Catching Some ZZZZ's

The alphabet and I had become good friends and we would play all sorts of games together. It delighted in tricking me with tangling puzzles. The relationships between the letters fascinated me. Some of them got along so well with each other and were constant companions in almost every game, while others were shy and seldom seen. Hours were spent trying to tease “q” to go out without his best friend, “u”. It was only when I was much older that I finally succeeded in this endeavor with the promised treat of a Qatari camel race. There were hopes that I might become a great speller until January 25th of my first grade year.

The snow was falling softly outside and my seat was near the window. I was trying my best to ignore the fluffy white man as he floated down from the sky unassembled. He was begging me to bring out his carrot nose and put him together. Suddenly, my attention was captured by the most intriguing character I had ever seen, the letter “z”! It was love at first sight. From then on my spelling was shot as I attempted to place “z” in every word that I thought fitting. I was dazzled by this zany zipper az it zigged and zagged acrozz my pagez, compozing words that were sure to sizzle. I thought it especially fitting to provide the unexpected treat of “z” in a word that meant just that - surprize! Since there were no spelling bee contests in my immediate future, I turned to a more useful application for my letter friends - codes and ciphers.

P.S. This is an excerpt from hopefully a much larger story about a girl named Telsah. I recently rescued it off of my old computer and thought it would be fun to share. You can see I plagarized one of the sentences from this story and used it to create a whole different tale in "Happy Birthday". No need to call the literary cops, however, as I think it is a legal to copy from one's self. Besides, those literary cops will be be much too busy policing my sentences from unwanted "z's" and my newfound love of the ";". Where does one use a ";"? I don't know, but it does look good in a sentence!!!!

A trip to the Grocery Store

The Christmas Cooking Disaster of 2009 combined with other major kitchen mishaps in the last few months had convinced me to give up cooking entirely as a New Year’s resolution. The plan was to focus my energy on other creative, less hazardous projects. This was a good plan in theory, but around the third week in January I got hungry. I had Mother Hubbard Cupboards and my candy stash drawer was down to a few sad Hersey kisses that had long ago lost their ability to pucker. I scrounged up my shopping bag and headed to the local QFC.

Although I had only been avoiding the grocery store for about a month, as I wandered up and down the aisles it felt like it had been years. The food looked amazing. There were samples and sales and soon I had to exchange my basket for a cart. I modified my resolution to oven related cookery and concentrated on foods that could be heated on the stove top or eaten right out of the bag. When my shopping cart was full, for the most part with healthy snacks, I headed to the check-out line. It was with anticipation for a healthy delicious dinner that I watched the checker scan each item.

As I hauled the groceries into my apartment, I could hear the squeak of a pre-packaged plastic bag indicating that once again my kitchen contained fun foods. Twenty minutes earlier, I had argued with myself about buying potato chips (it is not pleasant to find that you have no one to blame but yourself for an empty bag of potato chips even if they are all-natural). However, I suspected from the squeak that one bag had indeed sneaked into my shopping cart. I was a little relieved and relishing the idea of opening up the bag of chips to snack on while I cooked my feta cheese omelet and re-stocked the barren cupboards.

The eggs were sizzling nicely on the stove and I started rummaging through the bags to find the salt and vinegar potato chips. I had put away the majority of items when I finally ran across the air filled plastic bag that held the promise of a challenge to eat just one, once it was opened. I dug it out eagerly – imagine my disappointment when instead of a bag of Kettles Sea Salt and Vinegar, it was a bag of pre-washed spinach!!!! Looking back, I know that I didn’t put any in my cart, and I know I didn’t see the checker scan any, but I really was expecting to find a miracle bag of potato chips amongst my other groceries.

A Tough Day at the Office

Today I want to growl. If only I was a bear, I could walk around growling and no one would give it a second thought. Well, I guess it would depend on where I was sauntering (as all bear walks inevitably turn into saunters). Back at the office, the growl is frowned upon, and even if I was a bear, I don’t think this policy would be revised. In the middle of a huckleberry patch, however, the growl would be tolerated and perhaps encouraged. Well, of course, I can’t turn myself into a bear at a huckleberry patch; instead this weekend may find me at the zoo roaming around the bear exhibit. I’m predicting that these bears will be letting out some very loud “GRRRRRRRRRRRs”. If you happen to be in the area, don’t be surprized if you hear the bears growl while their mouths are seemingly closed; rumor has it they have been practicing for future ventriloquist acts.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Sydney tried to visit at least once a year. Sometimes he gave a warning of his upcoming arrival, like a weatherman’s prediction of precipitation: 85% chance on Friday. Other times, he just appeared, waiting for them in the yard until they got home. He liked to time his visit for the birthday celebrations that took place around the last week of January. This year it was already January 20th and there had been no trace of him.

The family in the red brick house were beginning to be a bit concerned. Comments could be heard such as, “I hope Sydney didn’t spend Christmas in Hawaii and succumb to heat stroke.” And others would counter with, “I hope he’s not hibernating the winter away in a Polar Bear Den. If he set an alarm clock, his snooze button pounding is sure to make those bears crotchety. “ The list of reasons for Sydney’s late arrival and perhaps eventual no-show were getting the family worked up into a frenzied state of alarm.

Finally, the Mr. had to chime in with, “Now don’t start getting hysterical. You know Sydney likes to be unpredictable and keep us toe-tapping. He’ll be here by the end of the month, don’t you worry.” This was said with such authority that the family knew better than to continue with worrying scenarios, at least out loud.

On the eve of January 25th, after everyone had gone to sleep, snow began falling softly outside. The peaceful cold and muffled quiet that comes when large flakes hit the ground woke up the Smallest Miss. She knew at once what the stillness meant and jumped out of bed to open the window. Sure enough, Sydney had arrived; the fluffy white man was floating down from the sky unassembled. He saw the Smallest Miss in the window and beckoned her to bring out his carrot nose and put him together.

The Smallest Miss hurried to put on her boots and mittens. She did not want to keep Sydney waiting, and rushed outside grabbing the special carrot nose and bag of Oreos. It seemed like Sydney was bigger this year and the Smallest Miss had never before put him together by herself. It was delightful work and the two friends both enjoyed the moonlight frolic in the snowy backyard. When they had finished, Sydney was taller than the Smallest Miss and had a grin from ear to ear. “Happy Birthday,” said Sydney as he pulled a cupcake from his secret pocket. And so the Birthday Girl and the Snowman shared a midnight cupcake picnic, lighted by the cheery glow of one candle.

The family was astonished the next morning to see that Sydney had arrived; and not just arrived, but was also assembled. The Smallest Miss and Sydney just smiled and shared a wink as the others speculated on possible explanations. If they had looked closely, they may have found the only clue to the night's celebration; a drop of candle wax and a cupcake crumb.

A Hopeful Beginning

The meeting had been planned for weeks, but that didn’t mean she was ready. This was not a surprise; she was never ready for events dictated by a calendar. It was like she tried to live in an elastic world, where time flexed and was not contained in the rigid blocks of weeks and months. This actually worked to some degree; she had been known to send Christmas Cards out at St. Patrick’s Day, squirrel away fireworks from July to brighten a cold night in October, create a Thanksgiving Thankful List in February, and keep friends on their toes with erratically scheduled birthday whistle serenades. This year, she assumed that once again the welcoming party was more or less optional, and she could catch up with the newcomer at the Chinese festivities where there would be dragon kites and lantern parades.

On the Eve just before midnight, she found herself in bed with an unsocial cold; in bed, but not asleep. Her thoughts began leading her down a path. At first, she saw a path strewn with bushes of good-byes. Good-bye to a sister bound for Germany - Good-bye to a relationship that had once seemed promising - Good-bye to friends whose lives had excitingly diverged - Good-bye to a cooking career (this bush was more like a small weed as a cooking career had never really been hopeful). However, as she looked closer, the good-bye bushes were not seeping sadness as they are known to do, but rather were catapulting possibilities. Sprouting up visits and opportunities to live in new environments - Zinging a longing to find love and companionship in the only One who can truly provide these things – Shooting out tendrils of new friendships and deepening the existing ones - Blooming of other hobbies to be practiced and shared. And when she woke on Friday morning (that is late morning), she was delighted the meeting had not been missed and excited to begin her acquaintance with this New Year called 2010.