“We have a secret in our culture and it’s not that birth is painful.
It’s that women are strong.”
Laura Stavoe Harm
more Birth-Day posts here .
Birth-Day: The Secret
by ToniDo You Like Poems?
by ToniI do and I simply must share this one because it made me laugh out loud at its truth.
Birth-day: You Can Fly
by ToniWhen you have come to the edge
of all the light you know
And are about to step off
Into the darkness of the unknown,
Faith is knowing that
One of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
Or you will be taught how to fly.
Patrick Overter
If you don’t already know, you can learn about Birth-day here.
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Birth-day: Choose Your Own Adventure
by ToniFor today’s Birth-day a quote
“If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any.”
and a story.
You pass by a shop with a sign out front that says “Mama’s Traditional Columbian Coffee Served Here!” You don’t typically drink coffee but all your friends go on and on about that Starbucks place (and isn’t that Juan Valdez guy from Columbia?) so you decide to take a detour and get yourself a cup. Inside, the shop is plain but neat and clean. The staff seems friendly enough. There is no line so you step up to the counter.
“I would like one Traditional Columbian Coffee, please.”
“That will be $8.50, ma’am.”
The price seems a little steep but you’ve heard your friends comment on how their weekly coffee habit is “breaking the bank” so you assume it’s normal and slip your cash across the counter. You watch as your coffee is prepared quite efficiently by the young man in back. He is completely fastidious about the process. Each bean is counted then ground. Water is measured and something else is added that you cannot quite see. The brewing seems to be timed to the millisecond. And he fills the cup exactly one quarter inch below the rim. You know because you watch him measure it.
“Here you go. One Traditional Columbian Coffee.
Given the process and the cost, you must assume this drink will be delicious so you take time to settle yourself at a nearby table first. Bringing the steaming cup to your lips, you gingerly take a sip. As the warm liquid rolls down your throat another warm sensation begins to overtake you. Your face heats up just as it does when you’ve had too much salsa. No, more like that time when what’s-his-name slipped a jalepeno into your hamburger… What is in this coffee?!
“Water!” you croak to the boy behind the counter.
A couple of the other patrons look up from their cups. One shrugs his shoulders sympathetically. The other, a lady, grins enthusiastically. “Don’t they just make the BEST coffee here?,” she gushes.
You look at her wide-eyed and then you:
A) return to your table armed with a large bottle of water (That’ll be $6.25, ma’am.) and resolve to finish that coffee to the last drop.
B) grab your things and stomp out of the shop guzzling your complimentary dixie cup of water. “I will never drink coffee again,” you vow.
C) angrily turn to question the Barista about the contents of your drink.
“It’s cayenne pepper, ma’am”
“You put cayenne pepper in your coffee?!”
“Oh, yes! Cayenne clears the sinuses and helps your circulation. It’s a traditional family remedy.”
“But I don’t need my sinuses cleared or help with my circulation! I just wanted a cup of coffee.”
“Oh. Well, you should have asked for a different kind then.”
“You have different kinds?!”
Obviously, this isn’t everyone’s story. Some people order their first cup of coffee and it’s great. Some take a friend who suggests the Dulce de Leche and really, how could one go wrong with that much sugar? On the other hand some experienced coffee drinkers get a bad Barista and through no fault of their own are forced to drink a crummy cup coffee because they are late for work and don’t have time to go back and complain to the manager and after all the point is getting the caffeine and they got that so they should be good … right?
Birth is a great adventure. Do your best to choose wisely.
Fog
by ToniI awoke this morning to a lovely fog and it made me think of this poem by Carl Sandburg.
The Fog
The fog comes
on little cat feet.It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
By 8:30 the cat had moved on but not before I caught these pictures.
Behold the Duck(s)
by ToniWe enjoyed Storytime at the library yesterday and it was ducky. No, really! The theme was ducks and started off with a poem by Ogden Nash. I couldn’t help but smile. There is a story in my family from my dad’s grade school days. He and his classmates were each to memorize a poem to recite before the class. My father, ever the practical, get ‘er done sort chose a short and to the point piece. The same Nash poem from storytime.
The Duck
Behold the duck.
It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks.
It quacks.
It is specially fond
Of a puddle or pond.
When it dines or sups,
It bottoms ups.
(Below) Princess Duck & her trusty sidekick the Quack Quack Kid.
A Poem in Honor of the Day
by Toni
if everything happens that can't be done
(and anything's righter
than books
could plan)
the stupidest teacher will almost guess
(with a run
skip
around we go yes)
there's nothing as something as one
one hasn't a why or because or although
(and buds know better
than books
don't grow)
one's anything old being everything new
(with a what
which
around we go who)
one's everyanything so
so world is a leaf is a tree is a bough
(and birds sing sweeter
than books
tell how)
so here is away and so your is a my
(with a down
up
around again fly)
forever was never till now
now i love you and you love me
(and books are shutter
than books
can be)
and deep in the high that does nothing but fall
(with a shout
each
around we go all)
there's somebody calling who's we
we're everything brighter than even the sun
(we're everything greater
than books
might mean)
we're everyanything more than believe
(with a spin
leap
alive we're alive)
we're wonderful one times one
e.e. cummings
Superbowl Comments
by ToniI am not a football fan in the least. I mean, I watch on occasion and I know the rules … kind of. Still, it wasn’t unil about noon yesterday that I even realized Super Bowl Sunday was upon us and then only because my sis walked in with all kinds of party fixin’s. Anyway, to make a long story short, I watched the game with the rest of my family… Okay, I wandered in and out of the room … a lot … but I saw some of the game. In particular I saw the part at the end where they present the trophy and I heard both the owner and the coach give credit where credit was due. Everybody made such a big deal about the coach being the first African-American to win the Super Bowl and he admitted to being proud of that too but then said he was even more proud he and his assistant coach are Christians and that they did it the Lord’s way. What an awesome and bold witness for Christ.
I tried today to find his exact words because I was going to quote him but no one seems to be posting that part of the speech. Still, what I did find by searching is that no one denies the incredible faith and humbleness of Tony Dungy.
Here are some links:
http://revdrron.blogspot.com/2005/12/tony-dungys-faith.html
http://sports.ign.com/articles/760/760443p1.html
http://www.foolishblog.com/2006/06/16/tony-dungy-and-gods-plan/
Just For the Fun Of It
by ToniKim C. over at Life In A Shoe wrote a lovely post titled “Are you a fun mom?” It’s a question I’ve pondered more since Brother entered the … uhm, terrific two’s. His budding willfulness has prompted more raising of the voice, more rules and more times I’ve uttered the phrase, “Mommy needs some alone time now.” But in between “Please don’t sit on the cat.” and “Stop hitting your Sister” we do have fun. We don our bathing suits in the middle of winter and ‘swim’ around the house before settling on our ‘beach’ in the living room. We make huge tents then sit inside reading stories by flashlight. We spend the day making a dragon costume or 3 little pig puppets so we can surpise Daddy. Around here there are only two rules about jumping on the bed. “Be safe” and “Not after it’s made up”. We fudge on the second one alot. 
As fun as all of these activities are, I’m thinkin’ that what really makes a fun mom is flexibility. We don’t typically take baths with our clothes on but when one child jumps in fully dressed and the other says, “Can I?” You have a choice. Stick to the norm or say, “Sure, why not.”
Blessed Sleep
by ToniNow, blessings light on him that first invented sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even. ~Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605
At two and a half, Brother has almost – but not quite- given up his nap. He’ll go for a few days without one then drop at the most unexepected moments. Here’s a simple list of the places I caught him sleeping this month.
On the stairs
After eating a PB&J
Cousin E’s baby carrier
On the tile floor. Okay, that one was a pose. But he said, “Mama, I sleeping.” so I think it counts.
I know this last one is pretty wild but I’ve decided to post it anyway.
In bed… see the little tuft of hair.
