The Stranger on the Park Bench

I’m stalling I know, changing my pen for the third time, but now I’m ready to tell my tale. I’m still not sure how the stranger and I met up that day in the park — no, that’s not true, he called me over to the bench where he sat. It was as though I had no choice, that my body had given over control to the stranger.

Name him? I think not. Even though I know his name (or think I do) I dare not say it aloud lest he “notice” me again.

That first meeting in the park changed my life forever (or so long as I live which might be a very long time). The stranger seemed like a normal person. He sat on a park bench, dressed well with a newspaper folded on his lap.

It was as though I had crossed a threshold and entered a new world. I had been standing in my room, door closed wondering what I should do. I was afraid to go out because I had suckered one of my neighbors out of 100 bucks for a famous book with the author’s autograph. The book was a cheap reproduction and the autograph fake. I thought my customer might have found out about the fake. He’s a lot bigger and meaner.

But allow me to get back to the point I’ve been avoiding. I knew I was in for an interesting afternoon when I opened the door to my rented room during a January snowstorm and stepped directly into a park on a sunny spring afternoon. I turned around — no door. it was gone. I saw the stranger when I turned again. He beckoned to me. I walked over to the bench where he sat. He nodded to the bench next to him. I swear I heard him say “Please sit down,” but his lips never moved. I obeyed.

He reached under the newspaper he had folded on his lap and removed a package wrapped neatly in brown paper. He smiled and handed the package to me. I knew. It was the book. I was sure.

“I just gave you the real thing Robert. This is an original copy made centuries before you were born. This book is the only real copy left in the world and you my boy, are about to embark on the adventure of your life.”

I just stared at him, unable to speak, afraid to move. I sat waiting.

“Selling that fake wasn’t nice Robert, especially to an old friend of mine. It’s your job to make this right. All you have to do is get the author to authenticate this copy with his signature.”

“But the author is dead. How will I…?”

“I know Robert, I know.”

THE BEGINNING

Yay! this is post number 500!

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Generations

Here’s the first post from the photos I took over the Christmas Holiday.

Click to enlarge

From left to right: Carmel Jones – my mother-in-law, Daughters Sue and Erin, Twin Granddaughters Maddy in front, Livvy behind.

I took five shots and this one turned out best. I do like it. I used my new FujiFilm X10. I like that camera. It takes good quality photos and it’s not a point and shoot with no control. Can’t wait to get out in the woods (when I’m feeling better and the weather is warmer).

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Green Lion Underpants

How about a wimpy guy who likes to pretend that he’s a lion in front of his bathroom mirror? He never does this outside the bathroom, door closed and locked, private space. He doesn’t want to share his elation and he won’t submit to the ridicule of pretend lions wearing bright green underpants.

Then there was the kid who always wore plain white underpants decorated with wimpy green lions. He cried about it but tears couldn’t change his mother’s mind. So he was forced to pretend that his lions were green so they could hide in the tall green grass. He liked his new lion friends — they seemed like normal lions but when the little boy finally understood the lion language well enough, he discovered that the lions hated green.

They didn’t want to remain a prisoner of the underpants either. The boy wished and promised and begged and cried until one day he heard a voice and looked up to see an old bedraggled wizard standing in the middle of his bedroom.

“What do you want kid? I can’t stand the nagging.”

The kid showed the wizard his green lion underpants and before he got a word out, the wizard began laughing.

The wizard mumbled something, pointed his wand at the green lions and there was a brief flash of light.

The wizard looked at the kid with a serious expression on his face (the wizard’s face) and told the kid: “Be careful. The next person who touches your underpants after you take them off will exchange places with the green lions.”

The wizard laughed and disappeared with a loud pop. The poor kid stood there in the middle of his bedroom wondering if he was imagining things when the door opened and his mother burst into the room.

“I’m doing the wash this morning so get that dirty underwear off and put into the hamper.”

It was hard to hear over the noise of the washer but the little boy thought he heard a lion roar. How was he to explain his new underpants?

THE END

Couldn’t help myself. I wrote this little story one morning while writing my morning pages. It just spilled out.

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Hospital Hospitality and Home Again

Just checked my Oxygen level with my finger thingy. It’s 98% — Yay!!! I started the new year with a bang. My compromised immune system finally caught up with me. I Woke up in the middle of the night sick as a dog. I ended up in the ER and when the Doc asked me what brought me in I told him that I felt like shit warmed over. Couldn’t put that on the chart.

My five year old granddaughter colored a get well for me. I love it.

Turns out I had pneumonia. Please note the past tense here. After multiple bags of antibiotics plus strong oral antibiotics I felt better, much better. I arrived in the ER around lunch time on New Year’s day. They kept me until Saturday afternoon.

If I ever go to the hospital again (hope not) I’m not letting them stick me in my arms and hands for IV. Send someone down who is certified to access my port. Why? Both arms and both hands are beat up from the IV.

I joked about only being admitted to the hospital on holidays. The first time was Memorial Day 2012 and this time New Year’s 2014. I don’t want another next time.

Anyway, I’m home sleeping in my own bed and playing with my computer. By the end of the week I’ll be done with 5 days of oral antibiotics, a visit to my primary doc and a follow up chest x-ray.

I’m staying away from people and crowded places until the flu season is over. I might get some masks to wear when I do go out. Staying home gets real boring real fast. I’ll get out one way or another.

Got some neat photos from Christmas. Look for them over the next few days (and weeks). Can’t wait to get out with my new FujiFilm X10. That will have to wait.

The weather here is nuts. It was record breaking cold Friday and Saturday, freezing rain on Sunday morning, woke up this morning to pouring rain and most of the snow melted, temps dropped nearly 30 degrees since this morning and the sun is out. Low tonight 8 degrees and windy so the wind chill will be below zero. Going out John? No thank you, I can wait.

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2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 18,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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