“Google has detected that your site has been hacked by a third party who created malicious content on some of your pages.”
This was the message I received around Thanksgiving that sent me into a tailspin.
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A Quiet Snack
There once was a squirrel so sweet
Who climbed up the house to eat.
He perched on the sill
And sat there quite still
Until it was time to repeat!
Note: Poetic form is a Limerick. This little darling scales up two stories to perch on our window sill nearly every day. He usually brings a spot of food with him, too. Just look at his tiny hands!! Domer is home for the holidays, so I’m taking a few days off to play. Merry Christmas, one and all — I’ll be back soon!
Dispensing Hugs
Hugs are the universal medicine. ~Author Unknown
Something completely unexpected happened this weekend after I finished Confession.
(Now, for those who aren’t aware, “Confession” is more properly known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and Catholics are required to participate once a year — more often is generally preferred.)
Drama in the Family
Family quarrels are bitter things. They don’t go by any rules. They’re not like aches or wounds; they’re more like splits in the skin that won’t heal because there’s not enough material. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald
Families shouldn’t be war zones.
One person not talking to another;
One saying hurtful things about the others.
Families shouldn’t be war zones.
We can’t choose our family.
Our friends? Yes, and sometimes they’re
Closer to us than our blood relations.
We can’t choose our family.
Pray together, stay together,
So the adage goes.
But too often, prayer goes unanswered,
And rifts become chasms
With no meeting of the minds.
Leaving behind heartache, loneliness,
Confusion, worry, fear, and anger.
Let there be spaces in your togetherness,
The Prophet advises.
A balance between separation and connection
Seems difficult to attain
When one wants to control and another
Refuses to be controlled.
Perhaps unconditional love is merely a myth,
And the family you’re stuck with
Isn’t the one you’d have chosen
If you’d had a choice.
Which you didn’t.
Trust, once broken, becomes doubt.
Drama belongs in novels and on stage,
Not in holiday gatherings of loved ones.
Some people, you know, are just toxic.
They nag, criticize, demand, and throw tantrums
Every time they don’t get their way.
They never get enough
Love, attention, presents, money.
Being around them requires super-human patience;
Breaking free of their sphere feels invigorating.
Some people, you know, are just toxic.
Note: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Domer is home and we’re celebrating enthusiastically! Sadly, not all family gatherings are happy ones — may your family dramas be nil and your holiday easy and peaceful!
Ranting Over Insurance
Every time the government attempts to handle our affairs, it costs more and the results are worse than if we had handled them ourselves. — Benjamin Constant (1767-1830)
Once again, it’s time for the fiasco we call the Affordable Care Act to accept sign-ups and parcel out medical insurance to the American public.
Now, I realize my liberal friends will rise up in collective protest — and I fully support their right to do so — but this is my blog, and I have a right to my opinion as well.
So either hear me out or come back another time!
Free Money??
Better to go to bed hungry than to wake up in debt. — Proverb
The other day, I opened an envelop addressed to my business and was stunned at what I saw.
A check for $48,000.
Say, wha?
Pick That Trash Up!
We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ― David Brower, author, environmentalist
You think you’re so cool
Zipping along in your rat-mobile.
Nobody would ever guess
You were raised in a barn.
That’s what it’s called, you know,
When you act like a pig.
Sad to say, even pigs act better than you,
Most times, anyway.
You think nobody saw you
As you slowed in traffic, stealthily
Lowered your passenger window,
Looked right and left and then…
Casually tossed that crumpled brown sack
Of fast food take-out into the street,
Where it rolled in the wind
And came to rest by the side of the road.
Well, somebody noticed, Buster — me,
And I’m not happy with your littering,
Dumping your garbage on city streets when
There are plenty of receptacles around.
It’s people like you who give our city
A bad name, a reputation for trashiness.
And it’s people like you who don’t care
That others have to live in your filth.
Maybe it’s an age or gender thing,
But somebody should’ve taught you better.
And if they did, and you didn’t listen,
Then you’re a bigger pig than you appear.
(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday
Almost stepped on this critter while I was walking the other day:
You can’t really tell from the picture, but this thing was as thick as two of my fingers and about four inches long. I was afraid to get too close because it had horns on its head!
Having never seen anything remotely like it, I had to look it up. And I learned he (or maybe she) is an Imperial Moth Caterpillar.
I think.
And if so, it’s going to be one BIG moth some day.
What do you think?
Writer-Reader Contract
The reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He’s entitled to be entertained, instructed, amused; maybe all three. If he quits in the middle, or puts the book down feeling his time has been wasted, you’re in violation. — Larry Niven, American science fiction writer
Even if the reader doesn’t ‘buy’ your story (perhaps the book was a gift, or borrowed from a library), a writer still must play fair. You can’t advertise your novel as the family-friendly tale of a dog trying to get back home, for instance, if it’s really a steamy romance from the dog owner’s point of view.
Watch Your Words
Words are like eggs dropped from great heights; you can no more call them back than ignore the mess they leave when they fall. — Jodi Picoult, American author, Salem Falls
I was only kidding, you say.
Why can’t you take a joke?
When did you lose your sense of humor?
Sorry, you can’t take hurtful words back.
You shake your head in disgust at me
(Or perhaps yourself), and you declare we just
Won’t talk at all since I’m so dumb-witted.
Sorry, you can’t take hurtful words back.
Every school kid is aware that it’s sticks
And stones that break one’s bones, not words.
But words can do more damage than splitting bones.
And you can’t take hurtful words back.
Accusations, snide remarks, outright lies
Can wound right to a person’s inner core,
Bringing tears, self-doubt, misery, and despair.
And you can’t take hurtful words back.
Words have power, longevity, and emotion.
It’s crucial we treat them with care and respect,
Not letting angry, vicious thoughts cross our tongues.
Because you can’t take hurtful words back.
When used for good, words can be uplifting,
Surrounding others with affirmation and hope,
Encouraging, praising, sustaining, loving.
But you can’t take hurtful words back.
Note: This poetic form is called a Refrain.
“Kind words are the music of the world. They have a power which seems to be beyond natural causes, as if they were some angel’s song which had lost its way and come to earth.” — Frederick William Faber, Catholic priest and English hymn writer
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 