Everything good about life ...

I've loooong wondered about it,
the old man explained.
  There's treasure to be found,
   it's somewhere around,
    maybe under the ground,
so we'll find it.

It's maybe mostly money, many think,
as they struggle to gather it in,
   to collect in a pile
     and to live in grand style,
        but after a while,
it just stinks.

Peaceful pathways, people patiently pursue,
and what is their priceless find?
   The best part is time 
     spent with family and friends,
       or adventures to the ends . . .
of the world!  . . .
Money's myths mysteriously fall through . . .

The treasure, they find,
 is to be loving and kind.
     It's helping, and hearing,
       and caring, and living
         a life full of giving.
That's life at its best, all combined . . .
 for mankind.
    and womankind.
         and doggie-kind.
                 and birdie-kind.
                         and runny babbits and other furry-kind.

         And for teachers; they're usually kind, too.

______________________________

"Tell us the grandest most wonderful life truth," said someone in the crowd to the teacher.  

Without hesitation, he answered. "With everything in you and every moment of your life, you can live in the love of your father in heaven and know his heart," he told them, "and the second most wonderful is just like it ... you can love each other just like you love yourself.  Every good thing about life begins there."

_______________________________
For Ruby Marie, learning and growing so wonderfully well.  
I love you dearly,
Grampa

Wealth and Wisdom

Once upon a time ... except this story is mostly true ... 

So there was this sad young leader who wondered why everybody else was having fun and he wasn't.  He was rich, and most everybody else wasn't, and he'd thought being rich would be better, but for some reason, he just wasn't happy.

As he sat by the window, high up in his really fancy house, he watched everybody else smiling as they came and went about their day.  They'd greet each other cheerfully and talk about things they were doing.  Lots of times, they'd go off together to help each other on this project or that.  Sometimes they did really hard work, and still they smiled and were happy.

So one day, this teacher was talking to folks about how to be truly happy, and crowds gathered to hear him talk and ask questions.  The rich young leader decided he'd go hear what this teacher had to say; maybe he knew a secret.

Down the stairs and through the grand rooms and out through the huge doors he went.  Down the road to the spot where the teacher and all the gathered people were sitting and talking ... the rich young leader just barged into the middle of things and asked, "Teacher, what do I need to do to have a happy life like these folks have?"

The teacher looked right into his eyes, and after a moment, he told him, "You should go and sell everything you have and give it to people who need help, and then come follow along with us.  Then you'll have a happy life."  
        oooOooooooh, there was such a hush across the crowd as the words settled on them all.  The rich young leader didn't know what to say.  In his head, he saw all the fancy stuff he had and his treasure in boxes in the basement, and he just couldn't bring himself to give up his fancy life.  Without saying anything at all, he turned away sadly and went back home.

Out at the edge of the crowd, a really old fellow commented to his really old wife, "Wealth is like strawberries, sort of.  If you have more than you can eat, they just get mushy and make a mess in your house.  It's more fun if you give them away, and other people get to eat, too."  The really old wife smiled.  They'd learned a long time ago that giving is better than having, and that helping others was really the best part of a happy life.

A little girl overheard their conversation and remembered her friend who really likes strawberries, so she got up and went to gather some.  While she picked the strawberries, she ate some and saved some for her friend, and she smiled, thinking of how happy George and maybe Levi would be when she came with strawberries.
_____________________________________

So wealth is only a problem if wisdom fails.  Too much wealth is like too many strawberries in the kitchen; it's just stupid, especially if you can give them away to somebody who doesn't have any strawberries.

For my smart granddaughter who knows wisdom is important.  It's how you tell good from bad.

When Grampa was little

'Twas oh so many years ago
   in village down by the sea,
   that among the old rocks lived a little old crab
   by the name of Fiddle de Dee.
The whole of his heart for all of his days
   was to play in the sand and the sea.

He was an old crab and I a brave lad,
  and the years between us were many,
Yet our time there was grand,
   as we walked in the sand
   with Mum and others, or not any.

Dee was a fiddler; not a good one, it seems,
  eerk eearp was his best refrain.
Mum winced when he played
  and grimaced and swayed
  to the sound like the wreck of a train.

Then one day, through the mist and the haze,
   a pirate ship did appear.
It was pointy in front 
   and tall in the middle,
   and shaped rather round in the rear.

Dee swam to the ship,
   gave the lookout the slip,
   and climbed up the mast to the nest.
"Tis a good life for me,"
   said Fiddle de Dee,
   now a pirate, just like the rest.

Time passed, and more,
  and Dee missed the shore
  and the sand and the waves at his feet.
Still, a pirate was he, with a high perch to see.
It was nice, if you want to explore.

Then suddenly before
  came a glimpse of a shore.
Dee saw it first, and cried out,
"Land Ho!" (more like "land ho.",
  because crabs can't talk very loud.)

          "I shall not leave this land unexplored,"
            yelled Fiddle de Dee to the waves.
          So alone, o'r the side, 
            to swim with the tide,
            leapt he with a 'shout', so brave.

Dee reached the shore
  where we'd sat before,
  and he glared rolly-eyed at me.
"I haven't seen you since morning," I said,
  "and it's nearly quarter to three."
"Perhaps for chips and asparagus tips,
    you'd come share Mum's tea with me."

"But of course I shall.  I've got stories to tell,
   of all the wonders I saw."
"And I've conquered this land
   by my own hand,"
Dee proclaimed while waving his 'claw'.

So passed the day, and we laughed at the way
   it all seemed so wonderfully free.
Two friends could piddle
   and imagine and fiddle
   in the sand and the surf by the sea.

The end.

Oh, yes, the hidden lesson.  
Just because they're little and crabby doesn't mean they don't have some good stories to tell.

(For my imaginative granddaughter whom I admire so much for her courage.)

One Little Angel

Among all the angels, there was this one little one named Chrysanthea ... who patiently waited her turn, as you're supposed to do if you're polite ...

While she waited her turn, she enjoyed the night sky and all the stars.  She especially liked stars because they twinkled and they were bright and probably smart.

Then the day came ... Chrysanthea was called down from the sky to talk with the archangel Michael.  That was a little intimidating because he was pretty tall and famous, and he had been doing important stuff for a long time, so she was a little shy as she presented herself at his office.  The staff of angels welcomed her warmly and escorted her into where Michael was.  He smiled cheerfully when he saw her and introduced her around.

Chrysanthea, this is Arthur.  He will lead your group and show you what to do since this is your first time doing angel work.  Chrysanthea shook Arthur's hand and noticed he was big and pretty strong, but he smiled, too, so that was nice.

Introductions continued with Chrysanthea meeting Brindur and Zanthus, rounding out the team.  Arthur gathered them together to tell them what was ahead for them.

There's a precious young girl with a beautiful heart who was born in the Spring, and her name is Ruby.  She was born near the forest and not far from the river, and everyone was there to celebrate her arrival.  Her mom, of course, and her dad, and her grandparents, and they waited for hours and hours and hours, till she finally arrived and smiled at them all.  She was very small to start, like baby-size, but she grew a little every day.

Well, it turns out her Grammy, who loves her dearly, prays for her every day.  "Father, watch over my precious granddaughter.  Keep her safe and healthy and happy."  So Grammy's request got forwarded to Archangel Michael, and he put together a team of angels including Chrysanthea to watch over Ruby.

Grandmothers do that, it seems.  Grampa's grandmother prayed for him and Grammy all the time, and Ruby's great-grandmothers pray for her, and there's lots of stories over the years.

So the years go by, and with the other angels, Chrysanthea watches over Ruby, and defends her in difficult times, and now there's even more stories.

And because there's always a hidden meaning, for such a story, ...
__________________________________________________
Precious Ruby, your Grammy prays for you every day, and so does your Grandpa.
And there's much more to the story, of course.  😍

Five Forest Faries

In the dark woods, a little ways back from the road, there were these five fairies, all named Charlotte.  At least that's what I heard.  There was thumb-sized Charlotte and pinky-sized Charlotte, and the rest were regular finger-sized fairies.  They were all really nice, especially pinky Charlotte.

It was winter, and it was cold, and the fairies played in the snow sometimes; but not on the ground.  They flew around chasing the snowflakes that fell from the sky, and they laughed and sparkled a lot.

It was almost Christmas when the fairies heard this little girl laughing.  They flew to the edge of the forest, and there was this little girl, laughing and running around and looking for clues of a heffalump in the neighborhood.  She had a bag with lots of clues, but the best clue was too big to fit in the bag.  It was a heffalump foot print right there on the road and it was huge!

The little girl ran home with her bag of clues to tell her mommy and daddy about the heffalump, and the fairies flew along behind her, but she didn't see them.  At the house, they hovered at the front window while the little girl ran inside and around the room squealing, "I found footprints from a heffalump!  And ... I found all these clues!"

Mom and Dad had never ever seen a heffalump in person, but they really enjoyed the story their little girl told, and they looked through all the clues together.  Outside the living room window, the five forest fairies hovered like little hummingbirds and giggled along with the little girl.

Thumb-sized Charlotte said wistfully, "She's really nice," as she enjoyed watching the little heffalump hunter; "and she'd be fun to play with, I'll bet."  Pinky Charlotte lit up with big eyes and a smile and exclaimed, "we should move near to where she lives so she could visit us.  We could be neighbors and friends!"  The regular-sized Charlottes all agreed and suggested they invite George the granoladon to move with them.  George and all the Charlottes were the very best of friends.

Well it turns out that the night before Christmas, George and all the Charlottes packed up their houses and frogs and moved next to where the little girl lived.  Then on Christmas morning ... they sprang out of a Christmas box!  "Surprise, surprise!  Merry, merry, merry merry Christmas!"  And with their tiny voices, they sang Silent Night and Away in a Manger for their new friend.

The five forest fairies stayed and watched over their little friend for all the years of her childhood, and even when she was older, she remembered the story of Christmas they had shared with her; peace on earth, good will to men. And women.  And children.  And granoladons.

A Dark and Stormy Night

It was indeed a dark and stormy night, because it's always that way if you're on a pirate ship. 

And, it's tough being a pirate.  

If you're going to be a pirate, you have to be in a boat and on the water, working all the time, and there's never a chance to play or just sit around and do stuff.  "Heave ho, avast me hearties!"  What in the world does that mean? Then you've got to weigh the anchor every time, like once wasn't enough.

Little Johnny Jumpup had skipped school and run off to be a pirate and see the world, but all he saw was water, everywhere.  Plus, the pirates were mean and they stole stuff, so that part wasn't good at all.  "I just want a beach with palm trees and coconuts," Johnny muttered to himself, and decided, "a pirate's life is not for me." 

🎵 Yo, heave ho, this life is not for me! 🎶

So began his adventure on that dark and stormy night.  Little Johnny hopped into a dinghy (that's a really small boat) with his pack and with his friend, Monkey Mo.  He untied the ropes holding the dingy, and 'whoosh', they were racing away on the ocean, and the waves were huge.  The wind blew spray in Johnny's face and Monkey Mo clung tightly to the boat's mast to keep from bouncing out into the water.

Through the night and under the stars, they raced along with the wind and waves, and sometimes dolphins would jump and laugh in the water beside them.

Then finally, it's morning, and they manage to land at the very exact same spot little Johnny had started from; right in front of his mom and dad's house, and just in time for school. 😅 Whew!

Johnny and Monkey Mo settle into life with the family.  They go to school together, and eventually college.  Monkey Mo plays soccer and gets good grades; he eventually gets a degree in business.

Johnny went on to have a fun life and family. He and his wife Jane are both school teachers, and they have eleven children and twenty-seven grandchildren.  They should probably retire and just play with the kids and take vacations together at the beach with palm trees and coconuts.

Monkey Mo went with big business and eventually began managing a hedge fund on Wall Street.  He regretted that choice after he figured out that it was the same as being a mean pirate, so he resigned and moved back to the little town where Jane and Johnny live.  They welcomed him to the family, and he told stories to the grandkids about how stupid pirates are, and they all lived happily ever after.

______________________________________

Okay, not every story has a hidden meaning, I guess.  Sometimes, stories are just for fun.  😉 Stupid pirates.

______________________________________

For Ruby and her vivid imagination.
Love, Grandpa

The Truth About Bigfoot, Finally!

There are lots of scary stories about bigfoot, but this one is better than all of them.  So, ...

Once upon a time, in the deep, dark woods, Bitty Bella Bigfoot walked cheerfully along the path, whistling a pretty song.  She'd skip and dance a step or two, here and there, because the leaves made pretty noises when she did that.






Suddenly, there were these voices!  Bitty Bella Bigfoot hid behind a big tree because she heard strange voices she didn't recognize, right there in the woods.  On every other day when she danced in the woods, there was nobody there except sometimes George the granoladon, and he was a friend of hers.  They both liked strawberries, and he liked to hear her whistle pretty songs.  

Well, there she was, hiding behind a tree and being really quiet ... and here come these children dancing and smiling and laughing along the path through the forest.  But then they just stop!  And they look around and they ask, "What happened to the music?  How come the music stopped?"

"What music are they talking about," Bitty Bella wonders.  Then she remembers ... she was whistling!  

Shy and a little nervous, Bitty Bella steps out from behind the tree and smiles.  Then she whistles a little, and the children are so happy, "Oh, it was you that was whistling!  We heard you so many times and wondered where it was coming from, but we never found you until today."  So they laughed and hugged and danced, and Bitty Bella whistled her wonderful songs for them while they all danced together.

They became the best of friends, of course, and they enjoyed each other so much.  They were all really different, but they had things in common that they loved like music and dancing and the noise that leaves make when you dance in them.  They talked about other stuff, but mostly about the things they shared.  Friends are nice to have.

__________________

Remember how we said there is a hidden meaning in 'once upon a time' stories?

What do you think it was?

     ~ Be a good friend?

     ~ Being different doesn't matter?

                 Yes, that's what's hidden

                   in Bitty Bella's story.  

She'd be happy we understand.

_________________________

For Ruby, my dancing granddaughter.  😍

Love, Grandpa