Someone asked me recently what inspires me.  Looking back at my writing I believe I am inspired by humor.  I am such a klutz at times and end up in the silliest situations.  I normally write about my experiences.  I don’t mind laughing at myself and sharing the stupidity of my life.  If you can’t laugh at yourself I believe you would go insane.

I have always made up stories and written them.  I can look at a photo and my mind begins to write the story of the photo.  I also like to write experiences that I have had.  I find humor in so many situations.

I think I am funny and like to share my humor.  I believe most people who read my stories share my sense of humor.  If not, they probably think I am quite insane.  I am quite insane at times--hence, my lunacy episodes.  In my life I have had car lunacy, duct tape lunacy, hot air balloon lunacy, Christmas play lunacy, photo lunacy and so many others I cannot remember all of them.

I once grew a cabbage bigger than my head.  Actually, I usually grow cabbages that are bigger than my head.  Ah, cabbage rolls.

Today it is official.  Duct tape is no longer my friend.  This morning I made up my mind to plant beans.  My pole beans get a bamboo teepee constructed for the beans to climb.  Last year I don’t recall having such difficulty in making this teepee.  This morning I felt as though my fingers had grown into sausages and I couldn’t seem to do anything right.  I got the poles into the ground and tied them together.  Now I wanted to put a piece of duct tape around the tie so it would be more secure.  The wind was blowing pretty hard and the stupid duct tape (as opposed to the intelligent duct tape) was blowing all around and then would fold onto itself.  It is such a chore getting duct tape away from itself.

I next decided to attach the end of it and cut it taught.  Well as soon as I made my cut the wind blew the other end onto the sticky part of the tape.  And so I went back to the idea of holding it with one hand and cutting with the other.  My scissors decided to revolt against me and they would not make a decent cut.  Maybe a quarter of an inch and then they would be stuck to the tape.

Taking a large breath of oxygen, I turned from the wind (is that alee?) and started on the cut again.  Again the scissors stuck to the tape.  I finally, after about a million cuts got a piece of duct tape and made my attachment.

I went back to the duct tape to cover all my little twinings of twine to secure them.  I looked at the duct tape about a million times and for the life of me I couldn’t find the end of the tape.  I began to think that all the neighbors were watching me and wondering what in the heck I was doing staring at the duct tape.

I finally went inside.  I gave the duct tape to the hubster and told him my dilemma.  He, of course, had his reading glasses on and immediately had the duct tape free.  I got a different pair of scissors and cut the duct tape and stuck it to my chest in strips.  Well, of course, at that point I knew it was my next blog subject and I took a photo of myself with duct tape lunacy.

I didn't even get all the pieces of duct tape that was on my chest in the photo.  Do you see the earring piece?  And is this the worst photo ever taken?  The hubster thinks I am insane and, well I am.  It doesn’t take much to entertain simple folk.  (Think clogging!)

My pole bean teepee is complete and my beans are in the ground and another blog has been completed.  But, duct tape is no longer my friend.

Maren was so glad to be back at Vagabond Pond.  It was the place where she and her parents spent two weeks every summer.  It was the place where misfortune had occurred that had changed her life forever.

Maren ran to the board walk as soon as she had gotten out of the car.  She ran like the wind down to the edge of the water where the tragedy had occurred.

It had happened several years ago when Maren was six.  She and her friend, Cici, had been down by the water.  Cici took swimming lessons in the city and was able to swim like a fish.  Maren on the other hand was afraid of the water and would not even wade in it.

Maren would watch as Cici dove into the clean cool water and begin her swim.  Maren walked along side of Cici as she proceeded along the shoreline.  Their parents lounged close by the pond, chatting and laughing.

“Why won’t you try to learn to swim, Maren?  We could have such fun,” Cici asked.

“I am afraid of the water.  It scares me.”  I confided to her.

“You take baths, don’t you?” she taunted me.

I replied, “Yes, but that is different.”

I turned to look in my parents direction and before I knew it Cici was coughing and thrashing the water frantically.  I ran to my parents and told them to come help Cici.  I was shaking so hard I had to sit down.

Cici was gone before they could get to her.  Everyone was frantic.  That scene will never be removed from my memory.  If only I had known how to swim and could have saved Cici.

Each summer when we got to Vagabond Pond, I would run down to the exact place where the incident had occurred.  It’s like I was hoping so much that Cici was there and was okay.  Every summer I was disappointed.

Mom and Dad were coming down the walkway towards me.

“Maren, will you ever quit looking for Cici?” my mother asked me.

“No, I will never give up the hope that it didn’t happen and that she is all right,” I replied.

“We got you a new doll just like it.  What’s wrong with the new doll? Why don’t you drag it through the water on a rope like you did with Cici?”

I looked up in horror, “It’s not Cici.”

This is Addi's first doll, Cici.  When Addi opened the christmas package, she exclaimed, "See, see!"  And so we named her Cici.

This story is for Lauri.  Sorry I could not save the original photo for this story.  Perhaps you can fill it in.

I was watching one of those amazing stories on Facebook recently, something like, “He put vinegar in his dogs and what happened?  Amazing!”  I thought I would challenge myself to write something amazing.

Zucchini, why not?  Zucchini is one of those vegetables that get a bad rap.  People who grow it leave it on other people’s porches and in their mailboxes.  I’ve had it left on my car seat.  It seems as though zucchini is one of the easier veggies to grow and when it takes off you had better watch your garden space evaporate.  I’ve never been a big zucchini fan and so I had never grown it before two years ago.  I decided that if I like other people’s zucchini, my organic zucchini should kick asphalt.

I got two little plants and put them where I used to have my compost pile.  I figured there was plenty of nourishment in that soil and it was far from my precious garden space so the zuccs wouldn’t take over that.  I watered and nurtured them and finally one morning I was surprised with a couple of blooms.  Sure enough I got two little foot sized zucchini about two inches in circumference.  I quickly looked up zucchini recipes.  I made the most wonderful zucchini brownies ever.  I threw together a veggie lasagna with zucc slices instead of noodles.  I made veggie chili and threw in chunks of zucchini.

I quickly grew tired of zucchini and forgot the two little plants for a week or so.  To my astonishment, I had four football sized zucchini.  I threw the two biggest down the hill behind my house and rolled them down to the gulley.  The other two I decided to shred and freeze.  I got several little bags of zucchini and made my delicious brownies many times that winter.

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Zucchini is now my friend and I will watch it faithfully as it grows and keep it to minimal proportions.  But you, you aren’t convinced of the beauty and deliciousness of the blessed zucchini.  I must convince you.

Zucchini can also be dried.  You can then whisk it and make zucchini flour out of it and use it in baked goods to avoid gluten.

Studies by the Institute for the Advancement of Zucchini ( IAZ) now show that zucchini can cure cancer and stop bad breath.

The lovely vegetable can be used in combination with any other ingredient.  I’m not sure but I think peanut butter and zucchini sandwiches will become the next craze.

Zucchini can help you win friends.  Just take some of those yummy zucchini brownies to your friends parties and you will be the hit of the party.

And zucchini tastes like chicken.  No it doesn’t, you say?  It does if you cook it right.

Zucchini, why not?

The photo is of course, asparagus, and not zucchini.  I'm not sure I've ever taken a photo of zucchini.  Doesn't that asparagus look delicious.  It is grilled with sesame oil, soy sauce, herbs and sesame seeds.  We are having it tonight fresh from the garden with BBQ'd ribs and I cannot wait!

I had just put up that SOS blog and when I looked down i saw a note to myself to 'write an advertisement for zucchini."  And so I did.

I must confess that I have had a bad lazy streak in me for the past couple of weeks.  I could just sit at my stupid computer and read Facebook and play games and do puzzles and not give a diddly squat about housework or even going outside.  I have been keeping up with my yoga, Qi Gong and Zumba.  I have walked the dog most days.

Writer’s block is eating me up.  What I need you to do is send me inspiration.  Send me a photo of something and challenge me to write the story of the photo.  Send me three words and tell me to write a story using them.  Help me someone.  I am drowning in a sea of uninspiration.

This was taken on a Jamaican vacation.

Well it seems as though I missed throw back Thursday again.  On Fridays I really enjoy looking at the old photos that my friends share on Facebook.  I have a scanner but I haven’t quite gotten the knack of messing with Photoshop.  I don’t think I even have a Photoshop.

One of my very first memories in life was at our little house where we lived when I was born.  I don’t recall how old I was but I was potty trained and in panties.  My mom told me one day as I was heading out to play, that if I went to the outhouse, not to let Bobby Jones go with me.  I wondered why but didn’t ask.  I was an obedient child.

Later in life I thought about Bobby Jones for some reason and this memory came back to me.  I told my sister after my mother was dead and she told me that Mother had told her the same thing but she wasn’t as obedient as I was.

When I was about ten or eleven, I was already maturing.  My first bra was a 32 A.  How fair was that to the world’s worst tomboy?

My brother had sort of a friend who lived on the corner of our block.  One day I was outside playing when this friend of my brother’s asked me to come to his house as he had something for my brother.  I went with him innocently.  We went into the house and back to a bedroom.

He told me if I would show him mine, he would show me his.  I turned and ran out of that house as fast as I possibly could.  I didn’t tell anyone about this until adulthood.  I confessed it to my brother who told me he wasn’t surprised.

These are traumatic childhood experiences that I remember.  I sometimes wonder if I have suppressed any others.

My sister, me, Mother, Russ and Daddy.  Love Daddy's hair in this photo.  As you can see, I had none.

I was late in posting for TBT because our stupid computer system keeps shutting down.  What's with that?

This morning’s Zazen was interesting.  I was sitting quietly and my breath had relaxed to the point that there was little noise.  Suddenly it began to rain.  And it began to rain hard.  I imagined being outside in this rain and I realized I could not handle that.  It was pouring.  I lost my concentration and got up from the floor.  I was really relaxed and so I picked up the quilt off the futon.  I lay down and covered myself and got comfy.

The rain was so tranquil and calm.  Of course, being the queen of brain worms I began to think about all the songs about rain.  Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain from my teen years popped into my head.  Then I thought of Listen to the Pouring Rain  by Jose Felliciano.  Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was the next one.  Rain by Breaking Benjamin came into my mind.  Of course, I was singing these songs in my mind.

You and Me and Rain on the Roof haunted me for quite some time.  I had to look it up when I got up later.  The Lovin’ Spoonful did it.

Rain, Rain, Go Away was not one of my favorites.  I have personally always loved the rain.  I like to walk in it.  I like to sit on porches and listen to it pound the roof.

I remember in my first year at college, lying on the bed and looking out the screened window, watching the rain and listening to A Rainy Night in Georgia.  Thank you Benton Brook.

And thank Sting for After the Rain has Fallen.  Cold Rain by Crosby, Still and Nash is one of my all- time favorite songs.  As is The Ashes the Rain and I by James Gang.

I had to surf Rain in I Tunes and Rainbow came up.  I had to play Stone Cold because it is stuck a kick ass song.  Not about rain but rain in the band’s name.  Queen of brain worm, Princess of digression.

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall – Ella Fitzgerald

Singin’ in The Rain – Gene Kelly

Early Mornin’ Rain – Gordon Lightfoot

Who’ll Stop the Rain and Have you Ever Seen the Rain – CCR

Rainy Days and Mondays – the Carpenters

Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain – Ricky Nelson

Purple Rain – Prince or &$@^

No Rain – Blind Melon

The Rain Song – Led Zeppelin

Rainy Day Women – Bob Dylan

Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics

November Rain – Guns & Roses

I Wish It Would Rain – the Temptations

Let it Rain – Eric Clapton

Rain on Me – The Who

Fire and Rain – James Taylor

You know, as I look back on this list I think a few of these song were plays on the word “reign”?  What do you think?

If you know any other good rain songs, please let me know.  I’m just glad I’m not collecting snow songs any longer.

We have this thing for goofyass socks in this family.  Aren't these to die for.