STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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

? 

? 

Nov 8, 2005? 

Today??™s Announcements:

? 

? 

Writers and readers alike, I need your votes for the Halloween Contest.?  Even though you have until Nov 10^th, please don??™t all 1200 of you wait until the last day.?  Have pity on me please.?  But most importantly, support the writers you have come to know and love.?  Please vote!

? 

? 

? 

? 

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

? 

? 

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

? 

? 

Cat Lover

?  by Sharlett F. Hunt

? 

? 

?  I have never been a cat lover.?  I had a little kitten just once when I was about eight years old.?  I remember that it was so black and shiny, it's coat so smooth and soft to the touch.?  When I would hold and pet the little bundle, it would purr so and I felt the feeling of love.?  My foster mom who was allergic to cats took it away and I never saw it again.?  After that, I was never really interested in the furry little creatures.

? 

? Though I have always loved all animals, a cat was something I never really thought I wanted as a pet.?  I admired cats belonging to my friends as they interrupted our conversation by jumping up, right into my lap, wanting to join in and get some attention.?  This usually worked, as the owner would have to come over and remove it and give it some consoling words, so obviously adoring the varmint.?  Not for me.

? 

?  One day, a couple years ago, a friend brought me a little kitten and left it.?  We had talked about her cat having kittens but I had never quite decided if I actually wanted one.?  But here it was, I had no choice but to care for it.

? 

?  Precious was a little Hemingway, tortoise colored cat, about three weeks old when I got her.?  She was so tiny and helpless, I thought.? 

? 

?  The first thing I had to do, I decided was give her a bath.?  I noticed she had fleas so that was a problem I would solve.?  I didn't know that is not easy to give a cat a bath.? 

? 

?  I ran a small amount of lukewarm water in the tub and the little thing was curious.?  I gently sat her down in the water and she was fine until I tried to rinse the soap off.?  She became a tiny little tiger, all claws and teeth!?  I looked like I had been in a war zone for weeks!

? 

?  Mission accomplished, with me in Band-Aids, I knew we had to find something for the fleas.?  I tried a product that is sold in grocery stores and, believe it or not, pharmacies, called Sargeants, Heartz or? something and it was sort of like Advantage, a good flea medication, ? or so I was told by the clerk.?  I know now that had I put the entire dosage on her, she would have been maimed or dead.?  She did become quite sick and somehow I held her and prayed and nursed her back to health.?  I learned to use only something a vet would use.

? 

?  I noticed right away that my home was no longer mine, I just? lived here, with apparently no great use except to open cat food cans and the door.? ?  It completely became Queen Precious's domain.? 

? 

?  Cats and doors.?  What is with cats and a door being shut??  Precious either wants in or out often.?  If a door is closed, I guess she thinks it should be open.

? 

?  I don't believe in de clawing her, as she is a hunter so I let her do what comes naturally.?  She's killed many snakes and rats here where we live.?  She's so gentle and pretty, it is hard to imagine that her instinct is to kill.?  I guess I can see why some people have a fear of cats.

Many are allergic, I guess, and fear being scratched.

? 

?  I knew I was hooked when I started seeking out the pet section in any store I entered.?  I bought different collars for her.?  That one didn't look good on her so I would buy another. They have so many cute cat toys, some with catnip so I usually would get a few of those each time.?  I want to buy her some clothes but I think she might protest.? 

? 

? ? I started experimenting with cat food.?  I wanted her to eat healthy.?  I bought cat food with vitamins.?  It would have to be thrown out because she wouldn't eat it, the remainder to be given to a friend's cat, who I might add, wasn't so finicky.

? 

?  My dad has cats and suggested I try Meow Mix,dry food.? She liked it and has eaten it ever since, though sometimes I think she might be bored and try some fancy pouches.?  She used to eat the Meow Mix pouches but one day took a dislike and that was that.?  Cats are like women with changing their minds.

? 

?  I can't say enough about my cat!?  She is brilliant!?  She walks me to the mailbox at the end of the road and follows me most everywhere, like the faithful, loyal friend she is.?  She understands some words and will "sit", when she feels like it.

? 

?  Don't underestimate the common cat.?  They are just one little bundle of love!?  I know this little thing has taught me lessons about love that I really needed to learn.?  Like how to love unconditionally.?  If you've ever smelled a full litter box, I am sure you know what I mean.

? 

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 writing 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.

? 

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

? You Can't

Bill Walker

wildbill6807@yahoo.com

? 

Time for another class on history. I remember 16 December 1944. The weather had turned bad in Western Europe, Worse then normal bad weather. The German Army was being pushed back to Germany, but still had fight. There was hope that an attack could be mounted and send the Americans, and British for a set back. All that is needed is to find a weak link and send a large unit in on full scale attack. A weak link was found on that date.

? 

There was much confusion where this took place at, also at Allied Headquarters.?  It is said there was a meeting of all the Allied Generals.?  Please take note of the words, "it is said" Anyways at this meeting was what are we going to do here? The weather is bad bad, we CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT NOW."? ?  Some, in fact all but one said the best thing is fall back on all fronts and regroup. At least dig in and set tight.

? 

The one that went against the grain, was none other then General George Patton. In fact he told the others, he had a unit on it's way to give help to the spot where the Germans was pushing. Thank God for General Patton. All the rest was saying now George, it can't be done. Best thing right now is write those guys off as lost. It is said the British great Montie, said he would think retreat is in order. Patton said he knew that is what Field Marshall Montie would do, but he Patton is not Field Marshall Montie.?  He is Patton, he and his troops don't care to have to fight for the same foot of ground twice. Besides he hasn't heard the word CAN"T, don't really know just what it means, except when it is used, one is a loser.

? 

Now General Patton knew a couple things. He knew that the German Army was all ready weaken. They could only mount an all out attack in one place. So he not only pulled out a unit, he pulled out all stops and sent most of his 3rd Army that way. Got to save that general and his unit that knew one word. "NUTS" Well maybe a few other words.?  Like hell we give up.

? 

Now General Patton also knew where to turn for help. The weather was bad. Patton's Air Force was grounded. Yes there was the Patton Air Force. I know of a man who was a member of it. So on about the third day of the run to save the General, and his?  brave unit. Patton called up the one he knew for help. He got on the telephone and called. His is the telephone, that is always open. When you call you are never put on hold, or some other thing. Like all lines are in use, call later, or better yet hang up and forget it. It is called God's line. General Patton called and asked if the weather could get some what better.?  You know God took the call and did something about it. Patton's Air Force was back in the air.

? 

Happy Days Are Here Again. Here comes the Third Army to save the day.? Don't you just see those brave men that held out for days greeting the first units of Patton's army. I can, I have tears thinking about it. I can also see what is left of the German Army retreating, leaving behind equipment that is now burning on a snow covered battlefield. Won by men who don't give up and don't understand the word. "CAN'T.

? 

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

? 

~**~**~? 

? Memories

B.J. Cassady
? 
? ? ? ? ? ?  A lazy breeze blowing through the windows at night, the
curtains flowing with the breeze.?  The night is only interrupted by the
fireflies June and the serenading sound of crickets and frogs.?  The?  elixir of
summer is either sun tea or lemonade and the food of the gods is
watermelon, cantaloupe or vegetables that you have pulled from the
ground.? 
? 
? ? ? ? ?  How about a grilled hot dog??  Grab a stick and cook it over a
fire and while you are at it maybe put a marshmallow or two on the stick.? 

Maybe tomorrow we can grab our bamboo fishing canes and go to the pond

and see what we can catch.?  If not, we can see what our
imagination will invoke in the clouds.?  Later, we could fly a kite,
or get into a water pistol fight.? ?  Ever go looking for fossils?? 
Arrowheads?
? 
? ? ? ? ?  Let's go into the local drug store and get a nickle comic book
and a twenty five cent float.?  I hear the serial this Saturday is Flash
Gordon vs the Moon Men.?  Do you have your decoder ring?? ? 

I still have my compass from the cracker jack box.?  Do you have your

magnifying glass from the cracker jack box?
? 
? ? ? ?  Yes, the times were simpler, and perhaps more safe than today.
What the past offered we took, we had to use our imagination to
play.?  Our trash can lids and a stick was all we needed to be a
Knight of the Realm.?  The boys of summer would be in the sandlot

playing ball.?  We did not need batteries, nor did we need television,

nor did we need people to tell us what to do,,,we were too busy having
fun.
? B.J. Cassady

BJ.Cassady @ af-group.com

? 

B.J. Cassady is a Stephen Minister at

Edmond Trinity Church and ISD professional

in Guthrie, Oklahoma.?  A disabled Vietnam

era USAF vet,?  BJ enjoys giving back to

the world with his writings and is putting

together a CD audio collection of his best

writings.?  For further information please

write: bj.enterprises @juno.com

Also look for his story 'Medals' in

"More Patriot Hearts" by Lt Col William

Coffey and "The Quilt".

? 

? 

? 

? ? ~**~**~

ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

? valuespeak@msn.com

? 

SILENCE OF THE ERASERS

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  I don??™t know what possessed me to do it.?  It just seemed like the thing to do at the time.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  It was the first day of 5^th grade, and Mrs. Stallings was distributing school supplies.?  A handsome older woman of considerable dignity and poise, Mrs. Stallings had a way of making this routine procedure seem stately and ceremonial.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ???You must take very good care of these materials,??? she said pointedly as she placed a new box of Crayola Crayons (16 ??“ count ???em ??“ 16 colors!) on each desk.?  ???They must last the entire school year.?  If you lose them or damage them in any way . . .??? ??“ she paused for dramatic effect ??“ ???. . . you will need to replace them yourselves.???

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  I caressed the green and yellow box on my desk, gently opening the front flap so I could look at the brightly colored crayons with which I had been endowed.?  Is there anything more lovely, more inspiring, more filled with untapped potential than a fresh box of crayons??  I pulled out my favorite color ??“ blue ??“ and studied its sharp-but-flat tip.?  I wanted to begin using it immediately to color countless skies, bluebirds and blueberry pies.?  At the same time I wanted to NEVER use it ??“ to preserve it in all of its gloriously pristine waxiness.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Think of it as the 5^th grade version of environmentalism.?  Without the trees.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Mrs. Stallings then placed a new ruler on each desk.?  As 5^th graders, we could now be entrusted with the more mature rulers that had a thin strip of metal on the side to help you trace straighter, truer lines.?  Of course, this meant the end of the ruler-sword fights we used to conduct regularly as 4^th graders.?  The thin metal strips on the sides of these new rulers had pointed edges that could actually be dangerous in a duel.?  But we had outgrown ruler-sword fights.?  We were 5^th graders.?  Somehow we were suddenly more interested in drawing straight, true lines.

And girls.?  We were MUCH more interested in girls.

Finally, Mrs. Stallings brought two brand new No. 2 pencils to each desk.?  I felt something almost spiritual as I ran my fingers up and down the smooth, yellow shaft of each pencil.?  No tooth marks.?  No chips in the paint.?  And on the tip of each was a fresh, clean eraser.

As one who always had ample need for erasers, these held a special place in my 10-year-old heart.?  I tweaked them.?  They felt like good erasers.?  I smelled them.?  They smelled like good erasers (for the uninitiated, fresh, unused pencil erasers smell almost as good as Elmer??™s Glue).

And then, for some unknown reason, I bit them.?  Right there in front of Mrs. Stallings and everyone, I bit the erasers off the ends of my new No. 2 pencils.?  Don??™t ask me why.?  To this day I can??™t explain it.?  One minute I was holding the pencils so carefully in my hands ??“ savoring them, cherishing them ??“ and the next minute I was playing Hannibal Lecter on the erasers.

???Mr. Walker!??? Mrs. Stallings gasped.?  ???What on earth are you doing????

Immediately, the attention of the entire classroom focused on me.?  I could feel my face flush as I fidgeted on my suddenly way-too-hard desk chair.?  My friends were laughing and the girls were giggling.?  My mind raced as I struggled to come up with answers to two pressing questions: why DID I do it, and what do I do with these two rubbery eraser tips in my mouth?

Reflexively, I gulped and swallowed the erasers.?  Then I smiled as brave a smile as I could muster.?  ???I guess I was hungry,??? I said weakly.

Everyone in the classroom laughed ??“ except Mrs. Stallings.

???Very well,??? she said coldly.?  ???Now that you??™ve had your lunch you won??™t mind staying here in the classroom with me while the rest of the students go to the lunchroom.???

As a chubby kid for whom school lunch was the high point of the day, that was a tough punishment to take.?  Even worse was her insistence that I use the two eraser-less pencils until they were no longer usable.?  Whenever I needed an eraser I had to walk all the way up to her desk to borrow her joke eraser.?  It was huge ??“ about seven inches long and four inches wide, and it had these words printed on it: ???For really BIG mistakes.???

Like mine ??“ even though it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

~**~**~

? 

? 

? 

? 

Writers Feedback

? 

The Wrong Turn by Sharon Bryant:?  It is a sad story about that once promising chap!?  That has been long now.?  Do you still get to see him or what has happened to him? Of what race is he; white or black?? ? 

Georgewaters Ojeigbe ??“ Lagos, Nigeria

? 

? 

~ Land of the Free ~?  by Joyce C. Lock:?  One thing I have come to realize is that the devil uses the good against mankind.?  This has being his main method of duplication of God??™s purpose.?  He steals the good plan and converts it to evil.?  Remember Jehovah God??™s purpose for the Garden of Eden, what about the Tower of Babel, Abraham??™s sibling before the promised child.?  Music God created has been converted by the devil to lure men into greater sins of the flesh.?  There are thousands of examples of devil??™s conversion.?  There has been nothing wrong with ???FREEDOM??™ of everything but there is something wrong about too much of being free on the lands of mankind.

? 

Well, I believe that the times are running out and evil looms the surface of the earth.?  Prophesies must be fulfilled and these are one of the ways for it to be fulfilled.?  Evil is fast taking over the world.?  We only have one hope and that is the promise of God to give us more grace to bear the burden of the later days which we are running into now.?  There is total moral decadence all over the world of today.?  Don??™t cry for America or any other part of the world but hold fast to your faith in Jehovah God for it is not going to get better, it is getting worse than ever.?  It is all becoming like a universal occult kingdom.

? 

? 

? Maybe this is WHY Sharon had her "experience" with the
American Indian man she saw... she has the GIFT and "our"
Medicine Men maybe "reaching out" to her... to spread the
NEWS ??“ Dinah Belgrade

? 

I love the story of Gossip by Sharon Bryant today. It is certainly true but very amusing as well

? 

I am so proud of Sharlett Hunt!?  What an undertaking.?  I just know she will be a success.

? 

Carol, ask her if she lives anywhere near Lakeland or Mulberry, Florida.?  That's where my daughter, son-in-law and family live.

? 

Love,

Barb

? 

Ms. Sharlette, I read your story, "My Greatest Dream" and I think its terrific that you are pursuing your dream. You have not to look at the past in such a way that you think you may not be able to do this but look at what you have overcome and how far you can go. It's not about age, its about your desire to do something better for yourself. You will get there, I am sure because you have put your trust in God and He alone can do all things. I have confidence that you will succeed and you should be proud of your accomplishments. Though you may never hear that you have touched someone's life through your stories, you had the courage to share the hardest part of your life and you have come out ahead. God bless you and you keep on doing what your doing??¦.your a blessing to many, probably more than you will ever know.

Blessings,
Tami Brody

? 

? 

? Carol. I would love to thank Helen Amole RN BA BSN MEd for the inspiring comments she made about my continuing education.?  When I start wondering if I can really do it, I will think of this lady's message of what she and her family did and even a little older than me.?  Thank you so much Helen!?  Blessings!

? 

Why Are We Here by Sharon Bryant? is such a thought provoking and beautiful story that really made me think also.?  I believe those words were "scattered" on me? from Sharon's heart.?  Thanks and God bless!?  Sharlett Hunt

? 

Sharon, "Why are We Here?" poses a big question and you answer it well in your story.?  We do achieve a lot without even noticing through our lives.?  Thanks for your words.?  Gabrielle Morgan.

? 

? 

? 

? 

? 

? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

? 

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

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;? Morris, Deepak; 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;

? 

? 

? 

? 

? 

? 

STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

? 

? 

? 

Send all inquires about the newsletter including submission requirements: