It was a day not to be forgotten. A day when there were so many assaults on the countryside. Who could the peasants turn to for help? It seems there was no one with the courage to step forward to defend their way of life.
The nobles were nowhere to be found. Where were those who had promised protection for the poor? Would they perish? But how could the nobles let this happen? Who would cook and clean for them? Can they survive without us?
Slowly a rube came forward. A simple sort who’s costume needed many repairs. He was barefoot, dirty and spoke with a weak voice saying he would defend them. “How can this be?” they asked him laughing. You are a nothing a simpleton.
The rube spoke up saying, I may be nothing with nothing, but together we are something and have many weapons at our disposal. Gather your farming tools and we will meet at the bridge to defend our homes.
The rest of the peasants in the village were suspicious but did as the rube had instructed. The peasants laid in wait for the invaders to cross the bridge. After many hours had passed, a scout was sent out to see where the invaders had gone.
The scout came running back into the village yelling that the invaders had vanished. Cheers erupted throughout the village. In no time the rube went back to being the village bumpkin, the nobles demanded the peasants resume their duties and the village continued to get along in the same fashion of its past. It didn’t take long for the villagers to forget the courageous actions of the simple man who was willing to lead them to their defense of the invaders.
When I was in high school, I used to suffer from anxiety over one of my classes. Most of them I loved, but I didn’t like history. I would conjure up all kinds of terrible failures over not being able to remember important dates. I actually could fall asleep during my history lectures. All of that changed when I took United States History with Mister Lebegern.
For the first time in my life, I enjoyed my history class. He made the content interesting and took the time to teach me some very good study techniques for remembering the important dates I needed to remember. What this teacher taught me was invaluable to not just the rest of my high school career, but also my college years.
I am very grateful to Mister Lebegern and his dedication to his students. He made the world of difference to me and my history anxiety.
My all-time favorite mnemonic is KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid, or Keep It Simple and Short. I am not sure where it came from, but it is a great way to keep things uncomplicated.
I became acquainted with this little ditty when I began teaching some quilting workshops. One of my students looked at me and said, Kiss, I like it. Not knowing what in the world she was talking about, she explained to me that it was a mnemonic. Ever since it has been one I use often.
Today I get to celebrate two of my favorite people’s birthdays. My grandson Andrew turns fourteen today. I can’t believe the years have passed so quickly. I tend to still think of him as a little boy. He certainly is growing into a fine young man. His mother, however, isn’t always convinced. She’s in the teenage shock years.
I chuckle and tell her he is just like you. To that, she asks how I ever put up with her. I simplify my answer by just saying it was illegal to murder your kids and my reward for not doing so is my grandchildren. 🙂
The other birthday is that of my youngest granddaughter, Isabella. She turns two today. She has turned into a toddler who is smart, funny and simply one of the brightest lights of my life. Unfortunately, she lives far away and my only visit with her will be via facetime. I am not really complaining, just wishing I could be with her in person.
Tomorrow all the family with the exception of my son’s family will be going out to dinner to celebrate Andrew’s birthday. I am blessed to have him living close.I hope we can also get Isabella on the phone so we can celebrate a little with her too.
This modern world with cell phones that allow visits across miles is wonderful. What a great time we live in. I remember the show the Jetsons. It was an animated futuristic show that had picture phones they used. Who would have thought that they would become a reality that everyone used?
Today I will be spending the day at my granddaughter Alannah’s dance competition. The kick off of her season is today and thankfully it is being held at the local community college.
Since I have moved over to WordPress I have endeavoured to participate in the daily prompts & challenges offered. I haven’t always been successful. I mean I had gotten so busy with life I posted little of anything in the recent past. Well, I am attempting to change that.
I have begun to get back into the blog challenges that I enjoyed taking part in. Even enrolled in some of the self-help offerings that WordPress makes available to improve my meagre blog offerings. So permit me to apologize to you at the beginning of this post if they have fallen short in any way.
We are all creatures of habit. Without realizing it, we gravitate to what is comfortable to us. Before we know it, what we think of as our style is actually only the limits our comfort zones impose on us. It is now and has been since I began this journey into the blogosphere with Cookies & Moo to venture outside my comfort zone. Sometimes I am successful and those are the posts I am most proud of.
I will tell you that my photography has improved with the photo challenges. So much so that I started a sister site Wanda’s Photography. If you haven’t seen it, take a look and please by all means let me know what you think. I love constructive criticism. I found some very generous bloggers who share tips and tricks about photography and I am so very grateful for their generosity.
I also created Wanda’s Reviews where I post my reviews of the books I have read. My reading has slowed down a bit over the past year, but look for that to pick up again soon. Again, your input is welcomed.
Last summer I had written a post in the form of a short story. I sent it to my daughter (she’s talented and brilliant) who at my request edited it for me and gave me her input. I decided not to publish it because I thought about turning it into a series of children’s books. I used to love to write when I was young, but life became so busy with family and career that I gave it up. But now, I think the time might be right for me to explore moving forward with the series.
I guess my point is that this silly blog has pulled me from what I have become so comfortable doing into exploring other possibilities. I have met (well communicated with through this vehicle we call blogging) so many wonderful supportive people who have shared their time, talent, and trials most generously. I am very grateful for their example and it is their example which is pushing me to stretch my blogging abilities.
Many of you know, those who follow my blog at least, I have been sorting through all of my belongings since my husband died. I have been profuselypuzzled that I am not getting very far with this daunting task. But, I think I have discovered the reason.
I have a few hobbies, quilting, photography, reading, blogging… For the last two weeks, I have attended my Sit and Stitch group on Tuesdays. One of the girls brought in some patterns and wool for applique. It was so kind of her to share her talents and fabric with us. However, I think she has created a bit of a monster. I decided that for my center block on the Red Robin quilt I am starting should be wool applique. So…
I had filled my van with a lot of my doll and cow collection articles for donation to Goodwill. I finally got there to donate what I had and could not just leave after the very nice gentleman helped me unload the van. So, I moved the car down to the entrance to the resale store.
I started looking around and found a whole wrack with wool jackets. Wow! They were only $4.59 a piece. I was on cloud nine with excitement. I chose four jackets to take home for deconstruction and use with my wool applique.
When I walked in the door at home clutching my treasures, I was brought down from cloud nine with the site of more boxes and bins to be sorted and loaded into the van for donation. A light bulb went off in my head. I realized that my dear husband was not the only one who just couldn’t say no to temptation when he saw a good buy. I had to admit that I too am a bit of a saver of stuff.
No wonder I am not getting anywhere with the purging. I have decided that I am not going to beat my self up over my hobbies and the “stuff” I need to enjoy them anymore, and that treading water is much better than drowning. It may not be as good as safely reaching the shore, but tomorrow is another day. 🙂
According to Merriam-Webster, study is the application of the mental faculties to the acquisition of knowledge.
Does this look familiar? I remember sitting just like this preparing for tests in school. But not always. My earliest memories of going to school and studying are from first grade. I would run in the house after school anxious to do my homework. Usually spelling. I loved spelling. It came easily to me. I remember we had a desk in the hallway where I happily sat every day writing my spelling words.
As I grew older and progressed through elementary school, things didn’t come quite so easily to me. But, I still loved school and usually got right to the studying at home for the numerous tests that Sister seemed to give almost daily. I didn’t quite have the same admiration for the study work I had once had, but I knew that if I didn’t do it I would spend the rest of the year in trouble. So, I studied.
Then high school hit. Wow! What was I thinking? I finally realized how easy elementary school was. Studying then was a piece of cake. Now I had totally new concepts to learn. Biology, Algebra, Math Analysis! I still don’t understand what Math Analysis is. I did figure out that I could expand my social life by belonging to study groups. A definite plus to studying. Unfortunately, you actually have to study to get the benefit from belonging to one. Oops!
It was at this time that I really began to dislike school. Well, that’s not exactly right. I loved school, just not the studying part of it. I did, however, trudge along and did graduate with a decent GPA and was accepted to college.
I didn’t want to go to college right away. I wanted to experience the world a little bit first. My parents didn’t see things the same way that I did. So, come August off I went to Community College. OMG! What a rude awakening.
Needless to say, I was not successful. I felt ill prepared for navigating through the copious amount of work needed to succeed. As I look back at it now, I realize that my perspective was skewed. I lasted about a year in college then dropped out. My parents were not very happy. So off to the workforce I went. I worked for Bell Telephone as a Directory Assistant. Talk about a boring job.
My success or lack of it had nothing to do with intelligence. It had more to do with my thinking. I looked at school, studying, as work. Not as an opportunity to obtain knowledge for knowledge’s sake. I had not yet learned that knowledge is power.
I married, had a family then decided I needed more. All of a sudden studying wasn’t such an obstacle for me. I attended nursing school. I soared. I realized that studying was a means for me to accomplish my dreams. I worked very hard. I ran study groups. I inspired younger students to work hard. I was having fun.
Throughout my career in nursing, I studied constantly. In medicine, there is always something new to learn. I couldn’t get enough. I guess you could say I was a late bloomer. I honestly think that maturity had more to do with my success than anything else. I honestly believe that all students should have to work a year before going to college. I think it brings a perspective that having an education handed to you does not. At least it would have for me. You can’t appreciate what you can have if you never go without it.
I continue to study. I read every day. Fiction, non-fiction, history, religion. I like to say that I never met a book I didn’t like. The difference now is that I look at study as a pleasure not work. Some days I am as giddy as that little first grader running into the house anxious to write my spelling words.
As I walk along the deserted beach
My mind, confounded, takes in the site.
Undulating waves crashing in the surf
Rushing to offer their briny gift to the sand.
A site I often witness, as I sunbathe being comforted by the sound.
But how can this be? A winter coat, scarf, and mittens
Have become my beachwear!
The waves covering the sand meet their winter counterpart
And kiss the Snow. Has winter lost its way?
I look into the grey skies
I feel the cold wind.
Not a soul in sight, nor bird in the air.
The empty peer tall and serene
Stands guard over this desolate beach.
I turn and see footprints in the sand and snow.
It’s then I realize winter has followed me.
I have not moved far enough south.
Finally. That word says so much. It marks the end of waiting for some anticipated special event. Is finally relative to the user’s point of view? Or is there some supernatural process going on? Because finally isn’t the same for everyone all the time. For some, it can be waiting for a test result for three days, for others graduating from college after five years. Doesn’t finally qualify length of time? If so how can it change?
Throughout my life, I have used the word finally often. As a small child when time seemed to stand still while I was anticipating something. I remember my dad telling me that the older you get, the quicker time passes so I shouldn’t wish my life away. I didn’t believe him then. As a teenager when I was finally too old to be considered a kid. As an adult when pregnancies seemed to last forever and my kids at long last grasped an important concept. But now, in my sixties, I don’t seem to ever say finally about anything. I am in a perpetual state of catching up.
Time has a habit of creeping up on me. I don’t understand how time passes so quickly now. A year is still 365 days long. And there are still 24 hours in a day. Right? How does it happen that the year passes more like 200 days and the days more like 16 hours? No wonder I am always behind. Do the days and years really shorten, or is the universe playing tricks on me? Is there some kind of magic going on? Or has my perspective changed as I have matured? One thing for sure, I believe my dad now. He sure knew what he was talking about.
It’s already the last day of 2017. I always think that the year will last a long time, but the year is gone in just a blink of an eye. What did I accomplish this year? I did some quilting. I took care of a sick friend. I visited with my family and friends in Florida. I got rid of an awful lot of stuff…the sad thing is that I will be starting 2018 doing the same thing, getting rid of stuff. I am starting to wonder if there isn’t someone smuggling stuff into the house and garage just to keep me busy. How in the world could two people have so much junk? I guess when I am moved out and have purged all of the stuff I will happily use finally when describing the long process. 🙂
All in all, it’s been a good year for me albeit shorter than last year.
Welcome to darradaily where you get information about my opinions on lifestyle topics with Nigerian peculiarities as my niche. I'll move away from my niche from time to time.
Don't forget to follow me for funny and educational contents✨.
To participate in the Ragtag Daily Prompt, create a Pingback to your post, or copy and paste the link to your post into the comments. And while you’re there, why not check out some of the other posts too!
Cookies & Moo 