Walking the Dog

We delude ourselves if we think dogs want to go anywhere ; we are the only animals that have an insatiable desire to see new places.

The desire is so strong in some they unwittingly engineer their own deaths and are held in awe for so doing.

My dog finds endless interest in where he happens to be and its not always easy to get him to move on. The ground , the trees , the grass and the fences ,to him , are as good as a book to me.

I’m forced to stand around but he is happy , nose to the ground. Some maintain it is their acute sense of smell, while we are egged on by our eyesight , but the migrant farsighted bird travels huge distances not to view the scenery, but to find a better place , because circumstances have changed.

Among the whole kingdom of the living man is the restless one , the seeker, the traveller and now he has set his sights on Mars.

Half-Truths

They are extremely useful : ‘ where have you been? ‘Oh just around , not far. ‘ Did you speak to John about his bike ? No he was too busy.

I saw him fighting so I knew he was a violent character, but his dress gave it away as well.

Most of us use them to avoid telling the whole truth ; to get ourselves off the hook or even to convince others that our opinions are correct.

Donald Trump has just released a perfect half- truth by comparing London to New York regarding violent crime and murder. The two cities are comparable and both have a history of violence as pointed out in a careful analysis by the BBC.

Mr Trump implies that although London has very strict gun laws violence and killing are still going on there with knives , and that proves that strict gun laws are no defence against violent death.

Are pupils being shot in their colleges? Are churches and clubs being invaded by gunmen shooting at random?

The media are guilty in the extreme of using true facts to support false conclusions, knowing full well that many will believe their conclusions.

Algebra , science and languages are fine subjects for our young students but will they alone help them to sort out the world which has so many voices shouting information at us day and night.

I detect already an unwillingness by students to listen to those with certain opinions , opting for confrontation rather than debate, the politics of the mob and the lynching party.

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Knick-Knack

As Ken entered his mother’s house an overwhelming sadness seemed to envelope him; everything was as she left it yet she was gone.

How could it be ?The enormity of it hit him and he wished Vera was with him, although he had told her not to come.

He wanted to look round himself before they had to empty mum’s belongings. He went to her bedroom and pulled open the dressing table draw, it was full of bits and pieces , but a small white box caught his eye.

On the top in a childish hand was written ; to Mum love Kenny xxx. He felt totally gutted , tears welled up in his eyes , it was the cheap necklace he had brought with his pocket money when he was ten years old. It was worthless yet his mum had kept it thirty years because she loved him and now she was gone. He picked it up and put it in his pocket and then he had a vision of the future.

He imagined his Vera in thirty years and his own son just as he is now contemplating her death. What a cruel thing time is stripping us of all those we love and finally taking us off into the everlasting. Then he saw the otherside of the coin; after all time brought us many joys , new birth , new experiences , new friends and the joy of living.

Then he knew the only thing he wanted to keep of his mothers , was the cheap necklace, it would remind him that value is not what a thing is worth but what it means.

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Three men sat engrossed in a game of dominoes in a saloon bar and from time to time they chatted and supped their beer.

One was in his twenties, single and quite handsome. Another was a debonair easy going type in his first decade of wedlock.

The last was greying , portly and middle aged, well past his prime.

‘ I’ve just about had my fill of women,’ said the youngest, ‘give me a good beer and a smoke any day.’

‘ If you’ve got any sense stay single ,’ said debonair with a shrug of his shoulders.

‘ The only thing they are good at is nagging,’ said the older man, and he gave a wry smile as he laid his dominoe.

The conversation continued , each sighting the fair sex and extolling the virtues of misogyny.

Then in walked an attractive blonde, stunningly dressed she glided to the bar on her high heels.

The players were silent they stared at this goddess, and all they had said was totally erased in that mutual admiring glance.

The Falling Leaf

It was a mild autumn day and Rob sat on an old fallen log to ruminate. The tree branches were beautiful golden tresses in the setting sun. Rob watched as a solitary beech leaf floated down, doing a random dance as it made for its final resting place among its fellows. The floor of the wood was covered and he was reminded of the world of men, who like the leaves, live in the green sap of sunlight and very soon lie in the brown earth their worldly time spent.

Perhaps thought Rob, I could learn something from a leaf which goes to rest serenely, making no fuss, joining the dead hordes gone before. The leaf lives with small ambition, content to drink from the great trunk,happy to be held up to the sun and rain; the leaf fulfills its destiny and by so doing adds its contribution to the universe.

The Skin of Our Teeth

This was the third meeting of the Galatic Liason Committee on the mountains of the moon. 

” This race is very dangerous I think we have no alternative but annihilation ” , said Farloss.

“We need to give them more time , after all they are largely confined to their own planet”, said Jardens as he stared at the committee of eight.

” That is true , but as you know most up and coming civilisations have put aside their differences long before the industrial age is upon them”, answered Farloss.

“The whole planet is in turmoil and many of its creatures are suffering , just see how insensitive they are to each other’s well-being, we cannot let it continue” , said Nantor.

” That is true but this race may, have something special to offer the Galatic Federation just think how quickly they have advanced, and I believe this is due to the conflict”, said Jardens.

After much heated debate the president rose to his feet, ” well friends you have heard the evidence, weigh it carefully, remember if we go for annihilation it will take millions of years for recovery”.

The committee was equally split and the president cast his vote in favour of one more visitation. So the earth and all its teeming millions escaped until the next scrutiny.

Pandora’s  Box

Mars had been declared lifeless. Now it was time for real humans to set foot on the red planet.The world watched as the first men walked on the dusty surface in triumph; superlatives filled the media and at NASA great cheers resounded. 

The next day both men were dead. They lay waxen like old Egyptian Mummies , their skin stretched and  pock-marked   heads almost skeleton- like. It looked as if both men had died in their sleep from a cause unknown. The situation was dire, as the whole trip was designed around manpower.

The  next day their bodies began to dissolve and all organic materials in the ship began to break up and turn to dust. The watching world was filled with horror. The eccentric scientist Coburne Cox declared it was a virus that had laid dormant for millions of years and we in our exuberant foolishness had fed the beast.

Other more religious groups spoke of the wrath of God on the human race that had gotten too clever for its own good.