To Make a Decision

Today's Writer's Ink assignment was to create a scene.  The parameter's were: Time: early morning, 
Weather: a band of cloud, 
Location: the desert 
Feeling: a neglected feeling. 

Each of us did something a bit different. I have done some editing since this afternoon's reading: found lots of holes in my first offering once I read it out loud.

Here is my take:

To Make a Decision

Rudolfo was awakened abruptly from an already uneasy sleep.

“Out! Out! You only paid me for this far! Another bus will come.”

With that the surly bus driver left in a cloud of red sand that filtered the early morning sun. Rudolfo looked down the road. Nothing. This was definitely not fun. The bus stop sign, sand blasted and chipped with age, barely stood upright. Strange, unnerving calm settled in the dusty sand around him. Rudolfo looked into the desert for any bit of shelter. Only one lone scrubby tree leaned silently into the desert. The horizon was edged in a rolled up bank of cloud barely outlined with the golden dawn. Faint hope of seeing the desert come alive on this trip blossomed as the cloud rolled forward bringing the storm. A quick, panicked glance down the road made up Rudolfo’s mind. He dashed away from the decrepit bus stop sign to the lonely tree hoping that he would be safe, pulling his thin poncho from his back pack as he ran. Would the bus come first or the storm?

“A desert is a place without expectation.”

~ Nadine Gordimer, Telling Times

A Short Definition

Favourite places and times
Unique spins on the ordinary
Natural rhythms lead the way

“Sometimes the inessential is essential.”

~ T.L.Rese

Shifting Gears ~ FUN ~ Theme for February 2017

"Fiona, I just don’t get it - how can you have fun when the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket!?"

"Uncle Nathaniel, I am not going to live my life angry and afraid every day when I just feel bad every day!"

"Normally, Fiona, I would disagree with you, but this time you’re right; I’d rather enjoy my life than live on thin ice everyday."

“Just remember, we’re all in this alone.”

~ Lily Tomlin

"Principles above Personalities"

"Principles above Personalities"

Late in the day, Godfrey stepped away from work and into the cool of the pub. He didn’t come often to the pub and seldom alone. Today was different. He needed the quiet of a booth where he could eat his early supper in peace. His job at the brokerage firm had been on high all week. Frantic clients wanting answers in a horrendous political climate change. Answers he didn’t have. Only guesses after an extremely unpredictable and volatile week. Godfrey rubbed his furrowed forehead. He ordered steak and mashed potatoes but when it arrived he didn’t think he’d be able to eat. The weather was on the TV over the bar. High winds were predicted. No rain, just wind. Godfrey hoped the winds would blow away all the uncertainty filling everyone’s lives.

In the middle of city life, it is hard for winds to find everyone. Fickle winds whip around corners and down city streets. Godfrey picked at his food. He sighed. He remembered hearing a saying ~ he couldn’t remember from whom or when….‘Principles above personalities’. Maybe that was the wind needed to deal with this strange change settling like a heavy cloud over the country. The personalities on the political scene had too much flash and glitter, their true principles lost in the image. He would live his own principles...keep alert for his own beliefs. The steak finally tasted good. Butter and sour cream melted into the mashed potatoes. It was a delicious meal, his appetite ready to be fed. 

“It is reasonable that everyone who asks justice should do justice.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Sleep Walking

Wow! I can’t believe 
how sleepy I am!
When I’ve watched the news
everyone looks alert and awake
and yet
decisions made 
look like decisions
made while sleep walking!
Or
Decisions made
when the filters needed
for principled, reasonable decisions
are off
disappeared
gone

“You can’t make decisions based on fear 

and the possibility of what might happen.”

~ Michelle Obama

A Glaring Absence

In the past couple of days, I’ve listened to the radio, checked Facebook and watched TV. On radio, today I’ve listened to CBC’s Sunday programming. On TV I’ve watched Charlie Rose and the National. I have noticed a rather glaring absence of content. There has been no statement from the United Nations, which I find rather odd. This impact to individuals and airports around the globe really deserves the attention of the UN.  I contribute to the UN and have been a supporter for many years. Some, I know, believe the United Nations is ineffective and obsolete. I disagree. It is time for the United Nations to step forward. The machinations of the political world are far above my experience, education and pay grade. I am hopeful that those at the United Nations have been very busy this weekend discussing their principles and in doing so are drafting a position statement regarding this very wrong-headed ban. Too, too many families, communities and countries have been, and will be, affected by President Trump’s completely undemocratic ban. All of those families, communities and countries are, by themselves, nations divided and in turmoil and in great need of a United Nations.

One other point that I’ll make in this essay, is that while this ban has created chaos at airports, it just may create more opportunity for violence by anyone choosing to enhance the chaos - not necessarily those that Mr. Trump suspects.

“More than ever before in human history, 

we share a common destiny. We can 

master it only if we face it together. 

And that is why we have the United Nations.”

~ Kofi Annan

Roadside Principles

Roadside Principles

When I was ten years old, I didn’t tell mom, dad or even the cat. Mom was in the garden picking beans for supper. Dad was on his way in from the south field. The cat? Well, Silk was soaking in the late afternoon rays and didn’t really care about anything other than sleeping in the sun. I squatted down, and stroked her gently. Purring, she stretched gratefully.

It wasn’t anything scary - at least I didn’t think so. I just wanted to go for a walk before supper. I didn’t know that I’d get so absorbed in the countryside. Warm, west wind whipped my hair in my face in strong gusts, bending the grasses in the ditch. Puffs of soft black roadside dirt warmed my bare feet. I heard the car before I saw it. It was mom and dad. Mom hadn’t seen me walk out of the yard. She told me later it was as if I had vanished. But, it was easy to get out of shouting range on the farm. When mom called me for supper, the fourth time with not even a hint of an answer, she got worried. When dad drove in from the field, they both got in the car and started to look for me. A ten year old really can’t get that far, so they found me quickly. 

The wind died down, stilling the grasses. Distant growling tractors ruffled the evening air. Yellow-gold sun was just setting. Mom pulled over the car. Together, me, mom and dad, sat on the side of the road and watched as day settled into evening. There is no principle for such time, except the principle of family.

“You need to make time for your family no matter what happens in your life.”

~ Matthew Quick, The Silver Linings Playbook