Tragedy in our Darkest days

Tragedy in our Darkest days

In the darkest of days we find ourselves in what we think is an overwhelming sense of being helpless and of being full of hopelessness.

When we feel lost from the trying days that are among the darkest we don’t always see the angels around us and in turn the angels will make themselves known to us when we need them the most.

Through the tragedy, we just want to lose ourselves but those who we need the most will be guided to us by the angels that are watching over us in our time of need so we can find ourselves.

As the darkest of days wears on and we press on in the hopes for a brighter day, we can’t help but want to give up at times, but we don’t due to the angels whispering in our ears you can make it, you’ve got us angels to help you, to guide you and to show you that there is a brighter day out there.

As we question ourselves and our beliefs, those we have lost in our darkest of days through tragedy, come to us at our darkest moments to let us know that they are there watching over us by whispering in our ears saying I am here to comfort you the way you always comforted me and by giving you a kiss on the cheek when needed to show that they still feel the love you have for them and the hands on the shoulders you need the touch of a loved one saying I’ve got your back.

Through the tragedy we find solace in the words and actions of those around us that do the work of the angels who sent them while those angels lift our thoughts and our prayers up to God as he welcomes home those that we have lost to tragedy so that they will be ready to show us that they never really left us while waiting for us to come home to Heaven so we can be reunited someday.

As we feel those that we have lost, we also hear them say we will be together again someday and I am in the arms of an angel who will guide me home so I can watch over you as you have watched over me. 

struggles

In times where things are as we would like them we never forget our struggles

In times where we go on with our day to day lives we get complacent to the point we
take what we have for granted and think that we no longer have to struggle

In our complacency we tend not to see other peoples struggles 

It is not until our own lives are upended that we remember our own struggles and get mad 
at ourselves for having allowed ourselves to forget our own pain

It is not until our own lives are upended that we remember the help we got in our struggles and those who where there for us during those struggles

Only during our own struggles to we fully realize that we are not only measured by our own struggles but also measured by what we can do for and how we treat others who can do nothing for you where that is only when we can truly understand the struggles of others

On a stormy night in early October

On a stormy night in early October, a shadow crept up through the window of the bedroom. As the wind picked up it sounded like someone was going rat a tat-tat on the window where the shadow grew long.


With the wind picked up it sounded like it someone was knocking like crazy with the rat a tat-tat with a lot of force. After a little while the wind started to howl with the ferocity that it whipping around that almost sounded like someone just outside the window that was struggling to be heard.

The person in the room, slowly trying to gather the courage to see what was out at the window, hid under the covers shivering with fear, wishing that someone would come in and whisper that everything would be alright. Slowly she got the courage to slide off of the bed onto the floor and slowly crawled over to the window.

As she crawled over to the window, she noticed that the shadow was not as big as she had thought but the howling wind was worse then ever and the rat a tat-tat on the window was almost non stop. When she got to the window she slowly got up first easing herself up onto her shadow box that she regularly used as a bench to perch herself on as she looked out the window, trembling in fear from not knowing what was out there.

As she unlatched her windows they flung open letting in the wind and a whole mess load of leaves that had come loose from the trees. As the wind gusted even harder she, seen something blow towards her forcing her to duck and as she ducked she let out a loud gasp and scream of fright. When she turned back towards the window she, seen that something and it looked like it was trying to come in.

She then did her best to crawl back to her bed so she could turn on the lamp on her night stand and as she turned on the light she heard a loud cracking sound. As she was listening to the cracking she, seen that something coming thru the window even further and she quickly turned on the light to see what that something was.

When she turned on the light she let out a loud gasp that was a mix of fright and surprise for that something that had been going rat a tat-tat was just a that large branch that she had seen earlier that day that had started to lean as if it were going to break off from the tree nearest to her house.

After she calmed down she realized that it must have started to come off the tree as the wind picked up and had gotten close enough to her window to start tapping on the window with the wind and was relieved to know that the cracking she heard was actually the branch starting to come free from the tree.

In Memorium

Remembrance

Remembrance

We cannot let ourselves forget the lives that were lost on that fateful day. Our way of life was changed that day when almost three thousand people died. We need to memorialize those that were lost on that day to help ease the pain of the great loss of innocent life.

We also need to honor those who we regard as heroes that died who if were able to talk would say that they were simply doing their job like they have done like any other day. They need to be honored in ways that reflect our desire not to let them have died in vane.

Those that were lost, their names forever will be whispered on the winds and will not have died in vane as long as we do fear those who would want to scare us into cowering by attacking us from the shadows.

Those who ran in to save people and paid the ultimate price need to be revered by making sure that everyone knows that a great many more people could have and would have died if it wasn't for the first responders.

Where there were hundreds of people from all over the world in the towers when they came down that day, it is not just an American tragedy, it is a world tragedy where many died thousands of miles away from their families and the places they called home with their families not being able to do anything to find their loved ones or to help those people that their loved ones called friends and today may still not have closure.

The last tragedy that the U.S. has had to deal with anywhere close to this magnitude is Pearl Harbor which brought WWII home for us and both events will forever live in infamy.

Like when John F. Kennedy was shot the one question that will be asked of those who were alive when the towers fell will be where were you when it happened.

With all the questions that have been asked the one that stays with me is the one my niece who turned seven that day which was "Why did those bad people kill all those people on my birthday?"

How do you deal with the hurt

How do we know who's telling the truth,

about themselves when everyone is acting
like they are chicken little with their personal
lives while expecting others around them
to be truthful with their personal lives.
When do we know that the actions taken
are not a reflection of what is being said
When the two contradict each other to the
Point out that the individual can not be
trusted to show the real person.
How does one deal with having someone
who has said that they are your friend
come out and say that they never did what
you know for a fact that they did in a way

That indicates that they are unwilling to
admit that they said and did things that
made them appear in a way that he doesn't
want to be seen in?

When do you know when a person's contradicts
are designed to hide something from specific
people or trying to keep from dealing with what
he or she is hiding?

How does one deal with the contradictions when
there is evidence that backs up what has been
done and the individual would rather ruin a
friendship than admit to having done what the
evidence shows?

In Rememberance of D-Day

Today we remember those who during World War II fought in the battles on D-Day.


On June 6, 1944 both sides showed their dogged determination in the multiple landing beaches that the allies landed on by not backing down when all seed lost until the battles were one.

The sacrifices made needs to be remembered so that no nation or groups of nations can make the same mistakes that caused such a war that produced such carnage.

We have teach people what happened and about the horrors of war, especially to those who don't want to believe that carnage like that can and does happen.



We cannot ourselves forget what has happened, and we cannot let our veterans who fought in the war in particular the battles on D-Day down.

The best history lessons come from those who have experienced the ordeal and it would be wise to have their stories preserved as part of historical records both as written accounts and as audio and video to show the human side of what they are experiencing as they tell their stories.

Without the people who stood up and fought when the world needed them the most, our world would be a scarier place than what it is now. For this they need to be honored and revered for what they did, we cannot forget the sacrifices of those who returned home draped in our flags letting others know of the sacrifice made for us.

When the last of the veterans who fought in World War II we will no longer have anyone alive for a living memory to teach us, so we must let them teach us what they have learned and explain what they have experienced for there is no higher way of honoring them other than taking care of them in a manner that let's them know we have not forgotten them or what they have done for us.

Memorial Day

Today is a day that we honor those who have honored our country or any country when the country has had need of them.

They served without regard to their own lives and during time of war they have served with distinction to keep what we hold dear in place for all to see.

Those who served in the Military regardless of whether it was in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, deserve our recognition regardless of whether or not they feel they deserve such reverence.

Those who have earned our respect and we should show them that respect by being there for them when they need someone there even when they don't feel comfortable asking. 

We need to honor them by standing beside them and when needed stand there with their families when their families need comfort if the need should arise.

We have to show them that we still care by being there for them and showing them that what they have sacrificed for us actually means something.

We need to show our active duty military and our veterans that their sacrifices have helped us become who we are and that their actions can never be forgotten since they have helped to reinforce the foundations of our beliefs in our nation as a whole.

Our military and our veterans deserve to be saluted for their efforts and for the respect that they have shown.

At the end of the day as they try and relax we need to whisper in their ears good night the day is done we are here to watch over you.

I wish you could have stood by me

I wish that you been there for I would have shown you that you need not be afraid of you cannot yet see

I would have been there beside you, to guide you if you would have stood by me

Now I feel like the night has come and that I am stumbling there in the dark by the moonlight which now makes me feel afraid and have shed tears knowing that you are not there to stand by me

If only you could have let me show you that you need not be afraid of what looks to be your world crumbling down and that you have no reason to be afraid

I wish you could have been there to stand by me where I stood by you when you let me and would have would have stood by you any time you needed me if you had let me stay instead of saying goodnight to our friendship due to being too afraid of the crumbling of your world around you

I would have been there anytime you were in trouble instead you were too afraid of how it would look in the only light you can see and for that I have shed a good many tear knowing that you no longer want me to stand by you

Now all I have is memories of our friendship, and heartache over the fact that you didn't want to take the chance and stay friends regardless of how your other friends and your family perceived our friendship and until you said good bye you appeared to be a stand up guy who went after what he wanted regardless who said what

april fools snow

snow snow go away for I can't help but think that it is all just an April fools days joke played on us by mother nature.

snow snow go away, I keep waiting to hear on the wind April fools and it be all gone.

snow snow go away, the april fools joke is definately on me since I have to walk in it and get my feet soaked as I do my errands.

More of the story I am working on after some reworking

After Carol seen it she was more than a little freaked mostly due to the fact that somehow the carving in the pumpkin seemed to know about it but John would not let her dwell on it for long even with having the picture of the pumpkin with the carving. As October turned into November, just as the realtor said the pumpkins were gone. While the season changed and got colder John made the house feel like a home with all of the cooking he was doing and as he cooked he ended up creating some new recipes for all of the pumpkins he had to work with.




With out realizing it before long he had himself a cookbook a couple hundred pages long full of recipes that one of the placed he had been donating the food to was pushing him to see if a publisher would pick up. With a little luck in no time he had a publisher for his cookbook and even though small it was another source of income for him and the lady who put it all into the house. They did this since the good luck seemed to happen after they moved in and so that the house would be ready when their baby arrived.



As autumn turned to winter the house went from the wreck that they walked into back in early autumn to a beautiful home and it was the first time in a great many years that the neighbors were happy to see the house there. Even though there was almost no one in the neighborhood that ever recalled there being someone living there let a lone having owners who actually took care of it, all those years of seeing it in shambles became a blur to them and slowly faded from their memories.



In early January, it was unseasonably warm for about a wee, so they went out and started clearing the land with the neighbors help everyone helping worked into the early evening each day to help clear the land. After a few acres were cleared, they realized that there were a number of good acres to work with in terms of growing their own food and figured they would let the neighbors who helped clear the land use a few acres of their land for a neighborhood farm as payment for their help if they wished to try their luck with growing a garden. While planning how much land to let their neighbors use and where on the land the community garden would be, they were approached by one of their neighbors about the scarecrow.



The neighbors had noticed that the scarecrow had somehow moved from the place that it had been in, on the day they started clearing the land and by the time they were done a few days later, it had moved a good distance towards the house unnoticed. They also noticed that it had a cloth banner that appeared to be very badly weathered and stretched from outstretched hand to outstretched hand. They wanted to know if they knew who did this where it happened while they were busy in the fields clearing the land, even though everyone was too busy to move the scarecrow or to hang the banner.



John and Carol were just as perplexed as their neighbors regarding this since they themselves had put the scarecrow up the day they moved into the house and made sure that the bracing for him would not be going anywhere. They figured that someone played a joke on the neighbors as they worked and moved the scarecrow with everyone being too busy to notice that someone was messing with the scarecrow but didn’t know how they would have gotten the banner would have gotten there without someone noticing.



After a few days everyone put the whole thing with the scarecrow behind them especially since it wasn’t worth making a big deal of it where no one would own up to moving him. What John and Carol did notice as they laid out the boundaries for the community garden was that the cloth banner did start looking less and less weathered as the days went by.



A week before their baby was due they noticed that a faint phrase started to appear on the banner that the scarecrow was holding. About a week before the baby was due, the words became legible enough to make out “we welcome the new baby” which freaked out both of them and they even went to their neighbors who helped clear the land to see if they new anything about it. Each neighbor in turn swore up and down that it wasn’t them and that they didn’t know who was doing the stuff with the scarecrow, the guy and lady knew that their neighbors were telling the truth but yet they wanted to believe otherwise.

A couple days before Carol went into labor her and John started hearing voices on the wind whispering a name almost like someone was calling the person but not wanting to be too obvious about it. A week to the day that the letters on the banner that the scarecrow was holding Carol went into labor, to the surprise of both the everyone the baby came quicker than what they had expected given the stories that they had heard about how bad labor can be for first time mothers.



When it came to naming their new baby, they were tossing names back and forth then out of the blue John said the name that he had heard blowing in the wind a couple days earlier saying that he hasn’t been able to get the name out of his head since he heard it the other day. Carol stopped trying to think of names and thought about the name. After a few minutes, Carol unexpectedly said, “why don’t we give him that name?” for which John agreed and with that they gave their new son the name which was Timothy.



After a few days in the hospital, they were able to bring their new son home. When they got there they found a few of their neighbors outside waiting for them and found the scarecrow out in the front yard with the banner that he had been holding now saying welcome home Tim. At first they didn’t notice the scarecrow until they were done with all of the welcomes and well wishes from their neighbors. When they did notice the scarecrow they went to ask who moved it out here only to be stopped by a neighbor who said that it was already here when we came here to wait for you.



John asked if a couple of the neighbors could put the scarecrow back to where he belonged and said that everyone was welcome to come in for a short time. With that everyone entered the house. While Carol brought Tim to their bedroom which was just off of the kitchen and put him in his crib, John went into the kitchen and started putting together a few appetizers for their neighbors. The neighbors all wanted to help with making things to eat so they more or less kicked John out of his kitchen so he can relax a little.



Inevitably while talking, the subject of the scarecrow moving seemingly on his own and how getting the banner got there came up. No one new how it kept on moving, who gave it the banner or even how the banner was able to write the lettering on it by itself. Carol while settling Tim in his crib ended up mentioning what had, happened with the pumpkins, more specifically the little pumpkin that ended up with the face of a baby with in a couple days of them moving in even with no one in the neighborhood even knowing them or that she was pregnant.



As everyone was talking, little bits and pieces of the property came out with not one person knowing a lot but what everyone did know came from stories and rumors from older people in the town and few older couples that had been in the neighborhood for many years that had only moved away or died months before the couple bought the house.



All anyone knew for sure was that there were strange things that happened in the past in the house and on the property that the old timers would never speak of in any detail. Every time anyone would try to get what had happened on the property, the old timers would just say that it’s best left in the past and would not say anymore. Each time the property came up with old timers around they would get this look about them as if they were horrified, and if they could they would go out of their way to change the subject.



Carol after coming out of the bedroom asked, how come the house had been on the market for so long. She was told that it was do to the old timers scaring potential buyers away with stories that no one could back up, which is how the rumors and stories were spread. Carol did go into detail about the strange happenings that occurred over time in the house, but it was more like the house almost coming out of a deep sleep and shaking off all sleep. She mentioned the fact that as time went on even on the first day there that the house almost seemed to fix itself enough to be livable when no one was looking, but nothing else inside the house.



John then asked if anyone knew the realtor that had sold the house to them, for which no one could say that they did. They said that she didn’t start coming around until the last of the old timers was gone from the neighborhood and even still she would not stay long she just looked like she was there to check out the place and that was it. They went on to say that this you guys were the first people in more than a generation to look at the house due to the old timers. With that they all just agreed that the rumors and stories concerning the property was just a little to weird to keep talking about, let alone thinking about it and changing the subject to something more entertaining.

Reworking of a couple pages of a story I am working on

The pumkins and the scarecrow

As the wind blows across the front yard on an unseasonably cold October, John and Carol pull up in front of the home that they had just bought after looking at pictures. At first they thought that it was a different house, because the pictures showed a house with a lived in look. They had been expecting to see the house as it was in the pictures even though they were rather old and beat up looking.


Instead of the house looking as it did in the pictures, it looked run down and looking as if it hadn’t been lived in, for many years. At first glance they thought that someone had played a trick on them by giving the wrong address due to the house the way it was which reminded them almost of a Halloween haunted house. As they made their way up to the front steps they noticed Three pumpkins each of a different size but in general the same shape, which was, more tall than round and arranged by height.

When they got to the top step the door opened and the realtor appeared that sold them the house. The realtor welcomed them and insisted that they go look around their new home and said that it would be nice to have someone living here again after all the years that it went without residents. With that John asked the realtor how come she never let them know the real condition of the house when they checked into it where they lived so far away.

The realtor responded by telling that there were a couple reasons as to why they were not told the truth about the condition of the house. She said that the first reason was that the last owners left it to the town when they passed on and the second reason is the land that it comes with along with the land that the town has decided to throw in as a consolation. The realtor went on to say that the town will not charge you any property tax for the first few years you live here so you can put the money toward fixing the house and provided a notarized document for them to keep.

While walking through the house that they had just bought, they were uneasy with every turn thinking the worst as they went, when it came to the looks of the house. By the time they got back to the living room where the realtor was waiting, the house didn’t seem to be as bad off as they first thought.

The realtor then told them about the land that came with the house, explaining that the original plot of land includes the house and about five or so acres behind it that is somewhat hidden by the neighborhood and a small thicket on either side the house and along the back side of the neighbors properties which for a number of years served as a small farm for the community. Then she went on to explain that the town had decided to throw in the extra land which was another five acres on top of it for your trouble which had reverted to the town due to having tone gone unused for a few generations. They then headed out the front door following the realtor as she was trying to explain where the property lines were for their new home.

As they were walking down the steps to the sidewalk Carol asked what’s with the pumpkins on the porch making sure that they were still there as she asked. When she looked at them she noticed that they looked a little different than she remembered from when she first looked at them but didn’t know why. The realtor said that they are there, come the first of October every year and are gone come the first of November, with no one in town knowing who put them there but that they are from the pumpkin patch that grows wild down by the well on the back side of your land.

John and Carol then looked at each other a little perplexed with her response to the question and asked if they could be shown where it was so that they new where it was and the easiest way of getting there. The realtor not seeming to hear them at first continued with what seemed to be a very well rehearsed tour of the property, with it sounding like she had given it many times before. They then asked again about the pumpkin patch and the realtor looked at them rather annoyed but agreed to show them the area of the property that the pumpkin patch was on.

The realtor said follow me and headed down what looked to be a dirt path that started by their new home that if you were not looking could have passed as a small clearing between a few trees. As they walked behind her, they noticed that after a few yards it seemed to open up enough for a small car or a small wagon but that it was like a wall of trees on either side of the path.

As the John and Carol walked trying to catch up to the realtor while walking down the dirt path, it seemed to go on forever. The further down the dirt path they walked, the rockier it got to the point that there were boulders mixed with the trees along both sides of the path. After a while, Carol came out and asked, with how long of a walk it is how come we didn’t take one of the vehicles, the path looks wide enough to have a small car drive down it?

The realtor then stopped, turned to the lady and said in somewhat of an angry voice that there are a few spots that could and would break an axle if you’re not careful. The realtor then turned back around, while mumbling something under her breath and started rubbing what looked to be some sort of key ring as she picked up her pace. John and Carol then just looked at each other for a few seconds then started walking again as fast as they could to catch up to the realtor.

As they were approaching the end of the dirt path it seemed to get darker as they walked, with John and Carol taking notice of the fact that there appeared to be more trees and closer together. When they finally caught sight of the end of the dirt path, it appeared like a really bright backdrop to the surroundings. When they got to the clearing that was at the far end of their property, they seen a short distance away the well and the pumpkin patch. The realtor as they were walking told them that as soon as they got to the well and the pumpkin patch, she could not stay and rest due to having to go to another property she has for sale.

As they got to there, they went right to the well to sit on the edge of it to rest. They turned to where the realtor should be so they could ask her to take the time to rest, but instead she wasn’t there. They however did hear her say, if you want me you know how to reach me but failed to see where her voice was coming from, even thought she had been beside them all the way there.

While they were there they noticed on the wall of the well itself there were what appeared to be blank grave markers on the top where the bucket would sit. After noticing the grave markers, they looked down to see if they could see any disturbed ground but the growth on the ground from the pumpkins was too think to see with any certainty whether or not there was any graves there.

Looking at the sun as it looked like it was getting ready to set, the Carol said to John that she felt it was time for them to head back. They then decided not to walk back along the dirt path that they had walked down to get there and instead decided to walk out in the open in the fields where there was more sunlight. As they started on their way, the guy ended up saying that where they had so many pumpkins, he would be given the chance to perfect his pumpkin recipes and create some new ones with having some pumpkins left over.

While walking they surveyed their new property as they went, after a while of walking they noticed something lying on the ground a little ways away. Not realizing what it was they hurried to see what it was and when they got close enough to see the shape of it they thought that it was a person laying face down in the dirt. After hurrying to get to what they thought was someone lying in the dirt, they get there only to realize that it really wasn’t a person but rather just a scarecrow that had been taken off of its wood supports and left there on the ground.

For a couple minutes they just looked at it while it laid there, they were amazed at how life like it was and from what they could see it had been there a long time going by the indentation in the ground. When they had their fill of seeing the scarecrow in the position he was in, they turned him over and found that it had an almost life like face which they had not expected and it ended up startling them. What startled them the most was, how, good the scarecrow looked given the depth he was in the dirt.

They noticed a couple minutes later that the wooden support for the scarecrow wasn’t too far away, even though it looked a lot more weathered then he did, John told Carol we should put him back up where he belongs. Once they had him back up on his support, they then continued back towards their new home dreading it to some degree. They dreaded it due to what little they seen being so run down that they were almost afraid to return to it.

As they walked back the after putting the scarecrow back up where he belonged they kept feeling as if they were being watched not knowing why they had that feeling. Not knowing that they were really being watched, the whole way back after putting up the scarecrow, the subject stayed on the scarecrow and how life like it was. They could help but think that who ever put it together had to have done a great job at putting it together since it was so life like even after all those years face down in the dirt.

When they finally got back to their new home they walked up the stairs of the back porch only to find the door locked and the lock feeling as if it had been rusted in place. So they decided to sit on the love seat sized decorative wooden bench and relax that was right by the door. After about a half an hour they went back out front by this time it was almost dusk and as they walked up the steps of the front porch they noticed that the outside of the house in particular the porch area didn’t seem to look so old and beat up. When they got up the stairs they seen the pumpkins that they had seen earlier and noticed that they looked different in some way but they could not place why.

After looking at the pumpkins for a few seconds trying to figure out what was different, they went inside and got a big surprise. They walked in to their new living room which they expected to be in shambles and instead of it being in shambles it looked as if it just needed cleaned and some relatively minor fixes to the fire place and mantle piece in it. As they walked through their new home room by room they were more and more surprised as they went, for as they went they it almost looked like their new home was very slowly fixing itself ever so slowly almost unnoticed as if it were waking from a long slumber to welcome them.

After a few hours, they settled down in the kitchen for a little while before calling it a day on their first day in their new home, afterwards they made their way upstairs to look at the condition of their bedroom to find that there was an old beat up bed there that was in need of replacing but figured for the time being it would be good enough as they called it a day and tucked themselves in.

Over the next few days as they started to take stock of what was needed in terms of fixing their home and what they wanted in the way of decorating for their home, John got to cooking and with the multitude of pumpkins they had over on the far side of the property in back. As he cooked he found that they were the best pumpkins that he had ever worked with, he made so many pumpkin-based foods that he started donating the food to the places that were willing to take them.

As their first month started to come to a close, they noticed that the smallest of the pumpkins had changed the most out of the three. The larger two pumpkins just ended up primarily in the shape of the faces of the guy and the lady that bought the house but the smallest of them looked like someone had carved it and instead of a face meant to be funny or scary, it was a carving of a baby. A baby that looked only days old in a bassinet, so the lady got out her camera and took a picture of the pumpkins to show people what she was talking about. The pumpkins somehow knew that she was expecting their first child even though no one in the neighborhood could have known which both of them found odd.