The Dash -

In July 2006, a short 3-minute movie was launched on the Internet called The Dash . Since then, over 40 million people from around the world have watched it; and over 20,000 a day continue to watch it as a result of people passing it along.

The movie has been more successful than we could have ever imagined. More importantly, however, it has inspired many, many people to reflect on their lives and ask that all important question,

'Are my priorities where they should be?'

I hope you enjoy this movie and share it with those who are close to you.

Click This Link to View:



http://www.dashpoemmovie.com/

The Saga of the Salamander.....

Enjoying Life in the Slow Lane in southwest Florida is not without incident.

Insects and other forms of low life (pun intended) are always present. Usually we take everything in stride since they were there first and we are just visitors in their world.

On warm nights we leave the windows open in the motorhome and enjoy the fresh air. This presents a problem at times because of the insects. Swarms of small flying insects will gather around any light source. These insects do not bite but sure are an annoyance – they are small enough to come right through the screens. Many was the night when I took out the battery powered hand vacuum and vacuumed the bugs off the ceiling and light fixtures. All the while back home in Wisconsin the wind chill factor would dip to -40*. I’ll take the bugs any time.

Another creature that we learn to live with are small lizards. They are everywhere. They are kind of cute little fellows that remind me of the Geico Gecko. These harmless little guys are usually only 3 – 4 inches long. They will hide in any vegetation and are very quick and hard to catch.

Irene got a staghorn fern at Wal-Mart garden center. We hung it in the orange tree that we planted a couple of years ago which seemed like the perfect spot and the fern did well.

Time to pack up and head back home to frigid Wisconsin. Of course we would take the staghorn fern back home.

On the way home we stopped in Tennessee for several days to visit friends. It got quite cold a couple of nights with the outside temperature plunging below freezing, all the way to +19*. We were warm enough in the motorhome although we used a lot of propane for the furnace.

We were parked facing southwest and the staghorn fern was hanging above the driver’s seat. One afternoon it got quite warm from the sun and I noticed Pudge, the cat, looking intently at the fern. Upon closer inspection, I found that we had a hitch hiker that came along from Florida, a lizard.

The next day Pudge started batting the fern back and forth and the hitch hiker jumped off, landed on the floor, and hid under a piece of trim – the cat in hot pursuit…… That lizard was never seen again.



When we got home we hung the fern in a southern facing window. About a week later Irene put it in the kitchen sink to give it a good watering. Ahhh….. out comes another lizard. What were we to do?

We hung the fern up again and put a small piece of banana in the basket. This was to provide fruit flies for the lizard to eat. We were hoping that we could keep it alive until we go to Florida again in the fall.

This morning Irene found what looked like a twig on the dining room floor. Upon closer examination it proved to be the dehydrated carcass of our ill fated lizard…… Irene wrapped it in a burial shawl (piece of paper towel) and we gave it a proper send off into the garbage can.

I wonder if we will ever find the carcass of the first lizard that jumped off in Tennessee.....

A Fairy Tale Comes True.............

Once upon a time........... in Kingdom not so far away, lived a Doughnut Maker and his family.The Doughnut Maker would get up at 2 AM every morning and go to his doughnut shop where he would start mixing the batter to make wonderful fresh doughnuts for his morning customers. He was a very hard working Doughnut Maker who took great pride in his work. He used only the finest ingredients including farm fresh eggs and the best sweet cream butter.

Over the years his business grew and grew and he opened another doughnut shop and then another. His doughnuts were known far and wide as the best doughnuts in the Kingdom. The Doughnut Maker was happy and satisfied. Why, he was so successful that he was able to purchase a new castle for his family, and even send his son to a fine school in a far away kingdom.

At Cambridge University his son studied business in the hope of helping his father expand even more and franchise his doughnut shops in other far away Kingdoms.

One summer, his son came home from Cambridge. The young man watched his father get up 2 AM every morning and go to his doughnut shop to make his wonderful fresh doughnuts; the best in the Kingdom.

One afternoon he had a talk with his Father.

“Father,” he said, “I have been looking at your records and I see that you are spending an awful lot of shillings for advertising.”

“Haven’t you heard?”

“The economy is in horrible shape, businesses are closing every day and people are losing their jobs. Without jobs people are losing their homes. You should probably cut your expenses by trimming your advertising budget.”

The Doughnut Maker had not even graduated from grammar school and his son was attending Cambridge University, so he listened intently to his educated son and cut his advertising budget.

His son must have been right; the economy must be in horrible shape because his sales started to decline.

A few days later his son spoke with him again.

“Father, I have been looking at your records and I see that you spend a lot of shillings for farm fresh eggs and the best sweet cream butter.”

“Haven’t you heard?”

“The economy is in horrible shape, businesses are closing every day and people are losing their jobs. Without jobs people are losing their homes. You should probably cut your expenses by using dehydrated eggs and vegetable shortening instead of farm fresh eggs and the best sweet cream butter.”

The Doughnut Maker had not even graduated from grammar school and his son was attending Cambridge University, so he listened intently to his educated son and started using dehydrated eggs and vegetable shortening.

His son must have been right; the economy must be in horrible shape because his business declined even more.

A couple of days later, his son spoke with him again.“Father, I’ve been looking at your records. You spend an awful lot of shillings on payroll.

"Haven’t you heard?"

"The economy is in horrible shape.

Even our new King says things are bad and he is warning his subjects that things are going to get worse.

With the decline in your business, perhaps you should consider cutting your payroll.”

The Doughnut Maker had not even graduated from grammar school and his son was attending Cambridge University, so he listened intently to his educated son and he lay off some of his employees.

Over the course of the next several months, the Doughnut Maker’s business got worse and worse. He started closing his shops and finally had to declare bankruptcy. He could no longer pay his mortgage payments and the Kingdom's Treasurer foreclosed on his castle.

After moving into a small hut, the Doughnut Maker finally had time to reflect on his life over the last year or so. He was thankful that he had such an intelligent son (educated at Cambridge) who advised him how to react to the horrible economy.

No, the Doughnut Maker did not live happily ever after.

The End……

Amos and Cookie….. Gospel Singers......

Attitude is everything……

In early February at the RV Resort in Punta Gorda Florida we were entertained by Amos and his wife Cookie. Amos and Cookie are Gospel singers who travel around South Florida singing and entertaining wherever they can spread the word.

Amos told us the following story……

Mary is known by all to be cheerful and upbeat even in the face of adversity. Now she is being treated for breast cancer. Along with chemotherapy come the usual side effects including loss of hair.

One morning Mary woke up and discovered that she had only three hairs left on her head. She said a silent prayer thanking God for another day, and said to herself: “I think today I will braid my hair.”

A couple of days later Mary woke up to discover that she had only two hairs left on her head. She said a silent prayer thanking God for another day, and said to herself: “I think today I will wear pig tails.”

A few days after that Mary awoke to find only one hair left on her head. She said a silent prayer thanking God for another day, and said to herself: “I think today I will wear a pony tail.”

Again Mary woke to find that she had no hair left on her head. She said a silent prayer thanking God for another day and said to herself with a smile:

“Gee…… I don’t have to fix my hair today.”