Christmas Time

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CHRISTMAS TIME

As Christmas draws closer, so do thoughts of those we care about the most — family, friends, and loved ones who are no longer with us.  I give thanks to the people who have made a difference in my life.

     

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time.

    -   Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

I hope your holiday is filled with plenty of ho-ho-ho!

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Petunia the Piglet

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PETUNIA THE PIGLET

While living in Paso Robles, I decided to buy a pig.  It was a spring day, and I made a wire basket for my piglet.  I thought I did a great job.  I went over to the Templeton small animal auction.  They were busy that day.  The piglets were running around the corral, and a few other fellows and I started to bid on them.  They were quite noisy because the corral guy was using a paddle around them, and they would make a squeal.   I won one and requested a female.  As I got closer to the loading chute, the wire basket seemed too smaller.  I was a bit worried my piglet would not fit in it.  The guy in front of me grabbed his piglet, and it slipped out of his hands, and he and his kids started to chase it in the parking lot.  What a scene.  I heard someone say “next,” and there I was, picking up my piglet.  I jumped out of my truck, and the young man said, ‘you want that piglet in this basket?”  Well, of course, he laughed and said, “pigs in a basket.”  The piglet squealed and squealed as they put her into the basket, and they closed the latch.  I drove off with my piglet in the back of the truck.  It must have been quite scary for the little piglet.  Being she was taken from her mother then sold at auction.  I promised I would treat her like a queen.

On the way home, I heard a bunch of noise coming from the back of the truck.  I decided to pull over and find out what was going on.  Well, little did I know that piglet was quite smart? It had somehow made its way out of the basket and was roaming around in the back of my truck eating the Oat hay I had picked up earlier from Templeton Feed and Grain.  I looked and said, “Oh my” I need to get home ASAP!  So, I took the backroads home, just in case she decided to jump ship. 

I arrived home, and luckily my piglet was fine.  I opened the middle animal pin and thought this would be a perfect place for her.  It was next to the chicken coop.  I dropped the truck's tailgate and put a plank board against it, then dropped a few morsels down the plank board, and the piglet followed the food until she was in her new home.   I made sure she had plenty of water and food in her new home before she arrived.  Once she made it into the small animal pin, she started to burrow around and seemed happy. 

I got into the pin and tried to show her how to drink her water through the spicket and raised the food bin.  She figured out the food bin immediately, but the water spicket took a while.  I sat and watched her play, and she was happy.  She ran around in circles for me. I went into the barn and grabbed a pitchfork of hay, and dropped it in the corner for her nap.  She looked at the hay and ran over, and started to fluff her bed.  It was quite funny.  Hay was flying everywhere.  It landed on her head and back, and she stared at me.  As I looked at my piglet, I decided to call her Petunia.  She was cute and inquisitive.  Every day I would go down and watch her play.  When I entered her pin, I would move slowly and talk and sing to her.  Petunia would stop and stare at me when I came in. As time progressed, she was getting big.  I had to cut a hole in the back of the small animal pen so she could run around on the lower end of the property.  Some days when I went down to feed, she was playing with the cows.  They would run near the fence line back and forth.  Sometimes she would just bask in the sun.  Occasionally you could see her sitting and watching the cars drive by the property.  They would stop and say hello to her.  She loved the attention. 

I decided to sell my Petunia.  I had a few takers and decided on the young kids from the valley.  They were going to mate her with a male and have babies.  She was a good breed and extremely healthy, plus she did have a good demeanor.  I told the boys to make sure to give her a mud bath and feed her grapes when it gets hot.  They laughed.  I said my goodbyes, and off she went to start a new life.

I learned a lot about small animals from Frank.  Thank you for teaching me and being a loving husband. 

Let me leave you with this quote - Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest - well, that is your choice.

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Friday’s Quote – Gratitude

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GRATITUDE

 

GRATITUDE unlocks the fullness of life, it turns what we have into enough, and more… 

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

GRATITUDE makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. 

-Melody Beattie

My GRATITUDE AFFIRMATION – I am happy and grateful for the life I have.

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Poppy is Pleased to Announce

JOE BOOTS

Entered into

SCREENCRAFT Cinematic Short Story Writing Competition 

RED LIST (Drama)  #13

 

The Most Trying Time of My Life

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The Most Trying Time of My Life

It was a beautiful day to take a hike in the country. I found a rock to sit on so I could take in nature.  The mountains were green, and the birds were singing.  I noticed a few wildflowers intertwining themselves with the rocks and a red-tailed hawk flying above. I sat quietly and meditated. 

After the death of my husband, it was the most trying time of my life.  All the support I received from many people and places helped me immensely I thank them.  I am moving forward into new territory. I feel like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. My thoughts are clearer and I am feeling stronger.

I can stand up for myself and say "NO" when something does not feel right for me.  

I have been writing and entering many contests.  I am almost done with my short story “Joe Boots.”  It will be entered into the Cinematic Short Story Contest.  I am also writing a western series “POLONA." I received an accolade when I entered it into the ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch contest with about 1200 other entries.

I am enjoying this time of my life.  Things are falling into place and I feel blessed with my family that surrounds me.  We help each other and love each other unconditionally.  They are my love and light. 

 

Let me leave you with this note  – May you grow stronger each day.  Reflect, Stay Safe, and be well during this global human pandemic.

 

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Friday’s Quote – Understanding Vulnerability

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Understanding Vulnerability

In a world that seeks connection, we oddly avoid eye contact, we time our text responses in order to protect ourselves from seeming too eager or too interested, and we hold our feelings back because we don't want to see overly emotional or unreasonable.

We silence our instincts, and at the end of the day instead a feeling good about ourselves, we feel alone, we feel misunderstood.

Remember it is okay to be emotional, to seek help, to confidently tell someone you enjoy being around that you are infatuated with them. 

There is nothing wrong with vulnerability, with being human, for that is what creates depth within our relationships, and that is what ultimately unifies us.    

 

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Our Camping Trip – Diamond Lake, Oregon

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This Sunday Poppy has the sniffles. 

Our Camping Trip – Diamond Lake, Oregon

Growing up my father was an outdoorsman.  He taught me how to drive a tractor, ride a minibike, fish, clean and gut the fish, make a fire, and set up a tent.  He also taught me to bottle feed calves, feed chickens, pigs, and ducks. My mother was a lady. She taught me how to crochet, sew, needlepoint, cross stitch, iron, cook, grow a garden, clean and most of all be a lady. I guess I got the best of both worlds.  

Every year for vacation we went on a camping trip. My parents received a camping brochure from Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods store in San Jose, CA, their motto was “where successful adventures begin.” This year my parents settled on Diamond Lake in Oregon. Mom called Mel Cotton’s and reserved a few cots for us. Dad picked up the cots and purchased supplies for the trip. He liked to fish. Mom took us girls to the secondhand store to buy pants and t-shirts to wear on our trip.   

My big brother Ricky could not come because he was President of the Senior class and had responsibilities, so his friend Jim offered to come.  Jim was a character and was part of our family.  He was always around the house while growing up and I remember my big brother, mom and Jim watching the Smothers Brothers Comedy and the Laugh-In show.

The day before our vacation dad connected the boat to the International Travelall and checked the brake lights. It was a summer day as we all ran around gathering items for our vacation.  After packing we had dinner and went to bed early because we were excited. We woke up at the crack of dawn and jumped into the truck with our pillows and pajamas on.  We slept while our parents navigated the roads. The first stop was a truck stop.  We ran into the bathroom to change our clothes, wash our faces and brush our teeth.  We ate breakfast and jumped back on the road.  My sister Jessie kept asking my parents “are we almost there?” she finally fell asleep and I overheard my parents saying, “we were making good timing.” As we passed the Oregon stateline we started climbing into higher elevation and it started to snow.  My mother said, this is unbelievable. We had to pull over, Jim and dad tied a tarp over the boat to cover some of his fishing gear.  Everyone became quiet as we slowly drove down the highway.

We checked into our camping spot and dad and Jim immediately set up the tent and used the tarp to block the wind from entering the campsite. Our tent was an army tent like the one used in the tv sitcom M*A*S*H.  Mom organized the cots and made it cozy in the tent.  Jim started the fire and mom put the coffee pot on.  Us girls asked if we could go for a hike.  Mom said, yes, but not too far.  We happily started down a trail until a few birds started to dive-bomb us because we were too close to their nest. My little sister cried, and I grabbed her hand and told her she would be Ok.  We then hightailed it out of there as quick as we could.  We came back to the campsite and sat around the fire listening to music while mom cooked dinner.  The sunset was beautiful that night.  The moon was bright and was glistening on the lake. We ate dinner and afterwards talked

a little near the fire then called it a night.  Jim said he wanted to stay up, so my parents made him the night watchman.  He was funny. 

Daylight broke and the sun came out.  My sisters wanted to go hiking but in the opposite direction.  Mom said, “stay on the trail and be careful,” I was in charge, since I was the oldest.  We thought we could make it around the lake, but it was too long of a hike, so we decided to hike up a hill.  We raced up the hill and when we reached the top the view was amazing, so we sat for a while and talked. A lady came up the hill and we all stared at her.  She was older and she looked at me and my sisters and said.  You girls are very pretty.  We said, “thank you.”  We asked her if she was alone.  She said, “yes: we then heard our mom yelling for us.  We said, it was nice meeting you but we have to go. When we arrived at the campsite, my dad had taken the boys out in the boat to fish, so we decided to take a nap. My mother was sitting at the table writing and drinking coffee.  When we woke up, we looked over at our neighbor and he caught an abundance of rainbow trout.  He had the fish line hanging from tree to tree.  As we turned, my dad and brothers were coming back in the boat. Gary and Dennis had big smiles.  It looked like dad and Jim did not catch anything.  Mom said, I guess we will eat something else tonight.  Just when mom said that, the neighbor came over and introduced himself and gave mom 5 rainbow trout.  The man was older and was happy to give us the fish.  Mom invited him to stay and eat with us and he accepted. He was interesting.  He served in the Army during the Korean and Vietnam war and now lived in Humboldt County. The man stayed for dinner and my dad and our new friend taught me how to filet and clean the trout. We sat around the fire making up a story.

One person would start, then another would add to it, then so on.  Our new friend even added to the story.  He thought it was quite amusing.  We had a wonderful night with our new friend. 

The following days we hiked, biked, and went swimming.  We had lots of fun.  When it was time to leave, we loaded our belongs into the SUV and headed back home.  It was a nice family vacation.  On our way home, we all fell asleep as mom and dad navigated the SUV back home. 

Let me leave you with this quote – To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you must be in their lives today.

 

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