Open Thread – Forget Me Not
Here is our beautiful state flower, with an equally beautiful sentiment.
December 17, 2024
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The Quitter Returns! -Monday, March 21, 2022
Putting the goober in gubernatorial -Friday, January 28, 2022
Here is our beautiful state flower, with an equally beautiful sentiment.
A must read from the fellow who sat alone in the Orange County cinema watching the Palin flick after the right unleashed the Palin hounds of hell on him:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/how-i-became-the-subject-of-a-conspiracy-theory/242028/
All these pledges being demanded of and signed by Republican candidates got me thinking about the Pledge of Allegiance. Something about that has always bothered me, but I didn’t take the time to identify the irritation. Until now. It’s not the “under God” part, it’s the “to the flag” part. Why am I pledging allegiance to a piece of fabric? I do pledge allegiance “to the republic for which it stands” but why is the flag first? Of course, re-writing the Pledge of Allegiance would strike right at the heart of the symbolism and sound bites that our national discourse encompasses.
How about “I pledge allegiance to the Republic of the United States of America, one nation, under God (if you so desire), indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The flag is a symbol and only a symbol, I do not have allegiance to a symbol, something that can wear out, be burnt, etc. I find flag burning objectionable (but free speech), once had a discussion with a friend, who is a Republican, who agreed that while objectionable, it doesn’t rise to the level of needing a constitutional amendment to ban it. So how does it rise to the level of our allegiance? I don’t believe it does and the Pledge of Allegiance should reflect that.
Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.
Well, the backhoe left my neighbor’s backyard this morning and all the equipment is gone so I guess the patio construction project is completed, for which I am grateful.
Yesterday morning, after a long and very sleepless night of tossing and turning, I was rudely awakened by the sound of a small utility vehicle passing within a few feet of my bedroom window several times, bringing some sort of equipment from the truck in the street to the yard. There have been a number of miscellaneous construction vehicles passing between the houses over the past week so it should not have surprised or annoyed me. However, this time I was really ticked because it woke me up only a couple of hours after I had finally managed to get to sleep.
I felt perfectly justified in the bad words I aimed at the driver since he was making all the noise…at 6:20 in the morning!!! Grrrrrrr! 🙁
Several years ago, while in Icy Straight Point, I bought a necklace made by a local woman named Darlene See from Hoonah. It’s a round piece of mother-of-pearl with some real forget-me-knots on the front. It’s beautiful and the bonus was that I got to talk to the woman who created it!
I really like that flower … and the sentiment. There is no way now that I would ever forget Alaska. And I am talking about all the good that I have learned about her .. the people, the beauty, the spirit. When clients or friends tell me they have lived in Alaska, or arevgoing to be visiting there, I beam and I want to know where they lived and what they saw or plan to see and if they liked it. Yes, I think about Palin, but I never ask them about her unless they mention it. We simply talk about Alaska! I have two friends who are coming on an Alaska cruise soon, but they are doing most of the sightseeing inland. I hope they have fun : they are going to places I have read about on here and IM such as Denali and Seward. No, I will never forget Alaska and maybe one day I can visit her.
My number three child always called them “Don’t Forget Me’s”.
(As if I could ever.)
🙂
We Alaskans!
Thank you, AKM. Beautiful picture of one of my favorite flowers.
LaniN, thank you for that post. Brings it all home.
Our young hawk paid us a visit yesterday evening. The other birds in the front were having fits, so we went out to see who was about. The feller was sitting on a low branch of a sugar maple along the drive, supreme in his knowledge that the other birds were just jealous. He let me get quite close, about three feet away, so I could look at how pretty his “grown-up” feathers were getting. I told him he was becoming quite handsome. Then, I went back inside. He needs to be on his own, and not be friends with people. That was hard. He looked as if he wanted to chat. There is something decidedly dead in the front yard this morning, so I guess he left a present. Himself is ever so pleased, as you might imagine.
The committee meeting was cancelled because of the heat. AC broken in the chambers, so that was enough. Guess we will find out today when we are rescheduled.
I forgot! We got the final estimate for replacing the deck. Each and every one of them is more than we paid for our first house years and years ago. Granted, our first house was a horrible dump that we renovated, but still! Hope the insurance people are kind.
How appropriate! On the forum, we are remembering a mudpup who shared his shortened time on earth with us, as we shared our lives with him. Justafarmer posted this at the end of the last blog post, but it deserves repeating here:
“justafarmer says:
July 19, 2011 at 8:49 PM I’ve set up a candle page for Micheal Steffy at
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=MS ”
Those who think the internet world is anonymous and cold just don’t know what is possible.
Lani thank you for bringing this forward to this thread. i have lit my candle for Michael and now i want to say a few words about this lovely human being who touched the hearts of all who responded to his plea for a few cards from Mudflatters as he had nothing to look at in his bare and sterile room in ICU at the Veteran’s Hospital in San Diego.
Snoskred instructed the moderators to handle his request as we saw fit. the moderators found that this pup had joined Mudflats in 2008. we spoke to the charge nurse who verified that Michael would indeed be able to receive gifts and cards from outside. we were leery about sending anything harmful. we were told he could have no flowers or plants and so our odyssey began.
the first thing we would need to do was to contract a pup living near San Diego and senior moderator Alex found the perfect Mudpup named Seagull Junker Palin who immediately went into action.
Seagull become our eyes and ears and a comfort to Michael. she began to visit Michael nearly every day. she told us what a wonderful person he was and how his eyes would light up when she walked into his room.
Zyxomma’s card got there first and his nurse put it up so he could see it. soon more cards came and posters too. also candy and Pringles which he adored.
Seagull would bring him mustard and Ketchup packets so he could liven up the hospital food (poor baby).
moderator Forty Watt and dear hubby had business in San Diego and because Michaels’ birthday
was near we decided to make a Mudstock/Birthday party.
moderator Boodog sent a party box and Forty Watt took a marvelous, delicious looking chocolate cake. we asked Michael to download Skype and the day before the ‘Birthday’ he and i practiced Skype calling. when Michael saw me for the first time he smiled and threw me a kiss because suddenly his whole world opened up. now he could talk and SEE us and his family who were far away. it was a sweet moment.
the day of the ‘birthday’ dawned and Michael was on pins and needles. he was so afraid that he would not be at his best. he had, like all of us, some ‘good’ days and some ‘bad’ but no worries he was in good shape when when Alex and Forty and Dear Hubby walked in.
My friend Suzy from downstairs was visiting me when Michael Skyped called me. i had purchased a slice of German chocolate cake in which i had put a candle. we sang Happy Birthday. i blew out the candle and we ate our cake. Michael grinning all the while.
Michael Steffy was a Marine. he had served his country and now he was dying of a lung disease.
there was no way Mudflats would not respond. we would be there for him until he received his lung transplant or until the end.
the end came. i will not cry. i won’t because Michael told me not to.
to all you Pups who stood up for my beloved marine i thank you from bottom of my heart.
Way out West, Shadows Heart, Slip, Scout. there are too many to to count but you all know who you
are and whatever you did, whatever you sent Michael loved it appreciated your thoughtfulness.
i told Michael that i believe in miracles and the miracle happened.
when Michael took his last breath he was surrounded by tokens of our esteem. he had friends who he would never meet and a virtual family he would never be able to hold in his arms but that didn’t matter. what truly matters in this life is to know you are loved.
Michael came into my life i believe to teach me something about death and about life. he was a good teacher.
go rest now Michael and thank you. thank you for your service. thank you for being you.
https://themudflats.net/forum/index.php?topic=11323.0
for those who would like to see a bit of our journey with Michael please see the forum link.
Thank you so much Bubbles, for sharing Michael’s story.
Like many others here at the Mudflats, I do not participate on the forum and so did not know about Michael. I’m glad that there were so many forum Mudpups who helped to make Michael’s last days so special and who gave of their time and their hearts to keep him surrounded by love.
I’m sure there were a number of reasons that AKM started this blog, but I sincerely doubt that she could ever have imagined how the community that has been created here would touch so many lives in such profound ways.
Thanks to all the Mudpups who were part of Michael’s life and comforted him to the end. And thank you to AKM and all of the people who make this blog a place where generous hearts and curious minds gather to share.
You, bubs, seagull, z, jinw, boo… all y’all ~ you ~
you did “turn the world around” for USMC Michael mudpup
snip “When (Muppets creator) Jim Henson died, much too young, he left specific instructions that no one was to wear black at his funeral. Each person (in attendance) was given a brightly colored foam butterfly (on a wire – how cool is that?!), which they waved as Harry Belafonte sang this song in tribute to the man who really did turn the world around in his own special way.” snip… by Nicole Belle (my comments ~ parenthetical ;))
Jim Henson Memorial ‘Turn The World Around’ Sung by Harry Belafonte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Em3vVwsm0
hugs, fellow mortal muggles
Fly with the angels, Michael.
Bubble I posted a link of your tribute to his Facebook page hope you don’t mind
bubbles, thank you for writing that, a sort of eulogy for us. It brought tears yet again. I am glad Micheal reached out and the mudpups grabbed ahold, making his last few months just a bit brighter, and less lonely. And it was rewarding to us, too; not the least for me was putting my own life and problems into better perspective.
I’ve been feeling a little space of emptiness in Micheal’s thread, still expecting a new post from him, a new photo of his kids, or a funny story. Or just updates on his condition. I think it’s just now hitting me. But I couldn’t be prouder of the people that poured out love and companionship to someone they had never even met.
Bubbles, dear, sweet, wonderful Bubbles, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to write and share this wonderful story. To all the Mudflatters who counted Michael AA your friend, please accept my condolences for your loss. Michael, you served your country well and for that, we thank you. May you rest in peace.
Bubbles.
You said everything so well. What many of us are feeling. So did Forty Watt and Jaime on the forum. Together it just seems to complete the feelings of what Micheal brought to our lives. It feels like we didn’t have enough time with him and that the hole that has been left by his passing is larger than can be filled easily. The time we did have during these last months, was filled with sunlit and hope, because Micheal’s spirit was stronger than his body ever could be and he never let what he was going through dent his determination to live his life as full as he could. That is where we came in. A connection to the outside world, discussion of anything and everything whether it be deep or trivial. It was the connection that mattered, not the topic.
He will be remembered that is what is important and he Will be missed.
Thank you bubbles. You know how I feel about you and Micheal and all the wonderful Mudpups. You remind us it is the wonderful memories that bring tears. There is no need to cry for a soul set free. And in our coming together is the hope for the future.
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that. Robert Burns
p.s. that was THE BEST chocolate cake ever. 😀
Thank you. I don’t participate much on the Forum: life and all that. However, this story. Whoof. This story is just such a beautiful thing.
Thank you. Each and every one of you who shared his journey. Thank you. I can not tell you how much peace I have been given by those who come to visit my mother, who talk with her, who do not tell her that they have discussed the same thing 6 times in the last 30 minutes.
Michael, may your spirit fly free and be uplifted by the love of your friends here. Peace to all.
Thank you for that, Bubs.
Last time I talked with Micheal on Skype he hated to leave, but his mom had just flown in and most of his family was walking into his hospital room. But he still spent a few minutes with me and was just so happy.
That’s the memory I will keep in my heart.