Category Archive:Moose Nuggets

This is in reply to Velvet Verbosity’s 100 Word Challenge. This week’s word is BATHED. And, since this is the last challenge during Poetry Month, I thought my entry should be a poem.

This is for the many mamas and their babies out there. We may not have all been Mamas, but we have all been babies with mamas.
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Brushed and bathed
And ready for bed
Mama pulled them close
And the little one said

Mama? Tell me why
Do I have to go to sleep
Must I close my eyes
And count some sheep

Can’t I stay here and
Cuddle with you
Could you read a story
Or maybe even two

Hush, little ones
Mama replies
It’s time to rest now
Close your wee eyes

They hugged and then
Gave a kiss or maybe three
As mama rocked her
Toddlers on her knee

The moon shone through
The window brightly
As mother and children
Held each other tightly
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Today’s A-Z Challenge letter is V.

During this monthlong A-Z challenge I have shared pictures of the area in which I am blessed to live. Today, as the letter is V, I want to share a few more. Within a 5 mile distance is a great area to view a wide open expanse. Some folks call this area the Kenai River flats and it can afford a great view of two mountain ranges, Cook Inlet and the Kenai River.

At this time of the year – if we are blessed – we get to see the annual return of sandhill cranes, Canadian geese and snow geese. Today I went on a bit of a safari to see if I would be so blessed. Missed a great shot of the birds lifting up en masse to go across the road and down the river a bit . . . 🙁 . . . but was able to get one shot.

In the first shot below (click for larger views) you can see a view of the flats – in the second I cropped out a shot of the geese feeding. Yeah, those white blobs are geese. I needed to be nearer to get a good shot – maybe later tonight when I go to class.

The third picture is from a different location very near the first – showing the great rainclouds we are experiencing today. No complaints about the rain from me – it is holding down the dust and I am not sneezing nearly as much. Yay!

That last pic is from the bird viewing area near the boat docks. As I was getting into my car I noticed something with an orange ribbon on it – surveyor type tape.

Can hardly see it in the first shot – so look closer at the second – Hey! Whatshoelookinat? 🙂

Yup – one lonely shoe – don’t know if someone dropped it there – or if it came up on a high tide and was deposited. It’s not very muddy so probably that first, but you would have to wonder why they just left it there.

or not.

Happy “V” day, everyone.

Today’s A-Z Challenge letter is U.

Unforgettable . . . or the opposite of that. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

With each strand of rapidly graying hair I find that my memory skills are lessened. I still can remember words and how to use them – how to string them together properly to make sense. I can do the newspaper crossword – in pen! – in about 20 minutes (with interruptions) as I sit at the desk for the receptionist’s lunch hour.

But names . . . argh!!! Names will often escape me. It used to be funny when hubby-moose and I would be out and about and we’d run into someone we knew we knew . . . but couldn’t quite pull out the name. We’d fake it – rather than make someone feel bad – and as we would walk away we’d look at each other and try to be the first to say Who was that?

Today at a luncheon I introduced myself to someone who told me we had met recently. Sigh. I just pointed out my gray and told him I had earned every one of them.

Good thing I have trusted people near me who can help when I forget a name. They are, and will always be, unforgettable.

He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter, friends.

I’ve had an extremely busy couple of weeks – preparing for and then delivering a week-long workshop; arranging for speakers, doing the bulk of the teaching . . . so I am behind on the A-Z challenge. I will attempt to keep this short and hit the ones I am behind on: N-T.
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N: Never mind!
That is probably one of my least liked phrases – especially when said with disdain as it often is. I may have been taking a few minutes to formulate a response in an attempt to clarify my point. I may have been choosing words carefully in order not to offend.

Never mind! This phrase brings the connotation that my words are not important – my thoughts and emotions are “less than” so let’s move on.

I try not to use this phrase because it has such negativity to me.
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O Only the Lonely. A song from my teen years. Why is it that our lives are so full of angst when we are teens? Do we get over that when we hit our mid years and then our adult years?

It would be best if we can get to the point that we no longer see only BLACK and WHITE, but can begin to see the gray in between. That it is no longer an emphatic YES or NO, but a maybe thrown into the mix on occasion.

In the words of Mr. Sulo – “Oh, my . . . ”
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P: Petrol
Well, that is, perhaps, what it is called in some European countries. It’s, of course, gasoline or simply gas in the US.

Can I just say that it is getting to the point that I may have to choose between filling my tank and buying luxuries such as food? $4.35/gallon as of yesterday. I expect it to raise at least five cents over the weekend. This is starting to really hurt people.

It’s getting to the point where I have to think long and hard before I will even make the 25 mile round trip to the next town over to do any shopping.
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Q: Quilting. I don’t get it. I have seen really pretty results from quilting friends . . . but to just cut perfectly good cloth into teensy pieces and then sew the pieces back together? Yeah, that would frustrate me. Give me a hank of yarn and some knitting needles, though, and I’m a happy camper.
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R: Rest
I’m not very good at self-care sometimes. I can teach/preach it to my coworkers, but I sometimes forget to take care of myself. So, it is little wonder that last night I crashed and crashed hard.

As soon as hubby-moose got up to go to work (he works nights) I switched places with him. I was snoring before I hit the pillow – practically. And, I slept hard – was awakened by a strange noise about 5 this morning – my stomach was growling! So, hubby and I met for breakfast at a small hotel where we sat and chatted as I drank coffee to wake up and he drank water so he could go to sleep when we got back home.
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S: Snow! The last bits of winter snow are slowly fading into meltdown. Thank goodness! This is the least pretty time of year in Alaska – all gray and dusty. Snow piles (those that are left) are dirty and UGLY. In their place as they melt away will be piles of sand and gravel that has been kicked up by the plows all winter long.

As it dries the dust begins to swirl through the air making breathing miserable and those with allergies to suffer immensely. Lots of sneezing going on in Kenai.
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T: Tornadoes – ICK!
Give me a good old fashioned earthquake any day. I grew up in tornado alley and I do not miss them. When the sky turned a sickly green shade I was headed for the crawl space with my babies. Tornadoes are scary, folks! They are devastating and killers. I feel for those who have been impacted by such storms this week. You are in my prayers.
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There we go – all caught up now. I can face the rest of my weekend with no impending MUST DO blogging.
🙂

Have a joyous Easter weekend my friends.