I don’t know what brought me to visit the old burned out shell of a warehouse that day, but it changed my life more than I can even begin to tell you.
But when I reached the deteriorating structure, I only vaguely remembered getting there. For a moment I puzzled over why I was there, however, the moment I heard strains of the most heartbreakingly beautiful music drifting from one of the back rooms, I knew. I began to shake and fear urged me to run, but the soft melody pulled me in closer and closer as if the notes themselves were animating my body. When I saw him, something inside me broke, and tears began sliding down my face. Though I had never seen him before in my life, he was dear to me; the exotic refrain resonating from the oddly preserved grand piano he sat at washed through my being, making me feel as if I’d known him my whole life; that beautiful street urchin.
I stood there in complete silence as the last measure dissolved into the dusty air, tears dried on my face, watching him in hushed, sorrowful awe.
Suddenly, he looked up and noticed me, shock and embarrassment frozen on his face. He cautiously moved towards me, one hand reaching up to my face, as if he were about to brush my tears away. He looked to be about nine years old, ash and dried blood caked on his face and matted in his hair. But his hands were clean, as if he hated the thought of dirtying those beautiful white keys he had been lovingly caressing just moments before. I also noticed his eyes; shockingly green with flecks of gold and royal blue.
“What is your name?” I whispered huskily.
“I don’t have one,” he answered listlessly, casting his eyes downward.
Without another word, I kneeled and wrapped my arms around his tiny body, letting my tears flow silently again.
“Hush,” he breathed, stroking my hair, “it will be all right.”
We stayed like that for a very long time, and when the sun began sinking behind the crumbling buildings, turning the sky scarlet, we spoke again.
“Where did you learn to play?”
“Nowhere. I can’t read music,” he said simply, in a tone befitting a much older person.
“How do you get your songs?”
“From my head….they’re there. Always playing.”
“You mean you made up that song?”
“Yes. In a way. You see, I AM my songs. They’re all I know.”
I couldn’t answer. There wasn’t anything I could say. It was if all my words, my entire self, was gone. Absorbed by his aura.
I pulled away from him, staring deeply into his vast enveloping eyes when he began to evaporate. Somehow I knew it would happen and I could tell he always had.
He smiled sadly and placed his tiny warm hand on my face, closing his eyes. A pain shot through me for a moment before it numbed and eventually faded, but I could tell there was something different. There was music drifting through my head, echoing off everything; his songs.
Even now I hear them; all of them, ceaselessly. Sometimes there are new ones. He’s there somewhere, in my head. I dream about him occasionally. But he never sees me. He just sits there at his piano, playing away. And I always wake up crying. Every time I wander the streets I can’t help but check the faces of all the little boys that pass, even though I know he’s not in the world anymore. When I asked him, he didn’t know who he was, but now I do. He was every unwritten song since the beginning of time.
Man, it is so good to be home.
October 22nd we left for Oregon at 5:30 AM I think it was. Over an hour after we were supposed to. :D All the girls and little kids were packed and loaded before the boys were even awake! Well, besides Joe, ;
&because he had to go to work at 4 AM. So, we can easily put the blame of being late on the boys. :-D We arrived in Oregon on October 22nd... late at night.. ate food that Grammoo cooked, and went to bed about 1 AM October 23rd.
October 23rd A few people went and picked up Grandpa's van and went and picked up the H's (Joe's fiance and her parents) and Joe at the airport. Then, they came back to Grammoo and Papa's house. We left for Canon Beach after that. We took the H's to their hotel, dropped off the food that Grammoo sent for them to eat, and cleaned up a syrup spill in the camper trailer. I don't think we did much else there in Canon Beach. We then drove to the R's (about an hour away). The R's are friends that Mom and Dad knew 20 years ago.. at Ecola Hall in Canon Beach. So, anyway, at the R's, they had another family over and we ate dinner and stayed up late. I think we went to bed about midnight.
October 24th we drove back to Canon Beach for the Ecola Hall Reunion. I believe it was that morning at the reunion, we played our music, and Dad spoke. I forgot what else we did that morning. At lunch time, while most all the rest Ecola Hall Reunion people went to take a tour of Ecola Hall, the R's, H's, and us went to the H's hotel room and ate hamburgers and hotdogs, walked on the beach, practiced our skits for the talent show, and talked alot. 
That evening, we went back to the church where we played our music earlier in the day and everybody reintroduced themselves and told what has happened in the past 20 years. After that was the talent show.. We did a few skits, and a few other people sang and did skits and such. That night we drove back to the R's, ate a little bit, and stayed up later than it already was.
October 25th we went to a morning service with the rest of the Reunion people.. which one of the alumni, who is a pastor, spoke. After that, we headed back to Portland to play at the Manor, which is a retirement home. I don't recall doing much after that.. went back to Grammoo and Papa's house and went to bed.
October 26th was our shower day.. LOL. I think about 6 people took showers that morning... That afternoon we headed to Salem, to Uncle David's house and had Taco's and Banana Splits and played bowling, golf, DDR, and boxing (which Katie H. beat everybody at the punching bags). Headed back to Grammoo and Papa's house late, slept there. This was also the day that a few of us started feeling sick.
October 27th was Mom and Dad's 25th anniversary. Grammoo, Uncle David and Aunt Fran planned a surprise party for them... had a nice mix of friends and family. We played our music at it, with Uncle David joining us with his bass. But, backing up to the morning, that was when most of us were feeling sick.. that and that night. So Mom got some medicine for us... Somehow we figured out we had the swine flu.
October 28th we woke up EXTREMELY early and drove to NCCS (North Clackamas Christian School) and played music there. After that we went and played at Gilman Park, another retirement home. After that we went back to Grammoo and Papa's house and vegged out. By then, we were running temperatures.. Eric's got up to 107º. A few others had 104;
&º.
October 29th we went to Grandma Kathy's house all day.
October 30th Joe and the H's were taken to the airport to fly back. We went to Deseret (a Mormon thrift store.. because the Mormons are the only sources we can find for modest clothing!) and shopped there for a while. After that we drove to Vancouver, Washington and Emily, Kate, Tess, and Abby got their ears pierced. Then we went to the Guitar Center and dropped off Dad, Ben, Em, and Eric, and Grandpa's van. The rest of us went back to Grammoo and Papa's house. Later, Uncle David also came to Grammoo's house.
October 31st we hung around Grammoo and Papa's house all day, packed so we could leave early the next morning.
November 1st we were homeward bound. Got home late. Crashed.
November 2nd Mom and Ben went shopping for hunting. We did some things to get ready for hunting.
November 3rd We headed up to the mountains to hunt about midday. Set up camp and hunted that evening.
November 4th Hunted. Joe got his deer. Joe also had to go back home to work.
November 5th Hunted. That evening Ben got 2 deer.
November 6th Hunted the morning. Went around the loop. Kate got a deer. Packed up and left for home. Joe left home to go work in a different city for a few days.
;
&
November 7th hung out around home. Ben, Eric, and Em went hunting on the G's land. Shot at a few, but didn't kill any.
November 8th Processed all 4 deer. Ate pizza for dinner. :-D
November 9th is today. We are all mostly over the pig flu. Dad might have got pnumonia. We are still coughing. A few of us have runny noses. Dad and Ben went back to work today. Joe is expected back today, I think. It is also exactly 1 month until my birthday! EEk! Time travels WAAAYYY tooooo fast. But, none the less, as much fun we had in Oregon and hunting, it still is sooo good to be home. ;
& As you may see, I changed my template. I never got around to fixing my other one.. I do wish HSB would get some new templates, though. :-)
Now, I won't blame you if you skip everything. I admit, it is pretty boring. Mom is gone to town right now, so I will post this as soon as she gets back. I don't know whether I'll add pictures or not. I might just be too lazy. :-)
Auf Wiedersehen until next time.
~Elizabeth~
~(~)~(~)~
Hey Everybody,
Ok, here's the update...
| my first soccer practice | 14 days |
| Thanksgiving | 17 days |
| We Put Our Christmas Tree up | 19 days |
| Christmas Eve | 45 days |
| Christmas | 46 days |
| New Years Eve | 52 days |
| New Years | 53 days |
Yesiree, I keep track of it all. Well, anyways. What is everybody doing for Thanksgiving? Comment and tell me. :) Dad is taking off of work for a week I think and we are going to sleep in every day, maybe go to the zoo, and get some Christmas shopping done, and just go places, and on the actual Thanksgiving Day I'm pretty sure that we are going to the get-together Dad's side of the family has every year for Thanksgiving. Well, they have a get-together for every holiday. Haha!
Does everybody like my Christmas Playlist? I'm going to add more songs soon. I just haven't had time.
Today we have no soccer at all! I woke up and was deciding what to wear and I was like, "Gasp! What are you supposed to do on a day that we don't have soccer?" We barely ever have any of those days. :) GreenPeppermint does have soccer practice tomorrow and Thursday and then the rest of her soccer tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Fields has an end-of-the-season soccer party at Brusters on thursday. That's all the soccer we have left though, untill indoor soccer starts. GreenPeppermint is doing good in her tournament. They won their game 7-0 on Saturday but she hyper-extended her knee in the second half so she couldn't play in the game on Sunday so they lost 3-1. They made it to the semi-finals though and she will be able to play this weekend. Her knee is doing better though.
I already have 45 minutes of my school done so I'm early on my school so I am going to make Chocolate Taffy after school. :) It's basicly Tootsie Rolls.
Well, Sorry this post is sort of short but, at least I'm posting. :)
Bye!
Your Friend, Felicity :)
Question: Do you play a sport? I so, what sport?
Answer: ...Do I need to answer this?
Samuel and Me
I'm In Love
Isn't he the CUTEST?!
©AmandaDixon2009
I never really thought about it. It just didn't matter. After all, why did it concern me? I'd never bothered it; why should it bother me? The dark whispers on the street corners honestly made me laugh. I mean, these people were taking things WAYY to seriously! I knew it wasn't evil. It gave us nice things, like school, and money to buy stuff without having to work for it. That wasn't bad!
No, it was nice. It took care of us. All these theories were just the mattering of people who had lost their minds from age, or just wanted to chew on something.
It's over now. I know more. And I know that it's my fault, not because of what I did, but because of what I didn't do.
But before you scream at me for bringing this on you, you should know something about Americans as they used to be. We had everything. Nice homes, nice cars, good food; it all fell in our laps. Even low-income families had computers and iPods. We were invincible. Except from within.
Everything collapsed. And all because of greed. When politicians see a rich, happy people, they want some of their wealth. So they promise you food, housing, healthcare, an education, and eternal happiness if you'll just elect them and pay a few more taxes. So you peel off the greenbacks and drink the honey of their talk and sit back and enjoy yourself.
And like the old Energizer bunny, it kept going and going and going....And every time, they put the butter on a little thicker and took away a little more, keeping us distracted by throwing mud and worse at each other. It picked up in '09, and people started noticing things. I can remember them, the nutcase conservatives waving signs at the Tea Party rallies. But I didn't understand why anything was wrong, and besides, there was always a flap around election time.
But nothing quieted down. People were getting more and more worried. When my dad went to buy ammunition for hunting, almost a year after the election, he had trouble getting some; it was still flying off the shelves. "I wonder where it's all going?" he asked himself and me and we drove home. Were people stockpiling it? If so, why?
I tried to laugh it off, but my more conservative friends shook their heads dolefully. "Few forms of government have ever lasted much over 200 years. When they hit the two hundred year mark, there's always some kind of upheaval. The country may remain intact, but the system of government changes."
"But this is America," I protested. "So it is, and here lies a spirit of tenacity that, no matter how dormant it grows, is surpassed by few, if any other nations." Their eyes were glowing annoyingly. "And here, if we wake up, there is a chance to break the cycle, or at least have a peaceful transition."
I thought they were crazy. Life was good. Seriously! The politicians were working for our good, weren't they? Why couldn't anyone see that? 'Upheaval.' Pshaw!
I was wrong.
Alot of people were wrong. But things did start happening, and I saw that it wasn't all that I had thought it had been. It was bad, or at least, worse than I had ever dreamed. There was some violence. Shots were fired. People got killed. And we still don't know how it will end, because you're writing the story.
The future swings on what you do and what you don't do.
What's your choice?
--Amelia Turner
Amelia Turner is a character of my own imagination, but the things she speaks of aren't. Yes, this is random stuff that drifts from my head, but I hope that, for once, this is more than playful writing.
Hello, friends. I'm not dead, can you believe it?! There's entirely too much to explain at the present time, but I have just today started a new blog. You can read about why I haven't posted since November and why I'm moving by hopping over to http://drgnfly1010.wordpress.com.
Thank you so much for reading my blog and keeping up with me and commenting.. I know I've been off-kilter not only since August, but even before that, but I'm hoping that that's all going to change now ;). So please check out my new blog and follow it! I'm still in the process of catching up on all of your blogs, as well, but I don't think I'm going to be able to catch everything, so if there's something particularly exciting or life-changing, let me know!
Goodbye for now,
~Bethany
I am so blessed by God to have another sibling to love, to watch grow up and to TRY to be an example of how to live as our Messiah did!
Thank you God for the blessing of this precious babe! Such an awesome Shabbat this has been!
©AmandaDixon2009
So instead of all of the usual sap that people post about for their blogoversaries, I am just going to post link to some of my favorite posts that I have written over these past four years. Does that sound like fun? I hope so!
2006
- The Books Are Always Better
- Central Oregon 101 ~ A brief introduction to my hometown.
- None Other Than My Mother ~ A poem I wrote for Mother's Day
- Humans and Habits ~ Have a habit that you need to break? Read this!
- Avoiding Foolish and Ignorant Disputes ~ with a Lord of the Rings flavor.
- Another Poem ~ I wrote a lot more poetry several years ago than I do now!
- A Thoughtful Journey ~ Yes, another poem.
- Analogies and The Great Critical Thinker
- I've Got a Plan! ~ What do you plan on doing after you graduate?
- The Better Blogging Movement #1
- The Better Blogging Movement #2
- How Important is the Pencil ~ Do you take the pencil for granted? Read this and gain a new perspective on one of the most little thought of writing instruments.
- Protecting Little Knees ~ Older siblings, we have a responsibility towards our little sisters and brothers.
- My Graduation Speech
2009
- No Fishing Allowed!
- Lament of the Stars ~ Are there no, truly good actors out there?
- Hardships of Friendships ~ Another lament, of a more serious sort.
- Only Jesus...
- Don't Waste Your Time! ~ Do you waste time of things that only have worldly value?
- Sweetness is...
- Living on Charity ~ Did you know that we are all living on charity?
Finally, these last two are from the last two months.
- The Church in the Wildwood ~ How I long to hear those old hymns sung in a church setting!
- Whose Leaves Were Fair
Copyright 2009 Defective Compositions
Welcome to All!
I've decided to post again after these many months (I guess) and do a tag. I'll do an update soon, but as a Senior in Highschool I have absolutely zilch time on my hands anymore. Don't worry, I've got a little time for writing but as I said, not very much.
1. Dogs or cats? Ummm can I do both?
2. Fish or chicken? (for eating) Both
3. Aquatic animals, or land animals? Land Animals
4. If you were ten ft tall, what would be the first thing you would do? Modify my house so I wouldn’t bang into everything
5. Favorite channel? CBS comes to mind …
6. Favorite number? 18
7. Favorite band? Ooooooh! This is so hard! Well, my new favorite is a Scottish Band called the Dykeenies
8. Favorite singer? As in lead singer? I don’t know many lead singer’s …
9. Favorite actress? Ergh, another hard one! Ummm … I think that girl who starred in Flyboys, the French one who acted across from the dude from the Spiderman movies.
10. Favorite actor? Brendan Fraser
11. Favorite book? HARD QUESTIONS! Can there be at least ONE of these that’s easy?!
12. Favorite season (time of yr.) Fall! I LOVE fall!
13. Favorite animal(s)? Elk, Deer, really anything that doesn’t live in a city or a zoo
14. Favorite color? Blue
15. Favorite blog on here? GAAAH! Uhhhh … somebody’s going to feel sad if I answer this differently, so I’ll say all of them! J
16. Least favorite color? Puke, blech!
17. Least favorite number? 666, for obvious reasons
18. Favorite movie? Right now I’d have to say … uhhhhhhhhh … Journey to the Center of the Earth (the new one) comes to mind …
19. Favorite song? Stitches by the Dykeenies
20. Favorite place to be when writing a song: (if you write songs) Uhhhh, I’m not skilled enough to answer this question (even though I write songs J)
21. Favorite place to be when you're mad? I don’t know, I don’t really go places when I’m mad
22. Favorite person to talk to when you're down? Another hard one! I can’t really pick …
23. Favorite place to be when you're crying? I don’t cry anymore really …
24. Favorite person to tell anything to? Well I do enjoy telling things to Justyne and Isilwen
25. Favorite day of the week? Saturdays are good, but so are Sundays. And Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays (you can see when this is goingJ)
26. Favorite month? April is a good month
27. Favorite day of the yr.? But there are so many!
28. Favorite radio station? Ummmmm … I don’t really listen to the radio anymore …
29. Favorite hour in the day? Lunch hour (go figureJ)
30. Favorite meal of the day? Dinner is good
31. What is a basic day in the life of YOU? Hectic, crazy, explosive, need I say more?
32. Are you described to your friends as crazy? Yes
33. Favorite website? I don’t know. I visit lots
34. Favorite YouTube video? This I can tell! The Music Video for The Letter Black’s Song: Hanging on by a Thread
35. Favorite family member? My Cousin Jerrin is cool (I’ve changed his name just because)
36. Favorite sport? To play or to watch? Ultimate Frisbee is cool, for universal purposes anyways …
37. Name five things you want to do when you grow up:
1. Go to College
2. Get that Full-Ride Scholarship
3. Own a Gun (like next year when I legally can
4. Get a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and serve
5. Teach College Level History
38. Name ten things that make you laugh:
1. YouTube Videos
2. Tim Hawkins
3. Hobo (one of my friends)
4. Toby Saad
5. Brad Stine
6. Brian Regan
7. Divad (another friend of mine)
8. Get Fuzzy
9. Full House
10. Home Improvement
39.Name ten things you do every day:
1. Write
2. Do School
3. Eat
4. Sleep
5. Shower
6. Do the dishes
7. Breathe
8. Drink (water people)
9. Watch TV
10. Something that I can’t think of right now …
40. Name five things that you never leave home without:
1. My hair
2. Clothes
3. Glasses
4. Shoes
5. Watch
41. What are your parent's names? I can’t disclose this
42. What is your middle name? Can’t tell you that either
43. Is your middle name embarrassing? Nope. It’s actually a really cool middle name
44. Is this tag 'awesome'? Maybe … Right now I’m distracted J
45. When is your bedtime? NoYB
46. Where were you born? Just look at my status J
47. Are you weird? You could say that …
48. Are your family members supportive of you? Very much so!
49. Do you write music? Yes
50. Do you play any instruments? Yes, the Electric Guitar, I dabble in the Piano and the Drums and I sing a little, but not very well …
I tag...
Anyone who wants to do this!
From the Heart:
We had a great week. School went very well. We are all past our sicknesses. No drama. I'm so grateful.
The Lord is speaking to me about being a better friend, about really listening and being there for people. I need to hear this, and so much want to do this. I am convicted of keeping my friends at armslength. I know it stems from being insecure in childhood and feeling like I didn't have any friends, so I stopped trying. There have been times when the Lord has brought me friends, and still I did not work hard at keeping them. I want to go beyond that in my life, and work harder at being there for my friends. If you want to be included in those who want my deeper friendship, just leave a comment, or email me. I'm going to try.
This is Snow Crystal working on a Christmas present.
On the Homefront:
We worked on keeping the house cleaner throughout the week, and found that to work well. I do laundry twice a week (Sundays or Mondays and Thursdays or Fridays). If the laundry isn't finished, I finish it the next day without adding more from the new day. This way I know all the laundry gets done twice a week and it isn't as much of a burden. The older girls are helping me a lot more too. For example, Snow Crystal is downstairs making cookies right now as I type. The weather was nice, and got nicer all week. Feels like summer except for all the snow still on the ground.
This is Snow Crystal following her "directions" of how to make her favorite cookies that she had to do for language arts yesteday.
In the School Room:
Bible: We continue to read Egermeier's Bible Story Book with Bubbies and the older girls listening in. We didn't do anything with our Biblical Holidays book. We also read a few stories from "I Heard Good News", which is a book full of short stories about how different countries and peoples received the gospel. I am thinking that for the older girls we might try to do some of the articles and activities that go with The Voice of the Martyrs magazine. You can find it at http://www.kidsofcourage.com. It looks like it would be a good thing for them to do.
History: We are now in the post-civil war era. In Landmark's History of America we learned how Montgomery Ward changed the way business was done for the rural American, and about Richard Sears' imput to this.
Science: We moved on to start learning about Alexander Graham Bell and his inventions.
Read-Aloud: We are ahead with the older girls, so took a break from read-alouds. I read The Light on Tern Rock with Bubbies.
Reader: Mountain Princess and Snow Crystal are reading Shades of Gray, by Carolyn Reeder. It is a good book about a boy who was orphaned during the civil war, and having to live with his mother's sister and family after the war.
Language Arts: The older girls worked on similies, topic sentences, writing a formal letter, and grammar. Bubbies reviewed the letter "S" and made a "P" and an "S" letter sheet (I get these from homeschoolshare.com). She read her first "reader" that comes with her curriculum. It is a cute little book called "Pam"). It was a proud moment for her to read it to her daddy one evening this week too.
Math: We had a great week again this week, and the girls continue to make progress in becoming independent.
Spanish: MP is using Rosetta Stone and seems to be learning and retaining a lot. SC is using The Complete Book of Spanish (workbook from Wal Mart). She'll get back to Rosetta next year.
On the Mission Field:
The school had Chris Stanton here. He suffered from acute mountain sickness for the first day, but finally recovered. I think they've been having a great time.
In the Literary Scene:
I am reading Brock and Bodie Thoene's second book in the Galway Series Of Men and of Angels, and I finished the first book too. Very good reading!
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.