Articles for the Month of October 2013

Reality is tenuous

Hey there… This is something I have not done here before… but something I have often done… I just thought it may be fun… I took the prompt and poof! A short story is born. (and yes… I know… I love my ellipses)

“When the sun sets on All Hallow’s Eve, blanketing the landscape in darkness, it is said the line between the living and the dead, the fantasy and the reality is tenuous.”

(A Halloween Prompt from Write at the Merge)

At Last! Darkness gasps as if for air as the last trace of light is diminished… Her vision is clouded by this dusky twilight time… but she is awake… and hungry… she creeps out to stretch her shadows that have been cramped into the darkest of corners and behind drawn blinds for what seems like an eternity… devouring the color from the landscape… until that need is satiated… and everything is now the color of midnight… This is the night!

They enter the scene as if in surround sound… The snap of a branch … the rustle of leaves… the whispers so hushed that you cannot make out their message… a giggle escapes the small ones … a guttural groan from the old ones… and they join with Darkness like long lost lovers… siblings reunited… a child nestled in its mothers arms. This is the night!

Movement so fast it causes wind so much joy that it howls … and much like a toddler with energy exploding from what seems uncontrolled limbs… shudders are slammed shut like a knocking of unwanted visitors … trees sway in rhythm their bone like branches screeching windows within their reach. This is the night!

Darkness trusts few, but she beckons to Mischief and Mayhem  and they chase from the streets the beings of light… this is not their time… not the place… this time belongs to darkness… and she hopes that on this most powerful night she will finally be able to keep from being chased back into the shadows… to keep light tucked away… trapped in bulbs.. and flames… peeking out from under doors… and through the windows.

You fear the unknown… but the unknown is but a child of darkness… it does not want to play with chaos and murder… but chaos and murder seem to be the only ones willing… and so it goes.

Stay inside… check your children… lock your doors they whisper to the superstitious minds with glee… what fun this is… to laugh and play…

And just like that. And all too soon Light gasps as if for breath as it makes its way over the distant horizon. It brings with it an army of colors that wash over the scene. Not this time darkness. Not this year. Perhaps the next All Hallows Eve will bring your freedom.

twilight

 

For better or for Worse… I am

mama kats

Hi, my name is ______ and I am a _______.

Hi… My name is Kerry… and I am a Human Being.

… I wanted to put so many other things in that spot… I ran through every positive thing about myself I could put in there… and mentally these were quickly replaced with every vice I have put into name calling form as well… I am my own best friend… and my own worst enemy all wrapped up in one… I motivate myself and set goals… I am a driven individual… I also tear myself down… tell myself I am not capable of reaching dreams… I am a Self Sabotager… I am a friend… I thought of my closest friends and how much they mean to me… and how much I love them… and want to be there for them… and I am an unreliable friend… who oftens stands people up… overbooks herself… and is guilty of only calling when I need help… I am a wife… I am a nag… I am a confidant… I am an instigator… for better or for worse… I will judge you… and I will tell you… I guess that is just part of the package deal…. I am the only person I know that can beat herself up for beating herself up… I am a Mom…  the good and the bad… and I love fiercely! I am a self harmer…. albeit in remission… also an addict… also not in practice… I am a woman… but my boobs are not that great… just say’n

I am a human being… for better or worse… and I will forgive myself a thousand mistakes a day… and borrow from the next if I am having a really rough go at it.

 

Mom

 

This is Halloween!

mama kats

If you have been reading this blog long… or even once… it will not surprise you to discover that my mind …. albeit unique… it kind of warped… It is a beautiful thing. One symptom of said mind is what I like to refer to as a Swiss Cheese Memory… I call it this because it has so many holes. I was reading through the writers prompts this week and finding myself a little discouraged… it is Halloween Time! The prompt I wanted so badly to write about is “Who had the good candy? Share what Halloween was like for you as a child.” For two days I have looked at the prompt… waiting for inspiration to strike… as I do every week… and slowly I have come to realize something I never noticed before.
I do not remember a single Halloween in my childhood. At first this upset me… like I was missing something fantastic… or burying some deep dark secret… but truth be told… like most of my childhood… it probably was just not very memorable. I have snippets of thoughts around those holidays … I remember sitting on a cold stone entry way carving pumpkins… vaguely… also a bumblebee costume… although if it were worn by myself or a sibling I couldnt tell you… and then I remember 3 homes I visited (Most likely every year) and TADA! I have a post!

The Evans Home – the mother always dressed as a witch! full on green faced… pointy nosed and hatted… making her witches brew in her front yard… with what I recognize now as an adult to be dry ice and hot chocolate.

The Rasmussen Home – this mother would answer the door… sweet as could be… in her pretty witch costume… give us our candy and as we would scamper from their porch she would release a cackle that would make my hair stand on end as I attempted to jump out of my skin.

Last but not least… the gorilla… through our neighborhood ran a grown man dressed in a gorilla suit terrifying the older kids trick or treating… I don’t know how I know it was our neighborhood pediatrician… but I remember it is… and I loved the man. Dearly.

This post leaves a sour taste in my mouth … simply for the lack of anything better to post… So this is where being me rocks… it does really… and let me tell you about the my smalls Halloweens… which I remember vividly… and hope they do as well.

Costumes Galore… Pumpkin Carving… Roasted Seeds… a blend of home made and store bought costumes… Halloween parties thrown for Tall child… trick or treating for small… We have trick or treated with the same family for as long as I can remember… and in the neighborhood is the house decorated to the extreme… with scary clowns… and some guy in an electric chair… The house that one year… I kid you not… grilled pancakes in their driveway and passed them out nice and warm… and they were loved… and bizarre. The house with homemade root-beer at the end of their homemade spook alley made of refrigerator boxes and lights.

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Now that is Halloween!!

Quickies Rock…. Am I Right?

Soooo I know I have been a little bit quiet here lately… Things are hectic… we got ready to go to Disneyland two weeks ago… then we went to Disneyland… Now we are recovering from Disneyland.

Obviously I have nothing to complain about… I mean… Hello… Disneyland… I am just explaining my lack of Blogginess….

We are alive and well… and back in action!

Stay Tuned!

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Kung Fu Piano and Cello Magic

And breathe…. really… listen to this twice… once with your eyes closed to enjoy the music … and once again to watch the stunning video….