My Childhood's Home

I grew up in an amazing small town.  Everything around me was magical.  When you are surrounded by dirt roads, infinite acres of land, ponds, creeks, and animals, you are never bored.  My childhood days were tightly packed with activities that my friends' and I created. We did not have the video games or cable television back then; therefore, we had to utilize our minds constantly. And we learned to create.  We learned how to have fun, 'real' fun.  It's no wonder I find myself today, growing older and living in the city, wishing I could go home again.

When I think about childhood, it brings me back to an era when innocence reigned. The only 'monsters' we had back then were those in our imaginations.  We could play outdoors from morning til the darkest of night and not worry about someone trying to hurt us.  We climbed mountains, played in the woods, and and swam in the ponds.  I remember my first kiss.  How innocent it was!  The boy and I were sitting on the swings, and he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss...right on the lips.  To this day I remember it as if it was yesterday. (Sigh)  

I have tasted each varied pleasure,
And drunk of the cup of delight;
I have danced to the gayest measure
In the halls of dazzling light.
I have dwelt in a blaze of splendour,
And stood in the courts of kings;
I have snatched at each toy that could render
More rapid the flight of Time's wings.
But vainly I've sought for joy or peace,
In that life of light and shade;
And I turn with a sigh to my own dear home-
The home where my childhood played!

When jewels are sparkling round me,
And dazzling with their rays,
I weep for the ties that bound me
In life's first early days.
I sigh for one of the sunny hours
Ere day was turned to-night;
For one of my nosegays of fresh wild flowers,
Instead of those jewels bright.
I weep when I gaze on the scentless buds
Which never can bloom or fade;
And I turn with a sigh to those gay green fields-
The home where my childhood played.

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

Fighting Back

Many of us go through our daily lives and never come into contact with the evil of this world. We see it on the news, read about it in the papers, but it doesn't happen to us so it  doesn't exist.  Having lived here in New York for more than 30 years, , you would think I would be more aware of the 'badness' around me, but I always tend to look for the good in things... that is, until I began searching for our new apartment and came face-to -face with something that previously been non-existent  in my picture-perfect world....scam artists...the monsters who prey on others in an attempt to take everything they worked hard for away from them.

Hubby and I decided that we're going to do all we can to avoid realtor's fees in this apartment search.  Everyone has to make a living, yes, but we cannot afford to pay a realtor a month's rent at this time.   That's probably going to be about $1200.  We barely have enough to move, and I'm seriously thinking of getting a loan...although I do hope I can avoid it.   So, we've been looking for Apartment for Rent signs in windows and checking on a few online services.  You can imagine my initial surprise when I found this:

Rent Per Month: $1000 (Including Utilities)
Security Deposit: $600 (Refundable)

The apartment is a 2 Bedroom and 2 Baths apartment. It has a Large living room, High Ceilings, Refrigerator, Stainless Steel Kitchen Appliances, Dining Room, Hardwood Floors, Internet and Cable, Dish Washer. There's a Heater, Dryer and Split AC Unit. There is also a Laundry Washing Machine in the Building and a Private Parking Space.

Sounds great, doesn't it?  But, I had a bad feeling about the place right from the start.  In my book, if something sounds too good to be true, then it must be too good to be true, but what the heck!!!  Sometimes gifts seem to fall from the heavens when we least expect it, so I responded to the ad.  I received an email the next day from a party claiming to be a Reverend who was currently working, with his wife,  as a missionary in Kenya.  He even included his blog address...just in case I doubted he was who he says he was.  Well, I'm not stupid.  Anybody can make up an email address and say such and such blog is theirs. 

He even added in his response that he and his wife were not interested in monetary values which was why they were letting the apartment go so low; all they wanted was for someone to live there who would take care of the place.  He even went so far as to say that he and his wife NEVER planned on moving back there, so it would be ours for as long as we wanted.  (Sure, he probably read on my application to the website that we had to move because they were selling the house so he was telling me what I wanted to hear).  By now, my radar is really up.

He included a small questionnaire.  He asked  for name, type of work, how long, pets, smoker, etc.  I noted that there were no  financial questions.  Sure, good way to lure someone in.  This guy or gal is a pro.  They know that if anything about finances is asked from the beginning,  their mark will probably back off.  That will come later after you fall for the following...of course, we will have to make arrangements for you to retrieve the key to see the apartment and sign the documents.  Still no mention of money.  I didn't allow it to get that far, but I am sure if I had, I would have eventually asked to wire some money before I got the key...and you know what that means.  SCAMMED!!!!

But, they really didn't know who they were messing with when they tried to mess with me.  Not only did they try to relieve me of my hard earned money, but also used the good name of a family who has dedicated their lives to helping others.  I thrive on fighting against injustice whether it concerns me or not, and once my dander is up, I don't back off.   I've worked hard since I was 16 years old, and now 6at 4, I still go out to work every morning,  no matter how much pain I may be in or how short of breath I may be.  And NO ONE is going to try to scam my money away and get away with it.  Here is what I did:

1.  Upon further investigation, I found the true owners of the said apartment and contacted them about the scammer.  (By the way, it's a million dollar condo.  I saw the pictures on the net, and it is simply gorgeous.  But, maybe the moron is not so smart after all.  Why go for something so out of reach?  Why not choose a more modest place?  It's more realistic.)

2.   I did further research and found the email address of the party whose name was being used and contacted the Reverend and his wife in Kenya and informed him that someone was using his and his wife's good name in a scam.  Heard back from them prolifically thanking me and assuring me that now that they know about this, they will find out what steps they need to take.

3.   Notified Craig's List of the scam.

4.  And probably most importantly,  contacted the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the FBI and provided them with all the information including original ad and the email I received.

I can only hope that these actions save someone else the heartache of losing their money.

World Day for Animals: October 4th

 (The little lady who has grown old with me, Miss Minga.  I've had her since she was a wee one, and she was 19 in July.  Doing well.  A touch of arthritis, just like me.  We are quite a pair.  Bless you, Minga, for being a part of my life for so many years.)

World Animal Day is celebrated each year on October 4.  The day is entirely dedicated to the animals.  On this day,  animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe. This day was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment.  He is best known today for his relationship with animals.

World Animal day was first launched in 1931 by  a group of ecologists who, while attending a convention in Florence, Italy, conceived the notion of putting a new face on what the Catholic Church had celebrated for seven centuries as the Feast of St. Francis. They would embrace it as World Animal Day, as a way of highlighting the plight of endangered animals all over the world.

Many churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to October 4th with a Blessing for the Animals and invite parishioners, neighbors, and the public to bring their pets for a special blessing.  The blessings for the animals are organized in the synagogues, churches, and even in the parks.  Rescue shelters for the animals hold open days and the fundraising events, the group of the wildlife arranges the information displays, and schools undertake the project work which is related to the animals and the group of the friends, co- workers or the individuals contributes to the charities of the animals or promise to sponsor shelter to the animals. 

The bond between person and pet is like no other relationship, because the communication between fellow creatures is at its most basic. 

On his morning rounds the Master
Goes to learn how all things fare;
Searches pasture after pasture,
Sheep and cattle eyes with care;
And, for silence or for talk,
He hath comrades in his walk;
Four dogs, each pair of different breed,
Distinguished two for scent, and two for speed.

See a hare before him started!
--Off they fly in earnest chase;
Every dog is eager-hearted,
All the four are in the race:
And the hare whom they pursue,
Knows from instinct what to do;
Her hope is near: no turn she makes;
But, like an arrow, to the river takes.

Deep the river was, and crusted
Thinly by a one night's frost;
But the nimble Hare hath trusted
To the ice, and safely crost;
She hath crost, and without heed
All are following at full speed,
When, lo! the ice, so thinly spread,
Breaks--and the greyhound, DART, is overhead!

Better fate have PRINCE and SWALLOW--
See them cleaving to the sport!
MUSIC has no heart to follow,
Little MUSIC, she stops short.
She hath neither wish nor heart,
Hers is now another part:
A loving creature she, and brave!
And fondly strives her struggling friend to save.

From the brink her paws she stretches,
Very hands as you would say!
And afflicting moans she fetches,
As he breaks the ice away.
For herself she hath no fears,--
Him alone she sees and hears,--
Makes efforts with complainings; nor gives o'er
Until her fellow sinks to re-appear no more.

William Wordsworth

Welcome October

"Listen! the wind is rising,
and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings,
now for October eves!"

- Humbert Wolfe -

October was the eighth month of Romulus's year, as the name implies, being derived from Octo, eight, and imber, a shower of rain, but in the calendar of  Julius Caesar, it was classed as the tenth month of the calendar.  Among our Anglo Saxon ancestors,  this month was called Wyn Monath, or wine month, wyn signifying wine.  This is the month of the fall vintage, when the grapes have ripened on the vine and are finally plucked and pressed into wine.  The sunlight is getting shorter and the cold dark time of winter is rapidly approaching.  Leaves change to brilliant crimson, russet, and gold. This is also the time of the apple harvest

Libra and Scorpio are the astrological signs for October. Birthdays from October 1st through the 22nd fall under the sign of Libra. October 23rd through the 31st birthdays fall under the sign of Scorpio.  This month is sacred to Cernnunnos, Hecate, the Morrigan, and the dark aspect of the Crone.   During this month, the Great Solar Wheel of the Year is turned to Halloween or Samhain Eve, one of the four Sabbats celebrated each year throughout the world.

October has two birthstones – opal and tourmaline. Both gemstones come in a wide variety of colors and are known for displaying multiple colors within the same stone. A legendary explanation for this gemstone's origin is that it fell from heaven in a flash of fiery lightning. To the Romans, it was a symbol of love and hope, and in ancient Greece, the opal was believed to possess powers of prophecy. Opal radiates powerful positive energy and helps in dispelling fear. It also enhances dreams, insights and imagination. Tourmaline is the modern birthstone for October. It is known as the gem of love and commitment. Tourmaline symbolizes wisdom, strength of mind and eloquence.

The flower for the month of October is the Marigold, also called calendula. The calendula, or marigold was considered a sacred flower, and garlands of marigolds were crafted and strung around the necks of the holy saint statues. These brilliant flowers decorated the statue of the Virgin Mary as if they were the sun and stars surrounding her. In ancient times, garlands of marigolds protected homes from evil by being strung at doorsteps. It was once thought that placing these garlands under a bed would cause the sleeping person to have prophetic dreams. Potted marigolds help people to see the fairies as they dance in front of them.Put a pot of living marigolds next to your bed at night to encourage dreams of Fairyland.

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."

- John Keats -

Books

I've spent this weekend cooking and packing.  Busy, busy, busy.  Each week I have been putting my college textbooks out for anyone who wants them.  I've also been packing bags and bags of books which my son takes to a friend of his who loves reading and loves about everything that I do.  Hubby used to joke that I could start my own bookstore, and I never realized how right he was.  And I still have lots of books left.  These include some of my special books that I have loved with all of my heart.  I know they cannot all come with me, so some I have been placing on my Kindle and others are just sitting there.

These books are too special to set out on the curb, and since I have decided to give them away, I would rather give them to someone special...and that is you, my dear readers.   I've books on fairies, astrology, Native American, Celtic, Shamanism, spirituality, mythology, angels, etc.  I have 'some' non-fiction, but not many.  If you will email privately with your address and your interests, if I have what you wish, I will get the book out to you in week or so....as soon as I can get my son to the post office.   It may be three weeks, but if I have, it is yours. 

Those who dare give nothing

Are left with less than nothing;

Dear heart, you give me everything,

Which leaves you more than everything-

Though those who dare give nothing

Might judge it left you less than nothing.

Giving you everything,

I too, who once had nothing,

Am left with more than everything

As gifts for those with nothing

Who need, if not our everything,

At least a loving something.

Robert Graves

TGIF!!!!

"I love fall! Fall is exciting.
It's apples and cider.
It's an airborne spider.
It's pumpkins in bins.
It's burrs on dog's chins.
It's wind blowing leaves.
It's chilly red knees.
It's nuts on the ground.
It's a crisp dry sound.
It's green leaves turning
And the smell of them burning.
It's clouds in the sky.
It's fall. That's why...
I love fall."

- Author Unknown -

My goodness, time constantly seems to get faster and faster and the months and years are passing me by.  September has been and gone in what seems the flash of an eye. Today  my son, Anthony, turns 29.   Happy birthday, son.  It seems like only yesterday that they placed this tiny little infant in my arms, and I fell madly in love.  He was a child that wasn't supposed to be, my little miracle.

After my eldest son, Jerry, was born the doctor told me that my system was so out of whack that I probably would not be able to have another child.  What devastating news that was, but I never gave up trying and never gave up hope.  I'd been an only child myself and vowed that my children will never feel that loneliness that I had felt while growing up and watching all my friends interact with their siblings.  Today, so many, many years later, both mom and dad gone, and that ache of loneliness still fills my heart.

Happy birthday, son.  Know that you are loved.  

Wishing you all  a lovely, peaceful, joyful weekend. See you  on Monday.

Little by Little the Year Grows Old

Little by little the year grows old,

The red leaves drop from the maple boughs;

The sun grows dim, and the winds blow cold,

Down from the distant arctic seas.

Out of the skies the soft light dies,

And the shadows of autumn come creeping over,

And the bee and the bird are no longer heard

In grove or meadow, or field of clover.

Little by little our lives grow old,

Our faces no longer are fair to see;

For gray creeps into the curls of gold,

And the red fades out of the cheeks, ah me!

And the birds that sang till our heart strings rang

With strains of hope, and joy, and pleasure,

Have flown away; and our hearts today

Hear only the weird wind's solemn measure.

Youth and summer, and beauty and bloom,

Droop and die in the autumn weather,

But up from the gloom of the winter's tomb,

They shall rise, in God's good time, together.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

When I compare the seasons of my life with the seasons of the year, it all makes sense to me. Life is similar to a wheel;  it has its seasons.  It turns and moves forward. I think back now to when I was young, and my grandmother was younger than I am now, I saw her as old.   She was in the Winter of her life...but that was my perception.  When I was a teen,  I thought everyone over 30 was old.  I couldn't  foresee myself that way.  When we are young, we believe we will be eternally young, but life doesn't work that way. It continues to turn, as the wheel of the year, and we, just as the earth, move steadily through our seasons in our journey through life.
Now, in the Autumn of my life, it seems that Spring and Summer, the early years of my life,  passed by so quickly, yet crawled along so slowly as I lived them.  Spring, the first season of my life, was a time of growth, a time of wonder and amazement.  I was so busy exploring the newness of the world, that I saw not that the wheel was turning. Childhood was a time to  play and romp with friends, a carefree time when life seemed as it it would last forever, but, alas...

...soon enough came the heat and weight of Summer, and with it, all that comes with  adulthood....work, paying bills, getting ahead, motherhood....so much activity filled the days.  Suddenly, my world was filled responsibility.  It was time to put to use the foundations I had  planted in the Spring.  But what of those of us who laid no foundations?   We learned through trial and error. I chose the wrong men and found myself mired for many years in bad marriages.  I felt lost and helpless, for oh so long, and then, just when finally got it right....

...along comes Autumn. The wheel had continued to turn.  The leaves begin to fall as the earth winds down its activities and the warm days of summer give way to the cool, crisp days of Autumn. It is time for the harvest, a time to reap what we have sown. Things once thought young forever are beginning to fade. My body doesn't work as well as it once did, and my mind tends to forget things, a little more often; but  while I may not remember where I put my house keys, I find myself remembering what used to be, and once more, the joys of childhood begin to take center stage. I find it so amazing that, for so many years, those  memories were pushed back into the subconscious, only to be reborn in the Autumn of our lives.  And, before we know it...

...we will find ourselves in the Winter of life.  And I know, I just know that there will be joy there as well for the love of those around us, the joy of watching them live their lives will carry us through.