Magic...

My dearest Auntie, who is more like a mother to me, bought me "Where the Sidewalk Ends" By Shel Silverstein when I was a young girl.  It's a children's book of poems and I memorized nearly all the poems, giggling all the way.  I held on to that book forever, but somewhere along the way between high school and marriage, I lost it.  I was recently in the book store looking for Halloween books for my son and found it there on the shelf.  As soon as I opened that book and slid my hand down the page, there I was, laying on my bed, with my feet criss crossed in the air reading this book at the age of nine.  I recalled all the pictures and most of the poems.  I have never felt so much like a kid again as I did in that very moment.  I bought it immediately and read the entire book as fast as I could.  It's kind of odd to think that the last time I read that book was when I was such a child, without a care in the world.  Nothing but homework to worry about...ahhh...those were the days.  It's funny how something like that can instantly rush you back to a time that you had all but forgotten, like a song or a smell can.  So here is one of the many I'd like to share:
Magic by Shel Silverstein
Sandra's seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins' gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known
I've had to make myself.

A look inside......

I always wanted to be a writer, more so, a song writer.  I'm not musically talented in anyway shape or form but I know good lyrics when I hear them.  I always said that if I were to write a book or a song it would be called "Heart Shaped Rock".  Since it's not likely that I will be writing a book or a song in the immediate future, it is the name of my blog (the closest I'll ever get to actually writing anything!).  As a child, I grew up in the country, always at a creek, somewhere.  Now, I'm sure I will get into the stories of my mother in the future....so let's just say for time sake that we don't have the best relationship, and leave it at that for tonight....but one thing that I do love about her is her ability to love any unique, quirky thing....little things that most look over.  She instilled that quality in me, as I tend to always fall in love with the broken, charming little things of the earth.  I remember seeing her look in the creek beds for specially shaped rocks, and seeing her excitement when she found a rock shaped as a heart.  I recognized that I picked up this habit years back and appreciate the lovely little rocks that were shaped by water and time.  The clover part of this equation is from the part of my heart that is my Granny.  I have always collected four leaf clovers, I have photo albums full of them.  I always thought that this was just something that I did but when my Granny's mind was slowly slipping away and we were seperating her belongings between the family, I was given a Bible (she had like 12!).  I could see that there were several "things"  stuffed inside and was more than excited to open it up and see what items she had deemed worthly.  There were many things, but to my surprise there were four leaf clovers placed between the pages.  By the look of these clovers, they were certainly older than I was.  I wondered where she was right at the moment she found them....how much younger was she?....still full of life.....enjoying the warm summer days.....if only there were a way to go back and see her right at very moment she found that special little creation that she valued so much to keep tucked away safely in her Bible for me to find years later.  So if you could see inside my heart shaped rock, you'd see it's full of many little quirky things including four leaf clovers.