Snow Angel

Many years ago I was driving my infant daughter over a two-lane highway through southwest Wyoming when a blizzard came up suddenly, as they tend to do in that part of the country. The snow was swirling everywhere and any oncoming vehicle dusted my little VW so thoroughly that it would take a long few seconds before I could see anything ahead of me.

I found shelter tucked in behind a "big rig." By riding 20 feet behind him I had a larger vehicle to take the brunt of the oncoming shower as well as very visible lights to focus on and keep me on track. After about 2 hours of this, I had to pull off the road to feed & change my daughter. While we were sitting in the pullout a large truck approached from the opposite direction and pulled in next to us.

It was the driver I had been following. He noticed us missing in his mirror and came back to make sure we were okay. He said to drive back in behind him and he guided us another 120 miles to the next truck stop, where we shared a meal and conversation before heading off in different directions on the interstate.

I have never forgotten his kindness. To turn that huge vehicle around in bad weather to check on a stranger's well-being made him truly the definition of gentleman!

There was an old man

There was an Old Man with a beard, 

Who said, “It is just as I feared! — 

Two Owls and a Hen, 

four Larks and a Wren, 

Have all built their nests in my beard. 

(Edward Lear)

The Wise Owl

A large group of owls came to settle in a jungle. The jungle was full of green and lovely trees. They were free to pick a tree of their choice to build their homes.
The young owls chose a green and well-built tree for themselves. There was an old owl in their group, who was forced by others to choose an old and half-dead tree. The old owl had to remain satisfied with his share.
Days went by. The young owls would often feel proud at their selection of trees and would tease the old owl,” Oh, you poor guy! You could not find a lovely green tree. You have got a dry and half-dead tree. You are very unlucky indeed.” But the old owl was wise. He would silently smile at their remarks. At times he would reply, “Who knows whether you are lucky or I am lucky!” The young owls would, however, merely laugh at him.
One day, a large number of woodcutters came to the jungle in search of wood. The lovely green trees fascinated them. So, they started felling them with their sharp axes.
The young owls all started making a loud noise when they saw their homes getting destroyed. But, they could not do anything and kept watching helplessly.
When the woodcutters looked at the old and half-dead tree, they said, “Oh! This is a dry tree. It is of no use to us, as it won’t provide us enough wood. Why waste our time on it?” So, they went away, leaving the old and half- dead tree untouched.
The old owl’s nest was spared.

A child's prayer

 Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. After a while he emerged and informed his mother that he had thought it over and then said a prayer. "Fine," said the pleased mother. "If you ask God to help you not misbehave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me not misbehave," said Johnny. I asked Him to help you put up with me."

Guess who?

He didn't look like much at first. He was too fat and his head was so big his mother feared it was misshapen or damaged. He didn't speak until he was well past 2, and even then with a strange echolalia that reinforced his parents' fears. He threw a small bowling ball at his little sister and chased his first violin teacher from the house by throwing a chair at her. There was in short, no sign, other than the patience to build card houses 14 stories high, that little child would grow up to be 'the new Copernicus,' proclaiming a new theory of nature, in which matter and energy swapped faces, light beams bent, the stars danced and space and time were as flexible and elastic as bubblegum. No clue to suggest that he would help send humanity lurching down the road to the atomic age, with all its promise and dread, with the stroke of his pen on a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, certainly no reason to suspect that his image would be on T‑shirts, coffee mugs, posters and dolls..... Albert Einstein!

A mother's Hands

Her hands held me gently from the day I took my first breath.
Her hands helped to guide me as I took my first step.
Her hands held me close when the tears would start to fall.
Her hands were quick to show me that she would take care of it all.

Her hands were there to brush my hair, or straighten a wayward bow.
Her hands were often there to comfort the hurts that didn't always show.
Her hands helped hold the stars in place, and encouraged me to reach.
Her hands would clap and cheer and praise when I captured them at length.

Her hands would also push me, though not down or in harm's way.
Her hands would punctuate the words, just do what I say.
Her hands sometimes had to discipline, to help bend this young tree.
Her hands would shape and mold me into all she knew I could be.

Her hands are now twisting with age and years of work,
Her hand now needs my gentle touch to rub away the hurt.
Her hands are more beautiful than anything can be.
Her hands are the reason I am me.