~* Friends *~

We start out alone
Gazing down an invisible path
Meeting and greeting
Those we see on our way.

Some walk with us.
Some for only a short way.
Some walk the path
Always with us.

The path meanders
In and out of light and dark
Turning into tears
Shared with one that is by our side.

A left turn into a leap of laughter
And we are the Cheshire cat
With a smile so big it almost hurts.

Sometimes we skip in happy joy
With all that journey with us.
Sometimes we walk with solemn grace
With only one.

Friends can be honey
That sweeten our souls
Or water that quenches our thirst
On the twists and turns of our path.

We are treasure hunters
Finding treasures that
No one else would see
But us together.

Rarely, if we are lucky, we find a muse
Planting ideas
And nurturing them to grow
Into a garden of idea flowers.

Our thoughts, bubble and boil
Until something amazing is born.
Something never known before
Built by the blending of Us.

Friends are the gifts
The universe gives us
As our path winds in and out.
And the misty fog becomes the
Light at the end
That calls us home again.
~**~

~* Dreams *~

My dreams shimmer in the fog of the night,
Slipping in and out
Like the mist in the trees outside my window.

Some are dark and shapeless as my worst fears.
Slithering through the darkest recesses of me,
Lurking like a serpent with me as its prey.

Some are beautiful like the brightest butterflies of hope.
They swirl into a glorious mating of ideas
And disappear as quickly as they came.

They slide away down the slippery slope of memories
That I ride on a sled of imagination
Until I crash into other drifts of thought.

Wispy tendrils of thoughts
Swirl in the fog of my mind
Like soft shimmery ribbons of silk blowing in the breeze.

Thoughts burst in and fade out of my mind
Like bright sparkles of light on the fourth of July.
Leaving a residue of color
Merging and melding with sparkling wishes.

I drift on clouds of hope.
Memories fall like the lightest of rain
Splashing onto my outstretched hand.

I try so very hard to catch and hold them
But they slip through my fingers
To mingle with the ones that came before.

I feel the soft warm touch of the sun
Peeking in my window
Leading me from the land of dreams.

I embrace the ones I remember
And sigh softly for the ones that
Have slipped into the fog of my memories.

*~* Making Lemonade *~*

Once upon a time in a land of misty forests lived a Princess. She lived in a tiny cottage perched precariously on the edge of a steep mountain. She woke up each morning with the yellow rays of the sun streaming in her window filling her world with bright joy. Even on the days when the mist covered the valley and the tippy top of the trees that usually danced in the breeze were hiding in the clouds that crept right up to her door, she was happy. On those days she felt like an angel living in the clouds and she floated in the bliss of the day.

This day as her eyes slowly opened and she yawned and stretched and slid from her bed, she remembered that it was a special day. Her best friends had made the long and perilous journey from the ocean's edge, through monstrous green scaly creatures, over dangerous roads, all to help her in a quest: the search for the perfect Christmas tree.

They started out early driving on the very edge of the mountain, up, up, up, searching. She had to close her eyes tightly and tried very hard not to scream as they came so very close to going over the edge on the twisty turny road. The others laughed at her when a tiny moan sometimes escaped from somewhere deep in her soul. She knew she must be brave. A quest was never easy if it was worth doing.

Finally they arrived at the long awaited destination and when they got out into the brightness of the beautiful Autumn day everyone gasped! No one even saw the beautiful trees. No one looked at the bluest of blue skies or the puffy white clouds floating by. No one noticed the smell of pine in the air, that perfect smell that reminds you of Christmas. All anyone saw was ... her hair! The sunshine illuminated what the wicked witch of colors had done. Her beautiful blonde hair was enchanted into flaming mass of a color that could only, even kindly, be described as day-glow orange. It shimmered and sparkled. It seemed to have a strange radioactive glow to it.

Some days life gives you a gift of a lemon, just to see what you will do with it. Will you pucker up with a sour look on your face or might you find something magical out of this gift? That day was a day to remember. The bright light from her hair filled everyone near with a tiny taste of sweet, sweet lemonade. Smiles and laughter filled the air. So if one day life gives you that lemon gift and things are not going just the way you want, do not despair. Life is filled with wondrous things. All you have to do is see them and help others see them too.

On that most amazing day filled with joy and with everyone's help the most perfect tree ever was found!