Stepping Stones & A Pig To Sing

Stepping Stone & A Pig To Sing

A Stepping Stone

“I see their faces - grey.
They are never the same. 

I hear everything they say, 
Not certain what to believe. 

I observe their sweetness, 

Then blink.

And see their heartlessness. 
Few words I trust alone.

But time reveals the truth.  
I’m just a Stepping-Stone.”                                             JNeiman 2011

Something that bothers me is witnessing and/or suffering from the acts of two-faced people. Maybe it’s my Sagittarius personality, but I prefer honesty. And what’s the point in being two faced. Say it to my face, not to others. I’ll probably find out about it anyway.

I know that two-faced people are nothing new in this world. Even David writes this in the Bible:  
                                                                                                                             Psalms 62, verse 3 & 4.  
"They delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse."

“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.”  Proverb.

There is nothing anyone can do to change a two-faced person. So plan on grasping their good words, their kind actions and loving them for those reasons. 


                                                                                    Karma, will do its job.

Soon we will be back in Arizona. North Carolina is beautiful in many different ways, but this Yankee needs to head west. Soon. 




Happy Halloween.

Peels? But where and why?

When I was released from the hospital in New Bern, NC, an RN read over the several pages of instructions to make sure I understood. One puzzled me.

She said, "Now you'll need to do these peels three times a day. Should be

enough here until you can get another supply."

"Okay, but where do I do the peels?"

Looking at me like I was beyond hope, she said, "Well, at home or in the car. Just  follow the directions."

"Alright... but where? On my fractured nose or arm?"

"No, honey. They're peels. You swallow them with water."

"Oh...PILLS," I said.

Jerry, sitting across the room gave me the, "You can't be serious," look.

But I was...Southerners have a beautiful drawl, but sometimes it's difficult for this Northerner to know exactly what they are saying.

Numerous times I didn't know what the ER and hospital staff were saying to me. Usually, I could guess but
sometimes it was impossible. Can I be that far from home?   :-)

I'll be back to the Carolina Medical Center Hospital on Tuesday where a topnotch surgeon will place plates and screws into my displaced humerus fracture. Her name is Dr.Kristin Warner, and she received the Bronze Star for her work in Afghanistan. Please click on her name to read about this amazing woman. She's a hand and arm surgeon that is regarded as one of the best. The Serendipity of meeting this Dr. is another story in itself. She's originally from Nebraska, so I can understand her perfectly!

This might be my last post for a week or so, as the metal plates & screws will hinder my typing abilities.

Hopefully, I'll be able to go to the Tiki Bar & Toucan Restaurant again by next weekend. It's a great spot to be with friendly people and great food. This is a view of the Marina and another of the Tiki Bar behind the Toucan statue.

Red Ants and Clotheslines

It's fasinating to listen and observe the different species of birds flitting between the tall trees that surround our rental property. Each morning, I sit on  our screened porch and listen to the larks, chickadees, treecreepers, wrens, kinglets, grackies, mockingbirds, cardinals and more. The state bird is the beautiful, Northern Red Cardinal.


Insects are numerous here too, but to me are mainly disgusting, six+-legged creatures. Did you know that at any given moment, each of us 
                                                are within 3-6 feet of a spider?   
The est. number of different kinds of insects in the world range from 1-10 million.  Yikes!  

                                                                                                         
                                                                                                       In particular I dislike RED ANTS. 

When I was 9 yrs old, I lived on an isolated farm in CO,  near NE  & KS borders. 


One day my mother needed to do an errand, and said she would return within an hour. She told me to watch over my 8 mo. old  brother, Dee, while I hung a basket of  freshly laundered clothes on the clothesline.                                                                              

She carried my brother to the base of a clothesline pole and perched him on top of a blue blanket she'd laid on the ground. I handed him toys and a small, yellow plastic container of Cheerios. Mom hurried to her car, and drove away.  It was 95 degrees outside and windy. Dee wore only a diaper.

It was difficult for me to maneuver the clothes onto the lines since they were far above my head. I hefted a concrete block from one spot to another, in order to stand on it, hanging one item at a time. 

Diapers, shirts and towels blew out of my hands, so many frantic chases occurred to retrieve the flying items.  I was still crippled from polio with a 3+ inch difference in the length of my legs. To make my baby brother laugh, I'd exaggerate my duck-like walk and quacked. He giggled with glee. 

At first, my brother played contentedly while I tried to finish my work, but then he started to wail. I jumped off my block and handed him a toy. He screamed louder. I picked him up and noticed his diaper was wet and red ants were crawling all over the damp cloth. 


Opening the large safety-pins that held the diaper in place, I was horrified to see hundreds of the large red insects. My mother accidently had placed him on top of an ant hill.

Throwing the diaper to the ground, I hobbled into the house with brother in my arms. Now the nasty things were biting me too. Quickly, I placed my charge into the kitchen sink and ran cold water on his body. Of course, he screamed even louder, but slowly I removed and smashed each one of the Red Devils to death.   


My mother came home a bit later and found both my brother and me plopped on the living room couch, with tears on our cheeks. At first she was irritated that I had not finished hanging the clothes onto the line, but when I removed my brother’s clean diaper and showed her the hundreds of bites, she hugged us both. Then she applied a soothing ointment on our red welts. 


This horrifying experience left a lasting impression on me.     I hate Red Ants. 

Fall in North Carolina

Oriental's Tiki Bar, at the Marina, is the meeting place for locals. Boats seek shelter in the harbor there. We love this place.      The first night we went to enjoy this spot, a 60' yacht pulled in for fuel and to dock for the night along with many smaller vessels. This yacht burns 60 gals. of fuel per hour. It costs over $5000 to fill the tank!

     After a great meal at the Toucan Grill, we went to our rental home and settled in for our month long stay.  
     The next day in late afternoon, I took Mojo for a walk around the neighborhood. Large rivers surround us and at every turn another beautiful view awaits you. Before dusk, I turned to return home. My polio leg collapsed and I fell. 
    Thirty minutes later, I awoke with Mojo licking my face and nudging me with his nose. He had not left my side. Bless his heart! 
     It was pitch dark and for a few minutes, I didn't know where I was. Seeing a flashlight flicker in the distance, I moved toward it. Jerry had came looking for me. He was shocked to see me covered with blood. 
     The ER at New Bern was wonderful. I stayed in the hospital two days. I have a fractured nose with stitches in two horizontal cuts. And, trying to break my fall I chipped the radial head and tore ligaments. Ouch!  
     Don't let my raccoon eyes frighten you. :-)

October in North Carolina

     Yesterday we settled into our rental house near Oriental, North Carolina. This area was hit hard by hurricane Irene. Devastation is apparent in the low laying properties. In fact, the house we original secured was not quite livable, so we are in a brand new home across the street.

Green Creek

     The wind sends welcoming whispers through the tall pines, sycamores and oak trees. The sound of coastal birds punctuate through the quietness.                       Directly across, we see Green Creek which connects to the Nuese River. Kayaks await us.
    12-15" fish jump out of the water and create their own wake. Dolphins do flips in the air.
      Jerry has already been fishing and we both have taken long hikes around the area. The flatness of the land creates a perfect walking track.
     The house is a blue three-story. Mojo likes to ride the elevator with us or scurry up the stairs ...impatiently waiting for either one of us humans, to get to the top or bottom.

Deb & Me

Cousin Deb honored us with a large tin of homemade cookies upon our arrival yesterday. Yum! Later, we are going over to she & her husbands beautiful home 10 min. away. She's already signed me up for the Chorale she attends. :-)  That will be fun and a great time to spend more time with her.