Happy Thanksgiving

Bug on a Rug

did you see the bug on the rug
i said to my mom
as i sat on the step
in the lawn
she laughed
at me and said
very seriously
there is no rug
in the grass

i giggled at her
as i sat on my step
looking down on the ground
of grass

putting my hands
gently
to surround the bug
a gate he did
not realize
had fenced him in

i smiled
up at mommy
and said
can he jump

and once again
she looked at me
and questioned
where do you
think he will go

to the invisible
bug on the
rug

dedicated to the Sophia in my life who loves bugs grammy

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009-2010 unless otherwise stated.

To Houses Everywhere

I thought I would dedicate this to all houses who raised Families everywhere, remembering what they see and hold in their walls are memories created by you and me and that time cannot erase.

We built you in a spirit of harmony, a place to raise a family. We struggled, we laughed, we dreamed.
A house is built, a home is created and forever people will be confused by the choice of what they say, because almost everyone I know has a house but never had a home to call their own.

Crayon pictures hang on the walls...
Tiny hand prints with a name lay in cement...
Trees, planted for a promise of picnics in the shade...
And Flowers are picked for dandelion bouquets...

We opened windows to let the summer in.
And to let the dog know there is an outside world.
There were snowman made to let winter we understood.
The scarecrow in the front yard welcomed the fall.
And the spring gave birth to birds nestled in our trees.

One day you walked down the driveway to leave
On a big yellow bus and I cried to see go.
Once, You packed your bags when deciding you had enough of me.
On that summer day I laughed but the house wept.
But what the house did not know, unlike me
this was still your home and you could walk away,
Knowing there would always be a piece of me with you

That house saw tears, and picture promises of love...
But most of all that house became me.
And so sometimes we go away.
But that does not mean,
What we lived had no value.
Or we lost our respect for what we struggled so for.
It just means sometimes,
The home we had became a house.
Somehow, We have to say goodbye to dreams
And life tells us that it is time to let Go.....

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009-2010 unless otherwise stated.

Detroit

Detroit, I say the name and I want to put it to the new music I hear when a commercial says “New York” like a one syllable word made into two.

We in the Midwest have an amazing opportunity to make this city, a rock and roll place to be. The repercussions could be unbelievable, it could help Toledo and Cleveland aka Ohio.
It could be a renaissance for Michigan.

Ok, I want to be a little apolitical for a moment. I want to speak as an American. We all can be unhappy about who is elected or not elected but the important thing we should be unhappy about in this United States of America, is money gets attention. Unfortunately, this fact while true is our fault. We, us the people need to be informed and educate ourselves about what happens in the big D.C. and if we do not we will be willing victims to a future without a vision.
So, what am I saying, support who got elected by making them answer questions, make sure their actions are helping the little people as well as the big people or the haves, very small minority and have nots, growing larger by the day.

We recently elected a new Governor in Ohio who has a vision
This man will either serve 4 or 8 years, good things can happen and devastating things can happen and they will far out live this mans term in office. I wish him luck because I also am from Ohio and will reap what he decides to sow.

So, just to let you know in the following Sundays for a very long time I will be showcasing Detroit, learning about Detroit and hoping someone listens and a vision is realized.

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009-2010 unless otherwise stated.

Sentimental Saturday

So, I looked into the rocks of sand
Now all combined into something strong
I cannot break but before
I could walk and leave a print
A momentary sign I had been
A print to link me to you
A print of me
And so on my desk I see
A statue carved of you
A small piece of you and me
Linked by love
A sign
I see the small orange
Tomatoes falling gracefully
Off the stem
Rolling here and there
Waiting for someone to pick
Them up
So I picked up a photo of me
Smiling
And I wonder where did she go
And how did I lose the glow
That circle of a ring now split
Never protected me
Love did not last
Only a heartbreak
Surrounded by
Rocks and sand

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Alice, Cinde and Snow

What these three women did not know, as they climbed aboard this bus down memory lane, is they all had
a common link and the direction of the next years of their lives
would be to unravel that precarious thread.
How it would haunt and
distract their days fostering nighttime dreams and eventually overpower their lives.
Today, they would be turning
down an untraveled road and all of the fears
they had so carefully hidden
would now be like a neon sign,
flashing for all of the world to see.
Only a person, whose heart had been torn
and broken into so many pieces they can never be recovered,
could ever understand.

To be cont.

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Alice, Cinde and Snow

Alice, already felt intimidated looking into the eyes of Cinde and Snow, her hands rough from endless gardening. Long days in the sun created a weathered effect on her exposed skin and her long hair with the blonde-grey streaks as if paints were fighting for the colors in a flag.

Cinde, felt totally together in a quiet little black dress, her blonde hair color created by the sun in a bottle. There seemed to be a confidence that her face portrayed and her body language fought.

Snow, on the other hand actually did not see the other women in front of her, as if they had no recognition then they had no relevance.
Yes, she was very striking, dark hair,very short that was totally flattering as it waved around her face accented with a few totally out of control strands. Large, dark eyes full of emotion and passion.
You could feel the pull of this woman, as if a train would stop and wait for her on any platform, full of charisma.

Of the three woman, Snow, was a force to be reckoned with.

Suddenly Alice felt as if some crumbles of dirt still clung to her shoes, like she was leaving a trail of drops from invisible chocolate chip cookies for the mice to follow her home.
Cinde, though confident longed to always have the feeling, as if turning to look into a mirror her reflection would outshine all.
While Snow, the queen bee of all as far as she was concerned, was pondering her next entertainment theme, maybe a golden honey tone to set the mood.

to be cont.
All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Air

if i give you air
would you breathe
if i share my love
will you understand
and if i smile
will your tears cease to be

take my fingers
and entwine them in yours
let me lead you
to the place where
we can walk together

match my steps
but let your thoughts
roam as a mustang

i view you from afar
no matter how close we are
yet, you still make me,
make me want to love you
remember your breath
understand your pain

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Alice, Cinde and Snow Post -Princesses

Once upon a time there were three girls named Alice, Cinda, and Snow. They lived as little girls do dreaming dreams and making up wishes with lives filled with lots of puppy dogs kisses and then they grew up.

One day Alice looked into her garden and saw there were moles eating her plants and creating little holes everywhere. What was she to do she spent so much time creating a fairyland garden maybe to replace the life that was not so magic. What happened she thought?
Sipping her tea she reflected with this question “Was there a different path I should have ventured down?”

Cinde was cleaning everything sparkling and as she looked around she felt complete. Everything in its place but suddenly there was nothing else to do, all of her tasks were complete and she felt lost. All at once a thought occurred to her, what else in her life was there but cleaning and waiting on others? When and where did her dreams disappear to?

Snow was always busy spinning in circles and thinking of parties she was planning to have. What would she serve, who would she invite? Would she have it in the garden and what sort of theme would it be? The exciting part of a party was in the planning, she loved this part of the process. One day she could find no reason to have a party and it struck her the focus of her life was wrapped in a series of planning a future but never living in the present.

So, as luck would have it the three women met at a bus stop.
Alice was carrying a bouquet of flowers, Cinde was loaded down with dry cleaning and other odds and ends, and Snow was busy on her cell phone making calls about a party that there was no reason to have. The three women filled with their own concerns found themselves staring at the others until all were filled with silent observation.
to be cont.

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Concerts, Fathers and Daughters

A letter to my dad. A word I have always wanted to use.

I look around and I have no memories stored of you.
There are no complaints, promises missed, no “I told you so,” nothing.

I have never been able to call you for advice. I could not look into your eyes and see a reflection to build on.
We had no smiles to exchange over a silent moment only we would understand.

How does one build on nothing?

“I love you Dad” words I long to have said.

Often saying words may make them lose validity with repetition, but the only way that can happen is if there is no action behind the words. The hard work of being a parent is because it happens without the thought of reward or gratitude. It is perseverance of faith, love and endless dreams of “what if”.

We have:
No missed dates
No hand to hold crossing the street
No wait
No hurry up
No favorite song to know
No kiss on the cheek
No hugs

Lift me into the air
Swing me around
Make me laugh

All I feel is loss and tears
running down like little streams on my cheeks.
Tiny drops of hurt, small sighs never to be heard by you
I try to let go of feelings that are
real, but I do not want to forget you happened.
I am your memory.
Let me, a living one, reflect well.

A letter to my dad. The only word I could never say.

Dedicated to Fathers understanding the importance of music.


All art and verbiage are @ olives and you 2009-2010 unless otherwise stated.

Innovation Thursday!

I was thinking while gone for a few days some ideas for entrepreneurs to take and run with.

Remember the old "Sit and Spin" my kids loved it!

1. Now let us have the "Sit and See" located in Sofa's and Chair's; a small box linked to the remote to turn on the TV. What does this do, never having to shout, look for, or sit on the remote again. Plus, wasted electricity down on, up off. They could be as elaborate as your cell phone only on the side of your current mode of leisure.

2. "A pad to translate information from a computer," ex; like a recipe, a draft of information from the library.
It would be like an etch a sketch, information temporarily used. No ink wasted, no paper wasted. less wasted electricity. This would not be about accessing online, only transmitting information from different sources. Plug in and transfer. Scan and transfer. The idea is temporary information easily accessed and disposed of. Think of the ramifications, top secret ideas all deleted with a swipe or sweep of the screen. Non, new word "photoable" glass so no information leaks. Think about notes taken at meetings, information distributed from meetings, booklets of changes in procedure, how much is wasted for the landfills. Ok entrepreneurs, of the USA, it is up to you.

Enough for this week. I just wanted to say, a weekend ago a few of our family went to Washington D.C.. We were treated wonderfully and had an amazing time at our Nation's capitol.
I will say the White House does not look as big as I thought. The city was much cleaner than I thought it would be. I always knew how lucky I was to be an American but I also realize every day we all take certain liberties for granted and sometimes do not show respect. We may not appreciate who is representing us but the office is only as good or as involved as we as American's choose to be. We can all throw stones but all that does is break windows. Then we have to buy new windows. Our thoughtlessness in this realm is ineffective, we must have the courage of our convictions and choose to work through the system instead of against it. Have courage, be brave, if you are the only one on the path, it only means others have not caught on or they have.

I am hungry for liberty for all.

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Fridays are food for thought.

It is fall and there is no way to avoid winter, so I take a deep breath and realize the continuation is a constant. We may feel life is hurrying us along but we are merely reflected by what we deem important which eats up our time. So, when we lay out the dinner table is it full of junk food, activities that do not relax us, and events that create stress? Do we serve banquets to our soul or do we deny its right to a life enriched by family, loyal friends and people who will reach out when needed?
Is there enough light to distinguish what we should have gotten rid of and something new that will give more adventures and create memories not to forget. Is our table filled with familiar faces or empty chairs? So, bring in something green, something blue, something orange. Give someone a chance to feed your knowledge, share your food and give of yourself.

Walking through the leaves
Blowing here and there
I hear the crunch as the moisture
Has long left
And sometimes I slip on the leaves
Still full of color and life
having lost their hold
floating to the floor of the earth
A final hurrah
Colors I am inspired to combine
Smells linger reminding me of something impossible
To bring inside with me
Feelings erupting and like random placement of leaves
No place to contain them
I cannot decorate to liken my life as a natural being
I reach to touch the wind
To bring fresh air letting me breathe

Listen to Amos Lee "Arms of a Woman"


All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009-2010 unless otherwise stated.

Good Things in Life

Movie: "Stranger Than Fiction" Starring "Will Ferrell"
Songs: " Running" Singer "No Doubt"
Cook book: "The New Basics" Julee Rosso
Season Fall
Herb Thyme
Tree Gingo
Color Cobalt Blue
First drink of the day Coffee
Food Blog "Smitten Kitchen"


I walk onto the musical stage of life
The stars change places
songs bring me memories
My passage brings me visions
Of the place I yearn to be
Longing to be a part
Drives me makes my need
So apparent
As I sweep the dust from the stage
I envision the ocean so vast
Every wave a wish
The whites of each cap
A sign of life at its height
The break a rest between moments
As I walk in the wetness of sand
And feel the rumble of life stretching beyond
Me
I search for a way to become a part
Like the silent stones I gather
Small Reminders
I dance inside finding delight

All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Is Oil our friend?

A while ago I was reading the New York Times who had an article about the "instability of oil". The article gave completely valid reasons quoted by a lot of "knowledgeable people". Yet, at the end, the general impression I received reading this article was "oil has always been unstable". Simple as this, I do not think so.

So, here is my unknowledgeable, uninformed, not paid for "idea".

What if this is a form of terrorism? What a strange idea, something that could hurt a mass of economies? An action or inaction of selling an item that the world depends on for manufacturing, the primary source of transportation for people and goods? This item "oil" influences the environment, the development of countries, everything actually.

Does anyone think beyond the end of their nose? Now don't get me wrong if this idea has been out there in a books, articles, or on the so called 'nightly news" I obviously am not trying to plagiarize. I just have never heard this idea truly explored in my small, small world about this potential, probable correlation.

But, how interesting that the worlds main focus on curtailing terrorism, is to hunt down terrorists, by trying to stop the selling of guns and drugs. Which I think is necessary action by trying to thwart their activities and (in worse case scenario invade other nations.)

What a strategy though. Simple math, supply and demand. Every time the Terrorists need a new supply of guns, recruits, they make sure the demand for gas and oil prices grow higher, as far as need and results in climbing prices. There for every time we pick up the key we are contributing to potentially Terrorism. What am I saying? I just say the idea is food for thought.

Have you ever started a Sour Dough Starter? There are prime ingredients.
Flour and water and grapes if you are a purist. Flour, yeast and water if you are like most of the world.
You start with warm water, flour and a small amount, a very small amount of yeast.
You mix and let the world of micro organisms do the rest.
So, with terrorism, you have a mass of poor, non represented people, and multitude of issues and a passionate leader to tell them "how bad is the rest of the world".
So, this is a perfect sourdough starter. It starts out not stable, not very strong and with passion of dedication to feed and concentrated effort to provide opportunity to use, it becomes a powerful force to change the flavor of the world with just a drop here and there.

So, back to "But what if an act of terrorism was as simple as just "destabilizing the oil industry" or for us just raising the price of gasoline?

Look at the world in the last 30 years.

This makes sense to me.

A party of one.

dreams of streams

the sand becomes stone
i stand alone

as the cool water
slowly rushes over me
i feel the chill
and long to be cleansed

standing quietly
tiny drops
become a stream
and wash away
thoughts

i relinquish my mind
to this feeling
left by the spray
it is dark
my small space
which links to
the sea
no definition
confined only by
thoughts
i allow to continue

now
air
overshadowed
by this watery breeze


All art and verbiage are © olives and you 2009-2010 unless otherwise stated.