CHARLEY’S ANGELS

7 Jun

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

You have heard of “Charley’s Angels”,

But these are quite unique!–

They were born during Hurricane Charley

When the winds were at their peak

They were the start of my WindowWonders

Their appearance was a shock to my eyes.

One by one they came out of our shed-

Their appearance was a disturbing surprise!

I had such mixed emotions-

“Lord, is this really true?

You know my husband doesn’t like cats-

What am I to do?”

The Lord doesn’t make mistakes-

Our future is foreseen

He sent the cats for me to love-

Definitely not to be mean.

“Big Momma” is a disciplinarian,

Who rules her kids with her paw-

But, conversely so, her affection

Has filled my heart with awe!

They truly are a family,

Bonded in loyalty-

Their protection of one another

Is a sight worthy to see.

It took awhile to name them-

Personalities came into play

“Big Momma”, “Ginger”, “Pepper” and “Tinkerbell

Bonded in every way.

“Corky” and “Angel” two black and whites

Live indoors with me-

Their presence is truly heartwarming-

Their antics a joy to see.

Have you ever had a “furry friend”

That truly communicated with you-

With tender eyes that seemed to say,

“Thank you, I love you, too”?

I don’t look forward to hurricanes-

They fill me with fear and dread-

But “Charley” truly was a blessing

Intended to bring comfort, instead!

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Visits with Ivan & Dora Part 2

5 Jun

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill

1png My work during those years took me to the Southern California area frequently, and this was great for us, because Ivan and Dora would always invite us to come visit them in whatever location they happened to be that summer.  I would take DiVoran with me for a week of vacation before or after my business in California and we would spend our vacations relaxing with Ivan and Dora.  We made several summer visits to their home in Vista, one visit to the Salton Sea (226 ft. below sea level), two visits while they were staying at Smithy’s on Marrowstone Island and one visit to Sapinero in Colorado.

Sapinero is a small community located on U.S. Highway 50, along the shore of the 2Blue Mesa Reservoir in western Colorado.  Ivan had wanted to move to Montrose, Colorado but couldn’t talk Dora into a permanent move, so summers at Sapinero were the next best thing he could come up with.  The community is made up of mostly part-time summer folks with their motor homes and travel trailers, who like Ivan, like the lake fishing.

3In 1955 Sapinero became an example of those stories about a riverside community being moved to a new location when those in power decided they needed to dam up the Gunnison River to provide water for the surrounding area.  The original Sapinero community now resides under some 300 feet of water.  The reservoir was stocked with Kokanee Salmon and Tilapia, which at the time I had never heard of, but were fun to catch and wonderful eating.

In addition to the rustic “Village Store”, which included the “Ley-Z-B Restaurant”, 4there are several old “rustic cabins”, one of which we rented for our one and only stay at Sapinero.  The problem with the cabins was that they were very primitive, and provide only the basic needs, such as very cold water and one 60-watt light bulb.  The bed sagged so badly that DiVoran and

I tended to roll in toward each other in the middle, and there was a 2” gap under the door.

5The two-hole outhouse was 30 feet down the drive and very dark at night, which reminds me of a little “outhouse trivia” you may not know.  It’s said that the first outhouse designs used a crescent moon cut into the door to identify the “Ladies” and a star cut into the door to identify the “Men’s” privies.  Then after a while, the star was dropped and privies became unisex in nature, mainly because the women kept their privies cleaner than the men did.  Bet you had never heard that one before!  I hadn’t.

One night while we were fast asleep, dreaming of how nice it would be to be to be sleeping in our own bed at home, DiVoran suddenly jumped out of bed screaming and brushing wildly at her hair.  I was still half-asleep and couldn’t figure out what was going on.  Finally, she calmed down long enough to tell me that something had 7run through her hair, and about that time, we saw this field mouse scurry out through the gap under the door.  Then I had visions of what else could find its way through that gap into our cabin looking for a warm place to sleep.  Well, you better believe we didn’t waste any time blocking that gap with towels, but I’m not sure how much better that helped us sleep that night.

8 Ivan had built a wooden cover and porch structure over his travel trailer to help shade them from the sun and give them a place to relax in the evenings.  TV reception at Sapinero was almost non-existent, so most evenings a bunch of the folks and/or some of the local cronies would gather at the Ley-Z-B Restaurant for dinner and/or to spend the evening sharing some of the many stories for which traveling folks and old cronies are known to have an endless supply.

Every Saturday evening the Ley-Z-B Restaurant hosted a western style Bar-B-Q at the Village Store.  People of all ages came from all around the immediate area to 9enjoy the great food. We even saw some bikers stop in to try out the ribs.  Someone would usually bring a guitar or banjo and provide the music for the evening’s sing-a-long, and a great time was had by all.

These are just a few of the more memorable times we have spent with Ivan and Dora over the years.  They knew how to relax and have a good time where ever they were, and that made It  relaxing and fun for DiVoran and me to spend time with them.  What wonderful memories!  We would love to do any of those trips over again if it were only possible.

—–The End—–

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Say What?

3 Jun

My Take

 DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

We celebrate Alexander Graham Bell’s invention, the telephone. in June. I wonder what he said when he tried it out. What would you say if you didn’t think your statement would be going down in history?

I know what my dad would have said. He would have said, “Hot dog!” That’s because, you see, dad liked progress, new things. He paid thirty dollars for his first ball-point pen. That seems excessive in this day and age when you can get them in bulk for nothing much. But he was pleased with his pen because he came up in the days when the only common writing instruments were a pencil or a dip nib pen in a holder. He had some trouble in school because he so much wanted to live out of doors working with his hands. A dip pen could make a big mess, for which a kid would get into trouble. After that came fountain pens and they were better, but tedious and messy, too. They often leaked. So a ballpoint pen was a miracle to dad. They had refills back in those days, too.

His mother, my grandmother, was in favor of progress too. She didn’t believe in looking back and talking about the past. She didn’t tell stories or her childhood and young adulthood.

Grandmother loved the telephone. She talked for about an hour every day with her best friend who lived in the same town and whom she saw frequently. When she got her first T. V. she made everyone watch the commercials because it was only right. After all hadn’t those people paid for the shows?

We all love technology and we have different ways of relating to it. Now would you like to know what Alexander Graham Bell Actually said? Here it is as recorded probably by a newspaper man.

“Mr. Watson come here, I want to see you.”

I’ll bet Alexander Graham Bell had no idea that we’d still be looking up his words 138 years later or he would have said something profound.. After thinking it over, I’ve decided I would have said. “Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?” Makes sense. In case you don’t have anything else to think about—I wonder, what might you have said?

First phone call

First phone call

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THE BALLOON FIESTA

2 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

   

Have you ever seen a hot-air balloon floating overhead?  Really neat, huh?  We’ve been enraptured with them for quite a while.  The sister of a friend and her new husband “escaped” from their outdoor wedding reception in a hot-air balloon.  How neat is that?

 We had heard about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for years, but had never attended one.  It was started after we married and moved away from Albuquerque.   In talking with Fred’s parents, we all decided to head to New Mexico for that great event that year, 2001.  It was the 30th anniversary of the Fiesta.  Fred’s youngest sister and her husband thought it would be fun to join us, as well.  So we made our hotel reservations, airplane reservations, and were getting quite excited.

And then….September 11, 2001 happened.

We were scheduled to fly out in early October, 2001.  After September 11, all flights in the U.S. were grounded.  We were afraid that our flight had been cancelled, as well.  But the grounding was lifted, and we were able to fly out as scheduled.  I’ve heard so many people say they have stopped flying after September 11 – they were just too afraid.  And my thought is…where is your faith?!  Much safer than traveling long distances in a car…etc.

In any case, we flew out as planned and arrived quite safely in Albuquerque, city of my heart.  We connected with the rest of the family, and began our Balloon Fiesta adventure.  It was absolutely wonderful!   Completely fascinating to watch the balloons go from flat on the ground, to upright, to up in the air in a matter of short minutes!  Breathtaking!

But the best day was the day of the Mass Ascension.  If I recall correctly, there were over 800 balloons going up that day.  They were laid out in a pattern, and went up in planned sequence.  But they did all go up.  And that was the day they had the different “shapes” to the balloons, as well.  A cow (Creamland Dairy)…

 

1

a Wells Fargo stage coach (as well as a piggy bank)…

 

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a beer stein…

 

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Mr. Potato Head…

 

Mr Potato Head

Mr Potato Head

 

Smokey the Bear…

 

 

Smokey the Bear

Smokey the Bear

 

 

a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Cone…

 

 

Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Cone

Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Cone

 

 

Tony the Tiger cereal….

 

 

Tony the Tiger

Tony the Tiger

 

 

a shoe (Famous Footwear)…

 

 

Famous Footwear

Famous Footwear

 

and a birthday cake congratulating the Fiesta on their 30th anniversary.

 

 

Happy 30th Birthday!

Happy 30th Birthday!

 

We were able to get down close to one of the balloons and watch as they readied it for take off.  Fascinating.

 

 

Getting Ready

Getting Ready

Fred has an aversion to large crowds, so it surprised him greatly to find how “uncrowded” this all felt.  As we recall, there were probably well over 100,000 people there!  Of course, it was held on one of the valley floors in Albuquerque, so that helped – lots of room to spare.

That evening, we went to one of the Indian casinos in town, and were able to watch a night-time ascension.  Really beautiful.

 

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Rising Flag

But it is one of our fondest memories – one we recall and treasure.  One year, our oldest daughter and her husband gave us a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of that event, and we had a great deal of fun putting it together.  Brought back great memories.

 

 

 

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Social Media and Prayer

1 Jun

Yesterday I watched in horror the television coverage of the Oklahoma tornados. “Oh dear God” my heart cried out, pleading for His mercy. I even summoned up the courage to tweet a short prayer before moving to Facebook to see if any of my friends were in the path. As I scrolled through the newsfeed, I began to come across prayers for protection, not the usual “praying for the people in the storm” but powerful prayers of “standing in the gap” and claiming safety. At each one I would join in the prayer and write “agree” or “agree with this prayer” in the comment line. I felt my spirit join with those praying.

As the storm began to break up it hit me that social media is a powerful instrument for prayer. I will continue to say and post “praying for…” because I do pray for each person or situation when I write that but I will also venture out of my comfort zone and tweet or post on Facebook prayers of petition because to not do so deprives not just myself, but other believers the wondrous opportunity to join together in prayer.

Matthew 18:20

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Window Wonders~Disturbing and Disconcerting

31 May

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 My window wonders this week

Have become a bit disturbing.

What used to be a heartwarming scene

Has become very disconcerting!

I have a most unusual guest,

Who really is quite rude.

He appears uninvited at meal time

And devours all the food!

Lord, I need your help.

I really don’t want to be mean.

But that cute raccoon is gaining weight,

While my cats are looking lean.

I said he is “cute” because

His habits are disarming.

He picks his food up with his “hands”-

I must confess he is charming!

I take out fresh water for my cats,

But our visitor is quite pristine!

You see, he “washes” his food in it.

He is the original “Mr. Clean”.

And Lord, you see the other problem, too, I know.

How he trashes up my patio?

I get so tired of using my broom,

I moved the garbage can to the utility room.

Lord, I have a question, please

Was this your plan from the start,

To  put me “under pressure”

To tenderize my heart?

Raccoon (Procyon lotor) 3

Raccoon (Procyon lotor) 3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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BLOG TOUR – LITTLE NANI REVISITED

30 May

Banner

 

I am so pleased today to welcome author Cinta Garcia de la Rosa to Old Things R New-Onisha

Thank you for visiting this wonderful blog today so you can know a bit more about Little Nani, her stories, her world, and her author. OK, her author is not as interesting as Little Nani, but what can we do? They go hand in hand, so please bear with her.

Why are we here today? Because Little Nani is suffering a series of changes. “The Funny Adventures of Little Nani” was published for the first time last September 2012, both in print and in ebook form, on Amazon and Createspace. However, along the months, I started feeling less enthusiastic about my book, thinking that the cover was dull and boring, and also thinking that the stories could be improved, maybe going through some extra editing and proofing. So that’s what I did, and now I am much happier about the result and I trust that I will start getting many more sales. Why? Because I will make the books available not only on Amazon and Createspace, but also on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Feed-A-Read.

There will be also many different options to buy the books. Do you want to buy the whole set of stories? You can do it. Do you want to buy just some stories, the ones you think you would like? You can do it too, since I will publish the stories individually on Smashwords. So you see, different options to match different customers, different readers.

Once all this is settled and the books are republished on all those retailers, I will start to do the same process with the second book in the Little Nani series, which will be available next Fall.

Follow the whole blog tour since I will be announcing all the news in the different blogs!

NewCoverAmazon

BLURB

Little Nani is a little girl who likes helping people. However, when she helps people the results can be a bit unexpected. Why is that? Little Nani is a witch! Or at least she wants to be a witch. With her magic wand, she will try to cast different spells to help her friends, but she won’t be successful all the time.

Follow Little Nani in her funny adventures and meet her extraordinary friends. Funny ostriches, horses that love reading, super-fast turtles, grumpy zombies… Little Nani has lots of friends! You can also draw your own characters!

Little Nani is willing to become a good witch. Will she manage to do it? Who knows? Read the stories and discover what happens next!

AUTHOR BIO.

CintaAuthor

Cinta Garcia de la Rosa is a Spanish writer who has loved the written word since he discovered she was able to read books at age 5. Since then, she has become a bookworm and reads around 100 books every year. She also writes, every day, compulsively, even in the middle of the night. You cannot control when inspiration hits you, can you? She writes in English because she is convinced that in a previous life she was British, so writing in English feels more natural to her than writing in her native language. Yes, she is crazy like that. Cinta Garcia is the author of “The Funny Adventures of Little Nani”, a collection of short stories for children, and “A Foreigner in London”, a short story published on Smashwords. She is a member of Independent Authors International (iAi).

I love your book has drawing sections. Do you have any plans for children to be able to submit their drawings to a website devoted to Little Nani interactions?

 

Thank you! I really thought that including drawing sections in the book would be fun for the children and, definitely, it would also turn the book into an interactive entertainment. So I included them.

I have had thoughts of doing just that: creating a space for children to submit their own drawings and create a kind of “fan board” where I can pin all the pictures. But first I need a proper website for my stories. I am planning on creating a Little Nani website, fully devoted to the stories and to the children. On that website, I will include a section for the submission of the illustrations drawn by my little readers. Even for the big readers too! I know of a couple of my readers who are not so little and would like to draw some Little Nani pictures (yes, you all know who you are).

I am really looking forward to seeing pictures drawn by children who have read and enjoyed my silly Little Nani stories. I would display them very proudly on my website.

Thank you, Onisha, for hosting me on your blog!

GIVEAWAY!

Don’t forget to leave a comment, so you can enter the giveaway for the opportunity to win a signed copy of “The Funny Adventures of Little Nani”. If you leave comments in several blogs during the tour, you will get an entry for each comment. So don’t hesitate to comment!

LINKS TO THE BOOKS.

Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/3914481

Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/Funny-Adventures-Little-Nani-ebook/dp/B009YMBXJW/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in

Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Funny-Adventures-Little-Nani-ebook/dp/B009YMBXJW/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Austenite78

MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CintaGarciaRosa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cinta-Garc%C3%ADa-de-la-Rosa-Author/333755993341596

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6470058.Cinta_Garc_a_de_la_Rosa

Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/Cinta-Garc%C3%ADa-de-la-Rosa/e/B009LHYYSM

Smashwords Author: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Austenite78

Website: http://www.cintagarciadelarosa.com/

Blogs: http://cintascorner.wordpress.com/ // http://icantstopreadingblog.com/ //

http://authorsyouwanttoread.wordpress.com/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/CintaGarciaRosa/

Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/cintascorner

About.me: http://about.me/cintagarcia

Authorsdb: http://authorsdb.com/authors-directory/1034-cinta-garcia-de-la-rosa

Askdavid.com: http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/children-book/3237

 

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Visits with Ivan & Dora Part 1

29 May

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

1

Ivan,father of DiVoran Lites

DiVoran’s dad, Ivan, was an avid fisherman, one of those “Lives to Fish” kind of guys.  During his working years, he spent as much time as his job permitted, fishing within a driving radius of his home.  When he and his wife Dora lived in Livermore, California, it was the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River where he did most of his fishing.

At that time, DiVoran and I lived in Los Angeles where I was attending Northrop University, and we made several trips to Livermore so Ivan and Dora could see their grandkids.  Now I’m not really much a fisherman, but I have fond memories of fishing with Ivan on San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River.  In fact, I caught the biggest fish of my life, a 75 lb. Sturgeon, and Ivan caught a 104 lb. Sturgeon during one of our trips up the Sacramento River.

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On another trip to Livermore to visit Ivan and Dora, Ivan took me fishing on San Francisco bay where together, we caught the most fish (110 total) I can remember.  Of course, of those 110 Striped Bass we caught, we had to release 109 because they measured from 12“ to 15” long, and the limit was 16”, which left us with only one keeper, but boy was that a fun morning!

3Ivan and Dora retired in Vista, California and one of the first trips we made to visit them  there involved Ivan taking me to run his lobster traps.   He had obtained a commercial Pacific Lobster License with the idea of making a fortune selling his catches to the local area  restaurants.

The only trouble with that plan was that poachers were raiding his traps and running off with most of his lobsters.  He had tried everything he could think of to deter the poachers, including enlisting the local sheriff, all to no avail.  The traps were some distance off shore, and no one was able to keep watch on the traps 24/7, and he never knew when the poachers would strike.  But, the lobsters we were able to catch on that trip were delicious!

Bill Lites

Bill Lites

Vista was hot in the summer compared to Livermore, so to beat the heat and be able to fulfill Ivan’s fishing desires, they would pick out a nice “cool” campground at a good fishing location, buy a used 30’ travel trailer and set it up there for the summer.  If the location turned out to meet all Ivan’s “Summer Getaway/Fishing Requirements”, then they would leave the trailer for  the next year.  If not, they would hook up the travel trailer to his truck and move it to another “Better” location the next year.5

There were the memorable summers Ivan and Dora spent in the Puget Sound area.   Dora’s brother Smithy ran a beautiful trailer park and campground on Marrowstone Island.   From Seattle, we had to take two ferryboats to get to the island and then drive several miles to get to Smithy’s Trailer Park, but it was well worth the time and effort.

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Ivan and Dora  parked their travel trailer at Smithy’s for several  summers, and Ivan usually helped Smithy with the campground maintenance, while Dora and  Smithy’s wife Waunita took care of the family Avon business.  DiVoran and I would rent one of Smithy’s permanent travel trailers during our visits with them, which was just like camping in a State Park, which as it happened, was just a few miles north of Smithy’s at the Fort Flagler State Park. 7

A day of fishing for Ivan and me on Marrowstone island was; out early at low tide, to collect tube worms, then set off in Ivan’s boat in search of the best Flounder fishing hole.  By the time DiVoran and I visited  them at Smithy’s the first time, Ivan had scoped out the best places to find bait, and also the most likely places to find good size Flounder.  And boy was that fresh Flounder some good eatin’!

8b

8a The other neat thing we did with Ivan and Dora while visiting them at Smithy’s was to go digging for clams.  Ivan knew just were to go at low tide for the largest clams.  We would walk along looking for the “waterspout” from the clam, then run over and dig it up.  It was amazing how deep we had to dig sometimes to get to the clam, and how long their siphon (leg, as Ivan called it) was that they used to spurt the water.  If you like clams, it would be hard to find better eating than those Puget Sound clams.

Ivan and DiVoran

Ivan and DiVoran

—–To Be Continued—–

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Timepieces

27 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

I received my first watch when my maternal grandmother went home. I was seven years old. The watch was beautiful and fragile, and of course it had to be wound. I was as careful as could be, and I had it for what seemed like a long time. I wore it on my left wrist so I could tell my left hand from my right. I thought about Grandmother Mabel every day.

But all that doesn’t explain the reason for my becoming practically obsessed about knowing what time it was. I have a clock or two in every room of the house including the bathroom and on the porch, I have four timers (one on my IPod) and five watches that work. Even I know that is excessive.

I read a book once about a boy in a mental institution who was obsessed with timepieces, but I don’t think I’m as bad as him. No, I more or less just love knowing what time it is and I love the wide variety of time pieces available. If it helps to know…I didn’t plan all this it just snuck up on me.

You’ve head the saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living?”

Well, to me the unscheduled life is full of pitfalls such as: T. V., computer dabbling, novels, eating chocolates, and others signs of enjoyable depravity. I get depressed if I give in to overindulge or get to feeling lonely because I’m not doing something that takes a bit of effort and thought. But that’s just me. You do what you like, it’s your life.

When Bill retired he stopped wearing a watch. He almost gave up looking at clocks, so we sometimes ran a bit late, which of course freaked me. Now I’m adjusting and I can even make myself late if I get absorbed in one of my projects. Maybe I need more timepieces or…maybe I shouldn’t care so much what other people think. I really like my timepieces and they all work. Three need the bands fixed or replaced, but I’ve figured out how to make that happen, at least for one of them.

All my clocks and watches are inexpensive except for the one in the picture. I wouldn’t want a fancy gold or platinum one with real diamonds because I’d have to wear it night and day in order to justify its existence. Variety is, after all the spice of life.

 

clock

 

“Hour by hour I place my days in your hand.”

Psalm 31:15

 

 

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More Window Wonders

24 May

My kitchen window

Never fails to excite my inner core.

Each tiny glimpse of nature

Whets my appetite for more

The behavior of the animal life

Is utterly absurd

The birds are eating the cat’s food

And a cat is acting like a bird.

Two cranes are walking slowly

Pecking down at the ground for food.

The cats are watching quietly

As is to disturb them would be rude!

I keep my camera by my window

To capture moments such as this

A cat is drinking from the birdbath

The absurdity is bliss.

 

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