What Is It

What is it that makes us go on dreaming, even in the stark reality of daylight?

Why does our heart tell us to keep going in the face of every opposition?

What is the force that drives us ever onward toward a goal that seems unobtainable?

What gives us the courage to carry on, even when it seems that we have gone the last mile?

What is the never ending force that travels through our being--the force that is our being?

Why do we struggle against it? Why the resistance against the thing that is trying to work for our good?

Is it because we all must have a dream? A destiny to fulfill? A pattern that can be formed in it's entirety, by only specific pieces of life, much in the same way that a picture is formed only by each specific piece of a jigsaw puzzle, which has been cut to perfection, and will only fit into that one particular part of the puzzle--its shape and size and color, made to be fitted into no other part--the picture which without it is incomplete.

If a piece is forced into a part of the puzzle, for which it was not made, the picture is misshapen and imperfect.

And such is life.

Our lives are like a jigsaw puzzle. We keep searching until we have found the piece of the puzzle

which fits perfectly into the picture. Much searching, much trying, much forcing of pieces--trying to make a whole of perfection. Our perfect picture., but sometimes the pieces are hard to find--they have to be looked for carefully. Yet, we keep searching.

Sometimes, the piece looks exactly as if it will fit, but it doesn't, and we try to force it into place. because it looks like it belongs there. Finally, after much effort we put that piece aside, and go on searching for the one that fits.

The important thing is that although we may search long and hard through the pieces that don't fit, eventually we find the ones which do, and we have what we have been striving for.

Just as a puzzle is challenging at times, discouraging at others, but ultimately fulfilling when it all comes together beautifully as a result of our efforts--such is the putting together of each of our lives. It's the challenges, the discouragements, the searching and the trying, and the determination to see the fulfillment of our endeavors culminate into the perfect picture.

That's what it is.

Eight Things A Woman Says

And men have no clue...

#1
Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right, and he needs to shut up.
#2
Five minutes: If she is getting dressed, it means half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if he has just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
#3
Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and he should be on his toes. Arguments which begin with "Nothing", usuallly end with "Fine."
#4
Go ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't do it!
#5
Loud sigh: This is actually a word, but a non-verbal statement, often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks he's an idiot and wonders why she is standing here, arguing with him about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)
#6
That's okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay, means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when he will pay for his mistake.
#7
Thanks: A woman is thanking him, and he must not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome.
#8
Don't worry about it, I got it: This is one of the most dangerous statements, meaning that this is something a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will result in the man asking, "What's wrong?" For the woman's response, refer to #3.

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Okay, dear reader gals and guys out there...I know that there isn't a single one of you who would even come close to experiencing any of this stuff with your significant other, but one of the most important pieces of wisdom that my Big Mama gave to me was this:

"Them that don't listen have to feel"

Are You My Mama

Are you my Mama?

I know that's what the little fellow was thinking, but we tried to let him down as easily as possible.

The other night, Mike took Precious, our longhaired daschund out for her final walk of the evening, and just as they walked back up the driveway, here comes this little thing, lickety-split across the lawn, and up the driveway. He was making this funny little raccoon sound, and ran right up Mike's leg! He didn't stop until he was on his shoulder, and snuggling under his chin. Precious didn't like it one bit, or at least she was trying to figure out whether she did or not, because one minute she was bouncing around, all happy, and the next she was growling, as if to say, "Get outta here, kid"

I came out to see what all the ruckus was about, and he spotted me, and ran over and put his little paws around my leg, looking up at me, just like a small child. When we would try to walk away, he would scurry right behind, and follow in our footsteps, just like a puppy.

We tried for two or three hours to take it away from our yard, but as soon as we started back to the house, he was right on our heels.

We had no idea what to do. He was adorable enough for us to want to keep him as a pet, but we knew that was probably not going to be a good idea. They are carriers of several diseases, and although they are cute as can be as babies, as they get older, and bigger, they become very aggressive, and can be rather vicious.

That night, we fixed a cardboard box for him to sleep in, and we soaked a piece of paper towel in milk for it to suck on. It was the cutest thing doing that, too! He would lie flat on his stomach, holding on to the towel with both paws, and suck, suck away, making little guzzling noises.

We put the box out in the garage, and he was fine until he heard someone walk by, and then you never heard such carrying on! Finally, we put it at the very far end of the garage, close to the back door, so he couldn't hear us...and we couldn't hear him!

The next morning, it was the same thing all over again...right on our heels, every step we took, standing with his paws around our legs, and climbing all over us. We bought a little teddy bear about two or three inches tall, and put it into the box with him. He would tumble the bear around until he got tired, and then snuggled next to it to nap!

The picture above is one that we took of him sitting on a tree branch that we put him on. He looked fat and healthy!

Here, he is in his box with his little teddy bear! Honestly, he was just like a little baby, and at this stage, it is hard to believe that they can become vicious, not to mention destructive, and real pests!

We called our vet, who informed us that by law, they could not treat it, nor even give it rabies shots. They suggested calling several other agencies, and all we could find out is that a person is not allowed to keep them as pets, and they are not allowed to dispose of them, nor to put them back into the wild. They told us this, after we suggested that we could take it to the natural reserve, and turn it loose there, after we found out that Animal Control would do nothing, because they could not dispose of them.

Makes a lot of sense, huh? So here's the gist of it: You can be fined if you keep it and care for it as a pet, and you are in violation of another law, and can be fined accordingly if you take it back to a more natural habitat and turn it loose. And of course, you can't euthanize it, or you could go to jail. No wonder people are confused about right and wrong when it comes to keeping the law.

We were in a quandry. We couldn't let the little thing starve to death, so while we were trying to decide what to do with it, we kept feeding it with the milk-soaked towel, until we were sure it could eat, and then, we put it in the van, and drove to a park in the reserve. Mike took it out, and set it down. It started scurrying around, playing, and then Mike ran as fast as he could, and jumped into the van, and took off.

And yeah...we felt really guilty, but what else could we do? By the time we set him free, he was able to eat on his own, and maybe, just maybe, he took up with some more nice people he found there. Someone who didn't give a flip about keeping the law anyway.