I wanna go to Australia...

A couple of weeks ago, my wonderful daughter, Lindsay Wyrdhaven nicely hinted to me in a that I really needed to put up a new journal No kidding??

But, here's the deal, folks I flatly refuse to put up "downer" journals... and since at that time (and for most of this Spring, for that matter!) ...the only somewhat relative titles that have come to mind are...

_{Damn! I'm sick and tired of this recession... and forever being broke...
or
I wanna go to Wal-Mart and have a super big shopping spree and actually buy all the things on our "needs" list... rather than just the things on our "desperate" list... and screw getting anything "extra" ...I'd just love to be able to afford the whole "needs" list
or
Damn! I'm tired of trying to figure out whether the heater, air conditioner, or attic fan needs to be on... what's the matter with Mother Nature this Spring??? This isn't Spring, it's yo-yo weather}

...buuuuuuuuuutt, since all of you have probably felt the same way at some time... and even though misery often does love company before I sunk low and resorted to any of those disguting topics ...I sagely remembered the words of my wonderful friend John Corvidae65 ... "A good depression has to be fed... otherwise, it dies out, and happiness returns..." ...and decided to wait to put up a new journal, until something happy and uplifting came to mind

So after having commiserated over the past few weeks, with my wonderful friend Mary-Anne Firey-Sunset about her trip to the beach (in northern Australia! )... and having enjoyed a great run of captures by John Corvidae65 ...and wanting so badly to be able to go ride with John in his truck, and see places in the great state of Wyoming (and home of the very wide open spaces ) ...and to see Yellowstone National Park again

...last evening, I had the devine and supreme pleasure of being able to speak to my very funny and wonderful friend, Pauline kurios-kat by ...and after listening to her wonderful "Kiwi/English/Aussie accent"... and knowing that all the while, she was enjoying listening to my "flat Midwestern accent" ...that's when I knew what I could say in a journal that wouldn't be a whining, downer affair

So, here it is folks ...I now want to go to Australia, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Romania, Ireland, France, Canada, Portugal, and beyond... but NOT necessarily in that order!

Because, if I have the money to go those places, and experience a Christmas BBQ during the summer in Australia ...hug my goddaughter, and her parents, in person, in Romania ...smell the sulfur at the geysers in Yellowstone Park ...watch the tumbleweeds roll in Wyoming ...and meet tons of deviants in person for the very first time ...and visit with another deviant in France again ...and cook with my "Sis" on one side of Canada ...and visit a farm in Manitoba ...and go to a balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico ...and go shelling again with my "sister" in Florida ...and hug my "nephew" in Portugal ...and so on ...then it will mean that this damnable recession is finally over... our bills are up to date... we've finally been able to afford to paint our house... and maybe just maybe... we've actually found enough time in between to clean up this filth pit that we live in, when we're having to fly this fast to make ends meet

So wish me luck on my endevour to come up with both the time and to go to Australia and beyond... and I'll get back to trying to make ends meet!

Thanks for being my friend! Alice

P.S. Enjoy the features and keep dazzling me with your wonderful art, while entertaining and relaxing me with your wonderful sense of humor
P.P.S. And if you play the lottery, buy a ticket in my name, and we split the winnings!

Bagpipes for a Funeral


As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

some of these have very few s so don't be stingy!!
Give 'em some


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Thank you Adam for suggesting me!