Too many awards

Today's Link
Bit Player Reflects

Today's Saying
A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world. ~Leo Buscaglia

Today's Picture

Akelamalu from " everything and nothing " gave me this beautiful award.
Of course it comes with rules:
Put this Award in a post on your blog
Invite 10 people to take this award
Don’t forget to link back to the person that gave this award to you.
Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
Share the love to those who get this award

I like Akelamalu. She is one of my favorite bloggers. It is because of her I do Friday 55. She is kind, considerate and a wonderful person.
That is why I hate having to turn down this award.
Aside from the fact that I don’t deserve it, a fact that I could overlook, it comes with rules I can’t or won’t keep.
I believe if you can’t take the whole package you shouldn’t take any part of it.

Why?

Lets look at the way this works out.

1. Akelamalu gives 10 of us the award.
2. If we each gave it to 10 people then 110 people would have the award.
3. Now if each of the new 100 gave it to 10 people then 1110 would have the award
4. If the 1000 new people each gave it to 10 people then 11,110 would have the award
5. If the 10000 new people each gave it to 10 people then 111,110 would have the award
6. If the 100,000 new people each gave it to 10 people then 1,111,110 would have the award

Look at that we are only 6 steps away from the start and we are up to a million people

7. If the 1,000,000 new people each gave it to ten people we would have 11,111.110 people with the award
8. If the 11,000,000 new people each gave it to ten people we would have 111,111,110 people with the award
9. If the 100,000,000 new people each gave it to ten people we would have 1,111,111,110 people with the award.

Now at step 9 we are at a billion. Are there that many bloggers?

It has to end somewhere so I am saying no further.
It stops here.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Yesterday Tommy UK suggested to Eino that the way to stop things from coming from the other dimension is with a cage. It would run along the bottom of the trench , up the sides, across the top, and up the far end. The doorway area was left open. Something could come through into the trench but not get out. Eino decided this was a good idea and is having the cage made. It has too be strong enough to hold a huge wooly elephant. It should be ready in a couple of days.
Tommy UK is having second thoughts. He is not sure one can go around the projected solution in the driblet so he is still trying with Tammy to figure out what “ out of the black comes the light” means. Could it have something to do with the man in black?

Wrap UP

It has been one of those days. My blood oxygen levels dropped that means I couldn't go anywhere without an oxygen bottle. My internet connection was out all morning. My son grand sons and my daughter went to Cedar Point and I so wanted to go with them. I discovered I fouled up the date for writing on Portrait of Words. If anybody has an award out there for a calendar klutz I deserve it. I now have the linksy up on Portrait of Words. It's late but it's up. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA
GBYA

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Thank You Blogger

Today's Link
Taste with the Eyes

Today's Saying
I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.
~William Shakespeare

Today's Picture
A Rose from our garden for Blogger on its anniversary

This is Blogger’s tenth birthday and I want to take this occasion to share with my readers what Blogger has meant to me.
Over four years ago I came home from the hospital to find that my world had shrunk.
Before this time I was President of the School Board, Pastor of the largest Church in town, and active in almost everything in the community. I was getting ready for my retirement and my wife and I were planning a trip to Finland.
After coming home I was on a ventilator and my house was my total world. I left only to go to the Doctor’s and that was not easy. I missed being with people. My life was now about as dull as it could be.
I did have an internet connection but I used it primarily for E-mail to my children. Then my Son Patrick said Dad why don’t you set up a blog. I had never heard of a blog but I was sure I couldn’t afford it.
“Blogger” he said.” Is free”
So I went to blogger.com.
I set up a blog . That was on May 08, 2005. That day my little world began to expand.
At first I wrote about my day so my kids who lived 120 to 160 miles away could see what was happening. They wrote comments. It was fun.
Then I started writing little stories for my grandchildren about my garden railroad town , Pigeon Falls. They enjoyed them but so did some other people. They left comments. I visited their blogs. My world got bigger.
Soon I had a little neighborhood. It was like stopping in for coffee every day just to see how things were going. My neighborhood kept growing and changing. People quit blogging and new people came.
Now in my little neighborhood are people who live in England, Ireland, Belgium , Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and all over the United States. Every morning or sometime during the day they drop in to my blog and I stop in at their’s.
One blogger even traveled all the way from Maryland just to meet me outside of the blog. It was a wonderful experience.
Like any neighborhood we share our troubles and our joys. We laugh and cry together. We support one another. They even pretend to like my stories. You couldn’t find a better group anywhere.
Every day I am inspired by them.
There is a mother waiting for her son to get out of prison .
There are parents of autistic children .
There is a young man in Norway dying of Aids.
There is a wonderful homebound lady with a heart as big as they come.
There is a marvelous caring lady that has a tattoo and rides a motorcycle.
There is a lady older than I am that writes good poetry.
Every day people either do kind things or share what others have done for them.
My world is now larger than before I got sick and I owe it all to Blogger.
Thank you Blogger.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
This morning Tommy UK left for school early and stopped at Eino’s to see last nights videos.
Most of the traffic for the evening was back through the door rather than out into Pigeon Falls. There was one of the men with hands coming out of his head leading a spider. There was one of the jack-in-the-box people leading one of those big wooly elephants. That was hard to watch because the head kept going down into the neck and then without warning popping out. Every time it popped up Tommy jumped back. Just at the end of the video a tin man looking like something out of the Wizard of Oz came through , looked around and went back in.
Tommy said that he had read where one psychologist thinks our dreams, nightmares, and visions are glimpses into other dimensions. So Oz might be a real place. In which case we are the dream world for them and Eino could be a nightmare.
Eino said that he didn’t think that made any sense but the whole thing made no sense so it as good an explanation as any.
“The question now is how do we keep them from leaving their world and coming into ours.” Tommy said. “ And I have an idea on how to do that until we figure out this light from the dark stuff. We need a cage.

Wrap UP

It was a cooler day. My blood oxygen levels were up. I worked at the story for the Portrait of Words blog for Wednesday . I spent some time with my son and grandsons. I visited all the blogs of the people who left comments yesterday. I updated the newsletter on St. Mark's website. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Today's Link
Comfort Spiral

Today's Saying
Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future. ~Robert Collyer

Today's Picture

Liturgical churches that use the Common Lectionary are celebrating the fourth Sunday after Pentecost today. The gospel text is Mark 5;21-43.
The text contains two miracles, the healing of a woman and the raising of a dead twelve year old girl.
There was a time when miracle stories were simply rejoiced in. They showed God in Christ touching people and making them whole.
Today, however, lots of people are almost ashamed of the miracle stories. They want the Church to fit into the modern age and the modern age is the age of science and reason. Miracles simply don’t happen in this world view. Even some of the people who belong to the church feel this way. The church is okay because it says God loves us and because it tells us to love our neighbor but the miracle stuff they can’t accept.
Pastors and theologians try to explain away the miracles . They explain away the events. The little girl wasn’t dead she was in a coma. The excitement of seeing Jesus changed the woman’s internal chemistry and the bleeding stopped.
This is sad because miracles and miracle stories still have power.
They are exciting.
They are thrilling.
They remind us that God is not out there somewhere waiting for us to die but is active in this world.
They deepen faith. ( Please note they don’t create faith.)
As one who has experienced miracles in his own life both big ones and small ones. I can tell you they are really wonderful events.
I have also seen miracles in the lives of others both big ones and small ones.
Just for a minute I want you to think of the joy in the house of the little girl in the gospel. Do you think the father cared if it was a resurrection or she just came out of a coma. She was alive. She was well. God was there in Christ Jesus. Joy abounded.
A miracle can only be seen as a miracle by the eyes of faith. Unbelief can always explain it away.
But in explaining it away they lose so much.
They miss seeing God in action.
They miss the excitement.
They miss out on the adventure.
I remember a young man saying to me after he discovered that God was real that it was like looking at the world through a new pair of glasses that made it possible to see things he never saw before.
Miracles are part of that world.
Thank you God for breaking in to this world.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Pastor Joan is in her study at Last Lutheran putting the finishing touches on today’s sermon. Here is a part of that sermon:
“Have you ever been laughed at because of your faith? Have you ever tried to talk to somebody about the faith only to have them laugh right in your face?
If you haven’t in this society your doing a good job of hiding what you believe.
Nobody wants to be laughed at.
As Charlie Brown says in the Peanut cartoon strip “ It hurts a face to be laughed on”.
But you can’t share the good news of who Jesus is without running the risk of being laughed at.
A long time ago a little girl seemed to have died. Her family and their friends gathered to mourn. There was crying and there was intense grieving. That’s how they handled death then.
Then along comes Jesus and says “ She’s not dead she is just asleep”.
But instead of saying “ That’s great”. They laughed at him.
He had come to heal and they laughed at Him.
Why? Because everybody knows you can’t heal the dead.
Now Jesus could have gone into the house without saying anything. He could have.
As miracles go it might have been more impressive if he hadn’t said she was just sleeping.
But he didn’t. He wanted them to know God was in control.
But they didn’t want to know so they laughed at Him.
But in laughing they missed the miracle.
In laughing they were left outside.
Many years have past but people haven’t changed much.
If they are sure they don’t want to hear or believe what you tell them they still laugh.
They still put themselves outside.
It is your task to be a little Christ and take the risk of being laughed at and let people know there is a loving God.
Every once in a while one will not laugh but step inside.
Another miracle from the God who loves us.”

Wrap UP

The temperature dropped so I could go to Church this morning. How great is that. The service was fine. We had a guest preacher. The fellowship afterward was great. I came home and posted everything to St. Mark's website. Then I visited all of the blogs that left comments yesterday.
Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Raven's Challenge 69

Today's Link
Vent

Today's Saying
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Picture
Three Grandsons: Elijah, Caleb, & Alex

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: Chorus line, clam chowder, apples, jack-in-the-box, Iran, quarry, housekeeping, speed, letter, puddles,
For the mini challenge: motorcycle, grandiose, summer, flying off the handle, blue jays ,

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Poor Agent 012 stood on the bank of the creek and pondered his next move. His quarry Mellifluous Vandersnot and her friend Tara Tara had eluded him. His feet were soaking wet from falling into the creek and he smelled like someone who lived in the sewer. He should go home and get changed but he felt that speed was essential if he was going to find Blue Velvet , that’s what she was now calling herself, alive.
That’s when he noticed the path going into the woods. He decided to follow it since it seemed likely that our young people had gone that way. About a half an hour later he began to wish he had the Agency’s new 2009 Honda XL700V Translap motorcycle as his feet were hurting. It was bad enough that they were already wet but the big puddles from the recent summer rain had added to his misery. He plodded along wishing he was home with a big bowl of his wife’s homemade clam chowder on the table before him. He wasn’t only wet he was also hungry.
After an hour he began to wonder if he had made a mistake following the path and perhaps he should have gone into Rummsy and looked for clues. As he moved along he began to think he might be hallucinating as here he was in the middle of the woods and he swore he could hear music from the musical Chorus Line. He knew that music almost well enough to sing along because one grandiose fall he had seen it fifteen times since Mute was using it to pass messages from operative to operative. As he moved along the music seemed to get louder and louder. Then he found himself on the edge of a huge field and he saw the source of the music. There were huge loudspeakers at all four corners of the field blaring out the songs . Over the field on the far edge was a sign that said “ World’s Largest Garage Sale” and in the field were hundreds of tables and a huge number of people. There was a table selling saffron from Iran, one selling housekeeping supplies, one selling genuine Blue Jays uniforms, and one with children’s toys including the cutest jack-in-the-box Agent 012 had ever seen. Agent 012 stopped and bought an apple from the table with such a wonderful assortment of apples. But before he got to eat it he saw them.
He knew from the blue hair it had to be her. She and the kid with her had their arms filled with junk all obviously purchased at this garage sale.
They looked to be in perfect shape and certainly didn’t seem to be kidnapped. Now, Agent 012 was not in the habit of flying off the handle, but the somehow the sight of them enraged him. To find them he had been hit by a card door, dumped in a creek, smelled like sewer, and his feet really hurt. All because she left home without even leaving a letter to explain where she was going.
So he confronted them . He called her ungrateful and stupid. She said she had been gone for longer periods and nobody even noticed. When they had this chance to get items for the big scavenger hunt they jumped at it. She was going home tomorrow or the next day.
Agent 012 borrowed TaraTara’s cell phone as his shoe phone for obvious reasons was not working. He called the Agency and told the Agency he had found them and would bring her home today. Then before they started back down the path he stopped and bought that cute little jack-in-the box.
It hadn’t been such a bad day after all.

The ten word challenge-A Bad Day

Poor Sally was having a bad day. It started with the TV report on the government crack down on protestors in Iran which made her feel both sad and helpless. Then she looked out and saw the birds ruining the apples on the big apple tree. She had targeted those apples for a pie. That’s when the three year old broke his favorite toy , a jack-in-the box, and was screaming because it wouldn’t work. When she got to the kitchen she found puddles made by the dog since nobody had gotten around to letting it out. The puddles were on top of the dirt her husband had tracked in from the quarry where he worked, housekeeping had never been her strong point. Before starting the cleanup she put her favorite CD from the musical Chorus Line into the CD –player only to have the mechanism fail and shoot the CD across the kitchen. It hit the can of clam chowder that she had just opened and knocked it over adding to the mess. She knew that she should act with speed to clean it all up but first she had to sit down and write her mother a letter. “ Dear Mother”, it began “ I am having a Calgon day.”. Her mother would understand.

The mini challenge-Reality

It was summer which always gave Helmer Hutchkins grandiose dreams of riding his 1990 Harley Davidson motorcycle from New York to California. Since he lived in Michigan and was broke most of the time it was a very unrealistic dream. Instead his summer consisted of watching his Blue Jays play ball . It was the only reason he had Sports Cable. He couldn’t see them on the over the air stations since they carried only those stupid Tigers. His friends always checked to see how the Blue Jays game went before they visited because Helmer had a bad habit of flying off the handle when the Blue Jays lost. On a good day, however, he would join them on his motorcycle and he could pretend he was living his dream.

All fifteen words in one sentence -A Dream

It was summer and Iran Quarry dreamed that a can of clam chowder came flying off the handle of his grandiose motorcycle turning into a chorus line of jack-in-the-boxes, each with a letter, being attacked by giant blue jays dropping apples with such speed that the little old lady from housekeeping and her dog Puddles couldn’t keep up.

Of course the dragons were busy today you can see them HERE.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
This morning Eino turned off the terrible news from Iran and checked over the videos for the last couple of nights. As he ate some warmed over clam chowder he watched some giant blue jays fly out of the trench . They were followed by some grandiose creatures that looked like living jack-in-the-boxes as their heads kept popping up and down out of their neck. Before he could view all the videos housekeeping called from the clinic to tell him that something had flown through the clinic window and there were big puddles of water on the floor. As head of the Clinic Board Eino told them to call Slovinsky and get the window repaired. He assumed they would mop up the water.
He no sooner got off the phone than he received another call. It seems that a couple of the men he sent out to track the big , hairy, elephant like creatures had cornered one at the quarry. It charged them at full speed and they shot it with an elephant gun. Then it just vanished and all that was left was a big puddle of water. That call was followed by a call from Percv Olmstep whose apples were being destroyed by giant birds. He told Percy to call Mrs. Temple. Next came a call from Burt asking if the insurance he bought with his new motorcycle covered the damage that came from being stepped on by a giant hairy elephant. Eino had to tell him he didn’t know because nobody had ever asked that question.
At this point Eino came very close to flying off the handle and screaming “ No more calls”. But instead being the rational being that he was he turned off his cell phone, took his house phone off the hook, and put on a DVD of the Chorus Line at Rockefeller Center . While that was playing he opened the letter from his son who was working for the summer at Six Flags over Greater America.

Wrap UP

A good day today. it wasn't nearly as hot. My oxygen was up. Wonderful. I visited everybody that wrote stories with Raven's words. I visited all my links. I researched pasty recipes. Betty and I made pasties I cut and ground the meat. We tried three different meats this time to see how each would taste. These are less expensive cuts than last time. I also ground up the potatoes and the onions. I am going to go out and test one. Then I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Flash 55

Today's Link
Shrink Wrapped Scream

Today's Saying
Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it's compounding a felony.
~Robert Benchley

Today's Picture
Father's Day

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story.

Smart Finns

Toivo had trouble sleeping.
He called Eino to ask for help.

Eino said take and put ten AA alkaline batteries in your pillow.

So Toivo did but still stayed awake.
So he threw the pillow on the couch.

At noon he laid down and fell asleep.
And that's how the Finns invented

the power nap.

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Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the eleventh chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood


The Knight in Shining Armor rode into the King's Court and asked to become a part of the Square Table.
Good King Underwear was overjoyed as he was short four Knights. He made the Knight in Shining Armor number three chair ahead of Sir Laughsalot. Sir Laughsalot looked at the new Knight and just laughed.



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This is a blatant advertisement, spam if you will, pretending to be a flash 55.
If you like to write then Portrait of Words invites you to write with us.
Every Wednesday four to six pictures.
You write a wonderful story based on them.
Or a poem based on the pictures.
Give it a good try.

News From Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal

For some reason that I can neither understand nor explain today's Pigeon Falls after the above introduction ends up as a flash 55. Must be some kind of learned response.

Eino saw on last night's video :
The man with arms in his head leading the evil looking spider back through the trench to the world it came from.
Then another one of those massive, hairy, elephant like creatures came out and charged into the woods. This was followed by a rather small two headed bird.

Of course the dragons will be busy today you can see them HERE.

Wrap UP

Got up early this morning when it was cool and went with Pennie and Betty grocery shopping. When the temperature goes up over 85 I don't leave the house. I tried to visit all the flash 55 people but some may have come in after I quit checking. I visited everyone who left a comment yesterday. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Part 2 What Kind Ogre

Today's Link
Fantastyk Voyage

Today's Saying
In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

Today's Picture
People picking the crop on the neighbor's farm

And so the elf gave Gogetum a wish because of his acts of kindness.. Gogetum asked for some time to think about what to wish for and , of course, the elf said take all the time you need. Gogetum then went to his room, put his feet up to take the pressure off his brains, like all ogres he has a left foot and a right foot brain.
Meanwhile the elf granting the wish had been hauled before the Elf Council to justify giving an ogre a wish. Everyone knew there were no kind ogres. Fortunately for the elf he had taken dreamscopes of the ogre doing acts of kindness and so the Council , however reluctantly, had to agree that the wish was justified.
After some time Gogetum summoned the elf and said that he was ready to wish.
“I wish”, he said “ that from this time forward every ogre would be kind and involve themselves in acts of kindness.”
“ So you have asked. So shall it be”, responded the elf using the old elf formula.
There was a flash of light and every ogre laid down his or her club. From that day on there would be no Smashing Out Parities , no Smashing Parties, and no spontaneous smashing. They stopped trying to scare human children. They would no longer fill in for Trolls under bridges. Every single ogre set about to do kind things.
But that was the problem on a magic planet like Megaearth there were not many opportunities for acts of kindness. There were no homeless people, no little old ladies to help across the street, no poor, no sick to visit, no beings that needed cheering up. Since all the beings on the planet , except the animals, could do magic kindness was not really needed. Of course, now and then there was room for a kind word but you have to remember that the wish made ogres kind not smart.
So one by one the ogres became despondent. They remembered with longing the smashing good old days. This lead to two horrible results:
1. They began to cry, buckets of tears.
2. They began to moan and scream.
Megaearth was not ready for crying ogres. Ogres had never cried before. The water from their tears began to cause lakes to overflow . This was inconvenient, to say the least. It meant that if you lived by a lake you had to take time from creating glorious things with your magic and use your magic to send the excess water to the effluent belt that circled megaearth. For make no mistake, ogre tears are effluent and can not be converted into anything else. As the problem grew the Elf Council threw together a spell that instantly sent all ogre tears as they were produced to the effluent belt. That seemed to solve problem number one.
Problem number two you would not understand unless you have heard an ogre moan or scream. But even if you had you can not imagine the sound of thousands of ogres all screaming and moaning at the same time. It covered the planet. It kept other beings awake. Magical sound shields had to be erected but even magic could not fully contain that horrible sound.
Then the weather change began. It seems that the thrown together spell to control the tears leaked and the atmosphere filled with ogre tears. These now caused rain not covered by the weather magic.
Thus the beings on Megaearth were subject to a strange rain with howling . It was frightful. It was a disaster. Not since the days of the “ Outhouse Effect” had the planet been in such a turmoil.
Since this could not continue a Greater Elf Council was called. Two solutions were put forth :
1. Ogrecide
2. Get the ogre to wish everything back the way it was before.
Alvin Gorey , who has never liked ogres, proposed they simply wipe out every single ogre. They served no useful purpose. They were not happy. They were really really stupid. They even looked funny.
The Council, however, felt that some effort to undo the wish should first be attempted.
The way magic worked on Megaearth is that only the person who made a wish could make another wish to undo it.
So they went to Gogetum and told him that if he would wish everything back as it was before his wish they would give him another wish so he could do it.
They expected him to ask for time to think about it but he didn’t. His kind heart had heard the moaning and the screaming of his people. He knew it was his fault. To try to change them was a mistake. They were who they were.
So he took the wish and wished everything back to normal. Ogres with great joy went back to smashing ogre heads and doing what ogres do.
And Gogetum, who was very smart for an ogre forced the elf Council to give him two wishes. He used the second one to cease being kind and now smashes heads with the best of them.
Now there are three morals to this story:
1. Sometimes kindness is not the answer
2. Don’t mess with happy ogres
3. Stay away from Elf wishes

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Petrovich’s latest translation has the whole town talking. Some are quickly planning out of town vacations and others are stocking up on groceries intending to stay in their home until the danger is over. Others are calling for Homeland Security to come and shoot anything coming out of the trench.
Eino points out that Homeland Security hss been called before and the results were not good. Homeland Security would be very reluctant to come to Pigeon Falls to fight mythical creatures coming out of a door that isn’t there.
In the last two nights the video has show a being with arms coming out of his head who went into the woods, a man in black also going into the woods, and a huge animal that looked like an elephant with hair that crushed its way into the woods..
This morning people looked at those crushed trees and now they are really scared.
Tommy UK and Tammy are studying the driblet. They are trying to figure out what it means when it says “ Out of the black comes the light”. What kind of light can solve this problem ?

Wrap UP

It was a nice day but I missed Quilly's words. The surprising thing for me as that the ogre story ended up much different from the story I told my grandchild. Sometimes when I go from an oral story to a written story it seems to rewrite itself. I looked up the cost of portable oxygen generators using Blingo. They are just out of my ability to obtain. I visited all the blogs that left comments yesterday. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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A Kind Ogre

Today's Link
Fern Valley Appalosa

Today's Saying
The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. ~Paul Valery

Today's Picture
Elijah

Believe it or not it is finally time for another unbelievable Elf Tale.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, on a planet far far away called Megaearth there lived a race of creatures called ogres. On this planet every other race of creatures knew three things about ogres:
1. Their brains were in their feet.
2. They really enjoyed bashing each other in the head with big clubs.
3. There was no such thing as a kind ogre.
In fact because of this third fact humans used the term “kind ogre” to illustrate the meaning of the term oxymoron much like people on our planet use the term “ honest politician”.
But it came to pass that a baby ogre was born to Bashum and Smashum Ogorium who already had three little ogres. Gogetum , as he was named, looked like a normal ogre. He had huge feet and a little head. He sounded like a normal ogre. His parents thought he was a normal ogre. But he was not normal. In fact he was very very abnormal. He was born kind. How this happened or why is a mystery. Perhaps the mother ogre had a virus or was hit in the head to hard just before his birth. It has even been suggested that he was dropped on his feet when he was born but the parents vehemently deny that.
For his first three years Gogetum seemed normal. During those years you may not hit an ogre in the head since it is during this time that its head grows to its full size and really ogre ugliness develops. But the little ogre is given his first club and special dolls whose heads are made for smashing. It is such a proud moment when a baby ogre smashes his or her first head. Gogetum didn’t fail that test. He smashed his first dolls head in record time. His parents were overjoyed. They thought they had a real head smasher as a child. What they didn’t know was how bad Gogetum felt for the doll. He hated smashing heads. It was not kind . But Gogetum was rather smart for an ogre. He had bigger feet than normal and some brain power. He knew what was expected of him and so he pretended to like head smashing.
On his third birthday the family held the traditional Smashing Out Party. The entire Ogorium family gathered and , as was the custom, the ten oldest members presented their heads for smashing. Gogetum dutifully smashed every head presented and a couple of extras and then the party really began. There was head smashing like you wouldn’t believe. During this time Gogetum went to the bathroom and threw up. He found the entire event repulsive. But he was now officially an adult ogre and he could smash and be smashed. He did not desire to do either.
Thus it was that on the day of his Smashing Out Party Gogetum ran away from home. As fate would have it he took refuge in a cave where a fairy princess was hiding after she ran away from home. They shared their respective stories He could do nothing to help her with her problem but she offered to use a little fairy magic to help him with his. She placed a protective spell over him so that if another ogre smashed him with a club it would not hurt him. Then she created a horrible looking magic club for him that would seem to really smash another ogre’s head but in reality would not hurt it at all.
Then Gogetum returned to his family and seemed to be a smashing success. But inside he was a seething hotbed of kindness just waiting to break out. Little by little he began to do acts of kindness. He called for healers for those so badly hurt after a Smashing Good Party that they might not recover on their own. Even though death was not common on Megaearth ogres sometimes died. Nobody really cared because they were just ogres and you know what they are like. Because of Gogetum far fewer ogres were dying and others recovered much faster. Further he provided baby food to those who could not eat after a Smashing session, thus hastening their recovery. He would enter into a Smashing Party and because he couldn’t be hurt he would shield the ogres that were hurt the worse.
All of this kindness did not go unobserved. Some of his fellow ogres warned him there would be consequences arising from his actions. He might even be sent to a rehabilitation institute.
He was also observed by an elf. Now elves on Megaearth as elves everywhere were required to reward acts of kindness with a wish. Of course, on a planet where everybody did magic, except ogres, such wishes were left unused. The elf that saw Gogetumk being kind had trouble believing what he was seeing. He watched for a long time before , finally, offering the wish.
To be continued tomorrow.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Today Petrovich published Driblet number 154.

In the city of the birds
It has come
It is there but not there
It is a door but not a door
Things that can not be come forth and are
Monsters
Strange creatures
Back and forth through the door which isn’t there
Big and little they come
The people destroy the door
But it isn’t there and returns
Fear grips the people
Some flee
A huge creature comes
The trees break before it
It could destroy buildings
But it does not
Like an invading army they come
What they want is not clear
Through the door a man in black
Into the woods he goes
Strange creatures follow
I am afraid
The end is coming
I ask can they be saved?
A voice says TRUST
Out of the black comes the light
TRUST the young one
But the light fades
More creatures come
Where are those who save
Who should we trust?
The voice says “ Out of the black comes the light”
When .
I ask
How
But there is no answer
I awaken
It is time to drink

Wrap UP

I received an award from Akelamalu today. I will post it next Tuesday.I spent part of the day trying to figure out how to let people who want to write stories know that Portrait of Words is up and ready to have stories by next Wednesday. If you know of people who like to write suggest they take a look. I visited all the blogs that left comments yesterday. Betty has gone to Church but with my lungs I don't dare go out in 95 degree heat. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Our Governments at Work

Today's Link
TrailBoss

Today's Saying
Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next.
~Franklin P. Jones

Today's Picture
Alex

The Government funds the National Institute of Health. That means your tax money is at work there. We have so many health related problems that it has to be hard for the NIH to decided where to put the grant money they give away. But please rest assured it is being well spent.

For example a grant of $400,000 was given to the New York Psychiatric Institute to discover why gay men have risky sex in Argentina.That study is bound to have an impact on every day life in Argentina. And you thought they were wasting money.

Then there is the $2.6 million NIH grant to Wayne state University to learn the best way to train prostitutes to drink alcohol responsibly and thus reduce the women’s willingness to engage in risky sex. Now all this is being done in Guangxi province in China. Obviously essential research.

But before you start to think that we have the greatest government in the world I have to tell you about a study made by the University of Oxford in Britain . The study made over three years proved that ducks are more comfortable under a sprinkler than floating in a pond. It cost their government a measly $500,000 of tax payer money but the value of the results can not be calculated.

So if you are a gay man planning on traveling to Argentina, a Chinese prostitute, or a duck know that somebody out there loves you.

Our governments make us proud.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Eino and Tommy UK watched the incoming video until about ten last night when Tommy UK had to go home. They saw nothing out of the ordinary.
This morning Tommy left for school early and stopped at Eino’s to see if anything had been reordered last night. At exactly 2:00 the end of the trench opened and a ball bounced out. Well it seemed to be a ball but a closer look showed it had eyes, ears and a mouth. It seemed to move by bouncing and moved off into the woods. Eino said “ there is no way that thing exists. Somebody is faking us out. But Tommy was not so sure. He felt that on Friday night, since he had no school the next day, at 2:00 he should be at the trench .
Since some of Eino’s friends also saw the recording the information quickly moved around town and the “ Bouncing head” became the center of gossip at Nancy’s Coffee Shop. One can imagine how that gossip went.
Petrovich thinks that he will have a meaningful driblet translated as early as tomorrow.

Wrap UP

My oxygen was a bit higher today but it is 96 degrees outside. It is going to be hot for the rest of the week. I visited all the blogs that commented yesterday plus those that commented on Friday that I hadn't been able to visit. Thom and I have taken over the stewardship of the Portrait of Words blog. The first set of pictures came from Melli and is up. We hope to get the first stories on June 30th. Take a look and join us in this fun writing. This was my 1600th blog entry. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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More of Me in a Meme

Today's Link
Life on Planet Bill

Today's Saying
The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us to become our best while looking our worst.
~Marge Kennedy

Today's Picture
Caleb

I borrowed this from Melli, who borrowed it from Thom, who stole it.

1. Do you like James Bond films? If yes, what’s your favorite ? I liked the first ones but once they changed actors playing Bond I gave up.

2. Are you daring enough to go snorkeling in the water fountain at the mall? At this time I wouldn’t go snorkeling in Lake superior

3. Do you sometimes hate everything and everyone around you? No!

4. Do you secretly or openly believe the world revolves around you? No!

5. Would you rather buy a moped or a Harley Davidson? Which has the most room for my oxygen tanks?

6. Do you water ski or ice ski? A long time ago I went downhill skiing but neither now.

7. Tell us about the last time that you tailgated. Never!

8. What was the last concert that you attended? The High School Band Concert the tear Pennie graduated.

9. What’s the most exotic food that you’ve eaten? Swordfish.


In other words I am a very boring individual.
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News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Two more attempts were made to fill up the trench behind the Town Hall. In both cases it was back the following morning. So last night Tommy UK tried to usee his power ring to find out why Eino’s cameras weren’t working. He remembered what he had done to see the power sources of the Demon even though they were invisible to the naked eye. He did the same thing at the trench and suddenly he could see what looked like a rectangular structure over the trench. He suspected that anything inside that structure would be invisible to Eino’s cameras. He then worked at leaving the structure but changing its properties. By the time he finished he thought he had archived his goal. Tonight he would watch Eino’s cameras with Eino and see if anything would appear.

Wrap UP

Oxygen is still low but I feel better and the day went well. My sister Dawn called but I was taking a breathing treatment and didn't get to talk to her. I called her back but she had left on vacation. I visited all the blogs that visited this blog and the day before leaving me with only Friday to catch up on. I entered Quilly's contest , too late as usual. I did some research on a new Elf tale. I worked for a bit with Thom on a joint project. Now I need another breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Storms & God

Today's Link
Attitude of Gratitude

Today's Saying
God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things done. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick

Today's Picture

Today the liturgical churches celebrate the third Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel for the Sunday in the common lectionary is Mark 4:35-41..This is one of those texts that speaks to us best when everything is going wrong and God doesn’t seem to care. The disciples and Jesus are out on the lake and a big storm comes. Jesus has fallen sound asleep. The disciples are sure they are going to drown and wake up Jesus and say to him “ Don’t you care”.
I’ve been there. There have been those points on life when I wondered if God was asleep and wanted to scream at Him “ Don’t you care?”
In each situation there were two storms, one was going on around me and the other inside me.
As I grew in the faith I learned to allow him to still the internal storm and then trust him to carry me through the other.
But the first storm came when I was a kid and my brother got sick and I demanded of God that He heal him.
He didn’t.
AS I saw my mother suffering the internal storm became so great I could not see God and so for a time I believed there wasn’t any.
It took God some time to still that storm.
The wonder in the story which is the gospel and in my life is that God does still the storms. God doesn’t leave us.
God does care.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Pastor Joan has Tammy and Tommy UK acolyting this morning and has worked them into the sermon. Here is part of that sermon:
We are so glad today to have Tommy and Tammy back with us this morning. For the last few weeks they have been the center of a storm that swirled around Pigeon Falls. They disappeared and then reappeared . Both their disappearance and reappearance where scary. Rumors have abounded. Some even wondered where was God in all of this.
A long time ago Jesus fell asleep in a boat with his disciples and a great storm came. They became very frightened. The storm inside of them was as bad as the storm outside of them. Finally they had to wake him up . They didn’t wake him up to save them. They wanted him to feel the storm with them. But instead Jesus stops the storm. Then they are afraid again. Jesus scares them. Then Jesus sets about stilling that storm as well.
I want to say to you this morning that there was a large group of people that knew God had not abandoned Tommy and Tammy. They knew he would still the storm. They talked to Him daily in prayer.
This morning the storm is over.
God does care.

Wrap UP

I am a bit better today. I went to Church. Then spent the day with family. My entire family was here all three kids, and all my grand kids. It was a great day. I , however, am now way behind on visiting blogs but I might catch up tomorrow. Well I might. Now I really need a breathing treatment,.
GBYA

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Raven's Challenge 69

Today's Link
Aha Moments

Today's Saying
Swallow your pride occasionally, it's non-fattening!
~Author Unknown

Today's Picture
Maggie at her best

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle

This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: sow, close, console, lives, minute, polish ,bass, pussy , complex, resume

For the mini challenge: bow, house, import, intern, sewer

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Agent 012 had found the Mercedes of Mellifluous Vandersnot just outside of Drummsy. But the girl, now calling herself Blue Violet, and her friend Tora Tora were no where to be seen. The car was locked up tight . Agent 012 brought out his electronic key simulator console and set it to find the right code and open the door. It set off the car alarm and then after a minute or so the trunk lid flew up. Before he could look in the trunk it closed and the alarm stopped. Then a strange sequence began the alarm would resume and then the trunk would fly open again only to close with the alarm stopping. Agent 012 began to think that his key simulator which was a Polish import was not going to be the answer. The system on the Mercedes was just too complex. So he took his car jack and the next time the trunk opened he jammed in the jack so it couldn’t close. There was smoke and odd noises and suddenly the car doors flew open. Agent 012 looked in the trunk and found a strange bunch of items. There was a dead bass, a bow and arrow, a broken bass fiddle, a plastic sow, a pussy looking bandage, a bottle of furniture polish, a stuffed pussy cat, a very small doll house., and a shirt that had been patched by a very poor sewer. None of this made any sense to him. Why would anybody house all these items in the trunk of a car?
He called the Agency and got Tod Watkins the new intern, as yet unnumbered . Then he described the items to Tom and asked for some ideas. Tom suggested that they sounded like items from a scavenger hunt. Agent 012 told him not to talk foolishness when the lives of two young people were at stake.
AS he hung up Agent 012 wondered how an intern that had such an impressive resume could come up with such stupid answers. Lacking any constructive Agency help, and being sure the items were of no import, Agent 012 decided to go over the rest of the car looking for any minute detail that could help him find the couple. But the search yielded nothing. Finishing his examination of the car he tried valiantly to lock it up but couldn’t. An old saying kept coming to his mind “ What you sow you shall also reap.” It was, of course, his fault that the doors wouldn’t lock . On his last try the front door swung open hitting him, as he was standing too close, and knocking him down an embankment into a creek. The creek smelled like it was the discharge of some sewer system and Agent 012 now smelled the same.
This was not turning out to be his day.

The ten word challenge-Poor Pussy Cat

The bedraggled pussy lived in an apartment complex in Mudville but she was a long way from home. She had jumped up into that truck to get the dead bass that was lying there just as the truck left for the country. The truck belonged to a Polish worker on the Janson farm complex and that fish was supposed to be his supper. He was not at all happy to find a cat eating it and threatened to take all nine of her lives. In fact she lives only because she leaped from the truck and ran to the barn which was close. He chased after her but then decided to just close the barn door and resume chasing her later . He was already late for his next task which was to sow some seed in the upper forty. After that he had to feed the owner’s prize sow. The poor cat knocked a bottle of furniture polish off the top of an old console on its way to what seemed to be a minute hole in the barn wall. It squeezed through the hole and headed down the road to Mudville If she got home she knew her owner would take her up in his arms and console her. But now she had to get home. And minute by minute she did.

The mini challenge-Dr. House

Dr. House the in house surgeon was asked to house the new intern at his house. He responded by telling them they would have to intern the intern somewhere else as he was interning nobody at his house. It seems his sewer had backed up and even his renter who was a sewer by trade had left because of the odor. The committee felt the odor would be of no import because they could import some crystal substance that would absorb it. So Dr. House agreed and if he wasn’t so bow legged he would have taken a bow.

All fifteen words in one sentence -Sow Saving

The Veterinary Intern , Bass House, at the last minute wanted to close his bow import business and resume the use of his electric console in the complex treatment of the pussy, sewer smelling, growth on the back of the Polish sow thus saving the lives that would be lost if the disease spread.

Of course the dragons were busy today you can see them HERE.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
It’s Saturday and time to look back at the week in Pigeon Falls
Monday– Jon Bergalls prize sow got lose because his son failed to close the gate on the pigpen. While Donna tried to console the daughter and assure her that the pig lives Jon went looking for the animal knowing that every minute counted. He found it in the far pasture snuggling up to a Moose.
Wednesday– Tommy UK and Tammy thought they could just resume life as usual. But things turned out to be very complex and that was not a possibility. Some people thought they were aliens pretending to be them. So Tammy came right back to her house from school and played with the pussy cat. It knew who she was.
Thursday –The town has a new intern in the Public Works Department whose responsibility is the sewer system. He thinks they need to import a new console to control the process. In the light of his impressive resume the council may go along with him.
Friday-Geogof Anderson ordered some new polish for his bass fiddle bow. It was supposed to enhance the music played with the bow. Geogof , however, thinks it has had no import at all.

Wrap UP

This was supposed to be a day spent with my grandsons. It started out okay except it was a really hard breathing day. We went out to lunch and I became ill so we dropped the family at the next place they were going and Penny brought me home. I spent the rest of the day either in bed or in the bathroom. I feel a bit better now. It is both hot and muggy . Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Friday 55

Today's Link
Citizen of the Month

Today's Saying
The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Picture
Betty at Church Barbecue

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story.

Last week I went to Church with my friend Paul .
The preacher shook the pulpit and poured out fire and brimstone.
Now I know for sure that I’m going to
go to hell and it scares me.
I wish it was not so. But I checked and my shoe has a very dirty

sole.

_________________________________________________

Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the tenth chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood

Robberhood and his men had piles and piles of stolen gold and silver. They had no place to spend it. Trees do not take gold or silver and there were no shops in the woods.
So Robberhood had a suit of armor made of silver and thus became the first great knight in shining armor.

News From Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal

For some reason that I can neither understand nor explain today's Pigeon Falls after the above introduction ends up as a flash 55. Must be some kind of learned response.

Tommy UK went out to the Lake of the Loons to sit and think. He was very sure that he had heard the voice in the darkness before but he could not remember where. As he sat and watched the whale surface it suddenly came to him. It was the very helpful guide in Canada.


Of course the dragons will be busy today you can see them HERE.

Wrap UP

A really rough breathing day. We think because the humidity was so high and it was hot. In any case I hauled the oxygen tank all day. I got Saturday's post ready and hope it auto posts because my grandsons will be sleeping in the computer room in the morning. I visited a lot of flash 55s and enjoyed them all. There were stories,poetry, and every day experiences. I try to visit them all but there is no linksy and I'm sure I miss some. I visted all the blogs that left a comment yesterday. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Sometimes You Can't Win

Today's Link
No Time to Get Down

Today's Saying
Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, political parties, nations, and eras it's the rule. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Today's Picture
Sixth Picture in my Sixth File for Quilly's Tag
A Picture for stuff sold on e-Bay

It is a Quilly day. Time to take Quilly’s three words for the day and write a story. The words are : phlyarologist; pulchritudinious, summotion Click on the blue highlighted words for a definition

It was believed that with the summotion of Clarence Gasbag from the Noport Beach City Council the Council would no longer contain a phlyarologist. But as luck would have it the pulchritudinious weather lady from Channel 13 was elected to replace him though her opponent Dr. Franco Aquarium said there was something fishy about the election.. Once on the Council and without her talented script writers Nancy Highpost was as much a phlyarologist as the man she replaced. She wanted the city to build a duck crossing so the ducks could get from the grassy side of the city park to the lake without walking on the road. The rest of the council saw her as a real foppotee and began to plot her summotion While they plotted they were careful to gnathonize her at every opportunity. Then came the day when she proposed what would come to be called “ The Mad Hatter Law”. Simply stated the law would force everybody to wear a hat when walking on the city streets. It contained a provision for a large fine and jail time for people walking bareheaded. David Letterman , having heard of her motion, had one thousand hats dumped on stage which he said he would supply to the poor people of Noport Beach to keep them out of jail. He ended the program that night by reminding the viewers that if they were going to Noport Beach to be sure to take a hat.
Of course, the law never passed and the Council went out of its way to ejurate it. But that didn’t keep the town from becoming the laughing stock of the nation. That’s when The Council finally learned the hard lesson, that the phlyarologist you have may not be as bad as the pulchritudinious phlyarologist you will get after his summotion

And of course with Quilly's words comes the required quivel. Remember to write quivel you must write something that looks like a poem, any style , but is so bad that if it was printed in a book of poetry a true poetic zoilist would tear it out and burn it. What looks like bad haiku is really qiku where the middle line must always contain a Quilly word.

Ode to a Phlyaroligst

The phlyarologist talked a lot
Most of what he said was rot
Pulchritudinious though he be
From his words one wants to flee
summotion is another way
Then will come a better day
I ejurate all of his words
They were for the birds
Foppotee though he was
He was just a lost cause
I tried to help him get it straight
But my help was just too late.

George
phlyarologist
Politician

Pretty
Pulchritudinious
Star

Throw
summotion
Out

Of course the dragons were busy today you can see them HERE.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Petrovich returned to Pigeon Falls yesterday. As soon as he learned what had happened he went searching through the driblets to see if he could find one that might shed some light on all that had taken place. He thinks he has and is busy trying to translate it.
Tommy UK and Tammy show no ill effects from their ordeal except Tammy now insists on sleeping with a night light. She says she never again wants to be in total darkness.
Tommy is trying to find some way ,with his power ring , to remove whatever it is that is keeping Eino’s cameras from seeing what’s in the trench at night. Something is causing those cameras to see an empty trench even when its not empty. Thus Eino’s cameras failed to see the two of them go into the doorway or come out of the doorway. They have no idea how many other things have come and gone since the trench formed.
The latest rumor at Nancy’s Coffee Shop is that Tommy UK and Tammy aren’t really Tammy and Tommy but two aliens that are pretending to be them. The real Tommy and Tammy were eaten by the big spider.

Wrap UP

It has already been a weird day. My auto-post didn't, nor did Betty's, or Fandango's. If you clicked on summotion you didn't get a definition. That has been repaired. Now we discover that summotion has a modern usage much different from removal. The urban dictionary says " when something is crazy". I think I'll go back to bed and pull the covers over my head. The day can only get worse. It wasn't so bad. My sister Dzawn called and gave us the recipe for pasty dough that my Aunt Bessie used. That means we can now try making pasties. I got part of Saturday done. I visited all the blogs that visited me yesterday or the day before. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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