My daughter wants me to write her a letter. Not just an ordinary letter.
She wants me to write a, ‘death’ letter.
Yes, a ‘death’ letter. I assure you this is not a Halloween gimmick. My dear daughter has requested that I write a letter specifically addressed to her that she might read, after we pass away and are long gone. She explains that it will be a comfort to her in her grief.
Do you think it sounds pretty morbid? It is Halloween, so perhaps death, morbid thoughts, and hauntings, (in the spirit of fun), are in people’s minds. Is it appropriate to think a little more about deathly topics at Halloween?
So now, I face a dilemma re the content of said letter. What would/should I put into a ‘death’ letter?
A day or so ago, an email arrived in my inbox which shook me up. Not initially of course, but as you will soon discover, people can be unpredictable as can our reactions. The email was from the property agent advising me that an unnamed person and their property representative wanted to, nay – were about to- enter our home as our property had been identified as one said unnamed person, would like to purchase.
Rather an unexpected interruption to our normal Saturday morning routine, to say the least. Particularly as we rent the home and have a rental agreement that has not yet expired. I also hasten to add that this property is not on the market for sale, and the owner had no plans to sell before this stranger approached him, especially given that we had, a couple of months before, negotiated and signed off on a longer lease. He had actually asked us to sign on for at least another year.
Now, as I said, initially I was a little taken aback about the email, what with receiving little more than 24 hours notice of this unexpected intrusion, but I did appreciate being advised beforehand, at least. I was not required to give permission for this “entry,”at all. It was an advice, not a request!
However, there seemed little chance I could have denied the entry, as the property manager stated we did not have to be at home at all and the strangers would enter regardless. It is true, I do not own this property, I merely rent it. However, all the contents are mine and I do pay good money to live here- more than most around, and in return, I expect that I can quietly enjoy residing under this roof.
What I didn’t expect was my own extreme reaction to this visit.
Perhaps I may not have had such a reaction if the prospective buyer was, at least, a little humble or respectful? Clearly, humility was a lesson this stranger had missed at school.
Upon her arrival, Mrs ‘I am Used to Getting my Way’, bustled into my home, her family in tow, completely ignoring me as she walked past, as if I was some invisible, enslaved home help, completely peripheral to her consideration. [I know – that is SOOO judgemental, but bare with me, as I AM writing this in retrospect.]
Perhaps I should have stopped the rest of her family at the door, and given permission for just one person to enter, with the rep, as per the entry notice?
I don’t know.
My head started spinning with a range of thoughts.
Perhaps I should have followed her around? Is that polite or allowed?
Prone to ‘worst case scenario’ my thinking was immediately: Who knows if her child might have decided to pocket my jewellery or valuables as they sifted through our rooms, one after the other? These days we have to beware of all kinds of scams and who we open our door to, but then I decided I was being far too paranoid.
Butter wouldn’t melt in its mouth
The MOTH wasn’t on hand, either. He had taken the polite option of scurrying off for a walk with the growling Miniature Schnauzer, which to be truthful, would never bite. Our dear little girl does, however, sound a lot like a cross between the death metal band, Slipknot and the character Regan in the creepy movie, The Exorcist, to any stranger that darkens our doorstep. [you have been warned]. I decided to make myself scarce out in the garden, with one ear directed to the goings on, inside.
The lady’s first comment on entering our premises was a condescending –
“Oh – it’s so small.”
To which the Real estate agent, intent on securing a sales commission or spotter’s fee, entered damage control:
“Well,” he said, collecting his thoughts.
“It really comes down to how much furniture a person has.”
Do I have too much furniture? I thought, suddenly questioning myself.
Quite possibly.
The next step in Mrs Stranger’s inspection offensive was to order her daughter to get out the tape measure and to measure the dimensions of the rooms and plan out the furniture placement and layout for their new home! This took some time.
Vocal criticism of our “settings” periodically burst forth from her mouth, like the water spilling over Niagara falls.
“You wouldn’t have THAT lamp.” And-“That chair doesn’t go THERE,“ she continued unabated.
Say what?
I was, by then, a little aghast.
She had barely been inside for more than five to ten minutes. As the whole group continued with their inspection, I wondered if they had indeed been checking out our property during the last week or so?
Suddenly, I felt vulnerable and chided myself for not hiding any valuables that might lay trustingly about. And Mr Real Estate didn’t really supervise them either, standing casually with his hands crossed behind his back near the door.
I also began to feel as though my privacy had been violated. An extreme reaction – maybe, but it seems one really has few rights as a tenant to secure a rental property and rest comfortable in the knowledge that you don’t have to continually lock away any valuables, given that strangers may enter a rental property on an email and little more than 24 hours notice.
What if we had been away on holidays and not able to check email?
Perhaps she was planning a serial renovation?
When Mrs ‘World is MY Oyster Stranger,’ disappeared into the garage, I took the opportunity to slip upstairs. Some time later, I overhead the conversation in the living room to be something like,
“Well, naturally, I’ll be wanting a second inspection before submitting an offer [to buy],“to which the real estate rep enthusiastically agreed.
He then finally mentioned us.
“There is the small matter of the current tenants – but they won’t be here for much longer.”
I gulped! – WHAT?
We had in fact, recently extended our lease with the landlord until our new house, the [Home by the Sea], was completed.
Mrs ‘World is My Oyster Stranger/potential Narcissist’ pounced on this piece of information.
“Oh,” she said with an authoritative rising tone,
“Well, I’ll just rent it.”
Now, I am not sure if she meant she was planning to rent our house out to others, or for herself to become the new tenant, but the real estate rep clearly, like me, took the comment to mean the latter.
“Why would you do that?” he worryingly asked – (seeing his commission as water swirling down the drain-hole).
Some whispering then took place that I was not privy to, and in any case, my mind started spinning. It seemed unfair that someone could roam around the suburb where I live, pick out a place that took her fancy, eye it over and within a little over 24 hours, have gained somewhat unsupervised entry, under a whim that she might make an offer to buy, (or rent), this or any property, just as she wished, without any regard for the folk who might be/were PAYING a fee, to live in that premises?
Please tell me if this is a completely unfounded, knee-jerk reaction that is founded in insecurity? If so, I will back off.
I defintely need some objective perspectives here from the blogosphere.
Tenants’ Rights – Something I’ll be Pondering About
If you want to live on the edge of life, you need to be flexible.” ~ Kim Novak
“I just can’t do it! I can’t,” he implored. Manfred was clearly beside himself.
Holly paused to let the tension digest before replying, “Can’t you negotiate with them, Mannie?“
Manfred looked sad, then stubbornly fixed his jaw, explaining, “No, I just can’t go back. It won’t work.“
Holly decided Manfred wasn’t going to budge. It was hard to understand why he was so fixated on quitting the job he’d started just a day or two before. After all, working in a food truck was good work experience, even if the Manager had indeed abused him and rostered him on at weekends.
Holly also suspected that if Manfred quit this job, he’d find it difficult to survive and worse still, he’d lose the routine and direction he sorely needed in his life. Teenage boys with time on their hands created trouble; something Holly had witnessed with her own brothers.
“So, ah – what’s your plan now?” she ventured, after letting the silence hang for a minute.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about doing street entertainment, so I can start my own business,” Manfred began enthusiastically. “I’d love to remodel shipping containers as cheap accommodation.” “They’re portable, cheap – everyone wants one.”
“A business, hey? thought Holly. “You could call it, Home, ship, Home,” she joked.
Manfred’s face lit up, giving Holly a warm feeling inside. Since meeting Manfred on the park bench months before, she’d grown to like his confidence and enthusiasm. He’d charmed her with easy conversation and a good dose of charisma, but she knew he was dangerously impulsive. And that was worrisome.
After promises to meet again, they parted ways. Holly back to her family in the suburbs, and Manfred to who knows where. Holly wondered where he’d sleep that night. He said it was often safer to walk the streets at night and ‘crash’ in the park, when daylight came. Holly also knew on those nights, he used pills to cope with his inner demons. She resolved to find help for him, when they met again, the following week.
It was whilst clearing the dishes from Mum’s lamb casserole; the 6 o’clock news blaring in the background that Holly’s legs suddenly collapsed – her head hitting the floor.
“MAN FALLS from the CITY BRIDGE in DARING STUNT.”
When Holly came to, it was easy to forget the news story. Surely, she’d see Manfred’s smiling face again, at the end of the week.
After work on Friday, Holly rushed down to the City Bridge, anxiously looking for Manfred’s slouching figure, waiting as he did, in their usual spot.
Nothing.
An empty seat.
A gut wrenching, tearing despair mixed with utter hopelessness blinded her thoughts. Was Manfred really gone?
With trepidation, Holly peered over the police tape cordoning the City Bridge’s narrow railing, her throat filled with bile.
A wilted flower was forlornly tucked in the wires. As Holly pulled it out, a gum wrapper fluttered to the ground. Her heart broke as she read the words scrawled thereon:
“Home, ship Home”
Something different for Sunday Sayings this week
Appreciate and treasure the moments with others.
There isn’t always a second chance.
“The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest” – Bob Hawke
“Happiness is a quality of the soul…not a function of one’s material circumstances.”
~Aristotle
Several years ago, I created ‘Proverbial Friday’ on my blog.
I became fascinated with traditional proverbs and sayings, their metaphorical layers and the many different interpretations found within just a few, succinct words. I marveled at their ability to transcend race, religion, opinions and age.
Mostly anonymous, proverbs are a portal through time to generations past and echo a diverse range of cultures.
They speak of the experiences of many lessons learned and the wisdom from thousands of lives already lived.
They offer us knowledge; knowledge that is passed to us in much the same way relay runners might pass a baton. Once it’s handed over, it is up to us what we do with it and how we pass it on.
Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something. This week we are examining the concept of being happy.
Do you agree with Aristotle or the Polish proverb?
Is attitude, in itself, integral to feeling happy?
Charles Swindoll seems to think so.
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of Attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
The remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our Attitudes.”
~ Charles R. Swindoll
I invite you to join in the discussion by leaving a comment.
This is the final of the A and I Poetry challenge, I co-hosted with Ineke from IScrap2.
The October Prompt was
~ Write a poem to, or about, your future self.
How might you see yourself, or your life, in ten years time.
I am a bit stuck with the rhyming format. Anyway, here is my contribution:
Hey You!
You always doubt yourself; to self, you aren’t that kind, so do you heed that lesson any better, in ten years time?
Your head is filled with Scandi dreams, of cool and wintry climes, Whilst living out your life, in heat, with family’s loved pastimes. Children: oh they have aged so fast, it’s now harder to keep up, Do you care for any grandchildren, or only Schnauzer pups?
Is there work, or books, that fill your days, so happily evermore? Surely there’s those countless walks, along the sandy beach foreshore? Life’s curves can twist, and you might land so soft, or brutally hard, Changes in health might come so fast, your mind must be on guard. I hope the body is still supple, and your mind sharp enough, To contribute to community, a blog, a conversation, and silly stuff.
Ageing is not a pleasant thing, it kinder creeps up on you, A seventh decade life stage, then retiring from plainview. As constant as the sun greets each morning, in the east, Your pursuit of happiness and fun will continue till you cease.
Amanda 2018
This is me 8 years ago….
and now
and I hope this still will be me in ten years time….
This prompt is merely a suggestion and you may choose a topic of your liking and still be included in the challenge.
Remember to add the tag A and I Poetry Challenge, to your post, so that I can link to your blog in the final end of month round up of contributors.
FINAL MONTH FOR THE POETRY CHALLENGE
POST BEFORE 31ST OCTOBER to be INCLUDED in the CHALLENGE ROUND UP POST.
The challenge is open to everyone, from complete beginners to advanced writers or aspiring poets. The challenge will include writing tips and link backs for contributors. Beginner poet, hobbyist or Advanced writer We hope you will join in.
You can write in either language, however, please post a link back, and comment at both WordPress blogs to indicate your interest and include the tag A and I Poetry Challenge.
In this way, we can find you and read your poetry.
I find there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader.
Mostly anonymous, they come to us from past generations and from across cultures. They speak of the experiences of lives lived and lessons learned.
Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something.
Weekly Proverb
“Man ska inte köpa grisen i säcken”
One shouldn’t buy the pig in the sack
Swedish Proverb
Is this proverb a caution similar to suggesting that a ‘buyer beware?” A warning against buying items, sight unseen? Or could there be a deeper hidden layer of meaning?
Weekly Quotes
“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values:
they’re just hobbies”
-Jon Stewart
and this:
Social comparison is the thief of happiness.
You could spend a lifetime worrying about what others have,
Does this proverb reflect something about the Polish culture itself, or might it have a wider resonance in our daily lives?
We might be stubborn about matters that are important to us, because we want to be on the winning side of an argument, that is not to say that we are fixated on winning for the sake of winning, but more so that we feel reassured that others think similarly to us). If so, then this might reflect some feelings of inferiority in our inner self.
Perhaps it might also be we are concrete thinkers about right and wrong?
On the other hand, could fighting for what you believe is right, be considered by some as also being stubborn, but in a positive sense?
Weekly Quotes
There is a big empasis on working collaboratively these days, especially in the workplace. The following quote seems to confirm that approach. however, where does that leave the individual prodigy? Like the Flying fox – out on a limb?
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Shall we aim to help each other more!
Then there is this quote from Wolfgang von Goethe:
Some consider Wolfgang von Goethe’s quote, to be validation for positive criticism of a person or their ability. If you believe someone to be more capable than they outwardly demonstrate, can having another source, push you to lift your standards? Does it allow the person to see themselves from a different perspective?
I find there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader.
Mostly anonymous, they come to us from past generations and from across cultures. They speak of the experiences of lives lived and lessons learned.
Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something.
I am not the girl in the poem, rather I am the one living in the tropics yearning for some cooler weather.
In Iceland, a girl yearned for some heat,
to soothe her aching, chill-blained feet.
With her savings she gained,
A ticket on a plane,
Soon stepping her toes on the beach.
September Prompt
Write a limerick poem on the change of the season and post on your blog before 28th September. If you live in the Northern hemisphere, write about the onset of Autumn. Those living in the South, including Ineke and Amanda, write about the onset of Spring.
A Limerick is a humorous poem wherein the first line sets up the character(s) and setting, so the reader knows right away who/what the story is about.
Only five lines long, limerick poems have an ‘AABBA’ rhyme scheme.
If you wish to join in with the final month of the challenge, click on the link below:
This is a really awesome limerick!!! I love it, and it has that memory making sing-song quality so that it sticks in one’s head for quite a while!!
I invite you to read this month’s submissions for the A and I Poetry challenge who have all done a fantastic job.
Poetry Challenge Contributors for September
Ju- Lyn varied the theme of seasons in refashioning-rules but also decided to give the limerick form a go, here. And I am very glad she did. The limerick is deceptively easy to write but difficult to convey a message in such few words. Ju-Lyn nailed it.
Manjamexi – penned a cheeky limerick with beautiful illustrations of mouth-watering photographs of a Cypress field many incarnations through the seasons.
Ineke’s delightful limerick on the seasonal changes in New Zealand – Scrapydo2.wordpress.com
Abrie Joubert – writes in Afrikaans but copy paste this into google Translate or use the translator button and you will find some wonderful words.
Abrie’s post on the A and I Poetry Challenge inspired two other Afrikaans writers to write limericks in the comments of Abrie’s post:
Hesterleynel – she is at it again! Well done, Hester.
Very well done to all of you! The translations were a lot of fun to read! One word translated to diarrhoea!! Not sure that it was meant as such, but it certainly was humorous!!
Hester’s post inspired Vuurklip to contribute in Afrikaans,on Hester blog post here
Tafuzul – submitted a surpise poem. He asked me to choose his best poem for his entry this month. Find it here
If you have written a poem in September and would like a linkback included here, please comment below.
Ineke mostly does the poetry in Afrikaans, while Amanda uses English.
The challenge is open to all, from first-timers up to well-advanced poets. Be sure to comment here so that we can find your poem for October and add you to the link up post at the end of this month.
October is the final month for the Poetry Challenge.
Amanda’s Poetry challenge is in English and Ineke’s Poetry Challenge is in Afrikaans, (with many translations in English). Everyone is welcome to join in. October is the final month of this challenge! Please do join in!
You can write in either language, however, please post a link back, and comment at both WordPress blogs to indicate your interest and include the tag A and I Poetry Challenge.
This prompt is merely a suggestion and you may choose a topic of your liking and still be included in the challenge.
Remember to add the tag A and I Poetry Challenge, to your post, so that I can link to your blog in the final end of month round up of contributors.
The challenge is open to everyone, from complete beginners to advanced writers or aspiring poets. The challenge will include writing tips and link backs for contributors. Beginner poet, hobbyist or Advanced writer We hope you will join in.
You can write in either language, however, please post a link back, and comment at both WordPress blogs to indicate your interest and include the tag A and I Poetry Challenge.
In this way, we can find you and read your poetry.
Write a limerick poem on the change of the season and post on your blog before 28th September. If you live in the Northern hemisphere, write about the onset of Autumn. Those living in the South, including Ineke and Amanda, write about the onset of Spring.
A Limerick is a humorous poem wherein the first line sets up the character(s) and setting, so the reader knows right away who/what the story is about.
Only five lines long, limerick poems have an ‘AABBA’ rhyme scheme.
Amanda’s challenge is in English and Ineke’s is in Afrikaans, (translations in English).
The challenge is open to everyone, from complete beginners to advanced writers or aspiring poets. The challenge will run from March to October, 2018 and will include writing tips and link backs for contributors. Beginner poet, hobbyist or Advanced writer We hope you will join in.
You can write in either language, however, please post a link back, and comment at both WordPress blogs to indicate your interest and include the tag A and I Poetry Challenge.
In this way, we can find you and read your poetry.
Amanda’s Poetry challenge is in English and Ineke’s Poetry Challenge is in Afrikaans, (with many translations in English). Everyone is welcome to join in.
You can write in either language, however, please post a link back, and comment at both WordPress blogs to indicate your interest and include the tag A and I Poetry Challenge.
This month’s feature poet is Steph, from the blog, Stories and Things Like That. I really like the repetition Steph uses in this poem and how the shape reinforces and emphasizes the touching memories of a loved one.
Blogger Submissions for August
The prompt in August was to write a poem or format a poem with a Heart theme.
We had some wonderful interpretations of this theme, so please do hop around and check them all out.
Hesterleynel writes in both Afrikaans and English, which is no easy feat and cleverly uses a heart format to communicate her words.
This is me 8 years ago…. 
there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader. 
