A Different Type of Quarantine

“I wander from one room to the next, down the stairs and back up again and feel like a songbird that has had its wings torn off and flies against the bars of its cage in total darkness. “Outside, fresh air and laughter,” a voice inside me screams; I don’t even try to answer anymore, I lie down on a divan and sleep in order to shorten the time, the silence,  the terrible fear too.”

The above quote is by someone who was in a different type of quarantine.

We want to go, we have places to see and things to do, people to see. I get that! We have masks that we don’t like wearing when we are out, they are bothersome people say. I get that too. I find myself having to take a deep breath at times , as I pull it away from my face a little. We have fears too, how bad are things really going to get. What does the future hold? Will a loved one get sick, will I get sick and be in the hospital alone? I have had those same fears, but I alsohave had something else.

I been able to go on walks in the bright sunshine with my family. I have been able to go out to the grocery store and get food that we need. I have been able to be safe in my house, enjoying the comforts of home, even if the 4 walls seem to close in at times. They may close in and I may have my worries, but than I am reminded of the quote at the top of this post. I am reminded of the young girl that wrote it. Anne Frank.

Anne Frank who didn’t spend a month in quarantine but 761 days! The girl who longed to see the sunshine and breathe in the fresh air, feel the wind against her face. The girl who was remarkably strong through her time of hiding but also was human and had her times of sadness and fears.  A girl who didn’t have the luxury of enjoying her own house, but instead shared a tiny apartment with 7 other people. People that she didn’t always get along with. People that she had to share 1 bathroom with. They were each allowed 15 minutes in the morning to be in the bathroom when they got awake. They had a schedule they followed.

They didn’t just veg out watching Netflix and eating junk food during the day. They had to be quiet because of the men working right below them. They got a breather during lunch hour when the men went home for lunch.

We want the quarantine lifted, we want life to resume as normal. Anne wanted that too, and after 761 days of being in hiding, she did get to go outside again.  She saw the blue sky of Aushwitz Concentration Camp.

This is a reminder to myself, a reminder to myself that I am just sharing with all of you. Let us not forget to count our blessings, even when we may have trouble seeing the sunshine beyond the clouds.

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

It is the last week of April, and we have been having April showers, but we haven’t yet today. Looks like we will be celebrating another family birthday in quarantine. My husband’s is on Sunday, May 3rd. Think we will go out …. to the back porch! Perhaps if its a nice day, we can have a campfire in the evening. Roast some S’mores. Yum, right? What can be a better combination than graham crackers, golden brown marshmallows and a chocolate bar? Brings smiles to my taste buds. Enjoy the following quotes, and may they bring smiles to your heart!

 

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The Moments of Beauty

picture from Pinterest

 

Marissa was mesmerized by the sight. Right now she felt like there was no other place that she would rather be. This safari ride had turned out to be amazing and as she watched the sun set her breath was taken away. She watched the elephants as they walked by the water. What majestic animals  they were.

She had always loved animals and seeing wild animals up close like this filled her heart and  made her at a loss for words.

A day like today had made all other thoughts leave her head. Today all she could focus on were the amazing animals that were roaming around, right in front of her eyes.

The lion and its lioness that she saw resting in the long grass, and the giraffe eating leaves from a tree. The baby elephant playing in the water and the zebras looking straight at her trying to figure her out.

She had come to Africa on business, but her stay had got extended due to flights being cancelled.  At first she was upset about being stuck here, but once she started exploring, she found herself slowly being enraptured by this place.  After today, she wondered if she wanted to go back to her hectic business life in the city.  How could she get tired of seeing scenes like this play out right in front of her eyes? Perhaps she should quit her job and become a safari guide.

Pinterest

Marissa knew she was just dreaming. She did enjoy her life in the city, but she was thankful for this unexpected break in her schedule. She was finding time to breathe again and to open her eyes to the wonders around her.

She had no control of the events that caused flights to be cancelled. There was nothing she could do. Wasn’t like she could rent a car and drive to the US.  Sometimes there were things totally out of our control, but there were some things she could control. One of them was what she was doing right now. Taking the time to soak in the moment, letting time stand still and opening her eyes to the beauty right in front of her.

 

Challenge Accepted

Jim from https://jborden.com/2020/04/25/you-paid-how-much-for-that-jigsaw-puzzle/ did an interesting post today that I think all of you would enjoy, especially the ones who love puzzles. His blog offers an array of different subjects, when you have a chance, go visit it, I am glad I did.

This post isn’t about puzzles though. Jim was another blogger who had participated in my Trivia challenge and while his answers were not correct, I was impressed with his creativity. As a reward for his creative answers, I offered him the chance to suggest a subject for me to do a blog post about. If I had only known what I was getting into!

His suggestion was that I explain my thoughts of Professor Yuji Ijiri’s concept of triple bookkeeping.

Math and Science were my worst subjects in school, with Math being the absolute worst! My Math teacher took a sabbatical after I graduated, just saying.

So Jim’s suggestion posed a real dilemma, for while I am not one to pass up a challenge, I was already confused as I read the first 2 paragraphs behind the concept of triple bookkeeping. Yes, I did actually look it up and read it. With all due respect to Yuji Ijiri, I cannot adequately explain his concept, which I am sure he put a lot of intellectual thought into.

I had to try to explain it somehow though, before Jim had the satisfaction of thinking he stumped me! Below this paragraph you will find my thoughts of Triple Bookkeeping explained. I do believe that all of my readers, whether they excel at  Math or not, will understand it, and that maybe it would even make Professor Yuji Ijiri smile! I should point out that he was Jim’s Professor in college, so for those of you who would like to know more in depth facts about triple bookkeeping, feel free to ask Jim! Thank you Jim for this suggestion , it gives me confidence that if I can tackle Triple Bookkeeping, I may be able to do a post on just about any other subject out there!

  Bookkeeping

Double Bookkeeping

 

Triple Bookkeeping!

 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

There may be no traffic jams on the interstate but internet traffic is quite busy! 

“Think, think, think…”  Perhaps honey is a magic thinking ingredient!

A long, long, long time ago, up on a hill …. 

Get some honey like Pooh Bear and finish the sentence, with as many words as you want. 

 

 

 

The Logical Choice

A shout out to Jo from  https://johawkthewriter.com/2020/04/22/looking-forward-daily-quote/   Jo was another winner from my little Trivia game, its really easy to win, even if you just randomly guess at the answers.  Her blog is another fun one to follow, sometimes really short stories and other times just sharing her encouraging thoughts where she will end the post with a question for you to think about.

She suggested that I pick my favorite god/goddess from Greek mythology and explain why I identify with them! I do have creative readers. I had to think about that one for a bit, for I haven’t read Greek mythology for a very long time. I knew Zeus was the God of Thunder, but I knew I didn’t identify with him,  so….  the search was on.

In my search  I came across Posedion who first sounded like he would be a god I could identify with, the god of the sea. I LOVE the sea, being mesmerized by the sound of the waves. There was a problem though, he was also the god of earthquakes and storms, and was said to be the most ill tempered and greedy of all the gods ! I quickly changed my mind about him.

Ares was said to be aggressive and thirsted for conflict. I try to avoid conflict as much as I can so I couldn’t choose him either.

Athena is the goddess of Wisdom and I thought she would be the perfect choice, for many times I long for wisdom! Plus she carried an Owl on her shoulder. She was sounding better all the time, but she was also the goddess of war! That I couldn’t identify with, so the search continued.

Apollo is the winner! He is the god of healing, music, poetry and medicine.  I love music and poetry! There is a picture of him with a harp, which is a beautiful instrument. Just think of relaxing by a river, reading a book of poetry under a tree. Or maybe sitting on a hill of wildflowers and your love is playing the harp for you. Wouldn’t that be healing medicine to your heart? Words of poetry can be healing to the spirit as well. I also found out that his favorite color was blue, I am thinking it was probably “emerald blue”. Yes, I would have to say that Apollo appears to be the logical choice for me! What do you think?

 

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Rain is in the forecast today and strong winds, but yesterday was beautiful. We walked for about an hour outside. No wind, beautiful blue sky and warm temps. We chatted and laughed about the little things from long ago. Its amazing the things kids can remember when they were so young. I sometimes find out things that I never knew before when my kids get to chatting about memories. I apparently am to “blame” for telling my children when they were little that Unicorns were real ! My one insists that it was more upsetting to find out that Unicorns really don’t exist then it was about Santa Clause! There goes my “Mother of the Year” award. I had no words as I just looked at them and shook my head. I really didn’t remember conversations about Unicorns. Glad to say that all is well now, they have fully recovered, they were just letting me know. Children! You gotta love them!

Hope that brought a smile to your day and that the following quotes will keep you smiling! Have a great day!

 

1. I hope none of you have started counting grains of rice yet!
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Taking a Ride on the Pony Express

Do you like Unicorns? Well if you want to chase them, you should visit Tippy’s blog. http://unicorniks.com/2020/04/20/lockdown-rules/   It is well worth your time!

I am giving another shout out today to Tippy for his close answer to one of the questions from my Trivia post on Saturday. The question was asking how many months the Pony Express ran for. The correct answer was 18 months, he guessed 26, so he got a prize! His prize was choosing a topic for me to write about and he suggested  for me to do a story around the Pony Express. I didn’t think that would be too hard, until he asked that I give all the ponies a name. Then I delved more into reading about the Pony Express and found out that there were 400 total ponies. I hope I don’t disappoint anyone by NOT filling my story with 400 names of ponies. If so, I will try to make it up to you somehow. I may not have named all the ponies but there are some true facts mixed in with this fictional story. I hope Tippy and the rest of you can enjoy this little journey back in history, to a time long, long ago!

 

Skippy was taking a break. He thought he would sit under the shade of the big Oak tree on this nice Spring evening, in 1860. He needed some time to check out the back of his eyelids for a little, and it was so peaceful listening to the running water in the nearby creek.

His horse Udella was munching on some grass and taking a much needed break as well. Skippy liked Della, he called her that, often forgetting the “U” that was in her name. She could run as fast as the wind, one of the fastest horses, among the 400 that were used for the Pony Express. He always liked when he got Udella on his last run,  for he knew that he would be finished with it in half the time. After changing horses 8-10 times along the 75 mile route, he was glad to end the day with a fast horse.

Skippy was just about to enter dreamland when he saw something that set his heart to racing. A horse was galloping towards him and he heard some hollering. It was an Indian raising his hand in the air and waving it around. Skippy was scared, for he had heard stories from some of his other comrades who had met up with Indians, as they were traveling their routes.

There were 120 men that were riders for the Pony Express, so among all of them they gathered lots of stories. The stories had sent chills down the spine and made the hairs on his arms stand up! Especially the story about the 14 year old rider that had been attacked by Indians. Skippy was only a year older than him. He hadn’t known the rider well, besides his name, William. He wondered if he had been an orphan too, like a lot of the riders were. Riding for the Pony Express was really dangerous, part of why they wanted riders under the age of 18. Didn’t want no married fellows. Now Skippy was a quivering as he hid behind the tree, and having doubts of why he had ever taken this job.

He knew what the boss man said, that the riders were expected to protect the 20 pound mail pouch with their lives. He told his employees how he paid them well at $100 dollars a month so he expected their dedication. They had to swear on a bible before they took the job, but right now he was ready to just throw that mail pouch at the Indian and ride Udella as fast as he could. The problem was that the Indian was between him and Udella, for she had wandered off to another patch of grass that had some clover, oh what was he going to do?

Skippy could tell the Indian was a young boy as he rode closer to him. Perhaps he would be friendly or maybe not. He took a deep breath and prepared to meet his doom, as he stepped out from behind the tree. The Indian was smiling, and Skippy gave a shaky smile back. Skippy considered himself a happy guy so he may as well keep smiling, even if he was to meet his end.

The Indian boy stopped and pointed to Skippy’s canteen. Skippy knew there wasn’t a lot of water left but hey if water could save his life the young boy was welcome to it! He handed him the canteen and the boy smiled at him as he gulped it down. He handed the canteen back and motioned to the creek. Skippy was feeling pretty hot, and he began to feel a little more at ease. The boy really did just seem thirsty. Surely if he had meant to kill him, he would have done it by now!

“Come!”The boy said, as he motioned towards the creek again and started towards it.

Skippy stood for a moment debating, but then he couldn’t resist as he watched the young boy splashing in the creek.

Soon they were both cooling off in the creek and having a good time!

Sometimes boys just needed to have fun!

 

 

 

 

 

In the Blink of An Eye!

Has there been a time in your life when something really bad turned into something really good?

This question was posed to me by LA from https://wakinguponthewrongsideof50.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/due-archives/

She participated in my trivia game from yesterday’s post, Trivia Fun and she got a correct answer! Her prize was getting to suggest a topic for me to do a post on. A win for her, for her blog gets a shout out. Her blog is always a fun one to read. sometimes you laugh and sometimes she really has something thought provoking to think about, either way, its always interesting. Plus a win for me, in helping out my writer’s block.

As I thought about her question, the same story kept popping up, so I decided to go with it. I don’t know if its exactly what you were asking for LA, but hopefully you and my readers will enjoy it.

When I was in High School I had a lot of guy friends. Not boyfriends, but good friends that were guys. It was the same after High School. I would have boyfriends here and there, but I seemed to attract more the guys that just wanted a good friend. I had no problem with that, I enjoyed their friendship as well.

Once my friends started getting married though it became a little harder to be the girl that was just someone’s good friend, little sis, etc. You know the saying, “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” I  was beginning to wonder if that quote would describe me.

My sisters were married, my sisters had babies, and there I was, still single. I had some dates that made me buy myself a key chain. It said, “Men are like Parking Spaces, all the good ones are taken!”  My clock was ticking, I mean really, I was the ripe old age of 24!

Then it happened, another friend of mine was leaving the “I hate men” club and getting married.  My club was seriously dwindling. It was basically my Boston Terrier and me, and let me tell ya, she always was in agreement with everything I said about guys. She would look at me with those big eyes of hers and cock her head, saying “I know, Men! They are crazy!” and then snuggle up to me and say, “But really, why do you need them, you have me!”

I agreed to be my friend’s bridesmaid for I was genuinely happy for her. I flew 500 miles to be in her wedding and some of you may already know what I am going to say.  My escort walked me down the aisle in rehearsal and during the wedding and then we walked back down the aisle almost exactly a year later as husband and wife!

I had no intention of falling in love with someone 500 miles away when I flew to be in my friend’s wedding, but it happened. One quick weekend and I literally flew home with my head in the clouds.

So all the time I had spent kicking myself about past boyfriends perhaps and wondering if I made mistakes. The times I  laid in bed single thinking that was how it was going to be were really just leading up to this one New Year’s Eve weekend where I met the guy that was meant for me.

Is there a lesson to learn from this? Yes, that life can have its depressing times and you can think you are stuck and you wonder if things will get better, but then, in a blink of an eye, things can quickly change! Don’t ever lose hope!

 

Trivia Fun

A few weeks ago I had a little trivia game on here. I was impressed with your guesses, some of you were very close to the correct answers. I have such clever “followers!” I thought I would give you all another opportunity today. Once again there will be 6 trivia questions. You can answer one, two or all of them, in the comments below. I did make them a little easier this time. The ones who get closest to the correct answer will get a “prize” and the prizes will be different from last time. I will point out that this time I made sure that the questions have definitive answers, all details are covered! Take a chance, give it your best shot, you have nothing to lose and hopefully a little fun to have. I will reveal the answers and winners tonight. Oh yes, and remember the one rule, No Googling for the answers! 🙂

1. In feet how tall was the tallest recorded sand castle?
2. What was the age of the youngest person known to climb to the top of Mt.Everest?
3. In miles per hour, how fast can an ostrich run? (Being that the ostrich is well rested and there are no weather conditions preventing it from running at its typical speed.)
4. In months, how long did the Pony Express last?
5. How many men have walked on the moon?
6. How many constellations are there?