The International Package – part one

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creative writing, German, international, james patterson, jason bourne, meatloaf, richard castle, Tarot, writings

Part one.

There was an international package left on my doorstep, but it was addressed to my sister.

Strange, I thought as I picked up the package and carried it inside. My sister had died seven years earlier. Stephanie worked for an American company at its German office, and during a weekend excursion with her boyfriend had died in a one-car accident on a snowy road outside of Hamburg. After the funeral services I travelled to Germany and her apartment to collect her items and finalize accounts. I had thought this was all behind us.

The box was a standard 12x12x12 size, secured with brown packing tape, and the shipping address only listed a Berlin street address. I set the box on the table. My husband, Bill, an avid James Patterson and Richard Castle fan, had on several occasions stated his speculation that Stephanie’s boyfriend had been involved in some kind of espionage or spy ring. He had never met Herman but he didn’t like him either. Bill’s Hungarian father was interned at a concentration camp during WWII, and Bill still harbored bad feelings toward the Germans.

I decided to wait to open the box until Bill came home. He would like that. The biggest thrills he had these days were Casino outings with his friends. Opening an international package for my dead sister – whom he suspected was murdered in a sort of Jason Bourne event – would make his day. Heck, it would probably make his whole year.

As I started the meatloaf for dinner, curiosity enveloped me and I began to guess at the contents. Old files from her office? The contents of an unknown safe deposit box? It could be anything.

To be continued . . .

Today China Doll

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beijing, China, creative writing, girl, photography, poetry

girl in Beijing, 2007

Today
I see the sun rise over the fence and set behind the house.
I see my brother chase after his kite.
I see the dog bark at the cars passing by.
I see the man cook pig’s liver on a grill at the corner.
I see the woman take my photo.
I imagine I am going to be on the cover of a fashion magazine.
I want her to see me.

I Saw the Sign

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creative writing, happy, kaua'i, life choices, mosquitos, musings, napoli coast, photography, signs, writing

Signs. They’re all around us, everyday directing us where to go, what to do, how to listen and when to stop.

Sometimes signs are subtle. It takes awhile to notice them. Like a butterfly floating near the blooms of a lilac bush. It is quiet, humble and waiting the moment when, out of the corner of your eye, you notice movement and finally witness its beauty and grace.

Other signs are not so subtle. They slap you in the face. Hard. Like the mosquito buzzing in your ear at three in the morning. You awaken quickly, probably smacking yourself in the head a few times because that annoying sound is so maddening and you can’t rest until you’ve addressed (killed) the little bugger.

Signs are different. They have to be. We probably wouldn’t acknowledge signs if they came at us the same way each time. The monotony would be overwhelming and we’d become numb.

On a wonderful September morning, mine came to me in an angelic place. A morning cruise around the Napoli coast on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. To outsiders, it probably appeared my life was good. And mostly it was, but not all of it. I wasn’t employed, I was single, I had a good home and a good family but I didn’t know what my future would be. Most of all, in my typical way, I was impatient to figure out things.

But then there was that sign. There, amidst all the turmoil and churning caused by thoughts racing marathons in my brain was this simple, beautiful sign. I think other passengers may have just looked and thought, wow the ceiling from a cave fell in and now there is sunshine on the water. Oh, and it’s pretty. And that’s what I thought too at first. Then I sat back and really looked.

My life was like the cave. It had been solid for a long time but then my ceiling had fallen down. Just like with the cave, there was an illumination in that moment. I was inspired.  It was beautiful. My racing thoughts slowed. I took a deep inhalation of the glorious saltwater air. I began to enjoy a future with endless possibilities and forget about what I could not change from the past.

And I was so thankful that sign had not come in the form of a mosquito at three am.

Cave, Napoli Coast, Kauai.

Unconfuse Those Words

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communication, george carlin, grammar, homographs, homonyms, technical, they're their there, writing

A friend of mine asked why I thought people were lazy in their written communication. He was referencing his own Facebook page where he saw an excess of abbreviations from ‘you’re’ to “ur” and ‘thanks’ to “thx.” I think Facebook is a whole ‘nother animal, but it probably is the most common platform of communication. At first glance, it’s easy to blame it on the “texting generation” and those who have learned to communicate in 140 characters or less. Really – who has the extra space to devote to correct spelling or punctuation when you have to get your message out there in three lines?

I told him I suspected it’s easy to be a lazy writer like it is to be a lazy cleaner: if you don’t scrub into the corner each time, will anyone notice or say anything? So if no one is standing over you nudging your elbow when you make a mistake or marking the paper with a red felt tip pen and no one is calling “foul,” then why not cheat the corners? Besides, the odds of anyone wanting to grow up to be a perfect grammarian are probably similar to anyone having Marilu Henner’s unique memory. (There are 12 documented cases in the U.S. That means she is one of 12 out of 313.9 million people. I’m not great at math, but I think the odds are slim.)

We wish we could just know all this stuff without having to pay attention, but sadly, it’s just not possible. Homonyms tend to be a big problem for most people. Homonyms generally include two categories of word types: homophones and homographs.

• Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. (bear as in an animal or to carry a load)
• Homophones are words that sound the same when you pronounce them, but have different meanings. (bass, base)

We tend to struggle with homophones. Take for example they’re, their and there. We all know what each word means but when writing them down, these words are often used incorrectly. And don’t bother using your spellcheck to fix the errors. Even if the word is used in the wrong context as long as it’s spelled correctly, spellcheck won’t mark it wrong. An easy way to proof your work is to read it aloud. This causes your brain to slow down (many of us read faster than we speak) and as you slowly read the words, you’ll probably notice that you’ve written “They’re friends are coming over” and quickly change it to “Their friends are coming over.”

Grammar and the English language aren’t easy. It takes a little extra patience and diligence to fix grammatical errors to improve writing. Even comedian George Carlin knew that when he thoughtfully asked, “Why don’t tomb, comb and bomb sound alike?”