Sandcastles - a poem

Sandcastles

by Susan Paczek

This morning all of us went to the beach 

To build a sandcastle or two or three each 

Some of us just built a simple one 

To leave more time to bask in the sun 

Others worked all day at such a frantic pace
They had no chance to enjoy their finished space 

Someone made others build a fortress with a moat
That was guarded by soldiers in a power boat 

Two young lovers built themselves a sand nest 

Adorned with stones and shells they liked the best 

Another couple argued endlessly
About where each window and door would be

One free spirit ignored advice and critique
And built a tower so stunning and unique

Someone could not seem to get even one built 

But kicked over others without any guilt 

Another managed to steal a couple’s sand 

To ruin the dream house that they had planned 

A few people worked together with skills to share 

And built the most beautiful castles seen anywhere 

We built and played until the end of the day 

When high tide came and washed everything away

Lucy and the Snake - a poem

Lucy And The Snake 

by Susan Paczek

 

There was a girl named Lucy 

She had never seen a snake 

So she pitied one who said he

Found that friends were hard to make

“I don’t know why no one likes me” 

He sniffed, lying there in a coil 

Lucy said “People can be silly” 

As she lifted him from the soil 

She draped him over her shoulders 

Though she was wearing a boa 

People greeted them with cold stares 

And whispered “Look! A snake, ooh ah!”

Her friends said “What are you doing!?” 

“Snakes are bad news, you'll get bitten”
She said “But I find his rattle soothing.
Just look in his eyes, you'll be smitten”

Lucy and the snake hung out a lot 

Til one day on a café’s deck 

The snake was startled by a gunshot 

And pumped venom into Lucy’s neck

The snake looked on coldly as Lucy went gray 
Thinking, "I am what I am, I cannot help it" 
And said to the crowd as he slithered away 
 “If you play with snakes expect to get bit”

This Week's Favourite Things! April 14th - April 20th, 2014

 1.  "Tropic to Tropic Plants" located in a backyard in South Delta BC. I was in BC visiting family and was lucky to stumble across this place, which is owned by a fellow who has been interested in tropical plants since he was a teenager.  Here I picked up my next 2 favourite things of the week:

2. Mulberry trees.  Ray, owner of the above mentioned business only gets about 100 of these trees every four years from a supplier in the states, I scooped up the shortest four to package up to take home with me.  He ships them across Canada.  So excited! I've only ever tried dried white mulberries from Bulk Barn but they were very tasty.

3. Pawpaw trees. I had no idea PawPaws could grow in Canada but apparently they can. In fact I only ever read about them once as a kid in a Louis L'amour western novel that my dad had.  Now I have 5 small trees of four different varieties, very excited to start a small pawpaw plantation as they sound really delicious though we'll likely have to figure out how to pollinate them by hand.

4. The four cherry trees we planted last year.  The deer have left them alone so far, they have lots of buds and are growing... pretty excited this bodes well for the other trees that will be joining them in the field.

5. Storenvy.com  I found out about this website via Laura Carter Art on Twitter (@LauraCarterArt).  It appears to be a completely free way to build an online store.  So this is my new project; my blog now has an "Art for Sale" page but there are still tonnes of pieces to photograph and upload.  It's gardening time so this might take me awhile but I'm excited about giving online art sales a try.

This Week's Favourite Things! April 7 - April 13, 2014

1.  "Rewilding Vancouver" on now through Sept 1 at the Vancouver Museum.

2. "Feeding Frenzy - land grabs, price spikes and the world food crisis" great book by Paul McMahon

3. Galiano Island Books - awesome store!

4. The paintings of awesome Galiano Island painter Rachael Peters

The Little Howler Monkey Who Ran For President - a poem

The Little Howler Monkey Who Ran For President

by Susan Paczek 

In the forest over there

Swinging merrily from a tree
Always smiling, always laughing
Was a little howler monkey

The humans in her forest
Weren’t doing very well
Some thought if she’d be president
That would be rather swell

“Be your president?” she laughed
“Well I guess I could
I suppose I have a platform
That could be rather good”

So the Monkey Party was formed
A campaign manager was found
Her platform was written down
And swiftly passed around

At the rallies she said “Listen up!” 
“And take heed of my advice
My Monkey Party has ideas
Which you might find very nice

I think we all should take more naps
And work at jobs much less
Everyone would have less stuff
But would also have less stress

Let’s all spend more time outdoors
And more time playing in fresh air
Grateful for nature’s beauty
That surrounds us everywhere

We’ll care more for friends and family
And be conscious of our actions
While clearing mindless consumption
Addictions and distractions

We’ll be more efficient with our time
And stop wasting our resources
Until we’ve healed all the land
And repaired our water courses

Let’s all eat more things from plants
Like leaves and berries and roots
And seeds and nuts and tubers
Pods, flowers, shoots and fruits

Any animals that help
Feed our community
Will be treated with kindness
Instead of cruelty

We’ll eat when we are hungry
And when we’re not we’ll fast
Spoiled stockpiles, needless shortages
Will be a thing of the past

We will need less hospitals
Because our health will be so good
As we make sure we’re all relaxed
And eating nutritious food

We’ll realize we’re all connected
No one is better than anyone else
Anything I do to you
I am doing to myself

We’ll cross the palace walls
Built around each miser’s soul
Knowing that at the centre of excess
Could be a heart that has a hole

We’ll show respect and love
To the sickest and deluded
Until everyone in the forest
Knows that they’re included

More people will use their talents
Or seek higher education
All will be able to chase their dreams
Whatever their situation

We’ll recognize that money is just paper
And see it as a useful tool
It will no longer be a weapon
A few tricksters can use to fool

Bankers and investors will stop
Pricing things arbitrarily
So we’ll curb excessive payments
On everything that should be free

With less value put on things
There’ll be less to hoard and store
So we can get rid of our military
As we get rid of war

As all of these changes
Affect everyone in the land
We’ll have more time for sports and leisure
And for making things by hand

We’ll all sing songs of love
To drown out messages of fear
We’ll tune into The Positive Channel
Until it is all we want to hear” 

The little howler monkey
Won her race by a landslide
Her first act as president
Was to invite everyone outside

Her followers all climbed up
Into one enormous tree
Where they laughed and ate leaves
Into the evening, happily

Then they slept a solid sleep
Through the dark still night
And when the morning came
Nobody wanted to fight

So to celebrate
That the darkness was done
Everybody formed a chorus
And howled loudly at the sun

The Young Mackerel - a poem

The Young Mackerel

by Susan Paczek

Once upon a time
There was a young mackerel
Brought up in a school
That swam together very well

Fast as jets, the school
Would swim around their bay
Without a fish out of place
Every single day

One day this young fish
Who had ventured off alone
Saw a fleet of fishing boats
Approach his ocean home

He told an older fish
That danger was drawing near
But this leader of the school
Did not want to hear

"Son", the leader said
"I've swam this bay for so long
How dare you imply
That our planned course could be wrong

Whatever you think you saw
There must be another reason
Because I know without a doubt
It is NOT fishing season

So today we'll swim around the bay
As we have always done
Now quit your foolish talk
And get in line with everyone"

Conflicted, the young fish
Chose to obey his inner voice
And hid in a cave knowing
Elders would not approve his choice

Later he felt relieved but sad
To win his bittersweet bet
As he watched his entire school
Swim into a fishing net

This Week's Favourite Things! March 31st to April 6th, 2014

Well I'm a couple days late posting this but here are my favourite things from last week:

1. Anything and everything from Chocolate Love.  If you're looking for raw, vegan chocolate check these folks out for wholesale ingredients: cacoa powder, paste, nibs and more, available via their online store.

2. The Big Short by Michael Lewis.  I'm not done reading this yet but so far its a bit shocking to read about how Wall Street works and how the financial crisis was orchestrated.  It's a really good, albeit scary read

3.  For a good read on the opposite spectrum of human potential, I'm just about done "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay.  It's really nice book about the connection between our internal and external worlds, and probably exactly what I needed to be reading this week!

4. Halikids.  This is a kid's toy shop in downtown Halifax, NS. I recently bought a gift here and have since been blown away at how excellent the customer service was; plus I was pleasantly surprised that they had a nice assortment of locally made gift ideas for babies.  The guy minding the shop was super keen and helpful and even carefully gift-wrapped my purchase in very stylish paper that the eco-friendly recipients will re-use for sure.