Tag: spread the smiles

A Loyal Defender – A Riddle

~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 6 Comments
Picture courtesy of Google.com

We are not unique, but still we’re a sight

We are beautiful and widely spread

Some like us well, some call us pests

We’re loud, with gray clothes and a black head.

**

We have to stick together, to keep us safe

We’re defensive, rude, and possessive too.

There are predators all over us

Old ones, known ones and a few new ones too.

**

We’re in danger, every time, every day

Coyotes, bears, foxes, dogs, they all can kill

Birds of prey, crows, badgers are danger

But we’re defensive, and holding on, still.

**

We are monogamous, which simply means for you

We mate for life, once we found our match.

We stay together all our life,

Convinced we’ll never find a better catch.

**

We share our life and do things together

From traveling to building nests

We’re carrying all our burdens as a couple

Including eggs, fleas and other pests.

**

Our babies can be numerous,

They have been counted, up to sometimes nine.

But an average of five, is considered normal

And to us, that’s good, and we’ll be fine.

**

We travel in unexpected heights, you can guess?

Normal is up in the air, at 3200 feet.

We fly in formation, forming a letter

And the V isn’t for victory, or mainly to greet.

**

We can be found all over Eurasia, the Americas

And further North, as our name should tell.

We can find our way through thousands of miles

Through sunshine, heaven, and sometimes Hell.

**

It is horrible that we are not only prey for mammals

We’re also demanded for human food.

No matter what, humans are dangerous

And they don’t contribute to our good mood.

**

They have been known to threaten us and our loved ones

They clear out our nests, kick us and shy us away

They have been known to run us over on purpose

Hoping we’d end up on their serving tray.

**

By now you should have found out who we are

Despite calling us pests, for our droppings and fleas

Still, you love to see our nests and the babies

And yes… we are called: Canada Geese.

*****

(Copyright, Aurora Jean Alexander, April 2023)

Canada Goose – Picture courtesy of Google.com

Church Bulletin Bloopers – Reblogged

~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 10 Comments

(This post was originally re-blogged on ‘Writer’s Treasure Chest’ 7/20/2015 – from ‘Nutsrok‘. The blog still exists, but hasn’t been publishing new posts since October 2020)

Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

1. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

2. Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: “The cost for attending the Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

3. The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.”
The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”

4. Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall – Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

5. Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.

6. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

7. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “Hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.

8. Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.

9. Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

10. For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

11. Next Thursday there will be try outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

12. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.

13. The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: ” Break Forth Into Joy.”

14. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

15. A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

16. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What Is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.

17. Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

18. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

19. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

20. Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

21. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

22. Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.

23. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind.
They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

24. This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

25. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

26. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

27. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

28. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

29. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

30. The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday:

“I Upped My Pledge ! – Up Yours!”

Picture courtesy of Google.com (and I love it, because it’s so bubbly, bright and friendly!)

Dear Miss Alexander…

~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 6 Comments

You know, there are days, when I answer questions… there are so many of them, in very different aspects of life. But most of them are about relationships. Of course, I’m not a magazine, or newspaper, nor do I have a public advice column, that’s why these things are kept in the dark.

But there are moments things want to come to the light.. Like in one case…

Dear Miss A. J. Alexander

Lately, I had to read in my wife’s diary that she suspects I secretly read her diary. I consider that an enormous betrayal of confidence, since we swore to always discuss disagreements in the open. How should I react to that now? Is my wife still trustworthy?

Dear Mr. O. from Frankfort, KY

… or may I call you Mort? Apparently, you can read. In some cases, we are supposed to be satisfied with very little…

Some men can often not even imagine women write diaries. Why? Because men don’t write journals and women usually hide theirs at places men cannot even imagine exist, like in the cleaning supply closet.

I know one woman whose husband didn’t merely read her diary. He revised it! He was a teacher. So, at night, she found her entry from the day before, and underneath there was a Micky Mouse sticker and a grade. And on the side, he had added supplementary notes, like ‘factual incorrect, it’s 9 ½ inches’ – or ‘add a more detailed description, what exactly means ‘the hot waiter’? or ‘shrink testicles doesn’t have a capital T.’

Dear Mort

Why don’t you write into your wife’s diary that you wonder what gave her the idea you might read her diary? – And then go and pack your stuff…

Picture courtesy of The New York Times.com