Rosy Hears "Jestes Dobra Dziewczynka"

Mom and I are slowly recuperating. In fact, as I type this she is sitting up on the couch engrossed in a TV show with Surely Not nestled beside her. I, on the other hand, am still a little puny. She became ill before me and so this is expected.

Two days ago I drug myself out of bed to do laundry. Mom was very sick and to cheer her up I brought home an Oriental meal and a book I found on sale at WalMarts titled “Water For Elephants.” Sometimes good food and a book can bring on a faster cure. I was skeptical about the book but it was on sale – so what the heck.

Mom finished reading it in less than twenty four hours. In fact I could see the light on at 2:00 a.m. and hear the rustling of pages as she absolutely devoured this book. I was reading a historical tome about Indians and it was getting a little dry, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book.

I am halfway through with it now. If I wasn’t so darn sleepy last night I would have finished it by now. It is truly a marvelous book. It is Jacob Jankowski’s memories of one summer of his life that shaped the rest of his life.

“I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One of the other.

When you’re five you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties you know how old you are. I am twenty-three, you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties something strange starts to happen. It’s a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation. How old are you? Oh, I’m – you start confidently, but then you stop. You were going to say thirty-three, but you’re not. You’re thirty-five. And then you’re bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course but it’s decades before you admit it.

You start to forget words: they’re on the tip of your tongue, but instead of eventually dislodging it, they stay there. You go upstairs to fetch something and by the time you get there you can’t remember what it was you were after. You call your child by the names of all your other children and finally the dog before you get to his. Sometimes you forget what day it is. And finally you forget the year.

I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other. ~chapter one~

It is set during the Great Depression and the story is about a young man who leaves his life as a Cornell University veterinary student and hops a train that happens to be the home of the Benzinia Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

Jacob is eventually hired as the show’s veterinarian. He has a guarded relationship with August who is the head trainer and from what I have read is a very brutal man but also a very charming one. Jacob is also falling in love with August’s wife Marlena.

The characters including the main characters are so easy to like and dislike. The author draws you into the story like a circus barker and soon you are caught up in the story and the lives of the characters.

The most fascinating part of the book, besides the characters, and the plot - is the circus lore and vocabulary. Grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May… Fortunately it is all explained so you don’t have to run to your computer and use Google. I learned what the band plays when there is trouble and I learned about Jake Leg, a very sad condition, slang for Jamaican Ginger Extract. This is truly a book to have on your must read list.
Even though I haven’t finished the book, my mother says the ending is outstanding – pure joy. I will not read the ending first, I will finish the book in its proper order, I will and I have. I want to experience the magic.

Age is a terrible thief. Just when you’re getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies you head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse. ~Chapter One~

Like Fireflies I Always Come Back

Sheri Reynolds

Due to drinking coffee after five, I didn’t stumble off to bed until the wee hours in the morning. I curled up with a book written by Sheri Reynolds. Hannah, “Firefly Cloak” is another must read on your list. Her imagination is mind boggling and with this, as with her other books, there is a message that doesn’t get lost in the insanity. The book starts out with Travis and Tessie being left in a campground by their mother. Fortunately the mother had the sense to write her mother’s phone number on Travis’ back in black magic marker. Tessie and Travis were taken to their grandparent’s home where they were raised. From CIA bomb carrying baby birds to discovering their mother is a mermaid this book does not let you down. Brilliant, imaginative, poetic are just a few adjectives to describe this book. Like “Bitterroot Landing” and “The Rapture of Canaan” Sheri Reynolds wrote another novel to be remembered.



The Shirt

My daughter gave me a wonderful gift, a bright orange shirt that I would estimate its age at 8 years. To the human eye it shows its age sadly with worn out places and stretched out sleeves. To those that know, it carries tears, laughter, fears, and two hearts on its sleeve.



It is a magical shirt, that when you put it on it will take you back in time when life was bittersweet. It transports you back in time and if you close your eyes a slideshow of memories occurs. My memories, when I slip it on is of two brown hair teenage girls, rutted, washed out roads, beer can alley, a house by the river, and dreams of vineyards. I remember tie dying t-shirts in the basement, those crazy girls jumping in the lake in February, laughter, and the love two girls had for each other. My daughter’s memories are hers to tell.



From its beginnings of production to being taken home this shirt has traveled. It was a gift, to my daughter, along with a lock of long brown hair. It has been worn with pride to being held by a sad eyed brown hair girl. It absorbed her tears, her laughter, her memories, and when she slipped it on it felt to her that she was being hugged once again by her best friend.



Watching my daughter and her friend, I found out what friendship really means. I also found a person, a young teenager that had the ability to accept her fate, and had the ability to explain it to her friend in a way that I have never seen or witnessed. Her life was not a long good-bye, it was a daily hello.



Hannah, I love and miss you.

The Weather

We didn’t get any snow, not even a flake but enough rain fell to encourage the plants to grow. There is snow on the mountains and that is enough snow for me.

The Dream

Every once in a while my daughter, Hannah will send me one of her dreams for me to analyze. I am not an expert by any means but I have been pretty good at doing this. I have a dream for Hannah and others if they wish to try to figure this dream out. I rarely dream but when I do it is something that makes me scratch my head. This dream is a little embarrassing. I found a turd. Don’t know where it was, it was just there. I realize that this could come from Surely’s amazing abilities to poo 5 times a day. This rather innocuous turd suddenly sprouted a Furbie head but it was an angry Furbie head. Then bat wings sprouted from its side and that was enough to wake me up and make me sit up. This is not a good thing if you are sleeping in a bunk bed.

The Recipe

Crock Pot Recipe For Jolie

4 cups Chicken broth

1 can Cream of mushroom soup

1 16 ounces sauerkraut, rinse -- drain

8 ounces fresh mushrooms -- slice

1 medium Potato -- cut small cubes

3 medium Carrots -- chopped

1 medium Onion -- chopped

2 Ribs celery -- chopped

3/4 pound Smoked Polish sausage -- cube

1/2 cup Chicken; cooked -- chopped

2 tablespoons Vinegar

1 teaspoon Dried dill weed

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 3 to 4-qt Crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or until veggies are tender.

Stephen King

I have always wanted to read a Stephen King novel but I don’t want to be scared half to death. Rumor has it; he can do that to you.

Last week I found his latest book and after little thought and much impulse, I bought it. I started reading it yesterday and haven’t been able to put it down. It is not because it is the best book I have ever read; I wanted to be scared witless. I wanted to have Stephen King nightmares and this book was not producing. I am now ¾ into the book and finally ACTION! Ghost, a giant frog, twin girls being chased into the ocean, death, destruction, and I am…..bored.

Yes I am so bored with the book that I just want to pitch it out the window.

I like the characters and the way he introduced them to you. He made them a little unreal but likeable. After the first five or six chapters I knew what was going to happen. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. I already knew who was going to die and the reason for the main character’s fanatical painting sprees. I knew who was going to be resurrected and who wasn’t. I wish he would have painted Elizabeth young because she seemed like the most interesting character in the book. I bet she had stories to tell that could curl the hair on your toes.

I am going to finish the book while in the Doctor’s office. Now that is enough to scare the bejesus out of me, ROOT CANAL!


I have been trying to figure out a way to describe my feelings while I was in Mexico having a temporary filling put in. I want to keep things “nice” and not vent my opinions. If you are going to take the road to Mexico to have dental work done – stay away from Palomas Mexico. It is not a good place to go. They have the staff, the clean exam rooms and they are friendly but they are not what they say they are. If you have any medical issues stay in the US. A professional told me all I needed to know. If you are going to cross over in El Paso then there are actual dentists there that are quite good but I couldn’t get the names. As it stands now I am paying the same price for dental work as I would in Mexico and getting the same thing done with the exception of getting a partial. I am satisfied.




Location: Las Cruces