STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Oct 16, 2005? 

Today??™s Announcements:

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Happy Anniversary dear Mark and Ginger Boda

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

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

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Authors note: Kay Seefeldt read the story and liked it? and assisted me with bits and pieces.?  Please credit her for I would never have attempted writing without her encouragement.

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QUESTIONS OF LOVING

? Louise Nomani

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? ? ? ?  It is that time in the morning between sleep and waking that demons come and plant their seeds of hate and greed, of grief and desire.?  My demons are mean and hateful.?  I awake crying, torn apart by questions of loving. ? ? The questions should be easy for me to answer but they are of huge proportions; I can??™t answer them, dismiss or lose them.?  They pull at my conscience and taunt the quality of my loving relationships.?  My mind is turning ugly.?  Amidst the tears, I imagine despicable solutions to this problem that haunts me.?  My crying is not only for the loss I anticipate, but a reflection of the horror I feel at my thoughts of revenge.?  He is only a dog I tell myself. He is only a dog.

? ? ? ?  ? I should be glad to lose him for he carpets my house with his undercoat and overcoat.?  The undercoat has the quality of cashmere, and it floats and attaches itself to skirt, slack and fine upholstered antiques. His overcoat is of black and white and silver fabric.?  It is a coat to warm one or three on a three dog night.?  It is a coat of such depth and thickness that I fill pillows and vacuum with its spill in shedding season and shedding season lasts a very long time.?  Pogue is a wolf of a dog.?  He is sleek, silver and dark, and his eyes reflect the infinite wisdom of his ancestors.?  He treads softly on paws that know the contours of the .earth, and he exudes a presence that has haunted men??™s minds for centuries.?  His massive head has sweet breath, huge knowing eyes and ears that are black and lined with white silk. ? I stroke them with abandon ;?  My tears run and my nose runs.?  What am I to do??  Pogue means kiss and he kisses me sweetly. I hug him.?  How could I not love this dog with his head?  so heavy, warm and welcome on my feet. He fills my spaces and secures my mind but he is not my dog.? 

? ?  Actually?  he belongs to no one I think, though he chooses to stay close to me most of the time and is generous with his affection.?  He is a tall dark shadow of mystery and danger, and he awakens in the night to wail mournfully for his losses and the tragedies of history.?  His wails echo my own, and I reach for him in those times and he reassures me and quiets my mind even as I sooth his.?  This Pogue is from a different land, another space, another time.?  He burrows into the snow in winter months and lays quiet as the white moon races through silver clouds.?  He knows that course and the power of that other space.?  He knows how to wait and in the waiting, he is my dog that comforts me with friendly howls, soft eyes and the warmth of a fur throw. ? I must not lose him, but he is not my dog.

His beauty does not excuse the aggravation he has caused me these past two years.?  I have runs the roads to find him on his independent jaunts.?  I have apologized for him at a neighbor??™s barbecue as he planted huge front feet on the shoulders of surprised and anxious guests.?  I have nursed him from the surgery coming of porcupine quills and suffered with him the indignity of skunk spray.?  Why am I crying??  I should be pleased to lose him.

? ? ?  Not long ago I awoke to the thrashing of this sweet dog.?  His mind short-circuited?  and I held the convulsing dog in my arms horrified at the strength of the spasm and overwhelmed at the confused panic in his eyes.?  He is not my dog.?  I have been coldly reminded of this; but I held him then and the foamy saliva from his mouth wet my knee and shirt and he was incontinent, but it did not matter.?  I held him until the spasms were gone and the terror removed.?  He is not my dog.?  Why am I crying??  Pogue was in my lap and I cried then even as I breathed in relief.?  He nudged my hand to reassure me, and I continued to hold him and stroke him not wanting to let go.?  He is not my dog.

? ? ? ?  Pogue belongs to a daughter and husband.?  They brought him to me from that cold north place we call Alaska.?  I agreed to care for him until they could find a suitable home where they could keep him.?  ? ? It has been two years, and now my daughter and her husband are returning to that place they love so well, that place of long days and long nights, that place of glacier, tall mountain and ocean. ? ? It is the place of Pogue??™s origins. They are taking my best friend. My heart is breaking.?  I am losing a family I love very much, and I am losing this dog that has come to be my shadow.?  I ask the family to give him to me. I am refused.?  ???We will not discuss this further??? He goes with us??? ? The answer is terse and hurtful.?  I love the daughter and I love the dog.?  I have the dog, but he is not mine. ? What kind of crisis is this??  Do I love the dog more than the daughter that I would let this issue consume my mind and emotion??  Does the daughter love the dog better than her mother? It is a testing. The questions haunt me and dull my spirit.?  ? It is a small crisis in this time of huge events and huge tragedies.?  I know this logically but my reasoning is fogged with grief.?  My mind explodes with possibilities of dog napping and kennel destruction.?  My mind calculates huge bills owed for pain and suffering and dog bed and board.?  The crisis redefines the nature of our loving relationships.?  It tears at me ? ? It is illogical and destructive. It magnifies my inadequacies; It taunts my honor.?  The questions are my demons.

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? ? ? ?  Relief is served.?  I share my frightful thoughts with my youngest and she, with utmost simplicity clears my mind. ???Mom, she says,?  We all have those awful thoughts, sometimes.?  The difference between good people and bad people is that the good don??™t act on them.??? ? ? She lightens my mind and heart.?  She clears the course.? ? ?  I produce thick padding for the dog carrier to ensure Pogue??™s comfort in transport.?  ? I let the dog go in my mind and heart. My mind is free now lighter by a ton, but my heart is broken.?  I sleep badly that night with one hand over the bed wrapped in the soft fur of the wolf dog. My anguish consumes me, and I am blue and black in my thoughts. My prayers are for an honorable relief.? ?  What are the dimensions of a loving relationship?

? ? ? ?  The demons came again in that time between sleep and waking.?  They prodded the dog into painful seizure.?  The convulsion was intense, and the thrashing reverberated on the pine floor waking the household.?  The demons were loath to release their hold, and I felt sick and powerless.?  I could only hold him and love him.?  Pogue is not my dog.

? ? ?  There was a sunrise of gold and melon and magic.?  I heard a soft voice and it was speaking to me.?  ???Well, the voice said, ? I guess that decides his fate.??? ? ? ? I didn??™t dare to respond.?  What did he mean?? 

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? ? ? ?  Pogue?  was given to me. The family would not risk him to the trials of transport;?  They love the dog too much.?  My mind prods all the questions. Were those really demons at work or was that divine intervention??  Were the vexing questions answered after all? ? ? My mind is not certain.? ?  It does not matter.?  This dog will not leave me. His tail wags and my heart is light and glad!?  His head is heavy and warm on my feet, and my space is complete.

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Louise Nomani

windmill@tdstelme.net

Norridgewock, Maine

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Biography:

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? ? ?  Louise is a Maine girl who enjoyed years of travel with her career army husband and their three girls. She enjoyed his tours in Washington DC, Georgia, California, Texas, France and England. ???I was always happiest though when we could come home to visit and ultimately to retire in this beautiful state of Maine.? ?  I fit here like the bark on a tree.??? Louise worked many years as a hospital nutritionist and food service director retiring in 2000 with health problems.? ?  ???I am loving retirement for it permits me to indulge myself in my hobbies and my family.???

? ? ? ? ?  Horses are a special lifelong passion and Louise has three.?  Two are retired racehorses and one is a lovely spotted Tennessee Walker.?  ???He is the horse I ride when the cold is biting and the wind is sharp.?  My Thoroughbreds inspire with their high spirits and beauty but to ride them can be like paddling a canoe through rapids.? ? ?  I should know better at my age but passion is not ruled by sensibilities.???

? ? ? ?  Seven is a grandson of Seattle Slew. I adopted Seven in November of 2004 and discovered that he had knee chip fractures.?  These were recently removed at Tufts Veterinary Hospital and I hope and believe that he will attain soundness following this surgery.?  I applaud New Vocations Racehorse Adoption for their efforts to save and find homes for horses like Seven... ???Many of these horses are sold for slaughter which is an unjust reward for horses that will run their hearts out and break their legs in an effort to win the race for owner and rider. It is unjust penalty in an industry that systematically maims horses running them as babies before their bones are hard and tendons are strong. Such things seem petty to many in a world with so much pain, but I cannot help but sadly think that society??™s indifference is a value statement that is reflected in too many area of our life.???

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Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

By: Joseph J. Mazzella

? ? ? ?  Like the poet Robert Frost I have been taking the road less traveled for many years now. It has been a twisting and curvy road with many steep hills and rocky spots. It hasn??™t been well lit or well paved, and I have often stumbled along as I walked it. I have even fallen down time and time again. I have always, however, picked myself back up, dusted myself back off and continued on my way. It hasn??™t been easy walking on the road of choosing love and sharing joy, but I wouldn??™t trade the journey for the whole world. It truly "has made all the difference."

? ? ? ?  This road has strengthened the legs of my soul, exercised the love of my heart, and vitalized the joy in my life. It has taken me to places of beauty and delight that I didn??™t know existed and has helped me to travel both through the world and into myself at the same time. It has introduced me to the greatest guide and traveling companion imaginable: God, and has helped me to walk in oneness with Him each and everyday of my life.

? ? ? ?  I have noticed something too. With each day that I walk down the road less traveled, I find more and more beautiful souls walking it as well. With each day I walk down the road of choosing love and sharing joy, I find more and more fellow travelers who have left the more traveled road and followed their hearts and souls to this one.

? ? ? ?  Don??™t be afraid to take the road less traveled then. Don??™t be afraid to take the road of choosing love and sharing joy. The trip may be bumpy and rough at times, but it will always lead you where you need to go. The road may not be as crowded or well lit but with God by your side and beautiful souls walking it with you, it will always be a delight to travel all through this life and on into the next.

Joseph J. Mazzellajoecool @ wirefire.com

Joe lives in West Virginia with his wife and three children. Various dogs and cats have adopted Joe and his family for their own. Joe enjoys his family, beauty, love and hearing from his email friends. Joe likes to take the time to smell the roses and enjoy the beauty around him as he goes about his daily life.

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? I wonder if you are old enough to remember............

Sharon Bryant

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Rin Tin Tin, Flash Gordon, Little Lulu comics, Archie and Veronica, Zorro, My Friend Flicka, The Hardy Boys, Mickey?  Mouse club (with Annette), Howdy Doody, Wagon Train, Fury, and many more?

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I remember.?  When I see what kids today are watching on TV for entertainment, I shake my head.?  Don't you?

If only they could know the Good Old Days, when life was easier, when kids were kids, and parents were the role models.?  We didn't have much time for TV even if we were lucky enough to have one in our houses.?  A good old baseball game was much more important.?  Or seeing how many times we could skip rope without touching the rope.?  We kept score.

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I carried my lunch in a brown paper bag to school.?  We all did.?  I hadn't heard of cafeterias.?  In younger years, we got to go home for lunch, but once we got into a higher grade and changed schools too far from home, paper sacks it was.?  And it was good.?  A sandwich, a piece of fruit, perhaps a cookie, or a little homemade cake mom made for us.?  And we were healthy.?  If we got the sniffles, mom would give us a 4-Way Cold Tablet and it did the trick.

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We didn't go to a doctor's office.?  He came to our house to give us our examinations and shots.?  How many times I'd lean over the banister upstairs and see Doc Rasmussen enter our front door with that little black bag he carried.?  My brother and I would get into a fight over who was going to get the shot first.?  We didn't see a dentist.....our teeth were sound and cavity free from the food we ate.?  But you can bet we brushed them at least 3 times a day too in those days!

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We started out every day in school saying the Pledge of Allegiance.?  We put our hands over our hearts and we knew every word.?  Today, that's a thing of the past.

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We didn't have ceiling fans on hot summer nights.?  Air conditioning was unheard of in homes.?  We had clothes "chutes" and I loved to stuff our dirty clothes down that old chute and lean over and watch when it hit the basement floor.?  BINGO....nothing got stuck on the way down.?  And we hung our clothes outside on clothes lines.?  (I still do today).?  Our bedding was fresh and nothing was greater than to lay your head on your pillow with the scent of fresh air.

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The old Twin Pines truck used to stop outside our house every other day.?  We watched as the milkman put our quarts of milk in our milk chute.?  We knew our parents had plenty of ice in the ice box to keep it cold.?  No plastic caps in those days, just little paper ones.

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Oh, and the trolley.?  How I loved to go downtown with my mom and gram and ride the trolley.?  I often wondered if it ever left the tracks, where it would take us.?  I never found out.

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Then there was the rag man.?  He came on a horse with a cart and picked up our trash we had in the ally outside our house.?  All the kids hid from the rag man.?  We loved to peek out and see his horse with those big black "blinders" on.?  I always wanted to sneak an apple to the horse but was too afraid of the rag man to do it.

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Our imaginations were used to the hilt in our childhood.?  Before we got that first tiny television set, the radio was our only entertainment.?  We'd sit on the floor by our parents and grandparents and listen to Amos and Andy, Jack Benny and many more.?  I would visualize what they looked like and put myself into the story they told.

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Everyone helped one another in those days.?  Neighbors were friendly and so often we'd be eating a new desert that Mrs. Martin swapped with something gram or mom made.?  We sure had a lot of homemade food in those days.?  Nothing came in packages already to heat and serve.?  Aroma's floated out of every house and it was nothing to hear mom say, "Mrs. Martin is having meatloaf for? supper tonight."?  (On nights we were having liver, I always wanted to go eat at Mrs. Martin's house).

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Wreaths were hung on doors when there was a death in the household.?  We paid our respects and when walking in front of a house with a wreath, we tiptoed down the sidewalk so as not to disturb whoever was inside the house.

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We were taught a lot of things in school.?  Remember those old ink wells and our pens we had to dip into the ink to work on something in class??  I think Carter's Ink was the main one used in those days.?  Always black ink.?  I was so happy when began making ink in different colors.? 

We didn't have sex education in grade school.?  What was that??  We were kids.

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Remember pigtails??  Every girl wore pigtails to school.?  We had ribbons of all different colors to match our clothes to tie at the end of our pigtails.?  But when someone jerked on one, the fists came out flying.

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Houses had basements and porches, not decks.?  We sat on our porch and waved to everyone who walked down the sidewalk.?  Everyone waved back.?  Everyone knew everyone.?  If someone came down the street we didn't recognize, the first words out of our mouths were, "Who's THAT?"

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I think back to the Good Old Days when life had less materialistic things than today.?  But at a time when life was lived and we had fun living it.?  We survived hot summers without air conditioning and we didn't mind.?  We didn't have shoes that cost a fortune.?  US Keds were the way to go.?  And white shoe polish to clean them with every single night.?  I bet my shoes weighed a good pound more than they should with the layers of polish on them.? 

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I had poodle skirts, saddle oxford shoes and bobby sox.?  In the 60's we "ratted" our hair and made ourselves taller.?  Aqua Net was the number one hair spray in our time.

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Blackjack and Beeman's gum.?  Candy sticks and Mary Jane's.?  And if we were good all week, we might get a ice cream cone on Saturday!?  Sharing Holidays with our cousin's, aunts and uncles,? 

And a good old hot bowl of "mush" on cold winter nights with a hot cup of cocoa.

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We got high everyday on life.?  I'm glad I'm from that era.?  I'm glad I lived my childhood as a kid and wasn't thrown into an age I was not mature enough to handle.?  I'm glad my parents were strict with us.?  I'm glad I went to church.?  And I'm really glad I have these memories of a beautiful childhood.

Are you old enough to remember?

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Sharon Bryant

1946 @bellsouth.net

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About Me:

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? I am Sharon Bryant,? 59 years old and reside in Alabama.

I lost my child in 1977 when he was five and I write
articles on bereavement often.

I am a chocolate/candy maker and also a wood crafter and knitter.

I am married to a wonderful man, and have two remaining children, a daughter 25,
Amy, and a second son, Randy, age 22.

My main goal in life is to help those who
have lost a child. My website is: www.angelsremembered.tk

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? ? ~**~**~

GAY-INTERNET-SCAM

BY: GEORGEWATERS OJEIGBE

??“ Lagos, Nigeria (27^th July, 2005)

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(NOTE: Not for public consumption now but for you and your government agents??™ awareness)

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Please, for your government awareness!

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There is a new development in my country now and this development is spreading rapidly making it look like a zombie the flesh eater??™s firm.

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It is all about the real and artificial gay community for fraudulent act.

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I have been on research of this community for quite a number of years now but of recent I believe it has taken a drastic new dimension.?  It is now elaborate than before.

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Commonly, young girls and boys who are not near being gays go to where we call ???cyber caf?©??™, maybe a computer mall you call it.?  In there, these young crooks try as much as possible to pose the place of a gay.?  Whoever falls into them becomes unlucky.? 

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Eventually the email scam is gradually dieing and I believe that this would be ???A NEW DIMENSION??™ to lure people of the western countries into giving away their treasures in the hope of catching a young African blood for sex trade of pleasure.

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I have studied about 5 to 7 groups and have come out with similar findings but the one that baffled me most was when I got to understand that one particular group hires young beautiful/handsome and girls/boys to get involved in such Soddomy acts.?  They even call their ringleader ???boss??™, at least I overhead the youngest boy of about 19 to 21 years old referred to their leader at home saying ??????boss??™ will not take that for a joke, get him fixed on time and we are going to drain the foolish white guy??™s pocket dry???.?  At least out of about 14 monitors, 8 are worked on daily by these group members fund seeking.

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I wouldn??™t know how serious you might look at this issue but I suspect that it is going to be a new fraudulent tactic to be used on the westerners.

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My research and write up on this issue is still ongoing.?  Will conclude on it in due time.

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I wish your government could pass the information to such gays reaching out to Africans on net to be cautious otherwise they should stand ???at own risk??™ corner.?  Few of these gays here are genuine but many of the gangsters are dubiously seeking wealth from less cautious beings.

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I have noticed that this new high development results from the high poverty level in the society (Africa) of today.?  Many of these perpetrators are young school leavers and university undergraduates.?  Very few are in the primary school (age 10 to 13) and most are within the ages of 14 to 27 years).

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I see this development on daily basis and it reminds me of a film I once watch were an alien got into earth.?  He started by contaminating one being and ended up contaminating the whole city people.?  IT IS SPREADING WIDE ??“ ANOTHER INTERNET SCAM!

(NOTE: I should be able to conclude on the actual work before the year runs out ??“ for public readers)
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Georgewaters Ojeigbe

gojiegbe @jhplc.com

BIO-DATA

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I was born on 21^st April, 1970.?  I live in Lagos, Nigeria the most populous city in Africa. I sing in a Church music group where I fellowship.?  I love sports.?  I love admiring the heavens and other wonderful works borne from Jehovah??™s hands.?  I discovered the power of writing stories, encouraged by Carol.?  Thanks for her existence!?  I am pet lover minus snakes; I so much hate this creature called snake but others I prefer.?  I like to do lots of home works like creating my art works, gardening, making some home furniture, fitting electrical appliances etc.

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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

Boda, Ginger;? ? Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria; Goodier, Steve; Halley, Ellie Braun;

Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;? 

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

Liles, Norma; lilly, Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe;? Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Streidel, Saskia; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill; Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K; Walsh, Sue

Whirity, Kathy;? White, Robert;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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