More Beanstalk

Saying for the Day-If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up. ~J.M. Power

And now our elf tale continues.
Last week Timothy Muy Pobre who was raised on Jack and the Bean Stalk , was given one wish and wished for some magic seeds. He planted them and after a month a giant bean stalk had grown with its top in what seemed to be a hole in the sky.
So Tim began to climb. Now climbing a giant beanstalk is not easy even when the beanstalk is magic. About half way up Tim had to stop and rest. His arms and legs hurt. The beanstalk was slippery and he was afraid he would fall off. The tension and fear caused him even more pain. So there he sat in the middle of the beanstalk wondering if he had made a mistake and should have wished for something else. He was also beginning to think about the giant. He might end up as lunch instead of a rich young man. He thought that he should have had an axe at the bottom of the stalk in case he had to cut it down in a hurry if the giant chased after him. But he had come this far and so he pushed on. By the time he went through the hole in the sky every muscle in his body hurt.
But he was there. He had reached the magic universe, a place he believed of harps that played themselves and chickens that lay golden eggs. After he caught his breath and rested he looked around . What he saw was not as all what he had expected. He was on the edge of a little village that seemed even poorer than the one from which he came. Nowhere could he see a castle of any kind. There was no visible gold or silver or magic anything. But there was a road, a path really, into the village and Tim started walking.
As he came into the village there was an old man sitting on the steps of a rundown house.
“ Excuse me” Tim said “ could you tell me where the giant lives ?”
The old man looked up and said, “ You must be one of those beanstalk guys. We‘ve had a number of you since that idiot Jack made his visit. They always come looking for gold and chickens that lay golden eggs. But those days are gone forever.”
“What do you mean?” asked Tim
“ Well, there used to be a bridge between us and the magical universe of the giant. We supplied the giant with coffee and eggs and our economy thrived. Then that upstart Jack cut down that beanstalk, and killed the giant. That caused the bridge to collapse and totally ruined our economy” said the old man.
“You mean there is no gold, no magic hen” said Tim.
“ We haven’t seen any gold since the bridge collapsed . We do have a magic hen but it lays eggs that hatch immediately and the little chicks grow up overnight and start laying eggs. We have lots and lots of eggs. We also have a magic coffee plant that makes the best coffee in any world but a lot of good that does us.” cried the old man.
“ Don’t you have at least a magic harp that plays itself” Tim asked in desperation.
O! We do. We do . Its over there in the dump. It never got a single song right and we couldn’t stand it any more.” the old man said sadly.
Tim thought a harp that played itself even if it didn’t play well would be worth something so he went to the dump and dug around until he found it. Then he tucked it under his arm and started back down the beanstalk.
Reaching the bottom he gave the dirty , smelly harp to his mother but it refused to play since it felt insulted that it was thrown into the dump.
Tim still had some beans left so he decided to go to a far way place called California where he would plant another beanstalk and hope it hit a rich magic kingdom.
Tim’s mother polished the harp every day until it gleamed and the harp was so happy that it began to play. She sold it to a rich collector who wanted to keep it a secret and paid her half a million dollars for it.
The old man , who wasn’t so old after all, came down the beanstalk and married Tim’s mother who then was no longer Mrs.Muy Pobre but became Mrs. Muy Rico. Her new husband brought down the magic hen and the magic coffee plant. Together they founded the Starbucks and Perkins restaurant chains and got even richer.
Mr. Muy Rico never forgot his roots and the poor little magic village shared in the wealth and even restored the bridge.
Tim was never heard from again though it is rumored that he was eaten by a giant but you know how unreliable California rumors are.
Now this story is awash with morals.
1. Wealth comes with patience
2. Just because it doesn’t lay gold eggs doesn’t mean the hen isn’t magic.
3. Work with what you have don’t go looking for something better.
4. If you keep looking for giants you may very well get eaten.
5. Think before you wish.
#### News from Pigeon Falls-The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal . Tommy UK waited with Fred’s Scuba gear all day yesterday but the whale didn’t show.
Bob Alder, a local farmer, had his turn yesterday at storytelling in the local Liar’s Club contest. This is his story:
Soon after we returned from disappearing with the whole town we had a big “Glad we’re back Party”. My wife made her famous triple fudge cake with the world’s most unbelievable frosting. We all had a wee bit too much to drink. The next morning I was sitting in the kitchen nursing a hangover when the movement on the table caught my eye. There standing in the frosting of the half of the cake that didn’t get eaten was a tiny little creature. It was whirring its wings and trying to get out of the frosting which held it tight. That’s the one thing wrong with my wife’s frosting. If you leave it stand overnight it turns to cement. So here was this cute little creature with its tiny little feet locked in my wife’s cement or frosting. I figured it was either a fairy or a hangover induced hallucination . Since I figured a fairy only existed in children’s books I was opting for hallucination when it spoke.
“ Help me”, it said.” I’m already late for an important meeting”.
I looked again and you know it had a tiny little briefcase in one hand.
One doesn’t get to talk to a fairy very often real or hallucinatory so I asked ,” What kind of meeting could a cute little fairy like you be going to?”
“ One concerning the health of your cows” she said.
Now it never occurred to me that fairies had anything to do with the health of my cows so now she really had my interest. “ Could you explain” I asked.
“I’m a farm fairy” she said .” It is our task to help you with the animals and plants of the farm. Without us no farmer would survive. You have a cow that is about to give birth and unless we do something you are going to lose the calf and the cow.”
So I got a spoon and pushed up under the frosting causing it to crack. The fairy popped loose, thanked me and disappeared. I would have kept her longer but I need that cow and that calf.
At first I thought it might b a hallucination but now I’m convinced it was real. The cow and calf are doing fine. But the prime evidence I brought with me today. It is the remaining half of my wife’s cake . If you look closely you can see the little footprints leading up to where the fairy got stuck. Please don’t eat the cake it’s the only evidence I have.
The judges gave him two eights, three nines, and two tens. Throwing out one eight his average was nine point two.
*****

Today's Link-Ancient One's Place- On a Road not to be traveled
A very good day today. My oxygen level was right on the normal line. Betty and I spent the morning and part of the afternoon sorting the bedroom. Sorting is a better term than cleaning. We had four piles; store , freecycle, garbage, and Good Will. The question we asked is will we use it in the next year. If not it went to one of the last three. You can move in the bedroom now. I may7 not need a nightlite to find a path to the bathroom. Then we went grocery shopping since Peter and family are coming here tomorrow. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA
Second Garden Railroad ( G scale) the original Pigeon Falls