Music Friday #22: Choose Your Own Christmas Adventure – Ribbit, Croak

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Michael

pond-frog-illustration-white-background-39025032

Are you a witch?

A crone?

A hag?

It’s the facial features

The crooked nose, the wart,

The croaky crackling voice.

Don’t get me wrong

I have nothing against you

Just keep your distance

Your hand off your wand.

I ask, as you always know

Before I say what it is I am thinking

You know where I have been

What had for dinner

You know far too much for my liking.

You say its luck

Your good fortune

But I find it unnerving

Creepy that you know

I am sure therefore

You are a witchy bitch.

 

I know it wasn’t such a good thing to say

That you might take offense

But what are friends if not honest

We value that in each other

But your reaction was unexpected

Your wrath so uncharacteristic.

Or was it, should I have known?

Though I have accepted by isolation

The pond has opened my eyes

To a world of contentment

Where compliance is a way of life.

You come down every day or so,

I listen to you chat about life and love

I try to sound interested

But a feeble croak and puffy throat

Don’t appear to be doing much for you

The lady frogs in the pond though are all over me.

But despite their attentions

And they are so….hmmm…. attentive

Its you my love, only you I desire.

Ribbit, croak, ribbit, croak, ribbit, croak..

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/12/25/music-friday-22-choose-your-own-christmas-adventure/

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Christmas In Australia

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Michael

santa-beach-australian-christmas-decoration

When I was a kid, so many years ago, I would wake up on Christmas morning full of expectation and excitement.

Christmas for us meant an early morning, the discovery of what Santa had left, and generally a play day, trying out our new stuff, and for us in those days, helping mum and dad prepare for your annual holiday, which began for us on Boxing Day.

Christmas day was a special day. We would gather around the kitchen table at lunchtime and mum would have spent the morning in probably forty degree heat preparing the baked dinner of a leg of lamb with baked vegies. No matter what the weather and it was usually hot, in fact it was often what we called stinking hot, the baked dinner was the order of the day.

The real treat for us kids was a plastic tree mum would bring out and place on the table to which she attached jelly lollies but we were never allowed any until we had eaten our dinner. So we had to sit there, shovelling in our baked vegies, and we always had green beans, so our plate would be clean and then our opportunity to eat a lolly was given to us.

How they coped in the days where the oven was wood fired has me mystified.

I later years Christmas has changed for me. My own children have grown to adults and they have their own families as well.

We used to have Christmas Eve at the grandparents place, which always meant Christmas Eve Mass, then back to their place for dinner and some Christmas treats, and finally the trip home would be made. We lived about 30 k’s to the east of my In-laws and our trip always took us past a stop where you could see a red light glowing away to the right of us.

Invariably that was a sign that Santa was on the way. The kids would be so excited that he was coming that there would be urgent cries from them to hurry home as they wanted to be in bed before he got there. We used to exacerbate the story by telling them I could see the red light getting closer through my rear window mirror of the car.

It was the only night of the year where my children would jump out of the car, run into the house and be in bed within seconds of our arrival. The sheer thought of not being asleep when he called always guaranteed their being asleep within minutes of our arrival.

It was always a late night for us on Christmas Eve, as we used to have to wait for them to be asleep before filling their Christmas bags, being six of them it took a little while to fill them, sneak out with them, hoping none of them would be awake and leave them under the Christmas tree and then getting some shut eye ourselves.

One year Santa delivered a bike for one of the kids in a box!! For a non-mechanical person such as myself that was a task and a half, especially when I was sure I had put all the bits together only to find two pieces still on the floor. It was by now 3am. I had had enough. I have no idea still where they went and the bike never fell apart.

My kids were always told they couldn’t get up on Christmas morning if the sun wasn’t up. Being summer and day light saving here, it would be 5,30 – 6am before they could be heard running around excitedly showing off their Santa gifts.

One year to my horror my eldest daughter got up before any of the others and checked out everyone’s gifts and decided some of the other kids gifts were better than hers and so swapped them round. I had to say to her that I had been up earlier and noticed who got what from Santa and that she couldn’t help herself to the other kid’s gifts or swap them round.

Nowadays I spend my Christmas Day at home go in and have morning tea with my neighbour sit on his back veranda and watch the goings on in nature happening around us.

My kids who are married all have the demands of their respective husbands and wives families to address. This year my two sons, Jordan and Lucas will be with me on Christmas Day and we will have lunch with my younger brother and his family.

In past years we have enjoyed a ham sandwich  for Christmas lunch, much the horror of others and I’m sure some of you.

The ham sandwich began some years ago when my dad and my sister were together for Christmas lunch and dad had not made any special preparations for his lunch and the only thing in the fridge was some ham. So they had a ham sandwich and when I brought dad home one Christmas from the nursing home he wanted a ham sandwich. So that’s what we have. This year I will make it part of our Christmas night celebrations.

My Christmas happens on Christmas afternoon evening. My kids and their families will come around, my brother as well and his family and we will eat whatever is left over, drink whatever is left to drink and always enjoy each other’s company. With grandkids Christmas has a new dimension, as they are little now and for some it doesn’t mean anything but for the older ones it’s a new level of excitement for me.

Meals as far as I’m concerned are always cold ones, it’s far too hot and often the humidity is high as well so it’s uncomfortable enough without turning on the oven. Thank goodness for air con. How did we ever cope without it?

So that in a nutshell is my Christmas, quiet and peaceful usually, with a lovely gathering on Christmas night.

Though this year I expect there will be the occasional blogger to chat with as those of you behind us in time will not quite be there for our Christmas Day.

Below are some views to give you some idea of the light-hearted way we view Christmas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVzCET7Xah4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnJ8jsw4BSo

Today is Christmas Day in my part of the world so to all of you who read this blog, who like my work and make the loveliest comments, I thank you. I have made some wonderful friends in blog land; I hope we continue into 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.

Michael

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Tale Weaver # 45 – Christmas Flash Fiction – Christmas Morning

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Michael

Christmas-Gifts-under-the-tree

This week we are asked to write a 150-word flash fiction beginning:

“It was Christmas morning and all through the house…..”

the dust sat contentedly on the bookshelves, the mites played gleefully in the carpet fibres, the spiders wove new webs in the corners of every room unaware that within a second or two the house would erupt with the raucous sounds of children emerging from bedrooms to see what Santa had brought them in the night.

The dust would suffer a stirring, the mites a good down troddening and the spiders would crawl further into their webs in fear.

The children did emerge, they did make noise, but it was a beautiful noise of joy and celebration, of surprise and excitement and all who observed it couldn’t help but feel warmed by the energy they displayed.

The mother and father in their beds heard all that was happening, smiled, cuddled a little longer knowing it was going to be a great Christmas.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/tale-weaver-45-christmas-flash-fiction/

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Photo Challenge #92 December 22, 2015 – The Visit

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Michael

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Image: (Awarded 1st Place) Great Grandmother by SFC Lance Widner – Division 1 (Active Duty Military) CC BY 2.0

 

I dread the visit

This isn’t the place for introductions

A new great grand child, little Tilly

Though she’ll never remember today

I will.

It’s the atmosphere of living amongst

The piss, the shit, the dying and the dead

Each having his own struggle with

Fear, confusion, disorientation and numbness.

And that’s it are we living or existing

Filling in time before they fill it in on us.

 

The child is divine, perfect in every way

So much the image of my own daughter

It is through the eyes of the young that

We get to see what has become of us

What we leave behind, if anything.

The child Tilly squirms in my arms

Settles and looks up at me

Into the face of a wizened old crone.

‘Forgive me child I don’t look my best

My looks disappeared so long ago

Now I’m old but so pleased you stopped by.

Be gentle on yourself, there is so much out there

To worry over, so go steady

Love and live, care and be grateful

Life is precious, nurture it always.

 

They stayed a while longer than I thought

Then gathered the child,

I kissed her one last time

Watched as they exited my confined world

And stepped into the tangle of the new world

Where the child would make her way

In times unknown, mystery abounding

Love I hope always at the ready.

I lay back in my bed

I close my eyes as the evening stench

Seeps and oozes its way into my room

Where no amount of air freshener

Makes the slightest difference.

Outside I watch the world happen

Inside I feel it dying.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/photo-challenge-92-december-22-2015/

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FFfAW – Week of December 22, 2015 – Mrs Gorringe

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Michael

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Photo Credit: Etol Bagam

Mrs Gorringe didn’t like Christmas week. It was the hustle and bustle and the impatience of people that worried her into staying in as much as she could. On top of that the days were so hot she had to get out to the shops in the early morning if she could get herself going which was getting harder as she aged.

Today was unusually cold for December and it was raining. Her umbrella she had dusted off and set off to get her Christmas supplies, nothing too ostentatious knowing she had to carry it home.

This year her son Ralph would be calling in, she hadn’t seen him in so long she wanted to have a lunch he’d enjoy ready.

She shuffled along remembering Ralph as a small boy on Christmas morning, his face showing delight at what Santa had bought him. The thought was enough to put an unusual skip in her step.

Written for: https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/fffaw-week-of-december-22-2015/

 

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Wordle #90 “December 21, 2015” – Nipple

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Michael

week-90

This week’s fabulous words to play with: Hearse Etiolate (to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor.) Vague Murmur Obsequious (characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference;fawning) Nightshade Narcissist Zenith Lost Table Areola (a ring of color, as around the human nipple. A small interstice, as between the fibers of connective tissue.) Wide

As the hearse neared the corner of my street I couldn’t help but notice the very unusual flower bouquet adorning the coffin as the cortege rolled its way toward the crematorium.

Where one had become used to the symbols of grief over the years and living as I did on the same street as the crematorium I had seen quite a few funeral processions over the years but the sight of:

Narcissist –Burn in Hell

written into the flower arrangement did tell me something about the body inside the plain cardboard coffin.

The body had belonged to Darcy Areola known as Nipple to his family and friends.

Nipple has always been a standover guy, he took kids lunch money when he was at school and had moved on from there. He had married several times and worn down the women he married over the years to the point several had disappeared over night allegedly on interstate trips.

Most people had given him a wide berth in life and it was during the economic slump that he had reached the zenith of his power. He had corned the market in town on pop up toasters at a time everyone wanted one as who didn’t want the latest and best in appliances.

It was around the table at Crazy Harry’s Deadly Nightshade Emporium that the plot was hatched to do away with Nipple.

Harry had developed a potion called Nearly Deadly Nightshade, which had the effect of etiolating the skin to the point where it began to feed in on itself. It was a nasty potion on any good day.

On the appointed day Nipple was to attend the hairdresser, you know the one next to the newsagent. He liked to have his hair cut while he lost himself in the numerous two-bit girlie magazines the hairdresser kept for customers such as Nipple.

The hairdresser was a vague obsequious sort of guy, the sort of guy murmurs of underhandedness circulated about.

Anyway one thing led to another, a cut here and a shave there and before Nipple knew it the hairdresser had rubbed the Nearly Deadly Nightshade into his scalp. The effect was immediate, Nipples normally erect head, began to shrink, then his shoulder and finally all that was left was a pair of size nine shoes on the floor where once were his feet.

It was a case of leave no witnesses, though the hairdresser did extract his fee from Nipple’s pocket before calling for help.

So today I watched the hearse disappear into the crematorium followed by only one car in which sat his surviving wife, a look at smugness on her lips as I am sure she was hoping the furnaces would be stoked up extra hot to deal with her deceased husband even if it was just his suit and shoes that were going to cremated.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/wordle-90-december-21-2015/

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Friday Music #21 “Heaven Coming Down” by The Tea Party

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Michael

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfaATa-qmG4

It could never be said you had nothing to do

In fact you are busy, made so by circumstance

I have watched you, head down bum up

Slaving away at your next task

You say it passes the day

But we both know it’s the escape

The place its better to be than

The harsh reality that awaits you.

You turn away at the suggestion of talk

You deny there is an issue

Pretend everything is good

When we know you hurt so much.

Inside you are a mess,

The demons are in your ear

Yell and scream at you

Decrying every move you make to

Put them in the places they deserve.

They are tearing you apart

Dissolving you before my eyes

And all I can do, day in day out

Is hang in here with you

Hold your hand

Tell you I love you

That I won’t abandon you

But be a constant in your life

Reaching into your soul

Showing you hope you think has vanished.

You will never be alone

While I am here.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/friday-music-21-heaven-coming-down-by-the-tea-party/

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SoCS Dec. 19/15 – Store

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Michael

socs-badge-2015

This week’s prompt: “store”

This morning the stores were packed. What with it being a week till Christmas the Christmas panic as I call it where so many people descend on the shops buying more stuff than they are likely to use in a month no matter how many people arrive at their door.

But its how its done and the shops as we call them, I have already used “store” in this context, open their doors early, in fact some don’t close and accommodate the 3am shopper as well….

Obviously people do shop at 3am, not me I am an early morning shopper….I like to get in there when the crowds aren’t so bad, get what I want and get out. I am not a walk every aisle twice looking type of shopper.

Of course every shop stores a lot of stuff in readiness for the Christmas rush.

In some ways there is a stigma attached to a product that is labelled store bought, like it is one of many straight off the rack and picked for the convenience of it rather than any aesthetic value it might have.

So there you have it, I stored away a few morsels of knowledge to share with you, but I suspect you already knew all that and if you haven’t been to your local store at this time of year, usually around midday when it is at its worse then you don’t know what you are missing…..NOT!!

Merry SOC Christmas to all who read and pass by my blog I am sure we will have much more in store for the New Year.

 

Written for: http://lindaghill.com/2015/12/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-1915/

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Tale Weaver 44: Tradition! – Christmas in Australia

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Michael

koalachristmas

In a country that is relatively young in terms of tradition it requires me to go back to childhood and the childhood of my children to capture any sense of tradition.

Christmas like all holy days in the year was about going to Church. When I was young midnight mass was where you went so your Christmas day could be enjoyed without having to interrupt it by going to Church.

When I was married and my children were small we would go to my in-laws on Christmas eve, attend the evening vigil mass and then back to my in-laws for some dinner before loading the kids into our wagon and heading for home.

Now my lids like all kids in those days were of the belief that Santa was coming and you had to be asleep as quickly as possible for fear if he found you awake he wouldn’t leave you anything.

On our journey home from the in-laws there was a spot we passed where away to our right was a red light. To my kids it was the sign that Santa was close and we needed to get home before he reached our house. There were always cries for me to step on it, cries of ‘Oh my goodness he’s getting closer, hurry dad hurry.’

Christmas eve was the only night of the year where I could get my children out of the car and into bed in one action and find them instantly asleep.

That of course was when the fun started.

Each child had a pillowcase, their name marked on it and their gifts arranged in their bag and left under the Christmas tree.

This could take some time but it was a fun thing to be doing knowing the excitement that would begin at first light. Though the fun didn’t extend to Santa and his obvious sense of humour in giving one child a new bike, which he delivered, in a box with instructions that made little sense.

But tradition apparently meant it was dad’s job to assemble the bike and have it all ready to go by morning, which was pretty much when I got it finished.

Then there was Christmas morning itself. My kids were told they couldn’t be up before the sun, which didn’t help us much as in summer here the sun is up at 5.30am.

It wasn’t long and they were all awake and I loved the sound of them opening their bags and the exclamations of joy at finding in their bags just the thing they had asked for.

Then as parents we would be bombarded with kids jumping on our bed showing us what Santa had left.

By mid morning we would be off to the in-laws for the traditional gift giving and Christmas lunch.

In Australia on Christmas day it is often hot and humid. But tradition in those days still dictated a hot lunch, which meant my mother in law standing the kitchen baking various meats, and a swag of roasted vegetables. And of course served with every trimming imaginable.

After lunch was the very traditional afternoon nap while children played in the pool and then the journey back home to ready ourselves for the evening festivities at my dad’s house.

Of all the traditions I experienced as a child and as an adult the Christmas evening dinner at dad’s still goes on. Though it is my house now my kids still expect to come here on Christmas night, sit around the tables and eat whatever is left over from the Christmas lunches they have attended.

Some years back we decreed that Christmas night would be cold food as it is too hot to do otherwise and that has pleased everyone.

Usually at lunch it was dad home alone or whichever son or daughter would call in on him.

One-year dad was home alone at lunch and a new tradition was born. Dad had a ham sandwich for lunch and so we all had a ham sandwich if we called in to see him. When I lived with him he was insistent that a ham sandwich was what he most wanted. Though we laughed about it at the time we also respected the fact that to dad Christmas wasn’t so much about what you ate but more how you felt about the day and as he’d say a sandwich would sustain him until the family showed up later in the evening.

santa-beach-australian-christmas-decoration

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/12/17/tale-weaver-44-tradition/

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FFfAW-Week of December 15, 2015 – Knuckles

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Michael

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Image: Pixbay

When Knuckles was arrested it put an abrupt end to his Christmas job as the shopping centre Santa Claus.

It was a shock to all at the centre because Knuckles was a great Santa, loved by kids and parents alike.

Every morning during the Christmas period he would cycle to work dressed in his Christmas suit waving to all who recognised him.

In the coming weeks it was revealed that Knuckles was in fact the notorious Weekend Axe Murderer.

Who would have thought Knuckles the caring and loving Santa could be one and the same?

The revelation sent shock waves through the community, how many children had sat on his lap, remarked about the axe beside his chair and no one never thought twice about it.

In future it was agreed the shopping centre Santas would be screened more thoroughly.

 

Written for: https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/fffaw-week-of-december-15-2015/

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