Dream On

"Dream On"

 "Never lose your laugh. " "Don't let Satan steal your joy. " "Keep that smile. "   

I was always confused by phrases like this when I was in high school.  Now I know why.  Smiling comes naturally to the young who know nothing of the impossibilities of life.  Life was good,  no matter what happened.  Now I see that the grown-ups were warning me of impending disaster. They were saying, Your life will inevitably fall apart. When it does, keep smiling. A very ominous prediction. (In truth, my life never fell apart. All normal things came into it, like heartbreak from a first love, deception, misleadings, lies. But that is all a natural part of becoming a part of this world. Perhaps instead of looking at it like "Your life will fall apart,  when it does,  stay true to God," it should be portrayed as the right of passage into adulthood.  I used to shrink in fear at what might be The Thing that happens to me. There is naught to fear. To most people, only the natural things of life will occur. Gaining a job, the loss of a job. Gain of money,  loss of money. Having someone's love, losing that person's love. It's all natural and need not be given the pleasure of having the negative side of these aspects emphasized. These curses need not be put on the young, for they will happen naturally enough.

Encourage them that life is how you see it. You can see these natural happenings as your life falling apart or as the doors to the rights and privileges of adulthood opening. Adults know how to get themselves through these obstacles without losing their desire to live. This attitude is what should be taught to the young, not that disaster will come, but how to get through it. Why do we try to douse their light as teenagers when we've encouraged them to dream and imagine as children. The teen years are the most powerful time for encouragement because they are at an age when they can do something about their dreams. Tell them that even with a college education,  it is difficult to get a hold in the world, so here is how you do it. Let's give them something useful for their adult lives instead of depressing them and squelching their dreams. And instead of saying, There will come a day--, let's tell them, There may come a day when you want to give up, when the world is dark, when you think your dreams can't come true.  On that day, remember all the excitement you had about life when you were a child and choose not to let anything make you put that excitement away.

Dream on!

"Dream On" by Aerosmith

Rainy Days 1

Sad rainy days...
I fall apart slowly like a
soaked cardboard box.
Everything in life is dull
But a deeper color than it was
before
Just as rain soaks the trees and
weeds and makes them a deeper
color than on a bright, sunlit
day
How can a clear liquid change
the color of something?
Or perhaps it has color afterall,
we just can't see it.
I do see that there are little
mirror puddles between the
grasses in the yard
And that the yard is more
beautiful now than when
it is dry, for it holds a
mystery, an added depth,
through these little sunken
mirrors with wintertime's brown,
soaked grasses poking through.
There is beauty, when you look
past the surface--on a
sad, rainy day.

               by Rebecca Yoder
               at 7:58am on a sad rainy day

Please add your comments about what you like about rainy days.

Rainy Days 2

Cloistered in a convent of sad gray
clouds,
I kick my feet behind me as I lie
on my tummy on the thick
corduroy couch cusions and
look out the window.
A sad sky beckons me to clear
it. The trees cry for me to help
them dance again, the raindrops
dripping off their needles like
teardrops.
I smile at them from the cozy
indoors. Even the house is
crying as drip, drip, drip falls
from the ends of the eaves.
The seclusion of this rainy day
wraps me in its warm secrecy.
Does anyone else see what
I see?
The world outside is crying,
But I LAUGH!



Please leave your comments about the secrets you find in a rainy day.

A New Way to Live

Days dawn bright with many possibilities, many things to do.  A list waits on my dresser; part of it leftover from yesterday, a new one to make today, to add to things I didn't accomplish yesterday.  Tomorrow, another list.  It will never end.  There is more to life.  I can feel it.  More than just waiting till evening, till the weekend, till I have my own place, till I'm married....  That is just another kind of list.  A list of things I'm waiting for and, many of them, can do nothing about.  But there is another way to live.  I just know it!

Peace in every moment.  A deep excitement that cannot be explained.  Energy pulsing in my body.  Anticipating things to come, yet relishing every second I live in.

The sky opens to me and light pours down.  I close my eyes.  My heart feels warmer.  I have a desire to put on a coat and go explore the last of the fall leaves on the tall oak beside my front door.  Anticipation wells up like a slowly rising stream.  I reach out to inspiration and inspiration reaches back.  My heart opens, blooms and accepts the rays of the sun.  Peace has come.

Mango Zing Satisfaction

Rain poured down the windows like a piece of silver silk rippling in the wind.  The sky had grown dark only moments before, then suddenly the rain had come like water being dumped out of a bucket.
The house was dark now, except for the two lights I had turned on.  All windows were shut tight against the flash storm.

Hmm.  My jigsaw puzzle was at a standstill, when my tummy rumbled.  Mangos!  I had two of them.  What a delicious before-dinner treat.

I went to the kitchen and found my peeler, a knife and a cutting board.  Then I went to work.  Take the peels off of the delicious teardrop-shaped fruit.

Perhaps it would be better to call them raindrop-shaped today, I smiled.

I took my knife and sliced the fruit, then cut it off of the long, thin seed.

I like nothing better than sweet and savory together, and my boyfriend's mother had just introduced me to sliced mango with a lime chili seasoning.

Chili powder, red pepper, lime juice and garlic salt came from my kitchen cupboards.  Like little soldiers I lined them up.  Ok, chili powder first.  Mm, tastes like smokey on sweet.  Add some lime juice.  Tangy with smokey on sweet.  Pretty good, but I think I can make it better.  A little garlic salt should bring out the savory in the spices to balance out the sweet, juicy mango.

Yep, that's it!  I found the perfect spice combo.  My spicy fruit quickly disappeared as my fork zoomed back and forth from my bowl to my mouth.  The succulent mango melted into zingy juice in my mouth.  How soft.  How luscious.  How absolutely delicious!  Perfect snack for my rumbling tummy.  Mmm, satisfaction is here.

Another delicious and much quicker alternative is Tajin Clasico Seasoning with Lime.  If you don't have a boyfriend with a Hispanic mother to buy it for you like I did, you can find it in Wal-Mart near the fresh fruit or in the Spanish foods aisle.  You could also find it in a Mexican food store.

*     *     *

These handy spice carousels have the perfect combination of spices that every kitchen needs, and it looks great on your counter too! This wonderful Kamenstein Stainless Steel Spice Tower will cut down on the time it takes you to gather ingredients for many fabulous meats, soups, side dishes and even the great chili garlic combo listed above, delicious sprinkled on mangos, sliced watermelon, cucumber or jicama. Add some zing to your life with this great-looking piece that will add convenience and beauty to your kitchen.

A God-sized Sigh

After I posted my poem the other day, what are the odds I'd find this quote:

"God is an unutterable sigh, planted in the depths of the soul."
  -Jean Paul Richter

With One Deep Sigh

One deep sigh...

God, you wrap me in your arms

Your love--like warm sunshine and melting chocolate--

Floods my soul with your warmth

I feel protected

I feel loved

I feel sheltered

And always taken care of

With one deep sigh I rest myself against you