Chickens and Eagles

Once upon a time an eagle’s egg was found by a farmer. He 
thought it was a chicken egg, so he put the egg with the other 
eggs in the incubator in the hen house.  

Some weeks later that egg hatched. The baby eagle was raised as 

a chicken with the other chicks. Along with his chicken peers, he was taught to peck and scratch. He was made to scurry along the ground like the other chickens. He was sternly warned against flying, because chickens don’t really fly, they flutter and fall. 

This eagle made a miserable chicken. He didn’t peck well. 
He hated scurrying because he was always feeling clumsy 
and falling. He was constantly hungry and irritable, because 
the chicken feed just couldn’t seem to satisfy him. The other chickens found him disruptive and odd. 

After years of struggling to be a normal chicken, this 
poor eagle’s self esteem was pretty low. He hated himself. 
“Why am I so big, awkward and different?” he often 
wondered, “Why can’t I be happy like all the other 
chickens here?” “Is this all there is to life?” he 
agonized, “Where’s the thrill? Where’s the flow?” 

He began to do more and more disruptive things just 
to get a little hit of excitement. He was starved for 
action and adventure – he desperately craved in his 
heart that feeling of soaring – only he didn’t even 
know what that was – so he tried to compensate by
making his own thrills around the chicken coop, 
causing drama and disturbances. 

Other chickens called him selfish, disordered and a 
troublemaker. The poor eagle took it all to heart, 
believed them and became depressed. 

One day, high overhead the young eagle saw another
eagle soaring in the sky. It took his breath away. 
For a moment he felt a surge of recognition. He felt 
something inside him stir. He felt more alive than he 
had ever felt before.  

In his excitement he told his family of chickens what 
he saw and how he wanted to fly like that too. They 
scoffed at him. “Are you nuts?!” “You’re dreaming.” 
“Get real. Chickens don’t fly.” “You are being totally 
impractical.” “You can’t even cluck and scratch - and 
now you think you can fly someday!?” the chickens 
chided. “When will you grow up and join the pecking 
order of this chicken coop? Why can’t you be more like 
your peers? What’s wrong with you?!”

The young eagle was shamed and disheartened. He felt
hopeless and alone as he fell to sleep at night. 

Days later, to his delight, he spotted the soaring bird 
and this time it let out the cry of an eagle. The moment 
the young eagle raised by chickens heard this cry 
something unexpected happened. His body lurched 
uncontrollably – his entire being responded automatically
to that eagle’s majestic cry with a powerful eagle cry 
of his own. He was astonished. “What just happened?!… 
Did that glorious sound come from me? Chickens don’t 
make that sound! Only eagles do… Wait… 
Only eagles do!” 

The young eagle, finally aware of what he truly was, for 
the first time stretched out his wings and flew. Before 
he knew it he was soaring. He was no longer imprisoned 
by the chicken coop, because he was no longer imprisoned 
by the idea that he had to be a chicken. 

Nothing could contain him anymore. 

A chicken coop can only coop up chickens; it cannot 
stop an eagle from soaring – especially once they 
hear their call. 

Have you heard your call? 


Are you a chicken or an eagle?


Are you an eagle pretending you are a chicken?


Are you an eagle being told you are a chicken?


OR are you a chicken pretending to be an eagle????????

HaPPy St PATriCK's DaY!!!!!!!!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK"S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wishing you all the luck of the leprechauns!!

(and the snakes)

see you soon!!

Love Mima.

We can all be a Picasso!!!!!

I FOUND THIS ART PROJECT THAT IS SO SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

Pablo Picasso was a famous painter in the early 1900's.  Josh, I think you still have the book in your room about Picasso that I brought back from Paris. You may want to look at it as it will help you better understand the idea.

These are instructions to draw a Picasso Dog

Don't worry too much how it looks. Just have fun. The result is supposed to be strange.

So, get a piece of paper and some colored markers and follow these directions.

• With a fine point marker, draw an eye anywhere on the paper. Make it as simple or as fancy as you want. 

• Turn your paper 90 degrees clockwise (ask mom if you are not sure what this means)

• Draw a second eye several times bigger than the first eye. It can be just the same or different than the first eye, but it must be a lot bigger.

• Turn your paper 90 degrees clockwise.

• Draw a nose or a snout. It doesn't matter where on your paper you draw any of these things.

• Turn your paper 90 degrees clockwise.

• Draw a leg or a paw.

• Turn your paper 90 degrees clockwise.

• Draw a tail.

• Turn your paper 90 degrees clockwise.

• Connect all of the things you drew together with straight lines and curved lines. Don't worry too much what it looks like, just connect the pieces together and stop when it feels right.

• Finish with markers and colored pencils.

Here's the dog I drew, but don't look at it until you are finished with yours.

Then I thought we should be able to do this with any thing so I drew parts of a person.

• Draw an eye.
• Turn the paper
• Draw another, bigger eye.
• Turn the paper.
• Draw a nose.
• Turn the paper.
• Draw lips.
• Turn the paper.
• Draw feet or ears or legs. (Or any other body part you want.)
• Connect all the parts with straight lines or curved lines.
• Finish with markers and colored pencils.

Here's my person. It was SO much fun.  Maybe I will try a tree next. Or the parts of a bicycle. Wish I was there to do this with you!

Maybe you can take pictures of your art and email them to me. I could even put them on the blog!!

Butt Stickers!!!!!!!

I still haven't heard from you guys what to put in the About Josh and the About Owen Boxes!!!!!

Better get your 2 cents in or I will have to make something up. It may not be pretty!

I have been thinking a lot about cacti.

(plural for cactus)

Because I am in the Arizona desert and they are everywhere.

Beautiful, aren't they?

So, this is 'The Story'. 

I was out walking and I had to go to the bathroom. I thought of how both of you just GO. In the forest or where ever in the wilderness you may be, so I did.

And I lost my balance and fell .............. yes, you guessed it.... ON A CACTUS!!!!!!

That was 1 week and 3 days ago and I still have stickers in my butt!

Can you guess which one of these was the unfortunate smashed cactus?

I guess the moral of the story is: If you MUST pee in the wilderness make sure there are no cacti (or poison oak) around AND try to keep your balance.

I would love to hear what you think of this story and any information you can give me on cactus!!!!!

WiLL You BE mY ValeNTInE?

I have been very, very busy getting ready to wish Owen and Josh Happy Valentine's Day!

I made cookies and decorated them!

Two Batches!!!!

I made a cake!

I bought little heart candies with special words on them!! Like BE MINE and KISS and HUG!

I made this funny card that says fanny! (What is a fanny valentine?)

I blew up balloons! 

And I flew an airplane up into the sky to spell out LOVE and then I set it on fire so you can see it in the California sky all the way from Arizona!!!

What have you been doing?

HappY HAppY VaLenTine'S DAy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROADKILL

I was going to talk about The Quartzsite Museum but I will save that for tomorrow.

Today I am going to talk about ROAD KILL.

Owen, you said something yesterday about going out on the road and being ROAD KILL. So, here are some ROAD KILL pictures from Interstate 10. The freeway I am on going from California to Arizona.

Actually, I think that is a kangaroo so it would not be in California, would it?

And, an Armadillo, would that be in California? Or Arizona?

Who knows what that was!!???? Not so pretty!!

It is SO sad. It makes me think of Roxy and Cooper and Luney. What if that was one of them??!!

OK, I must admit, this one is kind of funny. A what ever he was drinking beer and wearing a party hat!!!

Only a little funny though, cuz now he is DEAD!!

Write in the comment section what you think of ROAD KILL now.

Is it different then before you saw these pictures?

Love you! Dead or Alive.

MIMA

Tell ME soMething

There is not much going on around here.

Luney is sleeping and I am still in my pajamas. Oops, I woke him up when I took his picture. Now he looks crabby.

I did buy this little table yesterday for $20.00. It is really sturdy. I can use it by the sofa to set things on. I can use it outside. I can sit on it. And...oh, I guess I better not try to stand on it. That may not be very safe. It is really light too. I can pick it up with one finger!

I will leave Quartzsite and go to Palm Springs tomorrow. ( I am still working on that map) AFTER I have the batteries checked, check about a heater, go to the museum, visit a memorial garden for a little girl, and take a shower.

I am going to write a section 'AbOUt JoSH' and a section 'AboUt OWen' on the side of the blog under About MiMa. See it over there with nothing written in it yet?

In the comment section tell me what I should say! About yourselves and about each other.

And remember to answer the almost daily question of the day. Also found in the right hand column.

I am counting on you!!!!!!

Love you and think about you every day and wonder what you are doing every day!!!!

Keep me in the know.

It's a Dogs Life

There are some crazy dogs around here. This one looks like a sweet one. He was sleeping behind where his owner had a booth selling things. She woke him up when I asked to take his picture. As you can tell he did not want to be bothered.

 I am the only one in the whole town who has a cat!!

 I will add more pictures when I have better internet service. A BIG dog sitting up on the dashboard like Luney does. Lots of dogs in strollers and baby carriers. 

I can't believe this dog would wear PINK!!!!

You can write back to me under  comments.

How is everything going? 

I miss you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

READY! SET! GO!

Today I will start writing to you and sending you pictures so you can know where I am and what I am doing! AND you can write back to me so I will know where you are and what you are doing!

I can't wait to hear from you!!

I am in Quartzsite, Arizona.  (I am trying to figure out how to get a map on here so you can see where I am. I will keep working on that.)

Josh, you must know this. Latitude 33 degrees 39 ' 50 N
                                       Longitude 114 degrees 13 '
With just this information you could find me!!!!!!!

On a map or in person.

There are house vans everywhere! Big and little. Long and short. 10 miles in every direction of the town. Normally there are 3,500 people in this town. There are over 500,000 people right now. So, this is the story problem. How many extra people are in town right now? Post your answer in the comment section.

This is kind of like Where's Waldo. But it is Where's Tooter?  Do you see us? I know, this is an easy one. I will make it harder next time.








Hope you are having a great week at school. And great days at karate, I mean Jijitsu.

I would love to hear about it!

LOVE, MIMA