I think I’ll journey out some day to wondrous lands afar,
Or even chart a journey to a distant blazing star.
But rest assured that when my journey begs to take its cue,
Always know that when I go, this journey takes you too...
And in the winding route, this journey's bound to bide content,
But most of all take heed - let's make our journey life's event.



from JOURNEY TO BE, by Mark Slaughter

Friday, November 5, 2010

Magic in the Treetops

         There IS magic in treetops, with the rustling and whispering of their own secrets as the wind blows gently through their leaves. I used to sit up there to read when I was young. My sister and I would ride out bicycles to the library and fill our baskets with books. We would ride home, eagerly anticipating the adventures that lay ahead in our books. I would get pieces of fresh, juicy, ripe nectarines and peaches from the bowl on my mother’s kitchen table and put them, with two books, into a small basket with a handle. I would tie a rope on the handle, throw it over the lowest branch, and after swinging myself up to my first perch on my favorite tree, I would pull the basket up. I continued this way to the top of the tree, always conscious of the familiar footholds on the limbs that ensured my security. Perching myself in the top of the tree, the queen of the neighborhood would look out over her kingdom before embarking on a journey to a new time or place between the covers of my best friends…books! Needless to say, I was overlooked for many a chore by taking my refuge in the tree top…no one could find me!It was the perfect escape…food, book, and peace!

Monday, November 1, 2010

ODE TO THE WOEFUL SOCK, a Sad Knitter's Tale



I spent Sunday at a party for an elementary teacher my Mom knew from her childhood. The teacher was turning 100, and we drove to my Mom's home town in Pennsylvania for a lovely reunion with friends and cousins. I took my knitting, of course, and was knitting away smugly on my sock when tragedy struck and put me in my place pronto! Here is the story:


Oh, knitting friends, do not forego
A hearing of my tale of woe.
Pride always goes before a fall,
And I was surely full of all!
In awe the people watched me knit,
I didn’t have the heart to quit.
My needles flew, I was impressed,
My stitches looked their very best.
I felt so smug, my sock was great,
Until it met an awful fate!
While compliments just flew about,
I pulled the empty needle out
With such a flourish and a flash,
So full of ME, so bold and brash!
And suddenly, I was a jerk.
I’d pulled the needle from the work!
So there I was, with stitches loose,
Just feeling like a silly goose.
Humility came flooding in,
And all that I could do was grin.
I put my work away in shame,
With some excuse, so very lame!
Now I’m no longer flying high,
My sock’s a mess, but I will try
To fix the tangled sock yarn wreck :(
And keep my arrogance IN CHECK!