The Pink Dress

       There was this little girl sitting by herself in the park.  Everyone passed by her and never stopped to see why she looked so sad.  Dressed in a worn pink dress, barefoot and dirty, the girl just sat and watched the people go by.

She never tried to speak.  She never said a word.

Many people passed by her, but no one would stop.

The next day I decided to go back to the park in curiosity to see if the little girl would still be there. Yes, she was there, right in the very spot where she was Yesterday, and still with the same sad look in her eyes.

Today I was to make my own move and walk over to the little girl.  For as we all know, a park full of strange people is not a place for young children to play alone.  As I got closer I could see the back of the little girl's dress. It was grotesquely shaped.  I figured that was the reason people just passed by and made no effort to speak to her.  Deformities are a low blow to our society and, heaven forbid if you make a step toward assisting someone who is different.

As I got closer, the little girl lowered her eyes slightly to avoid my intent stare.  As I approached her, I could see the shape of her back more clearly. She was grotesquely shaped in a humped over form.  I smiled to let her know it was OK; I was there to help, to talk.  I sat down beside her and opened with a simple, “Hello”.

        The little girl acted shocked, and stammered a 'hi '; after a long stare into my eyes.  I smiled and she shyly smiled back. We talked until darkness fell and the park was completely empty.

       I asked the girl why she was so sad. The little girl looked at me with a sad face said, “Because, I'm Different”.

       I immediately said, “That you are”! and smiled.  The little girl acted even sadder and said, “I know”.

      “Little girl”, I said, “you remind me of an angel, sweet and innocent”. 

       She looked at me and smiled, then slowly she got to her feet and Said, “Really”?  

       “Yes, you're like a little Guardian Angel sent to watch over all the people walking by”. She nodded her head and smiled.

With that she opened the back of her pink dress and allowed her Wings to spread, then  she said “I am”.

       “I'm your Guardian Angel”, with a twinkle in her eye.

I was speechless -- sure I was seeing things.  She said,  “For once you thought of someone other than yourself. My job here is done”.

I got to my feet and said, “Wait, why did no one stop to help an Angel”.

She looked at me, smiled, and said, “You're the only one that could see me”, and then she was gone.

And with that, my life was changed dramatically.

So, when you think you're all you have, remember, your angel is always watching over you. 

Tea with Daddy

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me.

I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident.

Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just  water.

After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.

My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' 

My Mom waited, and sure enough, I walked down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watched him drink it up.

Then she says, (as only a mother would know... :)

'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that your daughter can reach to get water is the toilet?' 

Police With A Sense of Humor

In most northern states, law enforcement authorities have a policy of checking on any stalled vehicle on the highway when the temperatures drop down to single digits or lower.

About 3:00 a.m. one very cold morning in March 2004, a State Police officer responded to a call concerning a car off the shoulder of the road on the outskirts of Casper. He located the car, stuck in deep snow and with the engine still running.

Pulling in behind the car with his emergency lights on, the officer walked to the driver's door and found an older man asleep behind the wheel with a nearly empty vodka bottle on the seat beside him.

The driver woke up when the officer tapped on the window. Seeing the rotating lights in his rear view mirror and the State Police officer standing next to his car, the man panicked, jerked the gearshift into "Drive", and hit the gas. The car's speedometer was showing 20, then 30, then 40, and finally 50 MPH, but the car was still stuck in the snow, wheels spinning madly.

The officer, having a sense of humor, began running in place next to the "speeding" but still stationary car. The driver was totally freaked out thinking the officer was actually keeping up with him. This went on for about 30 seconds, after which the Patrolman yelled at the man and ordered him to "Pull Over!" The man obeyed, turned the steering wheel to the right, and stopped the engine.

Needless to say, the "driver" was arrested and is probably still shaking his head over the State Patrolman who could run 50 miles per hour.  Who says cops don't have a sense of humor?

HOW TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE READY TO HAVE CHILDREN

MESS TEST Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

TOY TEST Obtain a 55-gallon box of LEGOs (or you may substitute roofing tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream because this would wake a child at night.

GROCERY STORE TEST Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.

DRESSING TEST Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.

FEEDING TEST Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.

NIGHT TEST Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8-12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00 p.m. begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00 p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00 p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00 a. m. Set alarm for 5:00 a.m. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

INGENUITY TEST Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and pot of paint, turn it into an alligator. Now take a toilet paper tube and turn it into an attractive Christmas candle. Use only scotch tape and a piece of foil. Last, take a milk carton, a Ping-Pong ball, and an empty box of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

AUTOMOBILE TEST Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it into the cd player. Take a family size package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There, perfect.

PHYSICAL TEST (Women) Obtain a large bean bag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the beans.

PHYSICAL TEST (Men) Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

FINAL ASSIGNMENT Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers.

Will The Real Best Friend Please Stand Up?

A dog is truly a man's best friend. If you don't believe it, just try this experiment:

Put your dog and your wife in the trunk of the car for an hour.
When you open the trunk, who is the one most happy to see you?

Marriage Quotes By Men

These are baaaad . . . but funny!!!

I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always.

It's not true that married men live longer than single men. It only seems longer.

Losing a wife can be hard. In my case, it was almost impossible.

A man was complaining to a friend: 'I had it all - money, a beautiful house, a big car, the love of a beautiful woman; then, Pow! it was all gone!' 'What happened?' asked the friend. 'My wife found out..'

Wife: Let's go out and have some fun tonight.

Husband: Okay, but if you get home before I do, leave the hallway light on.

How many men does it take to open a soda can?

None. It should be opened by the time she brings it to the couch.

A man rushes into his house and yells to his wife, 'Martha, pack up your things! I just won the California lottery!' Martha replies, 'Shall I pack for warm weather or cold?' The man responds, 'I don't care. Just so long as you're out of the house by noon!'

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street bald and still think they are beautiful!

I haven't spoken to my wife for 18 months - I don't like to interrupt her.

If your wife and a lawyer were drowning and you had to choose, would you go to lunch or to a movie?

A man is incomplete until he is married.  After that, he is finished.

The Forgotten Birthday

Brian forgot his wife's birthday. His wife was mad. She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!!" The next morning when his wife woke up, she looked out the window to find a box… gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale  . . . 
Brian has been missing since Friday!

Incredible Storm Pictures of Lighthouses

Amazing what kind of weather lighthouses have to endure. 
Equally amazing are the lighthouse keepers that are brave enough to live there.

This actually was a very recent forwards that I decided to add right now.  
Check out the website where these pictures came from (there are also some other pics not included here).  The video of the storm beating against the lighthouse at the end is awesome . . . visit it just to see that.  Incredible.

Click Here to see orginal web site with more pics

Bajamar in the Canary Islands of Spain by Olga Diez

Big Sea by Tony (midlander1231)

Blizzard Rams New England. 1978 Pulitzer Prize, Feature Photography,
Staff Photographers of Boston Herald American.
The lighthouse is 114 feet high,
which means that foam is spraying 100 feet into the air,
propelled upward by a raging sea that sinks ships
and floods towns up and down the coast.

It is Feb. 8, 1978.
A blizzard has rammed New England, shutting down roads,
businesses and schools. Snow buries everything. Nothing moves.
 Kevin Cole, chief photographer at The Boston Herald American,
is stuck in Plymouth, Mass.
“The snow was over the house. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Determined to cover the storm, Cole heads for the Hyannis airport.
“I found this place called Discover Flying School. The wind was blowing.
The pilot said ‘You’re crazy, nobody’s going up.’”
Before long, they are airborne.
“It was this little, tiny plane. We took off.
The whole coastline was gone, houses in the water, houses floating,
waves crashing inside them. About two miles out, I saw Minot Light.”
In the raging wind, they circle the lighthouse. The pilot tells Cole,
“We can’t stay out here any longer.’ Just as he started to turn, I saw a huge wave.
That’s when I got that shot, and that’s the same time I threw up.”
Other Herald American photographers fan out around the region,
photographing the blizzard’s destruction:
Villages buried in freezing flood waters, commuters trapped in snow-covered cars.
The newspaper publishes a special section,
which chronicles the worst New England storm in 200 years—54 dead,
10,000 homeless and evacuated. 
By Staff Photographers of Boston Herald American via cliff1066™
http://www.hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com/78blizzard.html

Artic Blast - Ludington South Breakwater Lighthouse by James Marvin Phelps

Winds 30-40, gusts to 55, mid lake waves at 17-22 ft, very impressive storm. 

This was taken from the beach at Frankfort Michigan. 

The lighthouse in the photo is 76 ft tall. By Jim Sorbie

Giant Crashing Wave still can’t touch the lighthouse. By Borf The Dog

Grand Haven Lighthouse. The photographer described, 

“In this picture is the outer and inner light. 
The outer light is 36′ tall and the inner light is 51′ tall. 

I was able to venture out safely about 150′
without getting washed into the water. 

Twice I got a bath from the waist down.
As the remnants of the record low pressure moved on 

this past weekend the waves on Lake Michigan were pretty rough. 

When we got the beach in the early afternoon
winds were topping out at 50 mph making for some huge
waves breaking on the end of the pier by the outer light. 

Some of the breaks were reaching 40′ tall.” By © Luke Hertzfeld

Battered Grand Haven Pier Lighthouse By James Marvin Phelps

Liquid Thunder – Waves Crashing into Grand Marais Harbor Light.  
by James Marvin Phelps

Winter Rage Grand Haven Pier Light.  By James Marvin Phelps

Hide and Seek … Today’s puzzle – try to find the pier hidden in this picture. 

Hint: the glimpse of the lighthouse may be a clue.  By Mrs Logic

Winter Fury at Ludington North Breakwater Light. By James Marvin Phelps

Artic Blast – Ludington South Breakwater Light.  By James Marvin Phelps

Visit Michigan in the winter? Brrr!  Michigan Travel Bureau via EPA

Furious Lake Michigan Petoskey – waves and ice.  by Charles Dawley

THE POWER OF THE STORM! Mouro Lighthouse, Spain. 

The ferocious waves exceeded the height of 37.5 meters (123 feet)! 

The foam breaks down and is “floating” on the wind. 

By © Rafael G. Riancho

Waves striking seawall give appearance of geysers erupting. 

New England coast – 1938. By NOAA / National Weather Service

Petoskey Winter Storm.  by Charles Dawley

Perfect Timing – Petoskey Breakwall. Photo taken during a windy cold day in October.
The waves were amazing!  by Charles Dawley

Porthcawl Harbor Storm.  by Nick Russill

Lunchtime at the Lighthouse Frankfort Michigan lighthouse. 

When there’s a strong wind out of the southwest, dramatic things happen!. 

 by Jim (jimflix!)

The photographer described this awesome shot as, 

“Stormy weather and rough seas at Roker Lighthouse.”  by © Gail Johnson

Monster waves: Rough weather for lighthouse keepers.  
by Mariners Weather Log/NOAA

Rough weather by Pablo Lopez

Okay, not waves attacking in a power struggle against man-made lighthouses, 

but this shot was creepy cool. The photographer called it Sea Point Storm and wrote, 

“Pity that this came out blurred, but I was running at the time. 

Foam monster attacking the public.”  by mallix

Sheboygan Lighthouse (NOAA Station SGNW3).  by University of Wisconsin

Smell the salt? Fishing boat coming in during a storm, 

winds a 130 km/h (80 mph).  by Nico (maessive)

Gale force winds at South Haven, Michigan attract visitors to the lighthouse and pier, 

along with surfers and intrepid kayakers.  by Tom Gill

South Haven Pier. Gale force winds pound the South Haven, Michigan lighthouse 

and pier during a two day storm. Gusts of over 50 miles per hour 

created 16 to 20 foot waves in open water.  by Tom Gill

Gale force winds throughout the day churned up Lake Michigan 

and created high waves along the South Haven, Michigan shore. 

The lighthouse tower is 35 feet tall (from the pier) another six feet to the water – 

making that splash around 50 feet tall.  by Tom Gill

Gale force winds throughout the day churned up Lake Michigan 

and created high waves along the South Haven, Michigan shore. T

he lighthouse tower is 35 feet tall (from the pier) another six feet to the water – 

making that splash around 50 feet tall.  by Nwardez

Aftermath of the Winter Storm: The photographer described this photo as, “30 foot tall outer light of the St. Joseph, Michigan after a severe winter storm. Waves on Lake Michigan were said to be over 20 feet high, which pounded the lighthouse and covered it in ice feet thick in places. Workers were just finishing up a paint job when the storm hit. The scaffold was demolished and is also covered in a thick layer of ice.”

Ice Drapery: Ice formed on the St. Joseph, Michigan lighthouse 

and catwalk during a winter storm that churned up 

Lake Michigan and created 20 foot waves. 

The ice apparently broke the “hand rail” cables on the catwalk, 

and they are now drooping down with tons of ice.  by Tom Gill

The hard life of the lighthouse.  by Juan José Aza

Wind, waves and water. 

Beautiful but pounding at the coastline and the lighthouse. 

by Earl Wilkerson

The Oswego Lighthouse is awash with waves 

during a November 2003 storm with 80 mph winds. 

 by © 2003 Jon R. Vermilye via http://www.byways.org

Typhoon-generated waves striking a breakwater in Japan – 

Historic NWS Collection.   by NOAA / NWS / NASA

The photographer and friend were sprayed while capturing photos of waves.

by Olga (__o[IT]__)

Wollongong Lighthouse & Waves.  by Steven (The Waterboy)

“The walk to the lighthouse was treacherous- the pier is also covered in a layer of ice. Most of the way was slow going, but the walk next to the inner light was the most difficult. There is only a path about 20 inches wide with the lighthouse to your left, and the frigid lake to your right. I managed to carefully negotiate the path and make it out to the outer light. In hindsight, I’m lucky I didn’t go for an unexpected winter swim.” Photo #6 by Tom Gill


Video from original web site:

October 2011