values – Sillyfrog's Blog

Share Your World 5/29/23 Holiday Our Own Way

Posted on 05/29/202305/29/2023 by Susan St.Pierre

Here are this week’s questions:

If money was no object, what would be your ideal holiday?

We don’t vacation in the ‘normal’ sense. It isn’t about money, it’s about time.
We bought 30 acres of land about 35 minutes from home when our kids were little.
The way we had vacationed before that wasn’t for us. Packing, planning, and leaving pets behind made our getaways stressful and costly when investing in our little ‘spot’ in the woods gave us a year-round option.
Setting up our place, making gardens, and having trails for riding 4-wheelers made us happier than going somewhere we didn’t know.
So, now we spend ‘happy time’ at our own somewhat remote spot including family and extremely happy dogs who roam freely as dogs were meant to do. The taxes and upkeep aren’t any more than a cruise or flight somewhere (probably cheaper these days) and we’re close enough to home for unforeseen needs, yet we can take ourselves out of the madness of daily living any time we wish.

Do you save for a holiday or put it on plastic to pay off later?

Our ‘camping’ is budgeted into our lives. It’s as necessary to us as groceries, healthcare, or hobbies.

Have you ever been on a cruise?

Have not the slightest interest in packing into a contained space with a bunch of strangers.

Do you send postcards or buy mementos?

Our mementos are family memories of games, wonderful food cooked outdoors, campfires, conversations and privacy, rest, and a few fossil rocks or wild fruits.

Gratitude: Connecting with our granddaughters often enough to really know them while we get a chance to share our values as a family. I couldn’t wish for more.

https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2023/05/29/share-your-world-29th-may/

Writing Prompts

Weekend Writing Prompt #309- Family Values

Posted on 04/29/202304/29/2023 by Susan St.Pierre

“It’s not that animals don’t second-guess themselves”, Christen pronounced, “It’s that the things they are surest of, they never question.”

Her lecture was scheduled as a peptalk to teenagers who’d made pretty big mistakes. It would end with a discussion on having ‘values’.

“Crows are among the more intelligent animals and some of them still get ‘hammered’ by cars while pecking at roadkill. But there’s one thing crows never hesitate to do. They will rally to each other’s aid in an instant with aplomb. Community and family valued more than individual safety.”

92-words

https://sammiscribbles.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/weekend-writing-prompt-309-aplomb/

Unanswered Question: Am I supposed to be ashamed of being political?

Posted on 02/17/202302/17/2023 by Susan St.Pierre

Let’s face it. Most people are well-intentioned.
And many well-intentioned people ask themselves hard questions on a regular basis such as “Should I do or say something?” or “Am I being considerate enough of others?”.

Well, this ‘soul searching’ is good, and IMHO, we are wise to keep those things in mind. So, for me, the number of my opinion posts that ‘lean’ into politics made me ask myself, “Am I supposed to be ashamed of being political?”.

We know that people are ‘sensitive’ about political topics so perhaps I should keep that volume down a bit because there are obviously many other things to discuss, right?

Gardening, family, Nature, Pop culture, celebrities, sports, my future plans, etc. came to mind. What a surprise! Every one of those topics, and every other one that I ‘grabbed’ at, had a political thread if discussed to any level past ‘small talk’.

Don’t believe me?

Gardening and Nature get straight to Climate Change and the economy.
Family? Many (to most) of us have members with ‘gender issues’, have kids in *public education, have members with ‘drug’ and/or ‘medical’ concerns and have members who are experiencing a ‘financial’ pinch.
Pop culture? We know how quickly that goes political!
Sports? This too has been ‘tainted’ so much that a former football junkie like me hasn’t watched a game in 6 years.
Future plans? Don’t those things almost entirely depend on the political ‘management’ of our country?!

Are you seeing the same trend that I am?
It wasn’t me who did that.
I’ll leave the investigation of “Who did that?” for another thread.

Then I asked myself another question once I made that ‘everything’s political’ discovery. So, is keeping an ‘eye’ on politics a ‘bad thing’?

My answer is basically “No” (It can be overdone on a personal level.). It’s becoming abundantly clear that if a country doesn’t have a base-line cultural value system it’s in trouble. If many things actually have a thread of ‘politics’ (as I have revealed) then having healthy political systems are one of the MOST important things and the citizenry has to pursue a consensus for everyone’s sake.

Last question, “But what about everyone’s sensitive feelings about politics, shouldn’t I protect them?”

Brace yourself…
That’s a great big “Nope”. Staying silent (or being silenced) is not an option in a “free society” if you want to keep it.

I still don’t know if I’m supposed to be ashamed of “being political” according to some modern etiquette plan?
What I DO know is my own value system won’t let me even consider complying with that idea.

* Whether you agree with “woke” school policies or not, the point of this post is “everything is political”. Talking about schooling leads to “woke” policies quickly.

In my humble opinion...

One-liner Wednesday 2/1/23- Apathy is the Maker of Slaves

Posted on 02/01/202302/01/2023 by Susan St.Pierre

25+ Civil Disobedience Quotes That Stick It to the Man
https://lindaghill.com/2023/02/01/one-liner-wednesday-oh-look-its-another-prompt/

Writing Prompts

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #255- Sacred Ideals

Posted on 11/03/202211/03/2022 by Susan St.Pierre

Photo prompt.

Image credit: Noel Nichols on Unsplash

The “Crimsons” had built their civilization on a yet to be mapped chain of tropical islands and it had thrived for more than 4 centuries.
Their relative isolation from the rest of the planet produced their most striking physical trait for although their skin tones varied, their hair was universally undeniably flaming red.
As legends evolve from partial truths, they had come to recently attribute their happiness and success more or less directly to this part of their appearance and now that once infrequent explorers happened upon them and had given them their current superficial name, they were embracing it more and more.
They were, by all standards, happily and productively ‘primitive’. Their children were raised by small community ‘parental pods’ each of which shared an identical cultural pride and common ‘spirit’ but this was incrementally starting to include a subtext of worship of the perceived magical property of their red hair. They also maintained excellent health and longevity due to ritualized attention to their diets and promoted, most fervently, the values of justice, honor, and humility.
They were ruled by a priestess who was like a queen in the requirement that she needed an ancient genetic lineage connecting her to former priestesses in order to reign. All had worked well until a necessary excavation for burial purposes revealed an ancient artifact. Priestess, Avea, claimed it immediately and refused to allow any ‘commoner’ to study it.

When Avea studied the ancient ‘time capsule’ she made a most unsettling discovery. Within the almost pristinely preserved contents was a skull. On the skull six long chestnut brown hairs remained attached and an ancient text in their own language lay beneath it. The text read like an ‘owner’s manual’ about a proper diet. It also promised their cohesive long-lived prosperity if they would adhere to the three principles of justice, honor, and humility. But nowhere was hair color mentioned! This could pose a problem to the newly established reverence for their common immutable characteristic and might just cause division among their communities who were unevenly committed to that ‘modern’ idea. Avea wisely realized that she held her people’s future directly in her hands.

On the third day, the priestess revealed her impression of the contents of the sacred artifact to the people in a speech declaring a day of celebration once a proper shrine could be erected to hold its content. She repeated the text but never mentioned the startling forensic evidence.
As Avea placed the skull on a pedestal in the newly built shrine at the start of their national holiday, she plucked those chestnut hairs from it letting them fall among the chaff at her feet. Division caused by any emphasis on appearance, simply wouldn’t be good for anyone.

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/11/03/reenas-xploration-challenge-255/

6 Sentence Stories

Six Sentence Story- Who Might Oppress?

Posted on 10/05/202210/05/2022 by Susan St.Pierre

PROMPT WORD: CLUB

John and Benjamin were assigned to be college roommates, so they were given each other’s email addresses and phone numbers in order for them to become acquainted prior to moving in.

Each young man was pleased that they immediately ‘hit it off’ because they’d heard so many “roommate nightmare” stories from well-meaning friends and family as well as tales about something ugly called ‘wokeness’.

Having been the valedictorians of their smalltown high schools, ‘pounding the books’ had been their primary focus so they hadn’t really explored political topics and considered themselves boringly ordinary.

On ‘moving in’ day everything went smoothly with their parents meeting and making an immediate comfortable connection giving them all a chance to recognize their similar hopes and family values which drove away some of the ‘jitters’ the parents all had about their two ‘only children’ having a great Freshman experience.

After the first week of classes, Benjamin noticed John sitting outside of the campus student center with his head in his hands and papers scattered on the ground, but he was late for a meeting with his Biology lab partner, so he figured he’d get the details later on and rushed inside only to be confronted by a full-fledged assault of young women screaming at him “Oppressor!” and physically spinning him right back out of the door!

Benjamin staggered over to John, “I’ve NEVER oppressed anyone! Is this what our parents were warning us about? I’m SO confused!” to which John responded, “Welcome to the club.”.

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/10/02/sundays-six-sentence-story-word-prompt-232/
https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/10/05/its-thursdays-six-sentence-story-link-up-6/

In my humble opinion...

Mindless in America

Posted on 05/10/201305/10/2013 by Susan St.Pierre

A telemarketer called a few days ago. He was promoting a new organization and hoping to sell wholesome family films.

The idea was admirable. No one can argue, against the fact, that there are too many images of violence and “adult” subject matter available to children on prime time television. Soon enough, it became clear that he was reading a script.

It was a time, in my work day, when I was getting my day care charges ready to go home so I was distracted and rushed. My manners have always kept me from just hanging up, so I listened. I also always figure that the person,calling, is earning a living and deserves, at least, a few moments.

As I listened, he repeatedly said,” Studies show…” . Then, he started saying that Spongebob was an example of mindless broadcasting to be avoided because “Studies show, this is also a poor choice.”

He had my interest, at first. But frustrated from not being able to get a word in and the time constraints…after all, I was “on the job”… made me lose my patience. This is what I told him:

“I believe you are promoting a worthy cause and this call is your job, but when you have said repeatedly, “studies show” and have expected that you could convince me without telling me where the studies were conducted, who did them, and how many people were studied, suggest that you are the mindless one here or you believe that I am. I grew up watching the Three Stooges and never once was tempted to hit someone with a hammer. There is definitely too much violence on TV, sir. The greater problem, in my opinion, is the cultural break down of the American family. If you have any interest in the success of your organization, I suggest you change your speech and get real. I have no extra money to invest and I thank you for trying, good-bye.”

Now, I wonder, how many people are willing to believe the rhetoric “studies show” without pause? I don’t really want to know because it scares me too much to consider further.