brenda’s thoughts, watch out I’m Christian

Made it out to the river today

I went to the local boat ramp and found a quiet spot

I was not at the water’s edge

I scooted back to sit in the shade

And watch the water

Watch the sandy bottom

Watch the branches bob up and down in the current

Watch a bug track across my flip flop

Watch birds skim the surface

Watch butterflies dart

A lizard scurry

And hear the relentless sound of highway traffic behind me

Then came the onslaught of human traffic

First the grandfather showing his grandkids the river and demonstrating his unending knowledge of all things nature

Then two young Mexican men looking for a place to fish

Then two very young redneck boys also looking for a fishing spot and strangely enough carrying a white, well groomed poodle

Next came a fat woman who unlike any of the men who preceded her would not stop talking to me, she was married to one of the Mexican men and this was one of their favorite fishing spots, they had caught several last week from this very spot but the line kept breaking so they got stronger line and now they can’t catch anything, but her husband just loves it here because he’s from southern Mexico which is dense jungle and this river reminds him of home

She was very nice but I felt the desire to go walking

So I did

Everywhere I went there were people, in lawn chairs, fishing, leaning against trees, talking, eating a late lunch, on sandbars with small children who were wading in and digging in the sand,

So I walked away from the river toward the woods and swamp

And found isolation

I walked a dirt road with tall grass and brambles on either side

With each step crickets and grasshoppers went flying

There were hundreds

I could hear them chirp

I could hear them pop and snap and thud as they jumped out of my way and into the grass

I could hear them as they continued jumping in the grass

They were so loud that I considered that if a rattle snake were here I wouldn’t hear it for all these crickets and grasshoppers

But there was no rattle snake and I walked on

I felt the call of the wild to get off the dirt road and go into the forest

But unintelligently I had worn flip flops and could find no entry that was free enough of brambles

When the bushes and trees did finally part and let me in I was sure it was a gift from God

Just as I entered I walked right up to a very large and old spider web, it was like netting and I kid you not had a birds feather in it

I grabbed a stick and began whisking it back and forth in front of me to knock down any other webs I might come across, I whisked it so hard you could hear it whip the air as it passed in front of my face

Gingerly I walked on watching for poison ivy, snakes, spiders, etc

I came upon a pig trail, it wasn’t too new and it followed a creek bed so I followed too

Pig trails are great for walking through woods but you gotta know what you’re stepping in, that ain’t just dirt beneath your feet

I kept going deeper and deeper against reason and sanity as I also ways do

Till I came to a place on the pig trail that was fresh

Very fresh

I looked around, continuing to whisk my stick

And decided that since sweat was dripping down my face and mosquitoes were nibbling my forehead I should turn back

So I did

Just as I left the woods I caught site of the spider to which the giant web belonged

I wanted to tell all the woodland creatures to “run away, run away and hide”

Then I thought of Bilbo and his dagger Sting, personally I wouldn’t want o get that close to the spider,

My mind rambled on to squirt guns filled with Raid and then I was back on the dirt road surrounded by crickets and grasshoppers

Suddenly shots rang out, several shots

This is a no hunting zone

And that bozo is shooting right where I was just

I wonder if he was watching me, he had to have seen me

Jerk

Anyway, it was a good walk

I’ll have to go again

This morning
I’m painting
pictures
but I can’t find the bottom of my easel

Last night’s thoughts
I feel great

My health/energy is coming back

I feel like…

You know when the Silver Surfer is separated from his board or when Superman gets near kryptonite

When they finally get their strength back they always make that pose

You know

Legs apart, fists clenched at their sides, head held high, look of determination on their face

You know, ‘the pose’

I feel like I could do that now

Make the pose

I could be a super…hero

kinda

I could

Line all the cabinets and bake cookies too

Or

Trim all the bushes and cut the grass without breaking a sweat

I could be…

The Amazing Mom

Or the Amazingly Single Mom

Ha!

Now I’m just being silly

It is good to feel better

When I drive to and from work every day

(30 minutes each way)

I tend to think of it as a kind of competition

Who can get their first

And all the other cars are the obstacle course

I try to listen to talk radio

Cause it makes me drive slower

Do you know that my little boy

My doodlebug

Will be 18 years old in nine days

I love that picture

He was trying so hard to be good

Cause he knew there was a cake on that table

And he was about to get a piece

He was a big boy

He’s an even bigger boy now

6’3”

My new student is working hard

Bless her heart

I tell her,

“Everyone makes mistakes. It’s what you do after the mistake that determines your character”

Fred has adjusted well

He’s a spoiled bum

He’s a happy kitty

He’s asleep next to me right now

He’s always asleep next to me

Or fussing to be fed

Or held

Or let out

Or let in

Spoiled

Hey, today was great

I had a terrible morning

Everything went wrong

I had no idea how to fix it all

So

I cried out to God

And it was amazing

The great and perfect things that happened weren’t anything that could have been planned or made to happen

It was like good luck all day for my students

It was God

It was really neat because several of the things that happened we had prayed about in our morning prayer

So the kids got to see the power of prayer and the blessings of God first hand

Very cool

Well I made it to church tonight

Yeah

It was like going home

To your mama’s home after being at college all quarter

Minus the back seat full of laundry

Got miffed this morning

I’ve waited all week to fill up on gas so the price could come back down and there’d be no drama (I remember what happened after Katrina)

So this morning I went to fill up the tank

At my favorite gas station

Where the price is reasonable

The people are nice

It’s on my way

And my money isn’t funding some wacko over seas

Flash Foods

But
There were bags on all the pumps

No gas

I had to drive out of my way

OK,
I’m done fussing

The bags are gone now

The price is where it… I almost said, “The price is where it should be.” but that hasn’t been the case for some time now!

I’ve told ya what angels my students are this year

I got a new student

She’s not an angel

It’s funny how her attitude permeated the class in one day

And even funnier how it revealed the hidden defects each child has been working so hard to control

Like lemon juice on a secret message

Or is it heat on a lemon juice message

My brother used to drive me nuts with his secret messages

and Morse code!

Don’t even get me started on Morse code

He made a telegraph. Then ran and buried wires from the tree house to a box that he also buried at the base of the tree we used to come down when climbing out the upstairs window.

He said, “You gotta learn Morse code, you gotta learn Morse code!!!!”

He drove me nuts

No, I never learned it

I refused

Anyway, about my students, talk about ADD

It was just sad that they worked so hard and one kid could mess them up so bad

I was more upset by seeing their defects so clearly

Its past sad

It’s tragic when a child displays characteristics of abuse

It makes you stop and re-assess everything you’ve thought or said about or to that child

It makes you stop

One child touches my heart more than the others

There is always one

Last year it was a girl

This year it’s a boy

They both have been the victim

Most of my students have

But some become the perpetrator

And others continue to be victimized

This boy is a victim

He continues to be bullied

He likes me because I protect him

I can’t protect him once he leaves

So

I’ve stopped and thought

But even in the heat of the situation

No message has been revealed

Maybe I should’a learned Morse code

Helped Dood skin a rattle snake today

Gave myself a pedicure

Fried up a mess a chicken

Ahh, the life of a southern woman

My opinion

I am a single mom

And have been for over 16 years

I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ,

The son of the one and only living God

I am a conservative, values-voting republican

I am also a working/career mom

I am a teacher,

I have been working in the education field for over 15 years

It’s hard to find media coverage of anything that is unbiased

I found a few on the internet that I trust,

Though they are biased… in the conservative or Christian direction

http://pajamasmedia.com/

http://michellemalkin.com/

http://www.onenewsnow.com/

There are lots of others but those are the newest to me

Also, as a single mom and a career mom

I think it’s important that I stand up and say

I support Sarah Palin as VP

I believe she is more than capable of the doing the job and doing it well

I believe that in the event of her taking over as president the country and world will also find that she is more than capable

I believe that you will find her to be a formidable opponent

And that is exactly what I want running the country that I live in

For my friends who read

What news from my home front????

Well

Fred has come to live with me

Which is good,

Dood was missing him

But I’m the one who has to sleep with him

My cat

First night he spent sitting straight up all night watching and listening to every little thing

Second might he talked to me

All night

I almost injured him

Then he went outside

He loves the culverts under the driveways

A kitty-kitty’s playground

My students have had two field trips now

They’re so well behaved that I will be loosing them soon

To the public schools and to adoptive parents

My daughter and her hubby

Still doing that “in-love” thing

Have moved to a larger apartment so they can throw bigger parties

It’s a hard life

Did I mention Dood’s friends cleaning out my frig

Did I mention Dood’s friends cleaning out my frig

I may say it again

They’re lucky I like Dood

There’s a new song which I just love

Check it out

Brandon Heath, Give Me Your Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

I’m wading chest deep in memories this morning

I friend sends and email, “we’re hiking a section of the AT want to come?”

I have hiked that section before and loved it,

It was in fact the last section I hiked

A nice leisurely weekend it was for me

Walking slowly

Writing poems

Enjoying the silence

Also where I picked up that water born bacteria

And where I fell and injured my knee

Which started me kayaking so I’m not complaining one bit

The knee is better

Man it was nice up there

I walked in clouds

Cool and quiet

And rested against soft lichen covered rocks

Alone and at peace

Also I’m watching
Galveston

And remembering        

We used to camp on the beach at the west end

We had so many tarps up during the day

Matt said it looked like tent-city

And at night I left the tent open so the breeze filled it up

First time I forgot to stake it down,

I had to chase my tent across the doons

We found tiny sea horses in the seaweed,

My brothers and I

I think,

Man that was a long time ago

We would come from Grandpa Louie’s house with a container of cold fried shrimp

And sit at cement picnic tables drinking Shasta sodas

and teasing the sea gulls with the tails of the shrimp we didn’t eat

Those birds would swoop in for anything, even rocks

Much like the alligators in the glades with paper wads

only sea gulls aren’t as aggressive when angered

lesson learned

so I’m remembering fun times

and waiting to be well enough to create more memories

Yesterday God had a little ‘come to Jesus meeting’ with me

He got my attention and kept it all day

I haven’t been taking good care of myself

Its scriptural you know

We are to be good stewards, that includes of our own bodies

Today I’m swimming in videos of
Galveston

Watching the tide rise

Watching homes be destroyed

Watching the media annoy people

My grandpa lives on Galveston with his son’s family

My grandma died of cancer several years ago
They are shrimp boat operators

I’ve watched the surf crash over the sea wall all afternoon

I’ve walked that wall with my family … a lot

The dolphins always put on a great show out off the sea wall
My brother’s and I chased crabs by flashlight at night

My grandpa grew his own oregano, he said I’m, “Italian that’s what we do”

He had a pile of conches in the backyard

I’m wondering if that gift shop with the mermaid still stands

I’m wondering if my grandpa Louie got out

Is his boat safe

I was named after him, you probably didn’t know that

We haven’t been out there in ages

I asked dood if he remembered going to Galveston

Remembered eating fried shrimp in the kitchen

All those Marti Gras beads his great grandpa gave him

Or that he used my lipstick to put tattoos all over his stomach

So I’m huggin my tissue box watching waves crash and remembering

Maybe I’ll fry some shrimp

Probably make me cry, better not
Think I’ll write him a letter
phone could be out for awhile
Let him know we were worried