Tag Archives: Story

OMG! He Did It!

February 9, 2014 Tiny 33 Comments

Finally we are up for air, my writing partner and I. You see, last November right around NaNoWriMo time, Mister Bumble insisted that he wanted to write his story. He would call it “Confessions of a Rescue Dog”. He asked me to type it since I’m a bit faster than him. When I hesitated, he went to his archives and brought me a quote. That did it.

The quote was written on a simple piece of white paper and it read: “Rescue animals aren’t broken. They’ve simply experienced more life than other animals. If they were human, we would call them wise. They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write… animals dealt a bad hand, but who responded with courage. Don’t pity a shelter animal. Adopt one! And be proud to have their greatness by your side.” -Anonymous

I thought his story was worth telling. In fact, it’s quite heart-warming and uplifting. So he started narrating and I started typing. And typing. For the whole month of November. Then came December and we both got busy with other things. I re-engaged in some income generating activities and Bumble concentrated on his work, namely protecting our home from shady characters. We made a few efforts towards editing the manuscript late at nights, but achieved little.

The holidays came and went. The manuscript was covered by soft cushions in a corner of the sofa in my office. Until one day, when Bumble was digging there to make a bed for himself, it fell down on the floor. And I knew we had to finish the book.

We got to work. Reviewing, editing, reviewing again. Then one day great illustrations appeared in my inbox. My son had finalized the cover and several other images for the book. Now we just had to get to the finish line.

So finally our joint labor is bearing fruit. 175 pages of treats for pet lovers. Just before midnight yesterday, the book was submitted for publishing. Bumble did it! He wants to help other animals find loving forever homes so he committed us to donate a portion of the sales to the Humane Society’s shelter here at home. We have been there, seen all the dogs, cats, rabbits and birds waiting for a new home. It’s a large and well run no-kill shelter.

We’ll let you know when and where Bumble’s story will be available. When you read it, please remember not to take all his observations about me literally. While I think that he’s a fairly accurate analyst of human behavior, I have noticed that he tends to exaggerate a bit when I’m concerned.

Have a wonderful weekend ♥ Tiny and Bumble

Just Life

How to Clean Your Vitamins

January 30, 2014 Tiny 14 Comments

No, this is not a pep talk on what we should and should not eat to stay healthy until we approach our 100th birthday. There is enough expert advice to go around. And it changes every other day. Those of us who still want more on that front just need to read today’s news. There’s surely going to be something new we should rush to buy or something in our pantry we now need to throw away. So I’m not going there.

My thoughts took me in a completely different direction this morning. I was in my kitchen making breakfast when I happened to drop my vitamin capsule. The orange-colored one. It rolled on the kitchen floor and finally stopped next to the pantry. I picked it up and that’s when I remembered the young baboon. I met him on one of our trips into the wild many years ago.

We were going to visit Queen Elizabeth National park in Uganda. When approaching the park, we saw a mother baboon with her offspring sitting close to the road. We stopped to greet them.

Our son was quick to open the window and throw out a small wheat biscuit. It landed on the ground next to the young baboon. He and his mother observed it suspiciously for a long time. Touch…or not to touch? After careful consideration the youngster decided to take it. For closer examination.

He rolled the biscuit in his fingers and looked at it from all angles. He smelled it. Then he started cleaning it. He blew on it. He scratched it with his fingers. He cleaned it against his hairy arm. And then blew on it again. Repeat. This cleaning ceremony took at least five minutes. Then he halved the little biscuit and gave one half to his mother. They ate their biscuit halves slowly enjoying the taste of whole wheat.

Then the mother stood up and came to thank us. Or maybe it was to get one more nutritious treat? But that was not going to happen. We shouldn’t have fed them in the first place.

After this charming demonstration in cleanliness, I couldn’t be angry at our son. I just told him not to do it again. But I can never forget this young baboon’s efforts to ensure his food was eatable and clean. And I’m sure he hadn’t read the latest advice on food hygiene.

So I followed his instructions and cleaned my vitamin. Repeat.

Just Life

Silly Me

January 28, 2014 Tiny 20 Comments

I will tell you something funny. Sometimes when I’m stressed out and need a break to relax, I like to sit at my laptop and just “play” with my photos. You know, like paint on them, move stuff around, apply different filters and try to see if I can create something fun and quite different. I’m not into needle work or knitting, and digital art is less messy than oil painting so that’s how I often relax. There is no pressure to “succeed”. I don’t strive for perfect, brilliant or really for anything specific. I just play and see if something, anything, comes out of it.

So here is my “nature gallery” slide show. I pulled it together this afternoon when I needed a break from both my work and the final editing round of my soon-to-be-released novel. Some images are very abstract and others less so. I hope they’ll make you smile at my silly “needle work” 🙂

Two of the images are based on original photos by Baz the Landy . Please check out his many amazing photos from the outback.

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Just Life

A Summer Broadcast

August 24, 2013 Tiny 25 Comments

For weekend reading this Saturday, I thought I would share with you some “documentaries” of natural and human activities as seen from our terrace.

There is a lot going on in our East-North-West field of view at any given time. A visiting friend once told us “You don’t need any TV because you have a live broadcast going on for free”. That is of course an exaggeration.

This summer, which is the rainy season in Florida, we have witnessed majestic storms with dramatic skies on many occasions both on the bay and on the ocean side. Here is a small sampling (hover mouse over the pictures for text).

A few times we’ve experienced tropical storms, like Debby in 2012, which flooded the beach and the nearby nature reserve. We were able to scan the situation from the terrace. Keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll not see one this year.

Then, of course, there are plenty of sunny days in the summer as well. They are not as dramatic to document, but there is lots of activity going on, like sailing schools and racing boat competitions. Believe me, we can hear the roaring speed boats…

Occasionally we also spot pirates on the ocean. And now that I got the hand-me-down Canon from my hubby, I can get closer to them, still keeping at the safe distance on the terrace.

And on weekends and holidays, there is a lot of activity going on in the water and on the beach.

And at the neighboring watering hole. When it’s hot, lots of liquids are required.

And then the day turns to evening. The sun plays in beautiful hues and colors the bay and the city behind it.

And offers delicious light to complement the dinner on the cruise boats on the ocean side as well.

And finally the sun takes a deep dive into the ocean with a different “tune” each night, sometimes soft pastels and other times passionate reds. And anything in between.

At night, the lights of the city reflect on the water to the North and to the East. Occasional boat blinks on the ocean.

Unless there are fireworks on the beach around July 4th or for special occasions. The terrace provides for first row seating.

Right now, some clouds are gathering again. We’ll see what kind of excitement we’ll get. Although I will not be documenting any of it, planning to be in a concert tonight, indoors.

I wish you all a blessed weekend.