Best Friends

At this time of year it's about family and friends isn't it. And friends sometimes become very very important, more so than at other times of the year even. With that thought in mind, that was my inspiration for my holiday story here. I hope you like it:

Once upon a time there were two friends who lived in a cloud. One day they noticed that the cloud was getting wetter and wetter and they were happy because they were droplets of water themselves. 

What do you think it means said one to the other. Jeffrey, who was one of the droplets of water said, "I heard that when this happens that we get to take that wonderful ride." "You mean whizzing down from the sky to the ground?" said Jenny who was the other drop of water. 

"That's right," said Jeffrey, "It seems to be getting really cold though." "I know, said Jenny, "It feels good." 

Well, the cloud got bigger and bigger and taller and taller and colder and colder and pretty soon Jeffrey and Jenny took on beautiful new shapes. They became snowflakes and looked like tiny crystals. 

Suddenly something happened. Jeffrey said, "What is it. What's going on?" "I think we're moving," said Jenny, "Yes, yes we're definitely moving." 

Now they were two snowflakes just fluttering down very slowly out of a large cloud.

Of course there were thousands and thousands - maybe even millions of other snowflakes but these two snowflakes were best friends. 

They had a long way to fall and every once in a while the wind would come along and they'd fly way back up in the sky again and because they were best friends they held on to each other and stayed together.

They loved how many different shapes the snowflakes had, no two snowflakes being exactly alike, and how beautiful they were. They admired the unusual shapes and the different forms and they particularly enjoyed when a ray of sun would come through and there would be a snow-bow and the crystal-like snowflakes would all light up in beautiful different colors. Oh, it was so wonderful.

But slowly they were moving towards the ground with the winds swirling around them. Just a few hundred feet before they got there it was so blustery they were afraid they might be separated so they kissed each other goodbye and Jenny said, "I'll see you later on the ground." They both hoped that would be so. 

And sure enough even though they separated, because they were such good friends and because the angels felt kindly towards them they landed next to each other right on top of a big snowman that two children had built.

It was very cold there, being on top of a mountain, and do you know that for the whole winter that snowman was there because it was very chilly high up in the mountains. 

Every once in a while one of the children would come along and put another piece of coal into the mouth of the snowman so that it would have a bigger and then even bigger smile. And once somebody put a carrot in so that that snowman would have a big jolly looking nose and everyone who walked by would smile and enjoy the cheerful looking snowman.

But the two snowflakes were close and they talked to each other and they slept together and they dreamed together and they enjoyed the whole winter together.

Happy holidays to you all and to your best friends too.

Getting Ready

"So, what… you're just going to lie there?" Fred asked slightly annoyed.
"What do you mean by that?" George asked.
"Well, you're just laying there and you're not making any expression," Fred continued.

"Well, what do you expect me to do? I'm a pumpkin. What do you expect?"
"Well, I'm a pumpkin too but look at me," Fred said proudly.

"Okay, I'm looking at you," George answered wondering what this was all about.
"Can't you see the expression?" Fred demanded.
"Well… kind of but you keep changing it."
"Well… see - you can see it. Why don't you do that?" Fred explained.

George didn't really know how to answer and said, "Well uh, I really uh…"
"Here's the thing. You know, we're growing out here for a reason," Fred continued, "not on our own really. I mean someone planted us."
"Okay, that's true," George acknowledged.

"And really, the reason is that human beings like to have fun. They're not just serious all the time," Fred explained.
"Yes," George responded, "I like that about them."
"Well, we're going to get our chance to be expressions," Fred said.
"Expressions?" George asked.
"Yes, y'know the way I'm showing you," Fred demonstrated. "Look, here's another."

"Wow! I like that one," George exclaimed responding to Fred's dazzling display of a large toothy smile.
"Oh yeah. See," Fred continued, "so here's what you do. You go through all the expressions that you can think of, that you've seen human beings have and that we have for ourselves - right?"
"Okay," George listened very interested now.

"And then," Fred continued, "you decide on what is your favorite expression."
"Yes?" George responded.
"That's right," Fred continued, "and when you've decided that you focus on that expression very strongly but only when human beings are coming around to trim us off the stem - especially if they're youngsters see - they're coming around to trim us off the stem. They're going to take us home. They're going to put that expression onto our faces. They're going to light us up from the inside…"

"How are they going to do that?" George interrupted.
"Oh, they use a candle or a flashlight or something," Fred explained patiently.
"Oh, I see," George nodded with understanding.
"And then, that expression that we thought of that we like - because they'll feel it, they'll imagine it themselves - see - that's the expression they'll put on our faces," Fred said smiling happy with his explanation.

"Wow, I like that," George responded, "I didn't know that was possible."
"It is!" Fred said smiling in his usual enthusiastic way.

"How does that work?" George asked.
"Well you know, it works best with young humans - the children because they can feel what is around them. You know they're just like…," Fred paused until he thought of just the right word, "… like little antennas. They feel things around them and when they look at us, they just love us. Don't you remember the stories you heard before we came here - before we showed up from seeds to pumpkins? Don't you remember the stories?"

"Oh yes, y'know you kind of forget about that when you start growing here." George began to recall the old stories from when he was very young - just a seed really.
"That's right," Fred continued, "and you know one of the main stories is that human beings, when they're little - they can feel things and they have so much love and they'll pick us and they'll literally hug us - the children see - and if they feel that expression they'll describe what they're seeing on us and somebody else will do it for them - see? They'll put that expression onto us."

"Gosh," said George, "I like that. I'm going to start practicing now."
"That's good," Fred responded, "because Halloween's coming up soon and we don't have that much time."
"Thanks for reminding me," George said gratefully.

"You're welcome," Fred responded getting into his favorite toothy smile expression and glancing around looking forward to a child coming to the pumpkin patch who would love that expression. I wonder if they smile like that?" Fred wondered to himself.

The Memory Box

And now it's time for me to present you with a little treat. Here's your new Valentine's Day story:

The Memory Box

The memories would flood in at this time of year. She remembered dimly, those sweet days when the heady aroma of chocolate and carmel and hazelnut and other marvelous treats were all around and about her. My, that was wonderful. She was all shiny and new painted in beautiful colors with flowers and angels and other decorations and she was with others like her.

Then there was that memory of being presented by someone who was thrilled and excited to someone else who was happy and felt loved. What a beautiful time that was.

And then being passed around occasionally but mostly being treasured and opened once in a while for the loved one to retrieve a treasured sweet.

In time the sweets had all been consumed and her days became different. Then there were the letters - precious letters written by the special loved one to the one who was loved. And those letters and precious memories were there for her for such a long time that she grew used to being a vessel of love.

Then there was a long quiet time in a larger box with other treasured memories and photographs.

But in recent days she'd been discovered again after a long time in the attic of the old home. The love letters were taken out, she hoped perhaps to be read again by someone but she had not been given the opportunity to contain them any longer.

Now she had something new to do and it was fun and exciting. She had never had that experience. She was happily passed around from child to child. She was being used to contain a set of jacks and the ball that goes with it to play the time old appreciated game.

She enjoyed this even though she was bumped and dropped occasionally - not on purpose. It's just that little hands didn't have the ability to always hold her well but their excitement and happiness more then made up for that.

Now she was set aside again with the set of jacks in the old toy chest and placed up in the attic once again and at this time of the year she would remember having held the marvelous sweets. Then having held the precious love letters and now holding Cindy's favorite toy - perhaps to be cherished again someday by her daughter or even her granddaughter.

Love, sweets and happiness, precious memories, favorite toys. She smiled to herself in her own special way and felt blessed on Valentine's Day.

Something New

Long ago when the Earth was green and lush there was a small village high up in the mountains and in the village there lived a very old man. He'd lived there all his life and he had a very long and complicated name that no one could remember. He couldn't remember it himself very well.

So after a while people just started calling him Friend. He liked it. It was simple and uncomplicated and he was an uncomplicated person himself so he took the name on as his own.

Friend was very unusual in his village. He had the ability to dream and whatever he dreamt came true but it didn't happen in the way he expected.

He couldn't ask for things to happen and have them happen in his dreams, he had tried. It just happened when it happened and always in every dream with people whose faces he had never seen before.

He kept the dream experience to himself because he was worried about what people might think. And yet he treasured those dreams because he felt that something good always came out of it, for his dreams always had happy endings and frequently they were just as happy all the way through the dream.

He always knew when he was going to have a dream like that because when he was very drowsy, just before he went to sleep he would get this big smile on his face and he knew just for a few seconds before he fell deeply asleep that he was going to have a dream that would come true.

He didn't always know where it came true but sometimes travelers would pass through the village and tell stories of happenings in other villages both near and far and he often heard that one of his dreams came true nearby or sometimes far away.

One year Friend dreamt that little white bits of stuff were going to fall from the sky and cover the land - and the land had always been green of course - and then all the land would be covered and look white and everyone would be very happy. He woke up smiling and he thought, "What on earth can that be?"

Several months later a traveler that came through the village told the people a surprising story of these strange amazing little bits of stuff that fell out of the sky and was white and covered all the mountains and a village far, far away and there was a feeling with it. It was cold.

"Cold", murmured some of the people. They asked each other, "What is that?" And none of the people knew.

The traveler said that it was very like the breezes that would come through the mountain passes and would sometimes cause the people to wrap light shawls around them.

"Oh, oh yes," many of the people said, "We know now." For you see, the village was very high up but it was in a special place that never got very cold. It was always warm and comfortable except for those few breezy moments.

Listening to the story Friend thought to himself, "I would like to see this white stuff that falls out of the sky and is cold. I wonder if that could ever happen."

That night as he was sinking deeper into sleep and started to smile, he had a dream of a high place in the mountains that was white and people wore heavy clothes but they looked very happy and cheerful. When he woke up he was smiling as always though there was something different about the faces of the people this time. This was the first time he could ever remember that he recognized the peoples faces. They were all people that he knew!

He couldn't see the buildings very well in the dream, he could never really remember that too well but all the faces that he saw of the people who were all bundled up in these heavy clothes - they were all people he knew in his own village and he wondered what that meant.

This time Friend knew he just had to tell someone about this so he decided to tell some of his best friends whose faces he remembered were in the dream.

And of course, you know how it is with everyone. People like to know what's happening. So they told their friends and their friends told their friends and pretty soon everybody in the village knew about it and they all thought, "What fun, I wonder what that white is" and other questions like that. And everyone was excited that Friend could do this and no one thought he was strange or odd because he had dreams that came true.

Well it was coming on towards November and people started noticing way up high on the tops of the mountains that white was appearing and they didn't know what that was and they asked Friend, "What is that? Does that look like the white you saw in your dream?" He said, "Yes, it looks very much like that."

As it got further on through November the white covered all the mountain tops and was getting closer to the village and then even closer so by the time December started the white was almost at the village itself and several of the people climbed up the mountain a ways and discovered that the white was indeed cold and that it made everything glisten and sparkle and was so beautiful.

Towards the end of December at a time when the people celebrated many different holidays - such as Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa and special Sun and Moon days the white covered the whole village and made everything beautiful and because the people had time to see the white coming and knew it was cold they were able to make warm clothes.

They dressed in their warmest clothes and went out and enjoyed the white and enjoyed the cold. They wanted to enjoy it because they had a feeling it wasn't going to last all year since it had just shown up in November.

The people were grateful for the white and they said how grateful they were because it made everything look so beautiful and it was a nice change from the way things usually were.

Thereafter in the years that followed right around November and December the white came and offered its unusual change of cold and beauty and the people were able to enjoy happy holidays and of course a white Christmas.

Happy Holidays to you all.

Looking and Hoping

"The world is a lonely place," she said sadly. "Why are you so lonely," he remarked. "It's Christmas and nobody wants me," she answered.

"It's not quite Christmas yet," he said. "Well it's almost Christmas," she said. "Well, it's true," he continued as he looked around, "... there's not many people here ... and you know, just the people that come to bring us some food. "Yes," she said, reviving a bit with gratitude, "and I do appreciate that very much."

"Oh yes, so do I," he said. "But it would be nice to have someplace - you know - like home," she continued with a sigh.

"Oh yes," he said, "that would be wonderful."

"It would be kind of nice," she said shyly, "if ... if we could have a home together."

"Oh yes," he agreed, "I'd love that. I'm so glad you said it," he continued, "I've been feeling that way for such a long time. I ... I wasn't sure you did."

"Oh yes," she said, perking up a bit, "I felt that way for a long time." "Well, we can hope," he agreed, echoing her feelings with a cheerful twinkle in his eyes. He was so happy to know she felt that way too.

The next day something happened to surprise them both. "Look at that. Who's that," she asked. "I don't know who that is. He's uh ... he's kind of tall isn't he," he replied. "Very tall," she answered and continued asking, "and ah who's that with him?" "I don't know who that is," he answered and added, "she's ah - she's not as tall." "No, not as tall," she agreed.

"Oh and look. There's ... there's two others. Are they with them," he asked. "I'm not sure. They ... they seem to be," she responded. "What ... what are they doing," he asked again. "They're looking around," she replied with growing curiosity.

"Oh. I wonder if they're going to come over here and ... oh look, look. Here they come," he said. "Oh. They're smiling. What do you think it means," he continued. "I don't know," she answered.

"Now they're pointing. What ... what does that mean. I've never understood what that means," he said feeling confused. "Well, it could be a good thing ... but it's not always good," she partly explained, "No, not always good," she continued thinking about her past experiences.

"Oh wait,wait! Is there something I can ... uh oh. They're going away. What is it all about? Did I ... do you think I said something? Did ... did I do something to offend them," she asked miserably. "No, no. You're okay. You didn't do anything," he said comforting her.

"Now wait, wait. They're coming back. What's this all ... hey. Hey look. Wow! Look, look! Oh, they like us," she said. "Yes. They like us both," he noticed happily.

"Oh, this is good," she said with relief. "Maybe we will have a good Christmas," he said. "Maybe we will at that," she said with wonder.

The young family left the old building with the sign out front decorated merrily for the time of year. The sign read, Animal Shelter and Adoption Home.

Stepping out into the bright sunshine, father and mother, sister and brother walking down the front steps happily with their two adopted dogs. Everyone looked happy. Dogs too. Dogs like to have a happy Christmas as well.

Goodlife and happy holidays to you all.

Changes In How I Post

For a long time now I've been sharing the wisdom I have with you in print here on these blogs and even stories on the stories blog but now I find as I get older I'm going to have to do this in a way that's easier for me and doesn't tire me out quite so much eh :-) so I'm going to shift over completely to video which I've been planing for a long time.

You'll still see video on Explorer Race as you have been so that won't change very much and you'll still see that also on my You Tube BenevolentMagic site so that won't change either but as far as all the transcribed material, that which I have written and posted through the usual process but instead of thinking and typing I've recorded it and transcribed it and posted just in case you're interested, that's all got to stop now because it's too much for one person to do.

Anyway I'm just letting you know. Feel free to consult with these blogs. I may still post, from time to time a video on these blogs here or there so you can watch for that but I'm afraid you're going to have to say goodbye to the print version. Maybe you won't miss it that much.

When I put up video these days it will mostly be Grandfather channeling through me but who knows...maybe there will be other things too.

I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed interacting with all of you and it's not totally goodbye but it will be different. So, just to let you know. I love you all. Goodnight and goodlife.

Decorations

"Grandpa?" "Yes Honey." "You said we were gonna decorate the tree different this year. What did you mean by that," said Lucinda.

"Well", Grandpa said, "I feel we need to decorate the tree with our intentions for this coming year." "What?" said Lucinda who was about seven years old.

Grandpa said, "Let me show you the decorations." He pulled out the beautiful glass globes on which one side was flattened and there were tags on some of the globes. The ones that were labeled each had one word on them. They read - honor, respect, appreciation, kindness, benevolence, generosity and understanding. There were also some that were blank but there were tags on there - just nothing written on them.

Lucinda said, "Grandpa, what about these? The ones that don't have anything written on them." "Well I wanted you..." said Grandpa, "...to decide what you would put on them yourself." "Ohhh," said Lucinda.

"Let me set you up at your desk." Lucinda's Grandfather had a little desk set up not unlike you might find at a school. Lucinda got comfortable at her desk and her Grandfather put the decorations in front of her with a selection of crayons so that she could write on them or if she wasn't sure how to spell the word she would say the words or feelings and Grandpa would write them on. Lucinda decided that she'd rather have Grandpa write the words.

"Well," she said, "I feel it's important this year for people to be patient with each other because there's been a lot of changes going on and I've noticed that it's really hard especially for older people..." she glanced up shyly at her Grandfather and then quickly back down again "...to um change easily. So I think - patience would be a good one. Could you write that for me Grandpa?"

Grandpa said, "Oh yes, I'll write that down. What color do you want me to use?" She said, "I think yellow would be a good color." "Oh yes I agree. Very good color," Grandpa said. And Grandpa wrote patience on one.

"And I've also noticed..." Lucinda continued slowly, "...that a lot of people including my friends families when I go over to their houses...when their moms or dads say, 'I love you dear' it's kinda quick and well...my friends told me that they don't really feel anything there and their mom and dad doesn't always pick them up or hug them as much as they used to. So I think - hugs would be another good one."

"Oh that's very good. What color should we write it in," Grandpa said. "I can write that myself,"said Lucinda.

She picked a brightly colored orange crayon and she very carefully wrote - hugs. You could read it pretty good because she was a good writer. "Very good," Grandpa said.

"Here's another empty one Grandpa. Could I..." Grandpa said, "Oh yes that's another one for you. What do you want to write in there this time?"

Lucinda thought for a while and then she said, "Grandpa I feel that there's so many people in the world and they don't always hear each other even though people are talking all the time aren't they Grandpa?" "Oh yes, they certainly are," replied Grandpa.

Lucinda went on, "I think maybe people are talking so much they don't always listen and try and understand." "Yes, that could be," said Grandpa. "So maybe we ought to include - listen," Lucinda said.

"That's very good," said Grandpa, "I'll write that in or would you like to write it in?" Lucinda said, "Can you write that in Grandpa?" Grandpa said, "What color crayon should I use?" "Well...how about green," said Lucinda. "Oh what a wonderful choice," Grandpa said. He wrote in very carefully - listen.

"Here's another one. Can we write that in too Grandpa," Lucinda said. Grandpa quickly replied, "Oh yes, lets."

"I feel there's one more thing that people have to do besides hugging in families more and listening to people..." Lucinda said. "And what's that," said Grandpa.

"Well...I feel that people don't always say what they mean because they don't know how to say things - and I don't just mean kids like me," said Lucinda. "No?" said Grandpa, "What do you mean honey?"

Lucinda said, "I think that sometimes when grown-ups talk to each other they're sometimes shy. They don't know how to say things and so sometimes they either don't say things or they don't say what they mean. Do you understand Grandpa?"

"Yes." Grandpa said pausing to think about it for a while and considering whether he might do that sometimes himself when he was shy and didn't want to really say what he wanted or needed. "What a wise little one,"Grandpa thought.

"Is there enough room to write in something longer Grandpa?" "Well we might have to use a colored pencil for that so we can write a little smaller," Grandpa said reaching for the box of colored pencils. " "Well...I think it would be good to say - be honest and be clear," said Lucinda.

"Oh my, that makes a lot of sense,"Grandpa said. "What colored pencil would you like?" "Well," Lucinda said, "lets use pink." "Oh my, that's very nice," Grandpa said.

"Would you write that in Grandpa," Lucinda asked. "Oh yes I will," Grandpa replied. Grandpa wrote that in slowly and carefully so it could be read easily.

"And there's one more I'm thinking of Grandpa but lets make a game out of it." "Oh good," Grandpa said. "Well lets see, what's the first letter," Grandpa said.

"Okay, the first letter is - L." "Mmmm," said Grandpa with a studious look on his face, "I wonder what it could be?"

Lucinda laughed and said, "It has four letters." "Oh my, I wonder what that could be? I'm completely stumped," Grandpa said knowing full well what the word was.

"The last letter is - e," said Lucinda happily. "My, my. I just can't figure it out," Grandpa said enjoying the game. "Oh Grandpa," Lucinda said, "you know it's love."

She reached towards her Grandpa. He picked her up carefully from her desk and gave her a big hug and said, "Honey, love is what our family is all about." They hugged each other and looked at the tree and got ready to hang all the decorations.

What decorations will you put on your tree?

Goodlife.