a turn to the poetic...

Because I want to post something... a poem for you to enjoy. I wrote this one about my experience in Namibia. It is in a form that was created by Billy Collins called a paradelle. I think you'll pick up on the structure :).

Africa, 2006

The quick streak of light echoes in my mind.
The quick streak of light echoes in my mind.
Drum beat of yesteryear reaches across time.
Drum beat of yesteryear reaches across time.
Streak of yesteryear, quick beat across my mind—
the reaches of light drum echoes in time.

Owl at dusk hurries to fly away.
Owl at dusk hurries to fly away.
Without power, all direction is lost.
Without power, all direction is lost.
All lost power hurries to fly—
direction is at dusk without— owl, away.

Old memories mingle with smiles and tears.
Old memories mingle with smiles and tears.
Scenes, once written, now burn in the fire.
Scenes, once written, now burn in the fire.
Once old tears burn with memories written
and now smiles mingle in the fire scenes.

With quick fire, memories beat in all tears
of light and power— mingle once in yesteryear.
Echoes streak, burn, fly without smiles.
Time reaches now across my old drum-
scenes of the mind, lost to direction,
written at dusk, hurries away. The owl is.

(c) SDD 2007

a little bit of dust...

It has been said that to fly, all it takes is faith and trust and a little bit of pixie dust. I'd like to put in my order for that dust right now. A tiny pinch should do the trick. Get it here so I can get on my way to Neverland (second star to the right and straight on to morning). I could seriously use the vacation from my life about now.

Several of you know that three weeks ago, as my family got ready for our annual fishing trip, one mishap after another bombarded us. My brother was one person away from being put on a jury that would have kept him from joining us. My dad's well quit working, leaving him without water. My sister's house situation was up in the air with the California buyers staling and turning in paperwork late. I kept praying that the assault would cease.

It didn't.

Thursday night (two weeks ago), on my way to Cheyenne, I had a run in with a raccoon. Yep, a raccoon. I guess it was technically Friday morning as it was 4 am. I was north of Fort Collins, about 20 miles from the state line when he appeared in my headlights. By the time I saw him it was too late and he met my bumper, then my compressor and radiator in a matter of seconds. It doesn't take long when going 75 miles an hour.

So there I am, 4 am, on the side of I-25 with a car that shouldn't go (the darn thing BENT my radiator). I called my brother and got no answer. I called my dad but he had turned off his phone. So I called roadside assistance and they were so kind and helpful. She kept asking for routine info over and over (which helped keep me calm). The nice lady arranged a tow for me. Granted, I had to sit on the side of the road for another hour and a half before they got there, but they came.

Now, I don't have much of a job (don't get me wrong, the work I do in the nursery is vital to the church and I know that I'm in a special position to influence kids when they are highly malleable, but it doesn't pay that great) which means paying for repairs is a bit tough. I had plans to get out and hit the job search hard when I got home, but without a car, that is kinda hard.

I'm not sure what God is trying to show me here. I have some thoughts but none of them pan out very far. Add that to the fact that every day is a teeter-totter about my future (PeaceCorps again, find a real job, try to get published, become a nun...) and, well, Neverland looks better every moment. I could hang out on a pirate ship... swim with the mermaids... sing songs to the Lost Boys.

Just please make sure there are no raccoons there, they are on my bad list right now.

a bit camera shy...

So, at Aimee's suggestion, I attempted to take pictures of Binker. Turns out he can move pretty fast when he wants to and he had an aversion to the camera, so I have a lot of little blurs :)

But I found these photos out on the web to give you an idea of what he looks like.

Yep, Binker looks like that, 'cept he tends to curl his "tail" around a bit to his left side.

And this shows you how tiny they are... not much bigger than an M&M.

Cute little guy... but like I said, don't startle them... some of them are so small they can't deflate. And that would be rather tragic. I don't want Binker to puff up if he can't puff down :)

picking on the little guy...

It has been a week and I haven't posted. And I like to post more often than that, but as you may know, I want to have something witty and funny to say or I won't post. So I'm in that delicate place of not having anything earth-shattering to talk about nor something funny to mention, but a gnawing urge to post. So here I am.

I guess I could point you all to the news about the Peru earthquake. I am thankful that none of our sponsored children are in that area, but I have a lot of friends there in Lima. My prayers are with them.

I could tell you about my new fish, Binker. He got a name because he is so small and, as a friend said, "he needs to compensate". He is a dwarf puffer and he is adorable. Granted, if I scare him, he might puff up and then not be able to deflate. This would be fatal for him. So no scaring the fish!

I'm sure there is something else I could talk about, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe I'll be more poetic tomorrow. For today, I'm just me, sojourning through the day, waiting for the amazing to happen.

that does it!

Micky D's went and did the unthinkable... they raised the price of my favorite breakfast item. Yes, they went there. So, I'm going here. The new price (which is a whopping $2.69) is ridiculous... yes, I said it. No single breakfast item from Micky D's is worth that much... and even their .69 extra large drink doesn't make up for it. So, from here on out, no stopping at Micky D's on the way to church on Sunday morning. Nope. From now on, I'm buying the pre-made, frozen breakfast sandwiches. It is way more cost effective not to mention I won't waste any more of my time in the eternally slow drive-thru (that is a whole other subject).

I will miss my yummy Sunday morning treat (not to mention the extra caffeine boost) but you have to draw the line somewhere, and I drew it at $2.29.