Raft Dreams the 13th and Critters

"Go small, go simple, go now."
Larry Pardey

Happy Friday
the 13th- is over!
Welcome Saturday
and

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

A thought about yesterday, Friday the 13th 

"Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational- but
how much does it cost you to knock on wood?
Judith Viorst

Greetings from Misty

Now that Misty is back from the groomer

 she's feeling like a young pup again.

But please don't ask for her side of the story.

Some dogs are extremely lucky
 in the hair growth department.
They seldom require baths as well.

While other pups must experience the dire need 
and upsetting frustration of being groomed.
You can't see it, but Misty is shaking like a leaf on a tree.
How does she know doom is near and that we're not just going on another hike?

"I'm not lost for I know where I am.

 But however, where I am may be lost."

A.A. Milne

"It is more fun to talk with someone 
who doesn't use long difficult words,
 but rather short, easy words like

What about lunch?"

Or, want to play catch?

Just a few photos from my mystery garden created
once our beloved Lady crossed over the rainbow bridge.

"Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them."

A.A. Milne

I call it a mystery garden, because I plant things scattered about and don't label anything.  Sometimes, I just shake up a bunch of seeds and stick them in the ground.
(I also enlist the help of a few munchkins, it's their project as well.


Surprises. Even many volunteer weeds or flowers that happen by chance are all welcome here.

and especially little fairy houses.

Enjoy everything about this weekend and
Take good care of you!

and I close with this thought
that I read this morning.

"There are those who will walk around your pieces,
lest they cut themselves upon the scatter.
But others will pick up your broken bits,
they'll cherish all they can gather.
These are the ones to whom you must hold on to forever.
Not those who forsook you,
but the ones who glued you back together."
Shakieb Orgunwall

The Trolley and Harry

I'm linking with 
Elephant's Child blog for this week's 

WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY

(blue italic words)

and
GOOD FENCES

(click to enlarge the Birmingham Botanical Gardens
in Birmingham, Alabama)

Words for Wednesday was 

Once offered by Delores at Under the Porch Light 

and continued by others like Mark Koopmans 
who provided this week's words.

 Purely to encourage us to write.

So here's my story.

From somewhere in Minnesota
Harry traveled the depths of metal bone yards 
in search of the perfect trolley.

Harry had an enterprising idea!

Harry
and

The Trolley 

that could-

or rather should
if at all possible
trolley about
as trolleys often do.

But what style trolley should Harry choose? San Francisco offers
a jamboree of lovely trolleys
 like this one on Market Street.

How about this snazzy trolley also on Market Street?

But Harry dreamed of a one of a kind trolley.

So might  Harry be better off with a horse drawn trolley like this below?

After all Harry hails from Madagascar you know.

Truth be told Madagascar was much more popular than say anywhere in Minnesota for a lucrative business.

Nowhere else on earth

 will you meet in one Trolley Tour

the often silly, food throwing Lemur.

"The ears were large, flaring forward, the eyes limpid amber,
in which the pupil floated like a glittering jewel, changing color with shifts of the light: obsidian, emerald, ruby, opal, amethyst, diamond."
William S. Burroughs

a Ring-Tailed Lemur

uncovered by such a jolly Harry,
 a most anomalous travel guide
ready for hire.

So many sights to see.

Like, bears dressed in overalls!

If one rations their financial gains well enough through the years they could always travel to the favored Paris destinations, or perhaps, the lovely and storied countryside of Ireland.

But after chasing leprechauns for a few days most would surely decide Madagascar isn't such a faraway place as once believed.  Especially, after meeting Harry aboard his traveling trolley-
equipped with his magical tales of adventures at the ready.

Seriously, all a traveler really needs is a jaunt past 
the hillside complex of royal palaces and burial grounds and

Photo from wikipedia

 naturally a trip down the "Avenue of the Baobabs" with such a gala vision of massive specimens of centuries old trees.  All waiting along the dusty hidden trails somewhere on the Island of Madagascar.

In the beginning many folks scolded his outlandish and foolish adventures of 

securing an outdated old trolley (with gigantic windows) merely for the enjoyment of those retired folks or other travelers desiring an unforgettable vacation.

Harry's hopes of financial gain on a day by day experience, seems to be paying off for him too.  Harry's dream of showing them the palatial surroundings around the Island of Madagascar and the neighboring Comoro Islands no longer seems so ridiculous, or far too lavish for travelers.  Harry's talent for sharing simple things like the basic facts about lemurs truly has kept their adrenaline flowing and more and more tourists signing up daily.

 So you'd be mistaken to imagine that being over-55 has it's draw backs especially when Harry goes ballistic if he doesn't bring his own private stash of treacle syrup (which he'll share) to spread over sponge pudding or toasted waffles, and making his trauma easily averted. 


I'm closing with a bit of Madagascar folklore
 Proverbs and Sayings

Words are like eggs, when they are hatched they have wings.

Distracted by what is far away, he does not see his nose.

Nothing is so difficult that diligence cannot master it.


So, are you ready to book a tour with Harry?!

Critters, One Fence in Vorfreudu Style

"Words are a form of action,
capable of influencing change.
Their articulation represents a complete,
live experience."
Ingrid Bengis

Vorfreudu

 (The joyful, intense anticipation

 that comes from imagining future pleasures.)

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

Ah yes, growing delectable
mouth-watering tomatoes 
a soul-satisfying experience
in everything fresh from the garden.

Supervisor.

Behold Aslan

Two sweeties that have crossed the rainbow bridge but are always in our thoughts.

She was a stray that enjoyed living on our grounds.



At first I thought this was a live critter, as this young Farmington student strolled the room.  This little young'un is his own creation for the Art Fair.

All the right moves

to appear live.

Book Art.

Created by an elementary student.

"We never realized we were making memories.
We were just having fun."

The Basilica of Saint Mary.
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Walking 
Eyes wide open.

Lake Calhoun

"Summer is a great time to visit art museums,

which offer the refreshing rinse of swimming pools -

only instead of cool water, you immerse yourself in art."

Jerry Saltz

Selfish Gnome?

Now I lay me down to
read!

Lyra.

Young adventurer.

"Every day or two,

I strolled to the village

 to hear some of the gossip

 which is incessantly going on there,

circulating either from mouth to mouth

or newspaper to newspaper,

and which, taken in homeopathic doses

was really as refreshing in it's way as the rustle of leaves 

and the peeping of frogs."

Henry David Thoreau

For Good Fences

Smiling face and wistful fence.


To everyone caught in the throws of a tragic fire in Canada, as my pups and I walked outside this morning we caught the scent of our pain.
You are in our thoughts.

I close by sending well wishes and prayers
To everyone in Canada.
 God Bless you all,
in this devastating time.

Take good care everyone and enjoy your weekend.

TP is back- Feeling Nostalgic

Welcome back 

THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

and

Feeling Nostalgic is our theme.

  

"What the viewer sees in a photograph

can be very different from

 what the photographer perceived."

"The past is a candle at great distance;

too close to let you quit

too far to comfort you."

Amy Bloom

The thing about nostalgia is what something means to you.

A happy personal association.

and yet,

 "We are homesick most for the places we have never known."

Carson McCullers

"Memories believe before knowing remembers."

William Faulkner

Who Goes on Foot

When going by foot it always leads to something.


"The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then,

 he sits down a lot."

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Find a chair, take a seat, but don't stay long.

There's always more just around the corner.

Adventure, surprises and more.

Being silly is a thing.

"Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet."

"It is one of the blessings of old friends and family that you can afford to be silly/stupid with them."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You will do foolish things,

but do them with enthusiasm." 

"Total absence of humor

renders life impossible."

Feed the birds.

"We only do well the things we like doing."

Make wishes.

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

C.G. Jung

Enjoy today in everything you do.

and take good care of you.