If We Fall In Love, We'll Get Married, he said

While she was considering a subject to expound about...another sunflower was doing what sunflowers do...reaching for the Sun

About 18 years or so ago, she had been working as a Design Homer for a big box store for about six months when a hotdog vendor set up camp just inside the main entry door that customers were funneled through (as well as workers required to enter through since there was a camera documenting their every comings and goings).

She must have passed him numerous times without giving it any thought and scarcely noticing him. He was charming though, and it wasn't long before he snared her into his web...

"Hey Jackie, come over here."

"What for?"

"Just come 'ere a minute. I want to show you something."

pogs

At that time, pogs were a phenom. He wanted to show her his son's huge pog collection.

Well, it only interested Ms. SpoolTeacher because her nephew was also collecting them and was just about the same age as his little son.

The truth was, Mr. HotDog was cute and charming and big and manly.

Okay, it wasn't long before they were dating...

It started with a halloween party he invited her to. When she arrived at his door, (Yes, it would have been backtracking for him to come and get her and she was very independent anyhoo. That's her story and she's sticking with it.) he was dressed as a baseball player (because he was one every weekend and it was his favorite thing next to music) and he was dancing around playing a harmonica.

Ms. SpoolTeacher dressed up as a witch and carried a broomstick.

Mr. HotDog was very impressed that she pulled off such a good costume on such short notice.

They went to the party and Ms. SpoolTeacher tended to lurk in the periphery, taking note of Mr. HotDog/Baseball Player's behavior.

She sort of fell in love....

Everyone followed him around and hung on his every word. He however, remained subtle, calm, matter of fact and well....darn charming. His voice was sweet and melodic. He was gentle to his admirerers and he came sauntering over with a plate of crackers, cheese, and nibblie things and sat down next to Ms. SpoolTeacher and offered it to her. 

Love at first bite...

Mr. HotDog got bored easily, tending the hot dog stand, and would sit on his folding beach chair and pretend he was at a lake...he would also write. Write whatever was in his head as a story.

"Come 'ere a minute, Jackie", he said in his sweet melodic voice. "I wrote a story and I want you to read it and tell me what you think."

Of course, Ms. SpoolTeacher had gotten to know him quite well by that time and could read very easily between the lines. It was a story about him. He called it "The Little Christmas Tree", but it was all about him.

Ms. SpoolTeacher didn't like the way he abruptly ended it with the poor Little Christmas Tree laying dead in the street so early on after Christmas. He asked her to fix his spelling and grammar but he didn't tell her to edit it and add a different ending and then let her mother read it and change it some more....

It kind of made him mad, but he respected Ms. SpoolTeacher and thought she might have a point about the ending.

Well, as all good love stories go, they broke up and have been talking on the phone ever since. Ms. SpoolTeacher finally had to leave the big box store to put enough distance between them. She sent the original copy of the story back to him in a fit and only had a poor copy remaining of which she has also given him copies of several times throughout their ups and downs and phone calls and decisions to finally do something about getting the Little Christmas Tree published and making them rich...

It's the tie that binds.

It's the child they never had. 

So lately, Mr. HotDog asked her again, "What are you doing about the story?"

"Oh, I just want to illustrate it and I just don't feel like I have the skill I need to make the images that I want."

"I know you can do it", he said in his sweet, melodic voice while driving his truck talking on his cell phone with the wind blowing to the point of her barely able to hear what he said...

"It's just so hard to figure out how to depict a Christmas tree that knows how to play a harmonica and dance", she thought but didn't say....














"I'm workin on it."

At least it's not laying in a ditch dead with people passing by saying how sad it looks....

And if she has her way, when it does finally die, it will go to the shredder just like Kringo, Chipo, Kringo The Little Christmas Tree did and have a whole new life after that...







Who ever loved that loved not at first bite sight?
(As You Like It, 3.5.84)

Shakespeare Quotations on Love

Love is Eternal, Paul Simon

Oh Two, Oh Two, Two Oh One Two

02.02.2012, Groundhog Day.
Dates with numbers like these are fun.

If you look at the word two too many times, it starts looking wrong.

I wanted to be in my sewing room creating something...I asked Little Red-Haired Girl what she thought we should accomplish for the day...















"Well, one of these days, I think you should vacuum this floor. Not that I care, but; what will people think?"

I thought I might go out and get the recyclables into the back of Bartholomew and off to the dump....

But Little Orphan Annie had other ideas. 

Back to the house for a minute to see what could be done somewhere. I walked down the hall and into the bedroom just as Thom Hartman was talking about how "more stuff doesn't make us happier...."; and I wondered if my comment the day before had inspired his conversation today, so I jumped online and looked for a reply to my inquiry...

I wrote: [People keep arguing that "they have already paid taxes on that money". Please straighten me out. They haven't paid taxes on the gains. ? They have only paid taxes on the original earnings from wages. ? Isn't the capital gains tax on the gains over the investment?
Overall, the income disparity is still an issue of the wealth having power. They only have that wealth because the 99% buys into what they are selling.
Seems to me the "simplest" answer is for all of the 99% to stop wanting to be rich, start living in simplicity. Cut out diamonds, gold, excess technical crutches, stop shopping at Wallymart, start personal and community gardens, start helping each other with time instead of money.
too naive?]
There was no reply...Winnie the Pooh again!

Yes, a bit naive, but that's what I'm shooting for. Bang, bang!

So after that, I got a cup of coffee in my alter ego cup, Susan, and went out to face the music in the garage that would be my home based business, ha!...

Double ha!

I made a great dent in it throughout the course of the day.

Trouble was that I got trapped in memory lane..

An old book by Rod McKuen "Caught in the Quiet". (I was moving my books back into the house)...

"The Art of Loving", by Erich Fromm
He mentioned discipline, practice, courage and activity.

Organic Gardening books, horses, birds, decorating....

"Just take them in the house...don't look at them", I said to myself. It didn't work.

But I work fast and furiously, so I still got a lot done.

This isn't the best result but it was the last picture I took of my accomplishments.

Here it is in better days..

When my sweet Stevie Weevie was still with me...

How did it get that messed up in a year? Looks like it was Valentine time.

Ah, memory lane..."Skip to My Lou"...

When I didn't think I was pretty, and I thought I was fat!

"The day, ah, yesterday,

Betwixt the wine and song and love’s longing holding us close,

When the candles were lighting glitters in your soft blue eyes,

Why? Did you have to leave me?"

I see my mother in my face...