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humorous and serious observations of life |
| This is a series of short accounts of things that have happened in my life. Some funny, a few serious and almost all involving family members including children and pets. What would life be without them? Since many of these are memories, they will cover most of my life. But, they will not always be about me. Sometimes I was merely an observer, as you will be. We may move from place to place, but we drag our own clutzy selves along every time. I have found that, for me at least, life is hours and hours of boring work and sameness punctuated by moments of sidesplitting hilarity or absolute panic. So, here's to life..may it last forever. |
| I've been watching the news with interest as the subject of 'Christmas' has been hotly debated. And, I must admit to some confusion. People from all over the world have immigrated to this country because of the freedom it offered, especially freedom of religion. Now it seems that any religion is allowed except Christianity. The Chinese celebrate their Chinese New Year, the Hispanics celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the blacks Kwanzaa (which is just a made-up holiday started by a Marxist black rebel in the 60's), the Muslims celebrate Ramadan and the list goes on and on. But, Americans are not allowed to celebrate Christmas. It seems that it might offend someone. I don't understand this at all. Is this not our country and our traditions? Are we not entitled to the same 'freedoms' as people who flock here seeking freedom? Why should people who immigrate here be offended by our religious holidays? If they are so offensive why did they come here at all? They should have gone somewhere else, some place that would be less offensive to them. And, the most confusing part of all of this is why Americans don't stand up to this and say "NO". We are letting politcal correctness erode our freedoms slowly but surely. Freedom for all means FREEDOM FOR ALL! I fear we may fall to the same siren song of expediency that has destroyed others. The course of least resistance is the fast track to chaos and collapse. Did we learn nothing from World War II? Hitler decided to rid Europe of all segments of society he considered inferior including the retarded, the infirm and elderly, political rivals, Jews and Gypsies. He did this with a simple three step program. l. Alienate 2. Isolate 3. Terminate And the world sat quietly and tried to appease him until they finally realized that he was coming after them next. Then we were plunged into a world war. I guess this is not so much about Christmas as it is about freedom. Freedom to exercise our rights to religion. Freedom to express ourselves in any lawful way. Freedom to share our celebrations and decorations. Freedom to be who we are...Americans. And, most importantly of all, freedom to stand up and say "STOP". People need to take a firm stand and say STOP making me feel alienated because I am (take your choice) overweight, or smoke, or am a Christian, or am a conservative, or any of the other things that are now 'politically incorrect'. Our ancestors fought hard for these freedoms. And, we have to fight just as hard to preserve them. So that is my political statement for the month and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. |
| What a crazy couple of days I've had. First, I had unexpected out-of-town company. It was great fun but threw my schedule into a tailspin. Between visiting with them, taking my son to pick up his van, which we hope is finally actually repaired, buying groceries and making a quick run to the office supply for file folders, printer ink, etc., I feel exhausted. I read a little quip in Reader's Digest years ago, and today I really can apply it: "Time marches on and I, for one, feel trampled." Katsy |
| As are most of my fellow countrymen, I am recovering from Thanksgiving. Unlike many, I am not covered up with leftovers. Years ago I decided the best way to deal with the leftovers was to send some home with everyone. So, if you eat at my house you must take a huge tray of turkey and all the trimmings plus dessert home with you. That's the house rule. But, it does take several days to rest up from all the cleaning and cooking. Also, a little time is needed to recover from the all day card and domino games and marathon movies and computer games. This year there were 20 of us and it's like a day at the carnival. Or zoo, take your pick. This is a strain on me as I am basically a loner. I'm sure all my writing friends can understand this. Writing is a solitary pursuit. And, writers also like to read, and daydream and just in general stand back and watch the world and muse about it's vagaries. So, when we get thrown into a crowd of laughing joking rowdy people, we feel like we are in overload. To compensate for this I have devised a plan. I throw myself wholeheartedly into all the fun and activity and then retreat to my quiet world to sort through it for all the wonderful little moments I want to make note of. Some of these will end up in my blog. Some will end up in my stories. These memories of my family seem to stay alive much longer if I write them down. And, my family is like most families, it shrinks and expands as the members leave us by moving or even dying or join us through birth or marriage. The joy is in the continuity and the wonderful variety. May all your families be blessed and may you enjoy them for many years. |
| Just a quick word to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving. Even if you don't live in the U.S. I'm sure you have lots to be thankful for. This year I am thankful for all my family and friends, that I haven't fallen down, done a pole dance or done any of a thousand clutzy things I might have done. I am also especially thankful for all my new friends here at WDC and the opportunity to share my writing with other writers. Be happy, be blessed and keep writing. Katsy |
| A few years ago we had the loveliest little cat take up residence with us. We assumed she was a drop off but liked her so much that we decided to keep her. She was fluffy orange and white and was so sweet. She made herself right at home and within a few weeks was a full fledged member of the family. We spoiled her and fed her until she was sleek and beautiful. But, then we decided to be good, responsible citizens and have her spayed. As much as we liked her, we didn't want to be covered up with kittens. We decided to find a nice box with a lid and use it to take her to the vet. Now, we live in Texas, and as I am sure you all know, everyone wears cowboy hats. It's a standard part of the cowboy or wannabe cowboy attire. So, I found a nice Stetson box with a good sturdy lid and we called the vet to make the appointment. The next morning we got the box ready and went looking for Fluffy. She was sleeping peacefully on the foot of our bed blissfully unaware of our scheme. I told my husband to just lift her and put her in the box and I would put the lid on. Quick, no problem, right? She was fine until she looked down and realized he was putting her in the box. Then, in one split second that cat turned into The Terminator. All four legs went out straight from her body with claws fully extended and ready for battle. She latched onto the sides of the box, effectively eliminating any chance of sliding her in easily. She twisted, hissed and fought like a tiger. My husband looked as though he had a furry octupus attached to his hand. I always realized that cats were flexible, but I never knew they could wrap all four legs around your arm to dig in their claws while you held them by the scruff of the neck! Realizing my husband was going to be shredded into bloody spaghetti, I began to yell "let her go, let her go!!". Of course, being the macho man that he is, he wasn't about to give up the battle. Five minutes later the cat was in the box and we were spitting fur out of our mouths and breathing hard. We made the trip to the vet without incident and I made arrangements to pick her up the next morning. When I arrived at the vet's office the next day I said, "Hello, I'm Mrs D.. and I'm here to pick up my cat. I brought her in to be spayed yesterday." The receptionist looked at me strangely. "Let me check the book. Oh, yes, I see. He was to be neutered." "No, spayed," I replied, quite sure I was right. "No, neutered," she said. About that time the vet walked out with Fluffy draped over his arm. The cat threw me a baleful glare and turned his head away from me in absolute disgust. Poor boy, no wonder he fought so hard. |
| I keep getting emails reminding me to write a blog entry every day. Will try to do better in the future. I've looked at this sight several times but can't seem to organize my thoughts. I think it's called brain fog. Personally, I just blame everything on menapause, but guess you guys can't use that excuse. I recall a line from a movie that said something to the effect "Anyone can be a writer, you just sit down in front of a blank piece of paper and open a vein". So, here I go with the scalpel. Enjoy! |
| This year the preparations for Thanksgiving reminded me of last year. I had invited everyone to our house and, since we have a large family, I had planned to begin cooking early. But, two days before Thanksgiving I fell. Now some people fall gracefully, like a feather floating to the ground. They bounce up and assure everyone they are fine. That's not me. I fall like a 100 pound sack of feed dropped from the roof of the barn. The building shakes and everyone comes running, muttering about earthquakes in Texas and what is the world coming to. After determining that I couldn't get up by myself, nor would I let anyone pull me up because of the pain, an ambulance was called. Nuts, I thought, there goes Thanksgiving. The paramedics finally got me off the floor while I constantly reminded them "that hurts, that hurts". Several hours and x-rays later I was told it wasn't broken but the cartilage was damaged and I had a deep contusion. What exactly is a contusion? Anyway, they sent me home with crutches and good wishes for the holiday. Ha Ha I struggled for several weeks on the crutches, then several more with a cane. Finally I freed myself of all the extras and began to walk on my own again. I was very careful all winter long as to where I put my feet so as not to fall. If any of the smaller kids ran by me I yelled at them "don't bump me" or "watch where you're going". My poor little dog got more than one thump with the cane if he dared to venture to close to me while I was walking. Finally, spring arrived. I was thrilled to be able to get outside in the sun. We cleaned the deck and began to move the ferns and other household plants out for some fresh air and sunshine also. Being the helpful sort, I decided to hang a fern in the corner of the deck. I lifted it and, looking up for the hook to hang it on, started forward. That's when the "i gotcha" fairy ambushed me. The next thing I knew my feet were tangled up in some empty pots, the fern flew out into the yard, and I was scrambling for a hold on anything that would keep me from following the fern. The corner post of the deck was the closest thing and I grabbed for it frantically. I swear that thing must have been greased over the winter. My hands kept sliding off of it so I tried to wrap my arms around it. All that did was make me swing all the way around the pole and wind up back on the deck. I decided maybe a leg wrapped around it in addition to my arms might offer me a better chance at survival. So, I curled one leg around the pole which, I must say, helped the swing around it go a little faster this time. Finally, with all the grace of a drunk elephant, I slipped down the darn thing and landed in the yard flat of my back. I could hear my husband, my daughter-in-law and my brother-in-law all shouting in unison "oh, ooh, oooh". When I got my breath back and could finally open my eyes, I gazed up at three shocked faces. No one said anything for several moments. Then my husband looked at me and asked, "What in the world did you think you were doing?" Good question. Beats me! |
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