The Tree of Promise

Wayne stepped off the train platform on his way home. It was only 2 blocks by the sidewalk to get to his home. However he always liked to take the path which was a little farther.

The path went up over a hill and even though there wasn’t much along the way there was sometimes an unexpected flower having popped up. The tree that was at the very top of the hill would seem very calming or at times it even made him laugh.  

As he was going up the hill he got closer to the tree and yes, he started feeling giddy and before he knew it he was laughing and all the troubles and cares of his office life just fell away for a moment. 

He stopped and looked at the tree and laughed and smiled and felt so much better. He had no idea why the tree had this effect but it always cheered him up or just made him feel relaxed. He waited for a few minutes and smiling, walked on to his home.

Later that night as the moon was rising, just over the horizon, it had that beautiful orange-type glow that the moon has at times. Then at the base of the tree the little people came out and they were laughing and dancing as always. They looked at the base of the tree which was just above their home and they felt so good about it. 

They knew about Wayne who went by regularly and purposely took the foot path just so he could experience the happiness or the calm, whatever came over him.

Grandfather Elf said, “We’ve done good work. The tree has been our home but it’s time for us to move on. Now what can we do to give this walker who comes up the path one last happy experience?”

The next day Wayne got off the train feeling overwhelmed and confused - work had been hard and he wasn’t sure whether he really wanted to stay there anymore but he knew what he could do right now. Wayne stepped off the platform and made a beeline for the footpath. He thought to himself, "If anything can help me to feel better this is it." 

He started up the path and it was like always except that there were new flowers - he didn’t know where they had come from. He wondered whether someone planted flowers along the way. 

He stopped and looked at them. One was purple and right next to it a sweet little yellow flower. As he looked at them for a moment he felt calmer and enjoyed the rest of his walk up the hill. 

When he approached the top of the hill there was a woman there and as he got closer he smiled shyly towards her and she smiled back. “Hello,” he said. She answered, “Hi. What’s your name?” He responded, “My name is Wayne.” She asked, “Do you come this way often?” He answered, “Yes, I do. I don’t think I’ve met you before.” She said, “Oh, my name is Sally.”

“Oh, that’s nice. And where do you live,” Wayne asked. Sally answered, “Oh I just moved in” and she pointed the other way down the path to an apartment building which was right across the street from Wayne’s house. He said, “Oh that’s, that’s so close. I just live across the street.” “Oh that’s nice,” she said. 

Sally continued, “I haven’t seen many people on this footpath. You’re the first one today and I have to say I was surprised to see somebody come up the path wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase.” 

Wayne laughed out loud cheerfully and said, “This is one of the reasons that I come up this path. I come from the office and it’s the same work day after day and it’s very boring and tiring and I come up this path because it’s more natural. There’s flowers sometimes. There’s some new flowers as I was coming up the path. Did you see them?” 

“No,” she said, “I haven’t seen those yet. I came up from the other way but I noticed some new flowers from where I came up also.” Wayne smiled and said, “Oh good. I always love it when there’s flowers and the tree, you know, it’s very cheerful or sometimes just calming.” 

Sally agreed saying, “I’ve noticed that. When I came up this trail just to explore, the tree was so beautiful and I just suddenly felt so relaxed like everything was alright.” Wayne added, “That’s exactly the experience I have. Either that or I just feel happy and I laugh.” 

Sally said, “What a wonderful thing and it’s so nice to find somebody else who does this kind of thing and comes and explores. The sidewalk is the quicker route, you know.” 

Wayne agreed and said, “I know but I love this way.” Sally smiled and said, “I love this way too.” And they continued talking happily for the next few minutes.

Deep underground Grandfather Elf said, “This is wonderful. They’ve both been so lonely for so many years and now they have each other.” Grandmother Elf replied, “This is truly a wonderful thing to do. I’m so glad that we got together with Grandmother Tree and said the right prayers for this to happen.” 

While Wayne and Sally were walking back down the path towards their homes Sally showed Wayne the new flowers she had seen. They were both smiling and enjoying their new friendship. 

Meanwhile back at the tree the elf family had their bags packed and were ready to go. Grandmother Elf asked,”Do you think they’ll really get married?” Grandfather Elf who knew these things said, “Oh yes. They’ll be together regularly and I think maybe they’ll have a long happy life together and have several children and it will be good and what more can you ask out of life.” 

Grandmother Elf smiled at Grandfather Elf and she said, “You know, when you say things like that it makes me realize what a wonderful world it can be.” 

Pretty soon the golden door opened and off they went to retire in happiness.

Happy Valentines Day to you all.

An Unexpected Gift

It had been a quiet time around the house, unusually quiet since my wife and children were off visiting grandmother for several weeks. Unfortunately I couldn’t get away to go with them and was missing them.

Right then the doorbell rang, it was just such a quick ring I wasn’t sure that I had heard it and then ja, there it is again.

I answered the door and there was an old man there, very old. He was smiling and nodding and I got a really good feeling about him. However he did not say anything and I got the impression he didn’t speak my language. 

He was holding a very large suitcase that he had with him. It was almost as big as he was. He put the suitcase down and shoved it in my direction.

I didn’t know what to think of it but I took the suitcase - it seemed like he wanted me to take it. And that was that. I took it and smiled.

I almost couldn’t believe I was taking a suitcase from a man I didn’t know and couldn’t speak to but he seemed so nice about it so I took it in the house and I looked at it more closely. I was surprised to see, on the side of the suitcase I hadn’t seen, that it had some writing on it like small signs and they were both very odd.

The one at the top reminded me of something you’d write on a gift. It said: Do not open until Christmas. There was a smaller sign underneath but it was quite prominent even though it was smaller and it said: If Christmas is late push this button.

Now you have to admit that was a baffling thing to read and I was, I don’t mind saying, totally baffled.

I couldn’t imagine Christmas being late for one thing and for another thing it seemed so strange and I wondered what would happen if you pushed the button.

I didn’t know what to do and I had a feeling a friend might be playing a joke on me. So I took the suitcase and stuffed it in a closet and basically forgot about it.

Almost a week later, around the middle of December, I was getting prepared for Christmas and had the tree all set up though not decorated yet and I heard a sort of ding, ding, ding sound. 

I knew that I didn’t have an alarm that sounded like that. All my alarms buzzed or the radio would come on or something like that but this was actually like a chime.

Ding, ding, ding. I didn’t know what that was. I looked around the house. I wondered whether it was coming in from outdoors. I went outside but couldn’t hear it from there so it wasn’t coming in from a neighbors house.

I continued to hear it, ding, ding, ding. So I walked around the house until I noticed the sound got louder. It was coming from a closet and I opened the door.

Sure enough, it was the suitcase - ding, ding, ding. I took the suitcase out and put it on the living room floor not far from the tree and looked at it while it continued to ring slightly, chiming ding, ding, ding. Then it would pause. Then ding, ding, ding again.

I reached out and touched the suitcase near the button with the sign that said about pushing it in case Christmas was late but I didn’t touch the button.

The moment I touched the suitcase in that area the dinging stopped and a voice came out of the case much to my amazement.

It didn’t exactly sound recorded because it had a deep full sound like a good stereo system has but it didn’t sound like there was a person in there either, if you know what I mean. It didn’t sound like real life.

The voice said, “Christmas is coming soon. Please press the Reset button on the side of the suitcase.”

I was startled again but I looked around the side of the suitcase and sure enough there was a small button there that said: Reset. I pressed it and the voice said, “Thank you.”

I have to admit, I still thought someone was playing a grand joke on me.

So you know, Christmas time is busy and I got busy again and put the suitcase away in the closet. 

Long about Christmas Eve day I woke up and so did the rest of the family, I was so glad that they were back. Of course we were all happy to be together and the children were excited because on Christmas Eve we opened maybe one or two gifts and then waited til Christmas morning to open everything else before we went to church.

The day went well until the strangest thing happened to us. We had a few calls from relatives and friends but right around 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon we all got very sleepy which was not typical for us.

My son Ronny, my daughter Cindy and my wife Linda and I got so sleepy we decided we just better go lay down for a while and have a nap. We woke up and it was light so I thought it was still daytime, It seemed like it was about 4:30 or 5:00.

Everybody else thought so too, it seemed like a short nap. We were smiling as we went downstairs as we were thinking about opening a gift when I happened to glance at the clock. It was a big grandfather clock in the hall and instead of showing 4:30 like I thought it would, the time was 7:30. I looked a little closer. It was clearly 7:30 AM.

At first I thought we’d somehow slept right through Christmas Eve and it was Christmas day but I looked at my watch calendar and it was the morning of  December 24th - Christmas Eve day again.

Everybody got upset and a little frightened and then much to my amazement I heard it - ding, ding, ding.

A chill ran up my spine. Not so much fear as a chill from the unexpected. My wife and kids looked at me with questions in their eyes that they didn't know how to ask for a moment. The suitcase had come and I had reset it and everything when no one else was at home but the whole experience was so odd that I’d basically just shoved it into the closet and forgotten about it.

No one knew what it was except me. I went right over to the closet and pulled out the suitcase and brought it out into the living room floor and it was going, every once in a while, ding, ding, ding. Then it would pause. Ding, ding, ding again.

“What is it dad”, said my son Ronny. “Is it a gift for us all?” 

My wife Linda stared at it and said, “Where on earth did you get that thing?” I said, “I’ll tell you later. It’s a strange story.” The suitcase chimed in again with its ding, ding, ding.

I found myself staring at that button: If Christmas is late… Right. So press the button, I thought. It seemed pretty wild but I figured well, if someone’s having a joke on me I’ll play along.

I pressed the button and the dinging stopped. The voice came out of the suitcase again and said, “Thank you.” Suddenly the suitcase unlocked itself and started to open.

My wife and kids and I jumped back a little bit as the suitcase opened up. There was a strange contraption inside with spinning wheels and balls and all kinds of levers and things moving and going back and forth and lights going on and off. It was the strangest thing. I had no idea what it was.

Out of the midst of all that contraption the voice spoke again and it said, “Merry Christmas” and it sounded friendly and we were all kind of surprised. My little daughter Cindy spoke right up. She said, “Merry Christmas to you too” in her cheerful voice.

The voice from the suitcase said, “That’s what I was waiting for, a cheerful answer.”

The voice spoke to her, “Thank you for correcting the time of Christmas. Sometimes the world time needs to be helped and I’m thanking you very much for your efforts.”

Suddenly the doorbell rang and I went and answered it expecting my sister and ready to tell her our wild story about the suitcase but when I opened the door it was the little old man and he had a big smile on his face.

I asked him to come in and he did. He walked right over to my littlest one Cindy and gave her a big smile and she smiled right back.

He then walked over to the suitcase and looked down at it and said to us all, “You’ve done very well.”

I was quite surprised as that was the first thing I ever heard him say. He bent down and folded up the suitcase and picked it up, even though it was almost as big as he was, and started carrying it to the door.

When he got to the door he turned around and said, “ We needed a little help this year so Christmas could come and that help could only come from a happy and innocent child.”

I heard a little jingling sound then and looked down and noticed that he had bells on his shoes. He took out his hat and it had a bell on top too. He smiled as he put it on and said, “Merry Christmas!” 

He stepped out the door and before he could leave Cindy ran up to him and gave him a big hug and said, “Merry Christmas, Christmas elf.”

He smiled and ran lightly down the steps carrying the big suitcase as if it was light as a feather and was gone in a flash.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to you all and remember sometimes unexpected gifts can be the greatest of all when they come with kindness and love. 

Papa's Little Truck

"Oh, about this time of year I always remember Papa's little truck," Melinda said to her sister. "I remember too," said Janice. "I guess it's because it's papa's birthday." 

As her children shared their memories, Gerta smiled as she remembered how proud Herman had been of his truck. It was his first vehicle ever. Oh, it was old and a little scratched and beat up from so many previous owners but to Herman it was beautiful. She always missed him a bit this time of the year but her children would rally around her and ask her to tell the old stories as she knew would happen and the stories comforted her as they knew they would. She smiled at them.

“Tell the story again about our first trip in the truck down the road to the neighbors mama,” asked Janice

Gerta replied, “Do you really want to hear that one again?”

Janice, Melinda and their younger brother Freddy all chimed in, “Oh yes mama, please do.”

Gerta smiled at them and began, “I remember the time we went and got the pumpkins. We were all packed into the truck and there was hardly any room because there wasn’t enough room for everybody inside the truck itself. 

“It was Papa, of course, and me and Freddy who was about 3 years old and there was just enough room for him to sit on my lap - and you girls were in the bed of the truck.

“We were going to get the pumpkins because it was not only time for bringing in the crop but it was also getting kind of close to halloween and you kids were always excited about halloween because it meant you would be able to dress up in funny little costumes that I could put together out of this and that.

“Papa would take us around to the neighbors because the neighbor’s were a little ways off and since Papa had one of the few vehicles around there then the neighbors wouldn’t have to walk over to our place.

“It was about a mile down the road to get there and of course all of us were used to walking but it was night time so - well it was a good excuse for Papa to enjoy driving his little truck. 

Gerta smiled at them, “All you kids were looking forward to getting some treats too. We were going to make popcorn balls to give away that year but Millie put a little too much corn in the pot and we were eating popcorn for a few days afterward.” They all laughed about that since a little too much was actually a lot to much.

“As we got to our friends house everybody was out in front waving at us when we came down the road and they had a pumpkin there with a candle inside and a young one was sort of cuddled up near it. It was really cute. I remember that the pumpkin had a big smile on its face and so did the little one.

“We all went inside and as always we all sang songs and enjoyed bowls of fruit and told stories afterwards. Nobody told any scary stories, everyone told stories about far away places with wonderful names and stories about the stars and the people who lived there. 

After a while all the children started getting sleepy and our neighbors prepared a big basket of fruit for us as well as 3 big pumpkins - some of which they’d picked that day and it was a good time for us all.

“We all got in the truck to go home with our pumpkins and our basket of fruit and with all you kids looking forward to halloween when you’d go out with your costumes and your good feelings from our story time and time with our good friends.

Gerta got up and hugged each one of her children and they all went out to the porch to do something to remember those good times. They stood holding hands and looked out towards the neighborhood. They waved at the neighbors who were out on their porches and all said together, “Happy Halloween and good friends to you all.”

Wheels of Passage

“You need to meet somebody that’s your own age, Dad,” Tilda said to her father. “Maybe you’ll be interested again.”

“Oh honey…,” Gus said, “…I was married to your mother for 40 years and I’m not sure whether I’m ready to even think about being with another woman.”

“But dad, it’s been 7 years since mom - you know.”

“I know sweetie but you know, she was the love of my life. I can’t imagine, well…”

“Look dad, here it is. I met this woman - now don’t jump up, give me a minute okay? I met this woman recently and she’s a really nice person. And you know, the reason she caught my eye in the first place is that she was out in front of her house polishing this beautiful old hot rod.”

“Come on - now you’re making something up,” he said. “No, no really. I took a picture. Take a look at this,” Tilda said showing him the photo on her phone.

“Whoa, well what makes you think it’s her car?”

“Well, you know, I went over and asked her. I told her, ‘Gosh, my dad’s been interested in cars and hot rods his whole life.’” 

She said, ‘Really?’ and then she went on polishing.” 

“I said, ‘It’s such a beautiful car. Is it yours?”

She said, “Oh yes, I’ve had this car for about 27 years. Yeah, it’s a long story and I’ve got to finish waxing it.”

“So you know dad, I just pitched in and helped her finish. You know how I am and it’s not like we haven’t polished plenty of cars over time together,” Tilda said with a smile.

Gus chuckled, “You sure are helpful honey and you’re not shy with cars. You sure helped me wax a few.”

“Well anyway,” Tilda continued, “we got to talking…”

“Now wait a minute,” Gus interrupted, “you’ve been telling me now for about 6 months about this new friend you’ve got and you’ve been hanging around with her. This isn’t by chance your new friend?”

“Well, yes she is dad. I wasn’t sure for a long time, you know, whether she was available.”

“Oh I see”, Gus said, “what makes you think she is now?”

“Well, I saw this picture on her mantlepiece when we were inside having coffee after washing her car recently and it was her when she was younger standing next to a fella and I asked her about it. She told me that she always brought that picture out around Valentines Day. She said that was her husband and that he’d passed over quite a few years ago.”

“Well, we got to talking then. She said she works at an auto parts store and it’s a job she really likes. On the weekends she usually tinkers with the hot rod and sometimes drives it around a little bit though she has a regular car too that she drives to work. Anyway dad, we got to talking and she’s kind of lonely… and uh dad, you’re lonely too.”

“Well now honey, I’ve got my dog and got my good girl here”, he said smiling affectionately at Tilda, “and I’ve got a good life.”

“I know that dad but I know you’re lonely.”

Gus paused for a moment and then said, “Well, yeah I admit it sweetie. I’m lonely but people’ve been trying to fix me up for a while and…”

“Just give it a try dad. Tell you what. I was on my way over to Trudy’s and I was going to bring her some of my special valentine shaped cookies. Why don’t you come along.”

“Well, okay,” he said.

They walked the few blocks over to Trudy’s house and up her driveway and there she was with her back to them standing next to the beautiful blue 1932 Ford coupe. 

Impressed by the beauty of the old hot rod Gus said, “My goodness!”

Trudy turned around and said, “Hi Tilda and who’s this?”

Tilda said, “Well, it’s my dad.”

Gus and Trudy took one look at each other and eyes were twinkling back and forth.

“Well, I was just going in to have some coffee and now we have something wonderful to go with it. Do you want to come in?” Trudy said to both of them but glancing at him in particular.

“Well yes, I believe I will,” Gus replied glancing at Tilda who nodded cheerfully.

They all walked in to Trudy’s house and got settled with some good hot coffee and Tilda’s extra fancy cookies.

They’d been chatting pleasantly for a few minutes when Tilda grinned and said to Trudy, “Tell him your nickname.”

“Oh honey, for pete’s sakes,” Trudy said laughing. “Go on, you can tell him. There’s a reason you can tell him. Come on, tell him now,” Tilda said somewhat mysteriously.

“All right,” Trudy said looking at Tilda with a bit of an unsaid question showing on her face. “My good friends occasionally call me Wrinkly.”

“Oh my gosh!” Gus said his face getting red as he looked at his daughter.

“No, no, no dad. Wait,” said Tilda reassuringly.

Trudy went on to say, “Some years ago I was visiting my son and his family. We’d all gone to the lake and the children were swimming and splashing around in the water. Jilly, who was only about three years old then came over to me and looked up and said, “Grandma, you’re wrinkly.”

“My son Rory and his wife Jan rushed over to apologize but I was laughing and so was Jilly and we all laughed together. Jan explained after our laugh-fest that the children had recently seen a Shar Pei dog and that Jilly must have picked up a new word for her when the dogs owner described him as wrinkly. And you know, every once in a while one of the kids, especially Jilly, or even Rory or Jan will call me Wrinkly.”

Tilda looked at her dad with a mischievous smile and said, “Your turn.”

Gus smiled at them both and said, “Okay. When I was a teenager I had a summer job working at a deli. It was a very popular place so my task was to wrap the sandwiches up well with tinfoil so they would stay fresh. So all day long I was doing that. Some of the fella’s who worked there started kidding me because of all the sounds the tinfoil made and started calling me Crinkly and the name just stuck. My old friends still call me that.”

The three of them stared at each other and started laughing. Well, one thing led to another and every weekend for the next few months Gus and Trudy would get together and ride around in her old hot rod or go to the movies or just take a nice walk.

One fine spring day Gus said to Trudy, “You know we hit it off pretty good. What do you say if you and I make it a regular thing.”

Trudy said, “Well, you’re going to have to say that the right way.”

And he said, “Yes indeed. Madame Wrinkly, Mr. Crinkly would like you to be my wife.”

Trudy replied, “Mr. Crinkly, Madame Wrinkly would definitely like to do that.”

It just goes to show, never give up, never assume that life in any of its stages is beyond you. You just never know when something wonderful might happen. 

On that note, I’d like to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day wherever you are and whatever you’re doing and of course, goodlife to you all.

On A Misty Morning

Awakening slowly one day, Mort looked out his window. It was a misty day and the clouds were rolling in from the mountains. It looked like it might rain or even snow a little bit, it was that time of year. Early in the winter in a mountain community one can expect anything weather-wise. 

He looked out to the far pasture. He could just make out his horse out there. She looked a bit lonely. He was grateful that his brother had gotten up early to feed and take care of the horses, it was his turn that day - but she was looking right at him. 

He chuckled and he knew that he had to get up and go out and say hello, and while he was on his way he might just pick up a few carrots. Oh how she loves carrots. And so he got ready and in about 25 or 30 minutes he put on his jacket and he put on his galoshes and he grabbed a small bunch of carrots, 3 or 4, and took them out there. 

When he was walking towards her, oh she was excited. She was young but she was excited. She saw him. She was so happy to see him. They were really pals - and he gave her the carrots. 

She loved them but she wanted him to come inside the coral. It was a big coral so she could run around. He got inside. She jumped around a bit. She was really very youthful for a horse, personality-wise. 

She sidled up to him and he took off his galoshes because he knew they wouldn’t be comfortable to her and let his boots slip off inside. Took his socks off, course they were wet now. Hopped up on her back - no saddle, no blanket. That was their deal. 

Their arrangement was always that he would never put a saddle or a blanket on her and she’d ride around but today was the day. He and his brother had talked about it for a long time. Today was the day. She wanted to go out into the hills and run around and she wanted him with her. 

So his brother Zeke came over and opened the gate and she took off. He had to hang on to her neck real hard and bend over but he was hangin on for dear life and she ran through the opening and up into the hills. 

She had such good footing and she stopped before she went too long and she neighed very loud and there was echoes of it all around and about. It was a - a mystical experience. He had never heard anything like it. Oh he’d heard her whiney before, many times but nothing like this. It was a special sound. He didn’t know what it meant. 

And she took a few more steps towards the steep part of the hill and he was worried that she would just go up that steep part. But no - she stopped - and waited. And she was standing there. He didn’t know how long. 

It seemed like a long time and he didn’t know what to expect. All of a sudden, out of nowhere it seemed, there was a white horse there and he’d never seen that horse before. Didn’t see a brand on it - never seen that horse before. 

The white horse walked over and they touched. They sort of hugged in that way that horses do with their necks and heads touching each other and while that happened he felt this feeling go through his body. It was amazing. He suddenly felt complete and total peace and for lack of a better word, he thought to himself, harmony. 

All was well in that moment. He felt like this is the way the world is supposed to be, this kind of peace, this kind of harmony and after a long time or a few seconds - he wasn’t sure which because it seemed like eternity the white horse stood back and out of nowhere, he hadn’t seen this before, unfolded wings and flew up the steep part of the hill into the mist and was gone. 

He didn’t know what to think so he decided not to - and he was there on his horse. She bowed her head and he bowed his head and he said a prayer. He said, “I am asking that all those beings on the Earth who need help, love and support receive that help, love and support now from all those beings who can help them.” It felt like his horse was praying too, the way she looked down and that energy, that feeling was there so strong. 

And then, she was happy again. She jumped around a bit and he held on for dear life feeling happy. She trotted home into the coral. 

He slid off, picked up his boots and galoshes and wet socks but he turned around before he left the coral and he looked at her and she looked at him and wouldn’t you know - he didn’t know a horse could do this - she winked at him and he just smiled and laughed and she whinnied a bit and he walked back into the house feeling like a new man.

Happy Holidays to you all wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing.

And For Another Story...

Just a little note here. I just posted something on my Cheerful Stories blog some of you might enjoy. It's called My New Hobby. Hope you like it.
Goodlife

By The Grace of God…

It was a long time coming. Actually, she'd given up a while back but something about giving up just seemed to ease her way a bit. She was no longer anxious and worrying about it and she just lived her life as well as possible. 

It wasn't a complicated life but it was one that needed attention. She had to chop a little wood now and then. She had to carry a few things here and there. 

It made her smile when she thought of that because she had heard this phrase once from a student. He was hitchhiking his way across the country and working odd jobs. 

His name was Stan, as she remembered and every once in a while when she was doing her chores around the cabin he would stop and smile if he was helping out a neighbor and he'd say, "Chop wood, carry water." And she'd look at him kind of funny and after a while she began to think of him as Stan - chop wood carry water. 

The last time she saw him he told her that it had to do with something that he'd read in a book once about understanding the way life worked. That you could think about things, though ultimately you still had to chop wood, carry water. 

Meaning he had to get up in the morning, he had to go to sleep at night, he had to do the chores that he did. In short, he had to do what he had to do every day and he would say, "Chop wood, carry water" to her because it was really a compliment. She was doing what needed to be done also.

He liked to talk with her. That's what he said and when he would come around during the summertimes like that she was always grateful because her neighbors didn't always want to talk about things. 

Sometimes they just wanted to grumble and complain but she never saw any point in that. She thought it would be worthwhile to do the work and to do it as well as possible what ever it was so that she could feel good about having done the job well whether it was something small or something bigger like repairing the cabin which she could do. 

This year was different though. When Stan came around he seemed to be a little more mature. He didn't say, "Chop wood, carry water" to her anymore. Every once in a while he'd come by and just give her a flower and bow a little bit or smile a little bit and go on. She didn't know exactly what that meant but it made her smile. 

It had been a long time since her mother and dad had passed away and she didn't really know that there was going to be much more in life for her but she still felt good that she had her health, she had her old dog who was getting on but still was a good companion and while not being much able to be a true watchdog would alert her to somebody coming around - even Stan. 

He'd give a little woof - not a big one, just a little woof and when he would do that she'd always know that it was a friend coming. He could still give a loud bark if it was somebody that he didn't know. He was a good old dog. 

This last time Stan came around he gave her a flower again and he said, "There's somebody I'd like you to meet." She asked, "Is it somebody local?"  Stan replied, "Just down that trail that turns off to the right a piece but he said he hadn't met you." She thought about it and said, "I haven't been down that particular trail. I don't know why. I just go the way I've always gone and come back the way I've always come back." 

Stan smiled a little and said that he'd been doing some work for this guy and the man had mentioned that he'd seen you coming and going and would it be possible for Stan to introduce the two of you. 

After Stan said this and after all these few years talking to Stan she felt that he was a good person. A young man yes but had a good heart and a clear mind and she said, "Well, what do you think Stan? Is it alright to meet this person?" Stan answered, "I wouldn't have brought it up if I thought it wasn't." 

Stan suggested, "How about tomorrow? I'll be coming by at the usual time and I could bring him with me." She paused for a moment and then said, "Well, I don't have anything special to wear." Stan said with a slight chuckle, "Well, he said the same thing to me but you know what - I think that you two could be friends and who knows. I don't think you need to do anything - just be yourself. That's what I said to the man too." She answered, "Okay." 

Well, sure enough that next day came. She had slept pretty well although she woke up in the middle of the night thinking - what am I going to do. Oh my - but she went back to sleep. Stan came by and he brought him. He was a nice looking fella - right around her age. She had no idea he had been nearby. She thought to herself - I've never seen this man and I swear he looks like he could be my age or pretty close to it. 

Stan introduced them. He said, "George, this is my friend Molly that I told you about." George said, "Pleased to meet you ma'am." Molly replied, "I'm happy to meet you George." George continued, "I have these nice flowers growing nearby in my garden where Stan has been doing a little work for me. I wondered if I could bring you a flower every day and take over that job from Stan." Molly said, "Well, I still like to see Stan but if you'd like to bring a flower, I wouldn't say no." 

Thinking back on that now, Molly thought to herself, looking over at George dozing off a bit in his chair by the fireplace - him being a bit older now since they'd been married for - what was it - 23 years and still getting along fine - now living in George's cabin which was quite a bit bigger and nicer then her old place though she loved her old place as well. 

She looked in the mirror and thought - my, my, we do get on but we're still strong for being in our 80's and looking back on it she thought to herself - I'm so grateful for Stan bringing George by that way. 

She went over and she woke up George. "Let's go to bed, Honey." George smiled at her and said, "I was just dreaming how grateful I was to Stan for introducing us. He was a good boy, wasn't he. Yes, he's gone off now to do other things but he said he'd bring by the wife and kids this next spring. I'll look forward to meeting them." "Me too Honey," said Molly, let's go to bed now." 

George got up out of the rocking chair and they walked off into the bedroom to enjoy each other and to live on for the time they had left. 

As life went on they had another 7 good years together and one night they were in each other's arms and both just passed away together softly and gently into the night. Lived to their 90's they did and a very nice surprise later in life discovering that life wasn't over yet for either one of them.

Happy Valentines Day and remember, life isn't over for you either. You never know what good things life could bring down the road. A friend perhaps and maybe even a friend who is a messenger.

Susie's Home

It was coming on towards winter and Susie, a leaf, was still hanging on the old apple tree. She couldn't understand why she was still there. All the other leaves had fallen off a long time ago but she was still hanging there. She was kind of dried up and a little crinkly but she was still there and wondering what's it all about? There'd been plenty of breezes but she hadn't fallen yet. 

Fortunately she had friends that came around and visited with her. Her best friends were Mortimer the mouse and Andre her bird friend. They would come around and talk to her when they had a moment because their lives were busy like every one else. 

As it was starting to get cooler, Mortimer had taken to telling Susie about the nest that he was building and Susie got interested in that and at the same time Andre stopped by. Mortimer and Andre were friends too. And Andre said, "Yes, yes." That he was also helping to build a nest that had to be very warm but it was difficult because there were twigs and there were some old feathers that he found around and he needed something to be like insulation to make the nest warmer. 

Susie perked up when she heard that and she said, "What about the leaves on the ground that have already fallen?" And they said, taking turns since they agreed and occasionally talking over each other when they would get excited, "Oh yes, we have used a lot of those but there's something special that's needed and we're just not sure what it is." 

Susie wriggled a little bit and she said, "Maybe you need something personal, something friendly because a nest is a special place. It's your home. It's where you'll have your children. It's where everyone will grow up and look back on it fondly and say 'home' in that special way we say home. Do you know what I mean?" 

Mortimer and Andre looked at each other and they realized that she was right. "How are we going to do that," they said. "It seems to me," said Mortimer who was a deep thinker, " that a leaf like that…," as he looked on the ground and there were hundreds, maybe thousands of leaves there from the old tree that Susie was attached to as well as all the other trees in the forest. "It seems that there needs to be some kind of personal feeling in that leaf so that the friendliness and the love is there in the leaf itself. Does that sound right," Mortimer said looking at Susie. 

Susie was quiet. She was thinking but Andre chimed in, "Yes, yes. That sounds exactly right. How will we find such a leaf?" Susie realized - this is why she was still on the tree. She said, "Maybe I'm that leaf! You're my best friends and I'd love to be part of your nest Mortimer and your nest Andre. Is there any chance, I mean I'm still on the tree. I haven't fallen off. Maybe that's what I've been waiting for!" 

Mortimer and Andre looked at each other, "Would it be alright? I mean you're our friend. We'd feel a little funny about that because - you know - well, I'd have to take part" said Andre and kind of trailed off a bit and Mortimer chimed in, "And I'd have to take part" and also kind of trailed off a bit. Susie said, "No no, it's fine, it's fine. I want to do that." So they settled in to wait. 

Meanwhile Mortimer was continuing to build his nest and Andre was continuing to build his nest and one day when the three of them were gathered on the tree limb where Susie still seemed to be, they saw a few snowflakes coming. "Oh my," they said, "What are we going to do?" 

And suddenly without any warning Susie fell from the tree. "Oh boy," she said all the way down, "This is going to be my chance." There was almost no wind so she fell almost straight down. 

Mortimer rushed to the ground and Andre flew down to the ground and they were both there moving around under Susie as she was floating down and floating down and finally she hit the ground and she could feel herself crackle and break up a bit. Andre gently stepped on part of Susie to keep her from blowing away on a light breeze that just came up and Mortimer softly stepped on another part and they said, "Are you alright? We're not stepping on you too hard?" 

"No no," she said, "You did just right. Oh this is great," she continued. "Oh, I feel myself beginning to fall apart. I didn't realize that's what happened when leaves touched the ground." 

"Oh yes," Mortimer said speaking wisely after his several years of building different nests, "Yes, crinkly leaves often fall apart almost immediately when they hit the ground," as they did in the forest where they all lived. 

"Oh, you better be quick then," Susie said, "Quick. Take some parts. I want to be part of your nest Mortimer and I want to be part of your nest Andre and maybe, maybe there's enough of me." She felt herself breaking up even before they had a chance to do that. 

She didn't know quite what was happening but it's really just part of the natural way of the Earth that things move from shape to shape. Mortimer said, "We better do this quick," to Andre as he noticed Susie breaking up into smaller and smaller parts. 

Andre and Mortimer gathered up all of the parts they could find and raced back to their nests. They worked for a couple of hours running and flying back and forth to their nests with each gathering as much of their precious friend as they could. 

All the time Susie felt like she was kind of sleepy. She would be there and then she wasn't and then she would be there and then she wasn't. She wasn't sure where she was going but she began to feel that she was going some place else. She didn't realize that would happen. Her last memories though as a crinkled old leaf were of her friends. 

Meanwhile Mortimer was singing and he said, "Oh, my nest feels so much warmer and everyone will be so happy and Andre was singing, "Oh everything feels so much more loving and friendly and cheerful with my dear friend here." 

But Susie wasn't only there. She felt herself rising up and she wasn't sure where she was going. She wasn't in the form of a leaf anymore but she just knew she was going somewhere. She went way up in the sky and she wasn't sure where she was going. 

Suddenly she heard a voice, "Susie," the voice said, "It's time for you to go someplace much warmer and they'll be lots of new friends there and you'll even be able to hear Mortimer's songs sometimes if you want to and Andre's songs too, if you're interested, from their nests while they're wintering." "Oh my," said Susie, "That sounds wonderful." 

"But now," the warm and friendly voice continued, "it's time for you to go to a new place where it's only and always warm and comfortable. It's in a different part of the world in a forest where there's lots of rain and where there are lots of other types of life. You'll like it there." 

Pretty soon Susie felt herself very small and she vaguely remembered being small before. She realized she was in a bud on a tree and pretty soon the sun was shining. She could tell because she was getting warmer and she felt herself opening. 

She felt herself sprouting from the bud and pretty soon even though she was very little she could tell she was deep in a warm and wonderful forest where things were quiet but in the distance she heard birds singing their songs and not very far away she saw - who was that? 

It was a little mouse in her tree and the mouse said, "Hi. My names Willy. What's yours?" And Susie knew she'd found her new home.

-------

Love lives on forever in many ways. May you have a most loving and happy holiday now and forever. Goodlife to you all.

Tilly and Bill

She thought back to the days of when they first met every time that she looked at that old frame, even from the side, with the picture of them in their heyday - very young and full of spunk - and they loved each other so much - she felt a surge of that love again. 

She wheeled over to get a little closer so she could see it better. The picture was in black and white because it was taken a long time ago. She remembered, "I think it was taken in the forties - yes it was the forties," she thought. 

The picture frame wasn't very fancy. It was a wooden frame but it was carved nicely. Her husband had carved it and made it special to fit the picture. The picture was big for its day, a portrait - and he made a special folding bracket in the back so that it could either stand up or be hung from a wall. That was not widely available then, not as now. 

Tilly got a little closer to the picture because she had to these days, and put on her special glasses for seeing things close up. She looked at it. 

There they were, young as could be sitting on the rail of the corral and smiling. Inside the corral was her favorite horse. She remembered that horse very well. She wasn't her horse but she was a good horse and Tilly liked visiting with her. 

That was the ranch that her family visited when she was younger, a teenager. That's where she met her husband. He was working at the ranch on a summer job and the two of them just clicked. 

They stayed in touch over the years through school. She went to college and he went to trade school and became a Farrier - shoeing horses - and she didn't realize then that their friendship would grow into something that lasted her whole lifetime. 

She didn't think he did either at the time but later on when they were married finally, she found out that he had always had his eye on her and had fallen in love with her - deeply in love when they had first met. 

She, on the other hand, liked him very much as a friend initially but over the years through college and the hard work and the study and onward afterwards to getting her medical license and becoming a General Practitioner just like her father - she felt through those years of study and working and practice that there was something missing in her life. 

She wrote weekly to her friend but the older she got and the more into her professional work she got, she realized that she didn't know anybody or appreciate anybody or really - by that time in her life - she admitted it - she didn't love anybody as much as she loved Bill. 

So, after she completed her residency she decided that she owed herself a trip and she took that trip back to Duluth, Minnesota where Bill had his Farrier practice and she didn't tell him she was coming. 

She figured that if she'd see him, if he was married, she'd smile and shake hands and shake hands with his wife and meet his kids and so on - she didn't know, she wasn't sure, she wasn't as confident as she got to be later - in his love. 

She went to his place where he worked on the horses and there he was - and lo and behold - she couldn't believe it - there was a picture of her on the wall next to his tools. 

He was working cleaning his tools when she walked in. Of course he was older and she'd seen a couple of pictures that he'd sent but he wasn't much into pictures although she liked photography very much. 

Tilly made a little sound, "Ahem" and he turned around slowly and his face lit up and his eyes were wide and he walked slowly towards her and there were tears at the corners of his eyes.

He said, "I was afraid I'd never see you again," and she said, "I knew I had to come." They hugged each other and she said without shame very quickly, "Are you married?" and he said, "No." And he said just as quickly, "Are you married?" And she said, "No." And he said, "Well, let's do something about that." Within three weeks they were married and they were married for fifty years. 

He had recently passed away and now a day didn't go by when she didn't wheel over in her chair and stop and look at that picture and know that true love lasts and sometimes it lasts even longer then you thought it would and sometimes it lives on forever.

Happy Valentines Day.

Charlie's Surprise

Charlie's Surprise*

Charlie was kind of depressed. He was sitting on the edge of his bed and Christmas was coming. It was really right around the corner and he wasn't sure what to give people.

He'd given his friends and family gifts before, and while it was a happy occasion, this year he felt that he just wanted to somehow improve their lives so that they would feel better in some way - in some special way. He wasn't sure what to do.

That night just before he went to sleep he said his prayers like always but he added that he'd like his Guardian Angel to come and visit him and maybe give him some idea that he could remember in the morning for what special gift to get - and he went to sleep.

When he woke up in the morning he was hoping to remember something but he really didn't. After breakfast he came back into his room. It was Saturday and he had the day off which was nice. He looked over on the bench nearby his bed where he had taken out the Christmas decorations. 

As he looked at the decorations he walked towards them - he wasn't sure why - and he started going through them one by one. He got to the box that held the Christmas tree balls that you hang on the tree. The red ones and the green ones and the other colors. He noticed that there was one in the box that he had never used.

It was clear and because it wasn't any of the traditional colors he had never used it on his tree but he had a feeling to pull it out. So he took it out of the box and he held it up over by the window. First light was just coming in, and when he held it up to the light all of a sudden he saw a dancing Angel inside!

"Is it possible," he said. He pulled it away from the light and he held it up close to his eyes and he examined it. He didn't see any Angel in it.

"What does that mean? Uh-oh," he thought. "Maybe I'm losing my marbles, just seeing things." But then he felt like he'd try it again and he held the ornament up again in front of the window where the first light was streaming in and there she was again! An Angel, and she was dancing.

All of a sudden she stopped and she looked right at him and he didn't know what to do. He just froze. He held the Christmas ball and the Angel was looking at him and he noticed that her lips were moving. Charlie thought, "Is she trying to talk to me? What's she doing?" 

All of a sudden he heard a soft voice and the voice said, "This is what to give people this year. Look in the closet. You have another box of this kind of decoration that you bought a long time ago and you put it in the closet where you keep the Christmas things. You'll see. There's more in there."

Then her lips stopped moving, she smiled and she started dancing again.

He pulled the ornament away from the light again and he moved his pillow on the bed very carefully near where the light was and put it on the pillow so that it would be completely safe. It was made of glass. It was a very old decoration.

Charlie went to the closet where he kept the Christmas things and he dug around in there for a while and he did find that box of other Christmas tree balls. He pulled them out and then he remembered when he opened them up why he put them away.

He had bought them at an after Christmas sale without opening the box and when he got them home they were all clear, not the usual colors that he liked to put on the tree. He remembered that he was disappointed at the time and had put them away in the closet. 

Now he pulled them all out and he held each and every one up to the light and inside every one was a dancing Angel. She'd stop dancing shortly after he saw her and smile at him and then start her happy dance again. 

Charlie put them back in the box very carefully. The one he had on the pillow he was going to put on his own tree - and he had 10 friends and family he really wanted to give presents to. He'd give the 10 clear glass ball ornaments to them and he'd have two extras. He wasn't sure what to do with the two extras because the box held one dozen of those clear glass balls.

He'd give them to the people, he decided but instead of wrapping them up he'd give them before Christmas. Charlie lived in a small town so he walked over to everyone's house and he gave them the clear glass balls when the children were there. He had a feeling it was important for the children to be there when he gave them the gift. 

The parents and the other adults smiled or laughed when he told about seeing the Angel dancing that they could only see in the morning light but the children all believed it. And sure enough, when the morning light came the children would hold the glass ball up and there would be the dancing Angel and they'd run to get their parents. Their parents then saw the dancing Angel and they believed. 

Charlie decided he'd take the last 2 glass tree balls to the town square. Years ago someone had planted a pine tree there just because they thought it would be a nice thing for Christmas and over the years it had grown. People had watered it and kept it healthy and by now it was 50 feet tall. Near Christmas time people would come and put decorations on it and he decided he would do that too.

He took the last 2 glass ornaments over early in the morning just as first light was starting to begin - and by now Charlie's story about the Angels dancing in the glass balls had gotten all over town and many parents and their children and other people followed Charlie because they saw the glass balls and they had heard about the Angels but they hadn't seen them yet. 

After Charlie carefully hung them on the tree, the people and the children lined up to see. There were grandparents, parents and children and many others.

One lady asked Charlie, "You can only see the Angel at first light?" And Charlie said, "That's the only time I've been able to see her." 

Well, they all saw the Angel and they were so happy. They loved seeing her and were reminded that Angels are there for you whether you can see them or not.

Happy Holidays to you all and may you all happily  discover your Angels dancing, or otherwise, nearby. 

Goodlife.

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*If you want to hear me read it to you, click on the link. I hope you enjoy it.

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.