KEEPING IT REAL with FRIZZY LIZZY

Hi dear friends and followers, welcome to my blog. Please take five and relax and have a great read. 

KEEPING IT REAL with FRIZZY LIZZY

Thinking back about living on the farm usually brings back bittersweet memories that are more bitter than sweet. Over the years since I have left there, my recall has become much more benign than it was right after I left. And that's how I feel about tonight's story. I prefer to share the sweetness of it and leave out the bitter as much as possible.

We had been married for about 4 years and 2 of them were lived on the farm, a 5-minute drive from his family. Hardly a day went by without visiting them. We had no real life of our own. We never had a night out together without a family member and their date coming with us, and if that family member had no date, we stayed at the family home, with everyone else, playing cards. It was not what I had expected by a long shot. That is the bitter part. I like to let that remembrance grow dusty and blurred in my mind's eye.

It was July 2, 1976. I have a way of remembering such dates. It was America's Bicentennial and I expected to observe it on the farm, or at his family's home. He knew that a lot was going wrong between us and I did not hesitate to show and tell it.

It was Friday morning while we were having coffee when he asked me if I would like to go to New York City to see the tall ships sail into New York Harbor. I was stunned! I asked him for more details and expected to hear who else he had asked to go with us and he confessed that he wanted to take time for just the two of us! He knew that things were getting rocky and that he had made many errors but that maybe a “summit meeting” over the Bicentennial weekend could help put things back in order.

After hearing what I took to be an earnest plea, I said, “Let's go!”

Before my words left the air, he was on the phone with directory assistance and then he placed a call to the Sheraton Times Square Hotel, 7th Avenue at 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan. The reservation was made for the night of July 3 and July 4 with check-out on July 5. I was thrilled!

We took our older car and all the cash we could get our hands on and got on the interstate highway to New York City.

The ride was pleasant and just the two of us made good conversation. We alternated radio stations between his country and western music and my oldies as we drove east. We arrived at the Sheraton Times Square at about 12:00 noon and had 3 hours to kill before check-in. I cannot recall what we did for that time, but it was in the days before cell phones. He could not call his mom to tell her we had arrived and we could not take a call from her. That was fine with me.

Supper was at some fast food place, but that I did not mind at all as it was a table for two. We slept well and got ready to go to the very southern tip of Manhattan, to Battery Park, to see tall ships from all over the world sail into New York Harbor, and the fireworks that night.

Now I knew a bit more about getting around New York City than Kevin did so he depended on me to take the lead, and I did. We left the hotel and went to the subway station at 7th Avenue and 53rd Street for a train going downtown. After changing trains at Times Square/42nd Street, we exited the 1Train at South Ferry.

The day was warm and humid, but it was the Fourth of July and we were right next on New York Harbor in Battery Park, so named because of the battery of cannons that was once there to protect Manhattan from invaders. The crowd was beyond my estimating, but it was huge. It was like the city emptied out and everyone went to the Battery to see the Tall Ships. After moving about, we settled for a position that was four deep from the rail where we stood and enjoyed all that we could of America's birthday party. We bought 2 buttons that said “I was there for July 4 in Old New York.” I still have mine.

The sailing vessels were a magnificent sight with the wind in their canvas and the flags of their home nations flying proudly. Live bands played music of every kind heard in New York City, from country to reggae. Food vendors were easy to find and we took many photos of the ships and the people there.

Perhaps the greatest thing about the celebration was the spirit of those who came to join it. For as warm and populated as it was at the Battery, I did not hear one cross word spoken nor did I see one fight. I found that remarkable because of the number of people in the same place on a hot day. Civility reigned that day.

At the conclusion of Operation Sail, Kevin asked me about having supper. I told him that my father had mentioned a restaurant at 110 E. 14th Street called Lüchow's. Kevin balked momentarily because the name sounded Chinese, but I assured him that it was a German restaurant. “Diamond Jim” Brady frequented the place. If my dad and Brady liked it, it was good enough for me.

The choice of Lüchow's was good, but my decision to walk there was not. I thought that it was within walking distance of the Battery, like 14 blocks away. I was off by about 18 blocks or more. I had forgotten all of the named streets in Lower Manhattan that come before the numbered streets. It felt like we would never arrive there at all, not to mention for supper! I began to wonder if 14th Street had not been moved to Boston!

But Kevin was good company and made the walk a lot easier than I thought it was. We made it in time for supper.

Lüchow's opened in 1882 and had its share of celebrity diners. The dining room was a sight to behold. It had a high ceiling of embossed tin with chandeliers to provide a pleasant light. The walls were solid, dark-stained wood with intricately carved scroll work and mirrors. The chairs were upholstered in supple red leather and made for comfort for as long as I would wish to sit and enjoy a meal. I was impressed by the ambiance and one thing more: the cleanliness. There was not a bit of dust on any of the scroll work; no dirt on the mirrors; the tables were immaculate, as were the chandeliers; and the only thing that I could smell was the sublime fragrance of German cooking.

I cannot remember what Kevin ordered but I had the Weiner schnitzel ala Holstein with lingon berries (berries flown daily from Germany to Lüchow's). The portion was just enough to fill me comfortably. A glass of Reisling (my choice) took the edge off the day.

We took a taxi back to the Battery and found a place on higher ground that was about 30 meters away from the water and there we watched a grand fireworks display. It was a fitting finale to what was a most pleasant day with Kevin.

The next day we left New York and talked all the way home. We talked a little about the past and a lot about the future; about forgiveness and forgetting; about endings and starting over, and I felt good when we got back.

So are the sweet moments... Thank you for sharing them with me.

Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Weekend.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Rabbit Throws Out His Sandal

Rabbit Throws Out His Sandal

Hi dear friends and followers, again I am honored to have you here in my blog. Take five, relax and enjoy the read.

Do you have room for one more Rabbit story? That's great, because I hope that I have saved the best for last.

Have you see in cartoons or in the movies where someone puts their hat on the end of a stick and pokes it out from the place in which they are hiding to see if they will be shot at? Rabbit takes this trick and manages to improve upon it quite a bit. See what he does in this last Mayan legend of Rabbit that I was able to find.


Rabbit Throws Out His Sandal

The rabbit (also called "mayor") was in the cave that was the abode of all the animals: the snake, the turkey vulture, the buzzard, the deer, the lion, the skunk and the coyote. They began to get together there to discuss how they could kill the rabbit mayor.

But the rabbit mayor was very clever and was looking for a way to escape. They began to keep watch on him in that house because they intended to kill him, but they were not able to kill him as they had planned. They had wanted to smash him to pieces.

"Make him come out so that he will die right now. Don't let him escape; that good-for-nothing mayor has deceived us too many times. Well, now he's surely going to be finished, we're going to finish him off. Be on your guard and don't let him get away. When he comes out of the cave we're going to smash him to pieces, for there's a lot of us. Pity him. Compared to all of us, he's nothing. We are many against one. I hope now he's going to pay for all the crimes he has committed against us. That's why he must to die now."

"You, turkey vulture, go and watch for him to come out, and you deer, go right after him. Since you can run as fast as the mayor, you'll be able to catch up with him. Be on guard, all of you."

"All right," they said. "Snake, you look to see when he comes out, and we'll all pile on top of him. You snake, call him."

"Come on out, hurry," said the townspeople.

"Wait," said the rabbit, "I'm taking off my sandal."

"But hurry," said the snake.
"Wait, I'm coming out. Wait for me there, I'm coming out."

"Well, hurry," said the townspeople.

"Come on out," the snake said to the rabbit.

"I'm coming out. Wait," said the rabbit.

"Well, hurry," said the townspeople.

"All right," said the rabbit. "I'm coming out now. Please catch my sandal, I beg you."

The townspeople answered: "Catch his sandal, throw it over there. It's not as if it were your father's sandal, that you're obliged to carry it."

"All right, mayor. Throw out your sandal." And the turkey vulture caught the sandal. He gave it to the deer and the deer threw it away, as they thought that it was the rabbit's sandal. They were all shouting in the cave. They didn't know it was the mayor they had thrown away.

"Come on out," shouted the snake into the cave, "come out right away." When they realized that he wasn't answering them they were sad.

They sent the snake into the cave and the snake shouted: "He's not here, he's not here."

"Throw it far away."

"He's not here, he's not here. He came out," said the snake.

"He's not here. Maybe it was him we threw."

"Did you notice if it was his sandal that you threw away?" the lion asked the deer.

"Come on out, snake."

"All right." The snake came out.

Afterwards they began to kill each other on account of the mayor rabbit. He managed to go free, and when he was far away he laughed at them: "Some day you'll pay for the crimes you committed against me, the mayor. You wanted to kill me, but you weren't able to. Just wait and see what's going to happen to you later on."

Please tell me what you think of the Rabbit tales I have shared with you. I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much!

Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Rabbit Gets a job?

Rabbit Gets a job?

Hi dear friends and followers, First I would like to wish you all a pleasant week. Take five, relax and have a great read. Love you.

Believe it or not, a long time ago, there was a problem with unemployment among the Maya. Many were looking for work, including that trickster, Rabbit. Here are two legends of how Rabbit performed in the local Mayan workforce.

Rabbit most likely would have made a great politician.

Rabbit As Cowherd

Once there was a rabbit who went looking for work. He found a man and asked him for a job.

"Sir, by any chance would you have any work for me? I'm poor and I'm looking for work. I can't find anybody who will give me a job," said the rabbit.

"I'm sorry friend, but there isn't any work right now. Lots of friends have been by looking for work, but there just isn't any," said the man.

"I'm not particular about the type of work. I just want to work. That's why I've come here to ask you," said the rabbit.

"All right, if you want to you, can take care of some of my animals," said the man, and they agreed. "All right, come back tomorrow and we'll leave it that way," said the man. The next day the rabbit came to work. A few days went by. He did something once when he was taking care of the man's cattle, and some cattle merchants came by.

"Hey, friend, why don't you sell us your cows? We'll pay you whatever you ask," they said.

"It can't be done, my friends, I can't sell them as you might think, for I'm just a hired hand. If they were mine, there would be no problem doing what you ask me, because you are in the business of buying cattle."

They kept insisting, and the rabbit thought about what he ought to do. After a while he answered:

"All right, if you want to buy them, but don't go over there where the boss is. If you do, he'll find out I sold them to you."

"All right," the men said, "don't worry."

They bought the cows and herded them off. After the rabbit sold the cows he began to place some empty gourds in the tops of some large trees. And when he had finished placing them, he went to notify the owner of the livestock.

"Sir, I've come to tell you that some thieves came and stole all the cows," he said. "Who knows where they took the animals. When they stole them, they threatened me. If I had gone after them, they would have beaten me up," said the rabbit.

"Let's go and look for them now," said the man, and got his horse. They went to where the rabbit had sold the cows. When they got there they heard the cows mooing. But it was only the wind passing through the gourds. The rabbit knew that it was the gourds that were making the sound. As the gourds were mooing, he asked the man:

"Sir, don't you hear them mooing?" The man heard the mooing and answered: "You're right, friend, the animals are far away from us." And they started to look for the cows and as they were looking for them they heard them mooing across the way. "Listen, they're mooing over there," said the rabbit. "Let's do this: we'll separate, you go this way and I'll go that way."

"All right," said the man, and they separated to go look for the cows, because the owner imagined they were far away. But when they were far apart, the rabbit took the opportunity to escape once more. This is what the rabbit did the time he sold the cows.


Rabbit As Swineherd

Once the rabbit went out looking for work and he went very far. When he came up to a man he asked him:
"Sir, by any chance would you have some work you could give me? For I haven't been able to find anything," he said.

"Sorry, friend, there won't be any work for a few months, although come to think of it, there might be some now," said the man. "If you agree, you can take care of some of my pigs." "Just give me some work, sir, because that's what I'm looking for," said the rabbit.

"All right, we're in agreement, then. Tomorrow you'll come and work for me," said the man.

At dawn of the next day the rabbit went to watch the pigs. As he was watching the pigs, some hog merchants came by.

"Why don't you sell us your pigs, friend?" the hog merchants asked him.

"No, friends, they aren't mine, I'm just a hired hand and I can't decide all by myself," the rabbit said. They kept on pressuring the rabbit, saying:

"Sell us the animals," they said.

"All right, but if it's O. K. with you, I'm going to cut off their tails," said the rabbit.

"All right, then, cut them off," they said, and they were very pleased. 

The merchants took the pigs and went off with them. The rabbit buried the tails in the ground. When he had them all buried he went to talk to the pigs' owner.

Boss, all the pigs have sunk into the swamp," he said. After he told him, the boss went with all his digging tools to where the rabbit deceived him. This is what the rabbit did; he abandoned his boss.

Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Rabbit and the Ram

Rabbit and the Ram

Hi my dear friends and followers. First I wish you all a safe and happy week. Have e great read and thank you for coming

If you look at the Reference Map of Native Tribes you will see many names, however, they are not all free-standing societies or cultures. Most of them are subgroups of larger societies, like the Aztec or the Maya. I have found at least one exception, that being the Zapotec, and we have already featured some of their legends.

Today we will again visit with a universal character in Native legends and mythology, that trickster, Rabbit. This time he is traveling with a ram as he outwits some predators. Note how easily the storyteller endows the animals with human characteristics and takes them back again. I hope that you enjoy this one because there are two more installments of the Maya view of Rabbit before we move further south towards the Inca People.

Rabbit and the Ram

There was once a ram who liked to roam in a bean patch. He was very mischievous, and when they weren't paying attention, he would abandon his companions and end up eating in the bean patch. One day he stayed there enjoying eating the bean plants when the sun set. His stomach was full but he kept on eating. When it got dark he wanted to go back but his horns had become tangled up in the bean tendrils. He kept trying to free himself, but the tendrils wouldn't release him. He was beginning to move from one side to the other among the bean plants when the rabbit arrived.

"What's the matter, friend?" the rabbit asked the ram.

"Just look at what happened to me, just because I was looking for food. I'm in a real predicament," said the ram.

"Don't worry, my friend, I'm going to untangle you right now. There's no problem. After all, aren't we friends?" asked the rabbit.

"Thanks, friend, if you hadn't come, who knows what would have happened to me," said the ram.

The rabbit finished setting him free and then told him this:

"Let's go and eat far from here at a place I know where there's food." The rabbit took the ram to that place. After they were through eating, they looked for a place to spend the night.

"Listen, my friend, we're going to look for a good place to sleep, so we won't have any problems and nothing will happen to us tonight, for there are some people who hate us. Not everyone is kind," said the rabbit. They were near a big rock.

"It's a good idea to get on top of that rock," they said.

They got on top of the rock to sleep. At midnight some big animals began to approach the foot of the rock that they had climbed onto: the lion, the jaguar and the coyote.

"My friend, what's going to happen to us? Maybe they'll finish us off." "Don't move, because if you move they'll know someone is up here," said the rabbit.

The ram felt the need to pass water. "I feel like passing water, friend, I'm going down to pass water, so as not to wet myself up here," said the ram.

"Something could happen to us, friend. Maybe you ought to leave well enough alone. If they hear you climbing down, that'll be the end of us. Lie on your back and relieve yourself that way. Look how thick your wool is: the wetness will disappear into your wool. If I were like you, I wouldn't have to worry about that," said the rabbit.

"I'm going to try now," said the ram.

The ram tried to lie on his back, but he didn't have any hands to hold on with and he fell down among those who were at the foot of the rock. They were all asleep when the ram fell among them and they all fled out of fear. The rabbit and the ram spent the night in the other animals' house.

When dawn came those who had been sleeping at the foot of the rock came back. From afar they were looking to see if the rabbit and the ram were still there. They saw that the rabbit was moving his paws from side to side, and beginning to lick them. So they said to each other:

"The little one is the most rascally one, and the big one keeps saying 'Yes, sir; yes, sir.' When they look at us, it is as if they're telling us that they're going to knock us down. They're gesturing with their hands," they said.

They were all very frightened. But the rabbit was just shooing away flies. That's why he was moving his hands to and fro, and the ram was just complaining. Later they went to eat some more where they had eaten the previous afternoon. The other animals had fled out of fear that night and they never saw them again.

After they had gone out to eat again, the ram's master arrived. When the ram realized that he was out looking for him, he said to the rabbit:

"Now, my friend, we're going to part company, they're coming for me, take care. We'll meet another time," said the ram.

"All right, my friend, you take care of yourself too." And so they parted. This is what happened to these two animals, the ram and the rabbit.

Reference map

Thank you very much again, dear friends, for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts with us, if you will. have a great Week.

✿ ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿