I am a great big Oak tree
And I’ve been here for years
The children play around me
They shout and yell their cheers

I love it when the Spring comes
And my leaves just start to pop
But my secret wish is
I wish that I could hop!

Oh I’d jump around the grassy slope
I’d run through underbrush
And sometimes I’d just walk slowly
I’d not be in a rush

I’d be careful not to step
On tiny living things
And I’d only go where I could get
My limbs through openings

But my feet are way below the ground
Attached to roots real deep
I need them all to stand so tall
Especially on a hill so steep

‘though it gets kinda boring
Always standing here
I guess it’s what I have to do
Year after year after year

I know that I will never be
Free to run around
But Gee, I’d be so happy
If I could just sit down

Six sets (of six items each) from which the author needs to select 6 single items (one in each catagory) and then write a short story including those subjects selected by rolling a die each time.

Category One …PROTAGONIST

1.Young Girl
2.Young Boy
3.A Dragon
4.A cardboard Box
5.An ant
6.A disappearing kitten

Category Two…ANTAGONIST

1.A Snake
2.A Mosquito
3.Hurricaine
4.Crazy Cartoon come to life
5.Runaway Train
6.A Grandpa

Category Three…SETTING

1.A Pond
2.The Dessert
3.A Cave
4.An Island
5.City Park
6.A Carnival

Category Four…TIME

1.1865
2.1925
3.2200
4.Midnight
5.4th of July
6.New Years Eve

Category Five…NUMBER OF CHARACTERS

1.Two
2.Six
3.A Thousand and One
4.Five
5.Twelve
6.Thirteen

Category Six…TYPE OF STORY

1.Happy
2.Scary
3.Silly (my favorite)
4.A Little Sad
5.Narration
6.Third Person

Story doesn’t have to be very long…(but must include all categories.) HAVE PHUN!!!

“Monique, you are so lucky to live in France…it must be wonderful.” Susie said to her “friend”
“Oui…it is….how you say…exquisite!” Monique replied.
“Could you teach me to speak French?” Susie asked.

“Oh Oui Mon Amie…that means “Yes my friend”

“It’s SOOO exciting having a friend like you Monique.”

“Susan…are you talking on the phone? It’s too late for that….now go to sleep…you have school tomorrow Dear!” Her mother had called from the hallway….”Yes Mom….I know….I’m in bed….Good Night!” …and Susie turned out the light and pulled up the pink coverlet with the fleur- di- Lis design that she’d gotten for her seventh birthday last week.

The next day Susie taught her school friends how to say “Yes my friend” in French. There were many conversations containing “Mon Amie”and “Oui” among Susie’s friends and they all seemed to love saying things in French as much as Susie did…AND they all wanted to meet  Susie’s new friend Monique.

“Well Monique DOES live in France….ah….Toulouse France to be exact. That’s in the south of France you know near the Riviera.” Susie advised.

Susie’s friends ( the REAL ones) were very impressed. They didn’t have foreign friends that spoke foreign languages and nearly all of them wished that they did. Each day her friends would ask “Did you talk to Monique last night?” Sometimes Susie did and sometimes she didn’t. Her friends seemed disappointed when Susie reported no conversations and no new French words or sayings for them at school the next day.

After about ten days or so Susie reported to her friends that Monique was going on vacation with her family and wouldn’t be calling for awhile. Susie’s friends were all disappointed to hear the news but knew that they’d just have to wait until Monique and her family returned to France after their vacation.

After two days of no “calls” from Monique, at about seven o’clock at night just after dinner, Susie’s doorbell rang. Mr. Jenkins,  Susie’s dad answered the door since it was homework time and Susie was up in her room studying.
Then she heard her father call out “Someone to see you Susan Dear…a Miss Monique….from France!”

“Hi! The keys on my keyboard are helping me give a shout out to you today. Normally I’m not a very popular key because you see I’m the DELETE button.”
“Oh, I do have a few close friends like the space bar (who never says much but is a great listener) and the backspace arrow, who kinda does the same job as me, so we have something in common.”
“The most popular keys like E and ENTER never want to chat. I’ve never shared a single word with CTRL…EVER.”
“I can’t actually figure out why I’m so unpopular with almost all of the other keys, after all I give them another chance to be used over again later. But I’m content with my role on the keyboard and actually I believe that I’m one of the most popular keys. Why do I think that you ask? Because my writer Russ makes so many mistakes, he actually uses me more than any other key.”
“I was going to chat longer but I’m an expert about knowing when to delete.”

“OK all of you…pay attention. No…no…no, you Dachshunds and Corgis and Chihuahuwas get up in the front row. I’m an AKC registered English Bulldog. And the first of you mutts that makes a crack about my accent is gonna REGRET IT! Now, you’re gonna get your barking orders that you will keep and obey forever.”

“Hey! You two Great Danes back there…KNOCK it off!”

“There are four types of barking that will be assigned today: The “Ruff” the “Yap” and the “Bow Wow,” and of course there is the most common, the just plain “Bark” which is not only onomatopoeia, but also a noun, but you’ll get that lesson later on in the camp when we discuss words and commands that you can ignore.”

Now you MUST only adhere to your assigned type or if you are caught using any other type, you will be severly punished by the removal of your bark capabilities. If you don’t believe me, just ask ANY Basenji!

“OK This entire front row is assigned the “Yap! Let’s hear it when I give the signal….WHAT? You got a question?”

The Corgi timidly asked “Are there any restrictions on loudness or repitition?”

“Hmmm. That is actually a good question for once! No! Loud and long and strong!”

“OK….GO!”

There was the loudest longest and strongest yapping of any prior Boot class!

“You blokes are gonna bring me a lot of glory out there! OK you second row, you medium dogs You get the “Ruff” which is quite often doubled to “Ruff Ruff!” Let’s hear it!

A cacophony of RUFFS rang through the barricks rafters.

“Now third row, you large dogs you get a deep “Bow Wow”…let’s hear it!’

The Bulldog Sargent had to cover his ears.

“That was wonderful! And the rest of you mongrels just get to “Bark”…GO!”

There was a lot of ill timed and mixed good and bad Barks which left the Bulldog shaking his head.

“Oh that was terrible, but I didm’t expect much anyhow. OK! I want you all to go out to the fence that runs along the camp’s perimeter next to the housing development and practice until you are hoarse.”

“DISSSSSSMISSSSED!”

Hi…my name…well my ACTUAL Latin name is Canis Lupis Familiaris but my human family named me “Butch” Not in love with that moniker but you know humans.
Anyhow, I’ve got this 10 year old boy named Chuck who is my responsibility to raise to know how to be kind to animals and of course, especially dogs!
He’s pretty good most of the time and I do have to take him out for walks on the end of my leash once a day and have to nudge the feeding bowl occasionally to remind him of my feeding time (I can’t open the cabinet where they keep the stuff…yet).
He doesn’t respect my nap times when he’s out of school and that really bugs me but, like I said, he’s only human so I forgive him…time and time again.
I could make life really difficult for him but I try to abide by the Golden Dog Rule because after all, he’s still a human puppy.
Humans think that a dog’s life is so easy. Well, let me tell you, raising a boy in today’s world is no piece of dog biscuit!
We’ll go out to the edge of the woods and Chuck will start doing just about EVERYTHING his Mom had just told him NOT to do.
And you KNOW that if he gets caught or worse yet, HURT…it will be TOTALLY MY FAULT and no table scraps for a week. (however long that is I’m not sure)
Maybe I’m just having a bad day and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful to my….oh I hate this word…OWNERS…they really are very nice…except for visits to the Vet.
So all in all my advice to you “would-be” boy-sitting canines out there is to pick yourself a good kid that hugs and pets you a lot and slips you plenty of treats when his parents aren’t looking too closely.
I’ll tell how to do that in my next blog.

Dog Chow for now…BUTCH.

“Don’t go up to that house Billy, there’s a ghost that lives there! Jason has saw it!” Tommy said.
“Jason has SEEN it.” corrected Billy.
“Yeah, that’s what I said!”
“Well, I’m going anyhow! Besides, it’s Halloween. Halloween is for witches and…wait for it…GHOSTS!!!”
“Well, I’m leavin’.”
“Me TOO!” both of the other boys said as they quick stepped their way down the street and away from the creepy house!
Billy had to admit, at least to himself, that it was scary, even for Halloween, but he creaked up the old splintered steps and just as he was about to push the door bell button…
“WHAT???” The door flew open and just about the oldest, grayest, staringist person he’d EVER seen yelled out at him.
He was so startled that he nearly fell off of the top porch step, but caught himself just in time to prevent falling.
After recovering his balance and a little nerve, the door was still filled with the eeriest sight his nine year old eyes had ever seen or imagined, he gathered his strength and said ..”That wasn’t very nice you know. I know that I’m supposed to respect my elders but you make it VERY difficult M’aam.”
There was just a stare back at him with steely eyes that didn’t seem to even have any white parts to them.
After just staring at each other, Billy decided to just leave…”Well, Happy Halloween M’aam.”
A pause then…”Wait.” When Billy looked back at the woman in the door he saw that tears were streaming out of both of her old tired and, he had to admit, scary eyes.
“I’m sorry. I just hate being scary and hateful. But, everybody thinks that I’m a witch or worse yet, a ghost and there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it!” She was fully crying now.
“Oh, M’aam there is always something that you can do. Besides we kids LIKE to be scared and on Halloween, well, you’re just about the scariest…” No wait, thought Billy. THAT won’t help.”
“Here, take my candy and give it out to the trick or treaters. I’ll go get more while you do that and I’ll help you give it out too if you’d like!”
“Why don’t you sit down on this porch chair M’aam.”
“I…I haven’t been outside since, this is gonna sound strange, the full moon of last Halloween.”
“You’re right…strange. But make the most of it. I’ll help you!”

Well, little Billy Smith helped the lady, who he found out was Ima Sloan, over the threshold and out onto the porch. He placed the candy into her dress lap and then went out to the curb and directed kids to “Trick Or Treat” the Scariest candy giver EVER!”
Ms. Sloan started each kid with a grumpy look then laughed out loud as she gave them the treat!
Soon there was a line forming and the candy was running out. “You each have to put a candy in and then take a candy out!”
In less than twenty minutes, the line was out on Elm Street and down the block.
A newspaper photographer who was out covering the story for the local press actually took Ms. Sloan’s and Billy’s picture and it appeared in the next morning’s edition.
Ms. Sloan was a local celebrity and so was Billy and neither one could wait for next Halloween!

Everybody wants to live at the beach. Well, except for those who want to live in the mountains or in the dessert or in big cities…well, anyhow…I want to live at the beach and I do.
I must admit that it gets a tad lonely in the freezing cold of winter…especially at night.
Lots of my friends only come around in late Spring and Summer but it does tend to get somewhat crowded then.
What? Who am I?
Maybe I’ll let you guess. I’ll give you a few clues.
I can’t fly, although I would LOVE to be able to.
I’m actually not even very good at swimming. Silly huh, living and loving the beach and all that.
I also love to play hide and seek but NEVER want to get caught.
Have you guessed what I am yet? Well, have you guessed what I’m NOT yet?
Right! I’m not a fish or a bird.
And I’m not a tourist because I live here and even though some tourists can actually swim none can fly, by themselves that is.
Another hint: I’m not a grain of sand…EVERYBODY knows that sand can’t talk!
And I’m not a pebble which have the same silent problem of sand.
I do like to play with the tide and the waves as them come into the beach and then go back out.
GOOD GUESS! When you hear the term “Happy As A Clam”…THAT’S ME!
Opps…gotta go and dig fast and deep…someone’s coming down the beach.
Next time you are here…look for a tiny hole and maybe a bubble near the water’s edge and say “HI” but no digging please!

“Here Nosy….sniff!”
Judson was holding his brother’s, shall we say, “soiled” sweatshirt in front of his new bloodhound puppy’s nose.
Nosy sniffed and sniffed and then barked a very immature sounding bark that would eventually mature into a deep loud one.
Nosy perked up his ears and looked around, then put his amazing nose to the ground and in a crooked, twisting path, sniffed his way to the laundry room and the laundry basket!
Even though none of Judson’s brother’s clothing was actually IN the basket that was “sniffed out” by Nosy, the tracking was deemed a victory.
On subsequent sniffing and tracking tests, Nosy however, was less successful. While attempting to sniff out a previously hidden used sock, Nosy “found” an unhidden plate of dark meat turkey that Judson’s Mom had placed on the table for lunch. Nosy never did find the sock.
On another occasion, Nosy found an opened box of chocolate covered cherries instead of Judson’s Dad’s baseball cap and was a very sick bloodhound puppy all afternoon.
After a trip to the local Veteranarian and a testing of Nostrildamus’ olfactory glands (his “smeller”) it was theorized that possibly Nosy was not “all” bloodhound but “could” have a bit of Beagle on his family tree. Not a bad thing, but not bloodhound.
“He may develop a better sense of smell later as he matures, but I wouldn’t count on it!” the Doctor sighed after the exam and test.
Judson was a bit disappointed at the news but vowed to keep “training” Nosy’s scent tracking abilities.
As Nosy grew older and larger, his percentage of “finds” as Judson called them, grew to about 10%.
There were also some unscientific successes which, although Judson considered a “find” his parents did not for the simple reason that food was always involved.
But one morning, a bright sunny day in August, the doorbell rang and when Judson’s Mom opened the door, a policeman was standing there with a torn piece of cloth in his gloved hand.
“M’am, I’m Sargent Cole of the local police department and we are on the lookout for an alleged thief that apparently tore an article of clothing, looks like a piece of shirt, during a small robbery and we were told that you own a bloodhound. Is that true?”
“Ah…why yes we do but you see…”
“GREAT! Can we borrow your dog to possibly track the alleged criminal?”
Judson’s Mom looked at Judson and at Nosy who was wagging his entire body and they both looked so excited that she just replied “Okay!”
Well, to make a longer story shorter, Nosy tracked down the culprit hiding behind a holly bush over in the woods and the Police Department awarded Nosy a special ribbon for “Excellence In Police Work”.
After that, Nosy still wasn’t very successful tracking clothing objects from the family but, even though no one close to Nosy ever said anything to each other, they all felt that it was very lucky that among the stolen items that were taken by the sniffed out crook, was a large box of chocolate covered cherries!

Daytime:   Swam around to the left. Swam around to the right. Nibbled some algae off of the green rock. Swam around…(I forget which way.)

Nightime:   Swam a little. Stayed still at the bottom of the deep part of the pond.

Daytime:   Swam around to the right…BACKED UP and then swam to the left. Bumped into the shubunkin…(didn’t see him until too late)

Nightime:   Swam a little. Stayed still at the bottom of the deep part of the pond. Looking forward to Daytime.