Rozey Thorn Trees

My daughter wakes me from my nap with screaming from her bedroom: "Scary! Scary!"  I rush in. "What's wrong!"  "I hear noises!" she says.  I ask, "What noises?"  She makes deep, heaving, guttural sounds. I lie down next to her and quietly shush her, then listen intently for what I suspect to be the usual plumbing sounds from our three-story condo building, or maybe traffic or animal sounds from outside her window.  I hear many sounds, but it's not until she repeats her asthmatic, Darth Vader-like tones that I realize that she is imitating me snoring. I am the one who was making the scary breathing noises.  "You were making the noises, Daddy?"  "Yes, I was snoring."  "Haha, you're silly, Daddy. Please don't make those noises again."  "Ok, honey. I won't. Sweet dreams."  So now I'm wondering if Uncle Henry is to blame for Dorothy's phobia of lions, tigers, and b...

A silent, undisturbed caterpillar Suspended from a branch Hangs motionless Surrounded by the busyness of nature Forgotten Waiting, waiting, waiting For the walls of solitude To fall away O, my Soul, there you hang Alone, shut out from the world Growing, maturing, changing from old habits Till the chains fall off that hold you in place Till the day you soar high and beautiful by Clary Walker II

"If you don't come right now, I will go home and eat your cheesecake!" I said after church desperately, tiredly, hungrily, ashamedly, but, most important, successfully.

This is a favorite documentary of mine about the brilliant British autistic savant Daniel Tammet. It closely reflects the events of his autobiography Born on a Blue Day .

A big caffeinated thank you to the gracious Cuppa Joe drive-thru customer in front of me this morning who picked up my coffee and scone tab. I needed that : )

I tossed three trash bags into the dumpster this morning. As the last bag left my hand, I watched in horrific slow motion as my car keys snagged onto it, bounced off the top of it, and then disappeared downwards into the bowels of the giant bin..."Ooooh, noooooooo!" (Oh, yes! I went dumpster diving today in sub-degree weather. Yes, I did.) #tardyexcuse #howwasyourmorning

Classical Greece, 28 Medieval Age, 30 Early 20th century, 32 2013, 71 And the winning country for highest life expectancy in 2013: Monaco, 90 So Just Look Up The Place You Were Born On This Little Chart And Check Out When You'll Probably Die

A scene from The Little Rascal's "School's Out" episode (1930), when the teacher discovers that her students had been slipped all the wrong answers by a jokester: Miss Crabtree: Douglas Greer, what was Abraham Lincoln's mother's name? Douglas Greer: Mrs. Lincoln. Miss Crabtree: Are you children trying to be funny? Buddy O'Donald, on Paul Revere's night ride, what did he say as he stopped his horse in front of the colonial homes? Buddy O'Donald: He said, "Whoa!!" .... Miss Crabtree: I'm going to be punishing the next child severely who gives me a foolish answer! Farina, what was Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address? Farina: Sixteen Forty-Four South Main Street! (As a teacher I smile because it was true when I was a class clown in school...and it's true now (sigh : )

Chicolini: Hey, I got an uncle lives in Taxes. Prosecutor: No, I'm talking about taxes - money, dollars! Chicolini: Dollars! There's-a where my uncle lives! Dollars, Taxes! #taxesfiled

—a person who speaks confidently, but ignorantly, about a subject.