Serialized Novel

Just to let you know that I am still around and still writing. You can find my novel Shira at Scrambled Sage.

Chapters are posted Monday and Friday.

Memorial Day: War sung by Edwin Star

I wish a happy Memorial Day to all those who have served and are still serving in the armed forces. I am ending this with my husband’s favorite Vietnam War protest song. My husband did three tours in Vietnam as a young man. I wish good healing to the Vietnam and Iraqui war vets. It is a long road back.

War…huh…yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh ha haa ha
War…huh…yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutley nothing…say it again y’all
War..huh…look out…
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…listen to me ohhhhh

WAR! I despise,
‘cos it means destruction of innocent lives,
War means tears to thousands of mother’s eyes,
When their sons gone to fight and lose their lives.

I said WAR!…huh…good God y’all,
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…say it again
War! Huh…What is it good for (Edwin sings ‘Wohh oh Lord’ over the top)
Absolutely nothing…listen to me

WAR! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker.
Ohhh! War is an enemy to all mankind,
The thought of war blows my mind.
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction then destruction…who wants to die? Ohhh

WAR! good God y’all huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…say it say it SAY IT!
WAR!…uh huh yeah hu!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…listen to me

WAR! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker,
War! It’s got one friend that’s the undertaker.
Ohhhh! War has shattered many a young man’s dream,
Made him disabled, bitter and mean,
Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days.
War can’t give life, it can only take it away!

Ohhh WAR! huh…good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…say it again
War!…huh…woh oh oh Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…listen to me

War! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker…woo
Peace lovin’ understand then tell me,
Is there no place for them today?
They say we must fight to keep our freedom,
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way.

Ohhhhhhh WAR! huh…good God y’all…
What is it good for?…you tell me!
Say it say it say it saaaay it!
War! good God now…huh
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it…NOTHING

Source: http://www.lyricsdownload.com/edwin-starr-war-lyrics.html

Talk Thursday: The Way of the Girl

There are three parts of a woman’s life: girl, mother, and crone. I have wondered many times if I had lost part of the woman’s path because I hadn’t given birth. –yes, I am one of those blessed with childlessness.

Funny, when I was young and healthy enough to bear children, this aspect of my life didn’t worry me. I was travelling with the U.S. Navy. I was seeing the world. My boyfriend (now husband) had one grown daughter and a teenager (both adults now). Also, the more my mother pushed the idea of children, the more I pushed back at her. She already had two daughters giving her grandchildren… why did I have to do it too?

But, as I look at it now, while other girls went through the ordinary path of girl, mother, crone, I went a very different way: mother, girl, crone.

Now don’t look at me funny. When I was five, my job was to make breakfast, dress my sisters, and go to school. My mother would sleep in … she was probably pregnant– again. By the time I was ten, I was the family cook. Plus, I helped in the house. I learned early to slip out of the house, breakfastless I might add, so that I could have some free play time. I wouldn’t come back until dinner time. My mother would refuse to feed me dinner because I had not come when she called.

Sometimes I would steal bread from the kitchen so that I wouldn’t go hungry. As I grew older, I became the housekeeper and teacher. I remember once my mother tell me that she had brought me into this world and that she would take me out. I believed her. Her face was red and her arm was strong.

By fourteen, I was raising my brother. My mother could not deal with a fussy baby. He wasn’t colicky. He just wanted to be held.

“He’s yours,” she told me. I fed him, changed his diapers, and sang him to sleep. He was like a lost baby. Mother wouldn’t even pick him up until he was three or four. She had a fit when he would run from her.

So I was mother first.

When I left home, I played.

I became a girl.

I joined the Navy… I had fun. This period lasted from the time I was about 24 until I became ill at 41. It was good.

So now I am learning to be the crone.

I am grouchy and happy… at the same time. I cackle and cry. I hope that this part of my life stabilizes soon.

What is the way of the girl? I don’t know. I feel like a stranger in a strange land of femininity. I don’t belong. But, the way of this girl? I have learned courage, persistence, and hope.

Memoirs: Death

On May 10th, 2008 I had one of those days when I emotionally went up, up, up and then crashed. If I had ever experienced bi-polar disease, I would think it would feel like this. Let me explain.

My hubby and I go for a walk in the evening to pickup the mail in the post boxes near the apartment main office. It is a time for me to stretch my legs. We talk about our day. The hubby tries not to upset me with work related stuff. I try not to upset him with the antics of our next door neighbor. We always make a stop near the Hawk tree.

For the last few weeks a red-tail hawk pair have been raising a couple of chicks. There were three, but one fell out of the nest during one of our high winds. It was saved, we think, by a guy who claims to save wild birds and animals. I don’t know how he can do it without a license and in a small apartment. Because I made a brouhaha, the manager told him to send the chick to a wild-life refuge. But, that is another story. Let’s just say that he did it.

Read the rest here.

No Talk Thursday this week

Yesterday, my hubby and I were at the “Broken Wing” exercise as part of the radio communications portion of the exercise. We don’t usually get involved with these things except my hubby took some vacation time for it. And, since I have had to deal with disease, it as been a long time since I have been involved.

So it was fun. Just like my hubby always says, “if the exercise doesn’t fail then we weren’t pushing it to the limit.” I think that means we are trying to see how well we do now before we are in an actual incident.

Broken Wing exercise was an airport/medical exercise that must be done at least every three years. From what I gathered from our simulator, the hospitals were trying to get signed off on their ability to handle an emergency with and around their regular duties. For an exercise, it went well.

So I didn’t have the time to talk about … anything. We were writing an after action report (my views on what could have gone better) and then we were so tired that I fell asleep right away. Also, my body was sore, sore, and sore.

Next week, I will have some contemplation and reflection time. This week was more physical.