Patience Please

This is my submission to

www.trifectawritingchallenge.com

Patience is said to be a virtue. Well the truth is: 1. Patience is a survival skill; 2. Patience is a survival skill; 3. Patience is a survival skill.

Nail Salon Blues

The things you learn at the toenail shop. No, I'm not getting new toenails. I'm not even getting a pedicure. Can you feel my sadness. Dipping your feet into hot water, wonderful.

We all came for a pedi but only one technician is working. It would be too long a day for my mom. I appreciate the good thoughts and prayers people sent our way.

There is a young guy working but he only does fake fingernails or the young hot chicks toes.  There's a piece me that is hot. However it is not a news flash. Sort of a flash of overreaction if I do not watch it. But I am hot as hell with sweat pouring. I understand my face reddens. I try to think about it. Lol

Life is the Journey

When I go to schools, I miss the noise. That loud rackety excitement of children sounds good now.

I spend my days in domesticity which was never a natural fit for me. My mother has two doting chihuahuas that are the recipients of my mother's natural mothering instinct. I gave both of them a bath tonight and could not find any fleas on them. After the big "tick bite", I am policing for bugs. I take them out in the evenings when I do yard work. They play like crazy and a bath is their reward. They are so small they fit in the kitchen sink. I know that does not sound that hygienic.  It's just a relief on my back. Besides I have soap and clean the basin afterwards.

Tomorrow, I need to fire up my new computer. The one I am working on now is disintegrating more and more. It constantly shuts itself off for me to reboot. Yesterday's post was lost several times on word. I gave up and put it on blogger because it would save the rough copy. Anyway, I've been shut down twice since starting this. I'll post pictures from Ocmulgee National Park and then publish.

Fishing in time

In response to Trifecta Writing Challenge

Day was breaking; Jimmy was getting his gear together in the boat. Earl, the king of dogs waited patiently to board. He had at one time bounded from the shore into the boat. Now he needed a little help getting in, gingerly settling himself on his bed.

The old wooden boat was like the one he rode in as a boy. His grandfather would put trotlines out. The largest fish, he would take home for the family to eat. His grandmother would take planks of fish and bread it in cornmeal before placing it in lard to fry.

His grandfather would sell the fish and wait in town for people who wanted to hire day labor. Jimmy remembered his grandfather's leathered hands,

Jimmy's life had dwindled to living at his office and the hospital. He the healer watched a wife succumb to cancer. His one daughter was married and busy with a young family.

A man and his teenaged grandson came one night to the emergency room. Jimmy thought the thin, wiry man was the patient but his calloused hands lifted the boy's shirt to reveal a boil and rash on his back from a tick bite. Numbing and draining the boil, he told the grandfather to make a follow-up appointment at his office. The grandfather hemmed and hawed. Giving him the antibiotic from the hospital stores, he softly said, "Come by the office and tell my receptionist who you are, she'll give you the rest of the antibiotics."

The grandson went into the military. The grandfather died of a massive heart attack. Jimmy wondered when the sting of death would never stun him. He watched the young on-call physician try to save him.

Such is life; he saw the rusty boat for sale on the side of the road that night. He and his grandson went out as often as the boys schedule would allow. Who would think a high school student would have a more hectic schedule than a doctor would.

Redbird Haiku

Mama redbird sets a nest
Althea bush blooming
No rain on eggs.

Yard dog Grooming Club

When I took Muffin to the vet, he hazarded she had some poodle. Previously, no one would make a guess. She has some terrier and is trouble for mice. A wild rabbit can stand beside her. The point being, any dog qualifies you for the grooming club.

The pre-requisite for membership, have you or have you not purchased food solely for your dog in the drive thru of a fast food. You qualify for a lifetime membership, if your dog has preferences.

I got a pitbull, muffin, Frank the poodle, Buttons the chihuahua mix as regular biscuit riders in the morning. It started innocently enough. They would have a two for one offer. I ate one. I split the extra between whatever dogs were riding.

Who would know dogs like Hardees biscuits best. They must use lard. They delicately eat the biscuit after the meat. For McDonalds, they eat the biscuit if the other dog looks like they want their bread. Otherwise, it is meat only. Then, what the hey, we will nibble on the bread since no more meat is going to magically appear.

I use coupons. The dogs know those pieces of paper have something to do with their treat.

If I drive by the restaurant, the dogs look at the restaurant and then look at me. Sometimes I turn around.

Anyway, I think their favorite biscuit is the bacon. egg and cheese from Hardees.

They also love a McDouble for lunch, pickle and all. Afterwards, if you have an order of fries, everyone is content to have a fry doled out to each of them.

I haven't consulted the vet about the wisdom of this fast food diet. Like all fun food, I'm sure he will have some healthful suggestions. The dogs don't want to hear about it.

We're all in trouble.

Paula Deen is in trouble for saying the "n" word. From her deposition, and I may very well be wrong, she used the word in the 1960's. Seeing as she is 66, that means she was 20 years old in 1967. So she said the "n" word as a teenager.

I remember when the "n" word was used matter of factly. My mother thought it was crude. We were to say negro. It was sort of like the word pregnant. You didn't say it in polite company.

What bothers me is the hypocrisy. A Canadian on CNN who is married to a black man said racism does not happen in Canada. Yeah, right. Racism is a problem. It's particularly a problem when people are in denial. Thinking that it doesn't happen outside the South is ludicrous. Many jabs at the President bother me in that I feel they are racist in origin.

I try to do right. Being immersed in black culture as an educator, I am more open minded. More importantly, I recognize the difference between working class and sorriness. We had a painful class situation in the South in the recognition of "poor" white and white trash. Trying to move to something better, poor whites and blacks were faced with the same dilemma. Being loyal to their roots and moving into the soon to be Twenty-first Century.

My dad has a story. Shortly after WWII, at RAFB, an old man informed all the young guys that the world was messed up when he came and it would be messed up when the young guys left.

This is true. As a white Southerner, I understand the perils of the "n" word. It can cost your job. To hear it bandied about in hip hop and casually by younger African Americans, you feel anger. Why do they casually say something they can turn your life upside down with.

I'm proud of Paula Deen for telling the truth. I am proud of the African Americans who are taking her side. It's not what we have said in the past that is so important; it is what we have done. The "n" word needs to be dropped from everyone's vocabulary. More importantly, one word from the tongue should not define people. We should respect the humanity of everyone.

I made it a practice to never curse. The wrong word would slip at school. I had a terrible habit of saying "shoot". Occasionally I would be slowly saying "shhhhh" You know what young teens knew I was saying. I could not defend myself. Only an idiot would think I was slowly saying "shoot". However, that is the word.

The point is. You can only clean up your own act. Personally, I plan to watch my language. Hopefully, I will not be caught with a deposition like Paula Deen. If someone asks me to fess up to something that will blow up in my face, I'll answer the question I wish I had been asked. Last of all, I will not judge people as harshly lest I get called out for my transgressions.

I'm not much of a fan of Paula Deen's stick of butter in everything cooking. I do feel sympathy for her trials. I'm not perfect either.