream cones!

?©Kay Seefeldt 4/6/05
Birdnest @ megalink.net

Kay has been published on Petwarmers, Gardenwarmers, 2theheart and
Storytime Tapestry: ???The Artificial Limb,??? ???March to the Sea,??? "Clover
Alert," and ???Wolfie - World??™s Most Wonderful Dog.???  She enjoys
gardening, reading, writing, painting in watercolors, and teaching
watercolors to adults so they can experience the joys of artistic
expression for themselves.  Some day she hopes to compile the stories
about her somewhat wacky family into a book as a legacy to her children
and grandchildren.  She thanks God for all the blessings in her life.

Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~ 

"HEY, WATCHYA DOIN'?"
by Kathy Anne Harris

     More than two decades ago, Paula came to work in the task area where
we shared an office.
     She had been given the position I had been vying for.  It didn't seem
at all fair.  I labored to make her feel uncomfortable and unwanted.  But
because of her indomitable spirit she kept pressing onward with her
positive attitude, generous smile, and infectious friendliness.
     But I was not easily won over.  I was miserable and worked overtime to
counter her goodness.
     Deep down I had to admit there wasn't much about her to not like.  She
was Pollyanna and I was "The Bad Seed."
     Shame and guilt eventually made me feel loathsome.  Perhaps she saw
through my bristly facade.  I truly hope at the time there was some essence
of good that glinted from my soul's innards.  I'm guessing there was and
she coaxed that spider silk thread out with her charm and began to weave
the web of our friendship.
     Understandably, a friendship is a two-way mechanism.  A relationship
functions best when both individuals proffer the finest qualities from
their heart and soul.  I had a lot of catching up to do and, consistent
with my nature, I extended myself wholeheartedly.
     Her friendship was a shining gem that sparkled brightly before my
eyes.  What she offered was beyond description or value. The bond that two
beings can cement which lasts a lifetime... Friendship!
     The saying, "Hey, watchya doin'?" became a part of our bitter, joyous,
disheartening, thrilling, ecstatic, crushing, and wondrous happenings that
living life brings.
     Those were the words I stammered the night I drove over to her house
and apologized for how I had treated her when we first met, admitting I had
been cruel.
     I should have gone to her earlier in our relationship and apologized.
She never spoke of my treatment of her in those first days.  She never told
me that my actions had hurt her.
     But when I asked her to forgive me she began to cry and all the pain I
had been responsible for was etched on her face.  She merely nodded.  Then
smiled at me.
     We hugged and cried together.
     I heard those words from her during the rough days when her marriage
was falling apart and she needed to talk.  When there was a suicide in the
family she spoke that phrase through the tear-choked pain of loss.
     Though we no longer work in the same area, we still work for the same
organization.  No matter where the job assignment, stress is part and
parcel of the job.  And many times we've phoned the other with the
question, "Hey, watchya doin'?"
     We have seen heartbreaking human suffering, abuse, and loss.  As much
as we might try to "leave it all at the office" we cannot always shove it
in the desk drawer, turn off the lights and head home with a peaceful
spirit.
     It is at such times we have sought solace in each other.
     "Hey, watchya doin'?" she said.  "Why don't you come on over tonight
for dinner?  We need to talk."  I did, and she introduced me to her fiance
-- a wonderful man who would give her all that she deserved.  The joy of a
good marriage.  She was long overdue!
     She has asked me that question when her voice bubbled over with
happiness because she wanted to tell me her daughter was engaged.  And
again, twice, each time she learned her daughter was pregnant.
     "Hey, watchya doin'?"
     That evening we got together and shared our fears.  We were no longer
young women and the fast rushing reality of years gone by seemed to hit us
at roughly the same time.
     "My folks are getting older.  Oh, Kathy!  I am so afraid of losing
them."  Tears burned hot in my eyes.
     "Me, too."  My father had died years earlier but my mother and step
father were still alive and very much a part of my life.
     "Hey, watchya doin'?" I asked one late afternoon.  "I just got in from
work."
     "Why?" she replied.
     Emotion choked me as I tried to squeeze the words past my constricted
throat.  "I have cancer..."
     On another afternoon, when I woke up from surgery, I saw her face.  By
her side was her youngest daughter.  They both smiled tremulously.  Their
eyes shimmering wet.  Their expressions full of love and hope.  They had a
gift and a card for me, but to this day I cannot tell you what the gift
was.
     All I saw was the glow of a loving friendship reflecting back to me --
the years we had shared our secrets and hopes, our fears and triumphs.
     "Love you!" she said.
     "I love you, too."  I garbled roughly through my tears. "Thank you for
being my friend."
     Two and a half years have passed since that afternoon.  We still greet
each other with that old phrase.  And every now and then we will say...
     "Love you!  Thank you for being my friend."
     And when I say those words, I count myself blessed to have your
friendship, Paula.
     "I love you.  Thank you..."

       -- Kathy Anne Harris  

kathap @angelrays.biz

kathyanneharris@spirit-soul.com

RELATED LINk:
http://www.spirit-soul.com/BeyondTheBridge.html
My websites:
http://www.spirit-soul.com/BeyondTheBridge.html
http://spirit-soul.com/ToShareWithYou.html

I am a social worker by day, a writer by life. I live in
California's San Joaquin Valley. My works have been featured in:
2TheHeart, StoryTime Tapestry, Starfish, Driftwood, Cat Tails,
Petwarmers, Heartwarmers, Insight of the Day*, and Moments of
Reflections. I am also a weekly columnist for the publication "Frank
Talk" which is distributed in three counties in Michigan, USA.


~**~**~

Home Town Friends

By: Jan Verhoeff

Somehow coming home is always exciting.  I??™ve lived in big cities and small towns, but

whenever I come home to my small hometown in mid America I always feel welcome. 

It??™s so different from the other small towns I??™ve been in.  They all seem to have a friendly

base, with long time relationships blooming over fences, at the post office, and over a cup

of coffee in the local coffee house.  But, they all seem different from my hometown.

Just this morning over coffee with my mom (who always has ???hot cocoa??™ instead of

coffee), she was telling me that the last of the elderly generation who lives on our street

has passed away.  Knowing this seemed to make me nostalgic for memories of that

particular generation.  

I thought how my grandfather moved into town from the farm and operated an auto repair

shop with his nine-year-old daughter.  Her courage and assistance in the shop was

necessary since his health was failing.  Years later when her mother was ill with the

effects of cancer, the daughter took over the home while older sisters and a brother

helped out, until she finished high school.   She married the boy next door and Grandma

got over the cancer, Grandpa worked with the new husband in the shop after he came

home from the Korean War and eventually I arrived on the scene.

I remember how the lady down the street to the north used to make the best Cinnamon

Rolls and potato cakes.  Her kids were grown and she had grandkids my age, who played

in her front yard.  When I was seven we had five-day club on her lawn, under the old

trees that grew there.  I didn??™t know it at the time, but she wasn??™t convinced that her

granddaughter who taught the class knew anything about God.  She was of a different

faith.

On the other side of our small home, a neighbor man teased me about eating my mud

cakes prepared from dirt in our common garden.  His wife laughed for years about how

upset I got, thinking he would eat the dirt cakes. 

Another neighbor taught me the meaning of equality when he insisted that his

granddaughter, who was my friend, but had a habit of picking favorite friends, shut me

out of a game played on her trampoline, share the game with me.  Her childish manner

gave me a generous understanding of being left out.  But, his reaction made me feel loved

and honored and gave me confidence to speak out for myself. 

Another neighbor praised my efforts at delivering her newspaper, and made me feel

capable of accomplishing even greater things.  Her praise of my nephew nearly twenty

years later for doing the same thing, gave him the ability to accomplish greater things too. 

Another neighbor held family precious, and taught me that growing old could be

accompanied by great memories and wonderful relationships with family.  I visited her

occasionally during those final days, often responding to her questions as I felt my

mother might have twenty years earlier ??“ because she didn??™t know that I wasn??™t my

mother. 

I have many special friends who come here often for visits and vacations, some to visit

family, some are just coming home.  Their presence brings back memories of times past,

and often we spend time reminiscing about all the occasions we??™ve shared in our lives.  A

few of the children of our town have chosen not to return home for various reasons of

their own, I miss them, and think of them often, but realize they have their reasons.

Maybe all these things come together to explain why I came home to stay.  I may not stay

forever, and I too may someday leave and not come back, but for now it is enough for

me, just to walk down my street, smiling at the new neighbors and remember that their

home has history.  Maybe someday, when we are visiting over the fence, I??™ll tell them

about the wonderful people whose homes they??™ve adopted as their own.   Or maybe I??™ll

just smile and wonder if they are making a difference in the lives of neighbor children.  If

I??™m really lucky, I may even witness them making a change in the future of a child by

doing what I pray comes naturally to each of them; just being a good neighbor.

 Jan Verhoeff

janverhoeff @yahoo.com

More recently, Jan's writing interest leans toward mystery and behavioral humor. Both are included in her latest endeavor due to be released in March 2005 "Out of the Box", a publication about the triumphs and joys of home based education, and the processes she's found that work best with her children and others.

Jan is the Editor/Publisher of Your Hometown News,email to:
your_hometown_news-subscribe@yahoogroups.com NEW ---------- Check out the new website http://windmill29.tripod.com/ Bid til October 31, 2004 on the Golden Lights Original Oil Painting by Southeastern Colorado artist Jan Verhoeff.
janverhoeff @yahoo.com

Poetry Section

~**~**~

What Would I Do?

?© 2004 Caroline Sanderson 

What would I do with my life

if I knew I couldn??™t fail.

What changes would I make right now

How would I set my life??™s sails

These are a few of the things I might do

And I would start this very year

This is the way I would choose to live my life

If I had no doubts or fears.

I would climb the highest mountains,

And swim in turbulent seas

I would jump out of aeroplanes

and experience what it feels like to be free.

I would step out in the limelight and sing

from the very depths of my heart.

I would speak without any reservations

and be unafraid of making new starts

I would step out boldly in life and

dare to dream any dream

I would drive the fastest racing cars

and white water raft down fast moving streams.

I would open my heart fully and

Confront all of my fears.

Speak all of my deepest feelings

Unashamed to shed my tears

But must of all I would share all my hearts desires

and Love with all my heart

I would give without reservation

or fear of running out.

For then I will have lived a life that??™s full

The way God meant it to be

Full of Love, Hope and Faith

Content to just be me.

Carol Sanderson

caro@bigpond.net.au  

About Me:
I am a 36 year old single mum. I live in Brisbane with my 6 year old daughter Eleanor, a German Shepherd dog Tara, mouse- Biscuit (I had 35 mice at one stage)and a fish. As you can probably tell I love animals.  My other passions are

music, reading and writing, spending time at the beach and movies. I studied English, History and Journalism at University and have worked on and off for Flight Centre in Australia ever since.

I also love travelling and experiencing different cultures. I spent most of my 20's seeing the world. I lived and worked in London for 3 years and used that as my base to travel. Once of my best experiences was overlanding from London to Kathmandu through Europe and the Middle East, on a double decker bus followed by a trek in Nepal.

I became a Christian April this year and have been on a pretty steep learning curve ever since. I look forward to forming a closer relationship with the Lord each day.

My email address is caro@bigpond.net.au   (Caro is my nickname)

 ~**~**~

MARRIED LOVE

Gorden Warner

It's so nice to be together just the two of us this way

but before we share this moment, there's something I must say.

Before we lay down here together will you show me that you care

will you share a tender moment, will you gently stroke my hair.

Can't you grace me with a smile, won't you speak a gentle word?

won't you tell me of the sweet kind things I know you've often heard?

Sing a tender love song in the quiet of the night

let's share it all together so we'll know that things are right.

Won't you assuage the nagging anguish and belie all my fears?

promise me that your love will not diminish regardless of the years.

Let's just cherish each new moment, just like we used to share

for together we will make it if we just take the time to care.

God Bless

Pop Warner

gkwppw1963 @cox.net 

 ~**~**~

A PRAYER

Gorden K. Warner

May you always smell the roses

May you always see the sun

May you always know of happiness

and share in all the fun

May your days be long and happy

and your life so full of ease

That you never know of sorrow

sickness or disease

May your nights be long and restful

may sweet dreams pass your way

So that life won't be unpleasant

as you pass through each new day

Watch for the birds that are chirping

as they sing their happy song

Share in all their glad moments

as they scurry on along

I wish you all the happiness

that life could ever bring

My hope is that it always brings you

the finest of all things.

Pop Warner

Please enjoy these poems as much as I enjoyed writing them.

God Bless

Pop Warner

gkwppw1963 @cox.net 

Writers Feedback

I am enjoying your E-Zine so much!  I haven't had time to comment much yet but the stories and poems, etc. are wonderful.  I'm so glad Dianna brought it to my attention.  She is one heck of a lady!

I get to meet her next month!  We are going down to Tipp City, in Ohio, to a get together.  Cool, huh!

D.E. Shiveley

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ANIMALGUARDIANSHIP was a wonderful and inspiring
list, however just the alliteration of euthanizing an elderly pet just ruins my day, can't help it.
Doing the same thing to a child comes to mind.
Thanks
Mark Crider

You probably couldn't start to comprehend what my Superbowl Party cheese trays are like.

Need I say that flatulence is subdued to wafting roses, the unbathed are appreciated, and halitosis isn't noticed?

Mark

Roger's interview is most interesting to read. I have one of his books
and it is heartbreaking.

Blessings. ??“Kay Seefeldt

I got quite a chuckle out of Clara's story about her pet chicken. My daughter likes chickens. I've never had one. So I hadn't thought about them being a real pet.

Donna Becker

I really and truly can relate to this one, Carol. You did a fantastic job with this one. I remember really looking at my grandmother's hands and thinking they looked so strange......now mine are slowly starting to look the same way.

Hugs,

Dianna Petry

In Pursuit of the Perfect Cheese ??“ Carol what a wonderful story

Dianna Petry

How to be a Grandmother by Pamela Blaine is a keeper to all of us who are grandmothers--or great-grandmothers.  Precious (and informational) piece.

Barb D.

Carol,

Both the prose and poetry about your/grandmother's hands read like....poetry should.  You are writing sooo well!  The insight and caring you show in both of these is amazing. I'm so impressed!

Love,

Barb

This article on cheese is a kick!  It's offers both humer and a personal insight into you and your food habits, dear!  I'm a cheese lover, of most all kinds, from way back.  Like you, I grew up in the lower class; never had anything but American cheese and a little Cheddar was a big treat!

I don't like some of the sophisticated, imported soft cheeses either but several inches on my hips is probably from my love of all the others!

Love,

Barb

Announcements

Seeking pastors and writers to submit articles for a monthly Christian newspaper, which will begin Jan. 2006. Stories pertaining to the intervention of God's hand in people's lives and uplifting the Lord Jesus Christ. E-mail james4436 @charter.net

SENIOR WRITERS

Agee, Vance;  Apted, Violet;  Baker, Kathy;  Batt, Al;  Berry, Nell;

Boda, Ginger;  Bryant, Sharon;  Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;  Crider, Mark; 

Deming, Barb; Goodier, Steve;  Harris, Kathy Anne; Hunt, Sharlette; 

Jacobson, Gary;  Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Jenkins, Pamela;

Liles, Norma;  Mazzella, Joe; Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;  Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Vaknin, Sam;

Walker, Bill;  Walker, Joe; Warner, Gorden K;

Whirity, Kathy;  White, Robert;

STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

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Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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