Saturday, May 29, 2010

Hidden Treasures

Hidden Treasures

If you do not want a kid to have something, do NOT hide it. Kids do not care about things that they are allowed to have. On the other hand, if they are not allowed to have it there is an insurmountable intrigue until the forbidden item is found.

Ruby always hid the Fletcher's Castoria in the high cupboard over the ice box. Once in awhile she would give us a spoonful when our tummies hurt. First off, it didn't taste all that bad. Secondly, it made us feel better. We had within our midst a miracle bottle of forbidden stuff that we were not allowed to have. They hid candy and cupcakes from us, too. This must be even better since they are hiding it so high up in the secret cupboard.

Did Ruby really think a Dixon child would not be able to scale the cupboard by sliding a kitchen chair a few feet across the room? Did she really think that Marian did not have the capacity to boost little Donnie onto the ice box? It was all too easy and we ran off with our prize and imbibed until the bottle was emptied beyond a droplet.

We were able to make the first bathroom run in time because we were playing upstairs near the sight of disposal. But when we were downstairs both Donnie and I made runny poo poo in our little drawers (mine being the kind with lace poofed onto the back of my pretty little undies that made my pedal pushers bulge out in the back).

Ruby cussed like a sailor as she had to follow us upstairs to rinse out our clothes, wash our hineys and dress us for the day...again. During the rinse wash and dress we each had to run to the toilet several times until Ruby thought to ask us what we had gotten into to make us so sick. Donnie and I glanced at each other and said in our small, innocent voices in unison "nothing...." To which brought on Ruby's tirade about "You little house apes expect me to believe you are shitting down your goddam legs for no reason at all? Let me get my switch!"

That's all we needed, a switch across our poor little sore bony backsides! We fessed up about the bottle of Fletcher's Castoria and spent the rest of the day where Ruby parked us in front of the bathroom door, in our skivies and with orders to eat an entire box of saltine crackers.

I have never had another spoonful of Fletcher's Castoria to this day.

Life On South Street

NASCAR and Oatmeal

NASCAR and Oatmeal

The phone rings and as I look at the caller ID my somewhat bright day has gotten a bit sunshine diminished. It's my mother calling. I try to understand that she is soon to be eighty five. And I am not the only adult child who has ever had to deal with an eighty five year old parent who lives alone. But I can tell you right now, my mother has quirks that could make other eighty-five year old parents seem like saints.

First of all, she is now and has forever been a child in an adult body. She throws temper tantrums, threatens never to speak to me again, disowns me, and in a jealous nature tries to sabotage my relationships with others. I don't claim to be the only recipient of this behavior, my sisters and brothers have felt her childish wrath as well. I can only speak for myself, though, because my coping mechanisms are much different than that of my siblings.

I believe she has told each and every one of us we could never come home after we have left to pursue a relationship. Some of us were smart enough to take her seriously and escape to far away places where she can only torture them via phone calls and during short visits. I was not one of the smart ones.

My siblings either fell into relationships that worked and are still going strong, or when they failed have been smart enough to stay away. I, on the other hand, kept coming home or never moved far enough away. So my mother latched on to me for reliance and never let go. Perhaps that is why I have developed personality disorders such as OCD and clinical depression. Oh, and we cannot forget the nervous tics and eating disorder which led me to become a huge blimp with legs. For some reason after I talk to my mother I have the urge to eat sixteen pounds of pure chocolate or 24 gallons of ice cream.

For 12 years my mother lived in a mobile home on my property and thoroughly wreaked havoc on my life. I admit I have indentured myself to the torture of relating to two senior citizens in close proximity by marrying a man near my mother's age. To make matters worse, they are mortal enemies. You see, mom tried to sabotage that relationship 28 years ago and failed. She doesn't like to fail. And Bob doesn't like the fact she even tried and he doesn't like to forget.

When I would come home from work, my mother would pop her head out the back door and begin her greeting by saying (every day, mind you) "Do you know what Bob did today?" Then I would stand there with my bladder bulging, crossing my legs, hoping I would not pee my pants, and listen as she related all the negative things she could conjure up about my dear husband. "Yeah, I will talk to him about it." I'd say as I headed for my house. I will have just about reached the back door when it flies open to reveal Bob wearing a scowl and announcing "Do you know what you mother did today?"

We have since sold our property and mom has taken up residence next to my oldest sister, the nurse. Patty is not one to let mom walk on her. She escaped early and spent her life preparing for mom's old age by taking care of her difficult mother-in-law and being the head of a nursing home. I don't believe she is actually as prepared as she thought she would be. I now get the daily call "Do you know what Patty did today?"

As frustrating as my mother makes my life I am resigned to making or receiving a daily call and one visit per week to her apartment. The daily calls have become anywhere from two to ten calls per day.. The weekly visit remains one but since I do not drink or do drugs I prepare for my visit by blasting my radio at full volume for the 35 mile trip in hopes that I will be deaf when I get there. I stop by the local Taco Bell so I can bring her two burritos. One for now, the other for later. That insures that I will be on her good side for at least the first half hour. I quickly find myself sidling up to her bad side as I am not smart enough to agree with her on her favorite subjects of NASCAR (which I hate to talk about and find it hard to even listen) and how to make and eat instant oatmeal.

I have learned two things in my life about dealing with my mother. One: just listen and don't criticize that Jeff Gordon has not finished in the top ten that week. Let her rant and rave while I nod my head once in awhile. Number Two: Agree whole heartedly that instant oatmeal shall be made and eaten from a glass measuring cup. Do not argue the point. You don't actually have to do it, just agree that it should be done and you will definitely go out and buy a glass measuring cup for that purpose.

Ruby's Last Weeks and the House on Perry Street

Strange things began to happen when we moved into the house at 608 Perry Street. I had never in my life had any psychic experiences, but there was just something about that place that had me tuned into things I didn't understand. Neighbors had told us stories about how our landlord's husband began to have bouts of withdrawal and depression soon after they had moved in there. One night he left the house and took his sports car down Route 250 and crashed at high speed into the bridge abutment in Avery. According to witnesses, it appeared to be a purposeful act...suicide. The man's wife and kids moved out of the house and rented it to our family. It didn't take long before strange things would occur.

We had several dogs at that time. My German Shepherds, Kimmie and Samantha, and three boxers...Rebel, Toastie, and Bridgette. Toastie and Bridgette had to be forced to come into the house. Rebel would come in but would not remain in a room by himself. Kimmie and Samantha refused to go upstairs, even though for as long as I had them they would sleep with me wherever I was. I slept upstairs at that house and they never joined me.

It seemed that as a family everything went downhill when we moved into that house. It may have been a coincidence, but my life as a happy-go-lucky teenager ended when we moved there. I became moody and withdrawn and didn't care to associate with as many people as I once had. Donnie began to drink heavily at the tender age of 15 and even attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of his upstairs bedroom window. It wasn't that much of a drop, so in his rag doll-like drunken state he was not hurt. He continued to re-enter the house and jump out the window until we had to call the police to come and get him.

One night I had an intense dream and woke up feeling extremely hot and felt I was surrounded by fire. It felt so real I walked through the house searching for smoke or flames. I chalked it up to a bad dream, but to this day the hair stands up on my arms when I think about how reaistic the heat felt to me that night as I dreamed or imagined flames shooting up around me. The very next night I went out with my three best friends for a night on the Ave and hanging out at Frisches. One of my friends, Bunny, lived two doors down from me on Perry Street. There was one house between us where a couple and their young chldren lived. As I related my dream to Bunny, Carol, and Sandy over a fish sandwich and cchoccolate cake at Frisches that evening, Bunny was aghast in that she had an almost identical dream the night before at approximately the same time I had my dream. She even woke her father to tell him about it. We were spooked but went on with our Friday night ritual of buzzing the Ave and panhandling for quarters for gas. whenever we saw anyone we knew who might be willing and able to contribute. Our night concluded and after Bunny and I dropped off Sandy and Carol, we headed for our homes on Perry Street, only to ffind several police cars sitting in front of my house and our next door neighbor's house. As we exitied my Corvair the nine year old girl from next door ran to me and in tears wrapped her arms around me screaming that her brother and cousins had just died in a house fire on Finch Street where they were trapped in an attic bedroom with no way to escape. They found their little bodies huddled next to the window. Bunny and I looked at each other in shock and never forgot the impact our dreams had on us because of the reality of what happened the next night.to those poor helpless children.

Fast forward to early December, 1969. As a typical teenager I didn't ccare much for the fact I had to be a chauffer for my Grandma Ruby. I was always the one to have to lug her around town for her shopping trips and pick her up at designated times and places. She was never where she was supposed to be when it came time to pick her up and I selfishly copped an attitude everytime she made me wait somewhere for her. I had places to go and people to see, you know. This particular Saturday my plans were once again put on hold as I waited for Ruby in front of the Jupiter dime store. Again she was late and again I sat there waiting. For some reason, though, I had this feeling come over me I had never felt before. It is to this day hard to describe, all I can say it was a peace and loving compassion I had never experienced before as I peered into the doors of the store and watched Ruby methodically go through a table full of socks knowing that I was waiting for her outside. I thought to myself, "She's not going to be around much longer." My eyes welled up with tears and I knew inside that soon I would be missing her and would regret I would no longer have the opportunity to haul her around and wait for her as she shopped downtown on Saturdays. This would be her last shopping trip. The next few weeks she said she didn't feel like going anywhere and she never aked me to take her shopping again. Many of the socks she had gone through on that table that December day would find their way into gift wrap and be set under our 1969 Christmas tree as her gifts to us that year.

On the first week of January in 1970 I had gone to bed after my nightly spider search. You see, I had a terrible fear of spiders and could not sleep until I had Donnie help me search my room for spiders lying in wait to terroize me while I slept. Sometimes I would awaken with the feeling we may have missed an elusive spider and I would wake Donnie and have him come to my room and re-inspect it before I went back to sleep. He always complied. Here I was a senior in high school, nearly eighteen years old and still having my younger brother protect me from one of my irrational phobias. This night when I woke up in the middle of the night I had no interest in a spider hunt. I made my way to the desk I had n my room and began to, without prior thought or design, draw a pencil sketch in my art book. When finished the sketch was of five hooded figures in black robes at the bottom of the paper, a large hand and arm extending downward from the top of the paper gentley clasped a sixth robed figure lifting it away from the five left below. I closed the art pad and went back to bed. The next morning I remembered the drawing and again sat down at my desk to inspect my midnight impulse while fully awake. At that time, I didn't know what it meant, but a few days later there were five of us left in the house as Ruby was taken away after having died in her sleep.

The night Ruby died I sat in the living room watching television and she came out of her room in good spirits joking that she was going to pitter patter her way to the bathroom. I laughed to myself that she had never pitter pattered anywhere as long as I had known her. Her mobility was restricted for years as she would shuffle through the house on paiful feet grunting as she made each step. It was odd, I didn't remember hearing her grunting in pain as she walked that night..Johnny Carson had just ended and she would return to her room and turn off her TV to go to sleep one final time. The next morning Kim awoke in the bed she shared withh Ruby and was not able to awaken her. Kim then went to mom and told her that Gram would not get up and get her and Shelly ready for school. Mom was working the night shift at Bud and Nolie's bar so Ruby would dutifuly rise to make breakfast and send us off to school. They estimated Ruby died around one o'clock A.M. Not long after pitter pattering her way to the bathroom and turning off the TV after having watched Johnny Carson.

Ruby was laid to rest after having passed away on January eighth 1970. The next six weeks were eerie in our home. Sometimes at night the curtains that were in place in Ruby's doorway instead of a door would part around one o'clock each morning. They would not blow, there was no air or wind to blow them...they would part in separate directions. The once warm room remained cold for that six week period and a smell of lilacs would eminate from the room. We went through that room with a fine tooth comb and could not find the source of the lilac smell. No one ever slept in that room again.

After leaving that house I have never had premonitions or any other psychic type experiences. The next place we lived was not a place our dogs would be afraid to enter. I often look back and wonder if what I had experienced in that house was real or my imagination. I kept the drawing of the six hooded figures for many years. You cannot convince me that there was not something about that house that infiltrated my psyche and caused fear in our dogs. Oh, and once before we moved away from there I received a tearful and terror driven call from my little sisters, Kim and Shelly while I was at work at my dad's shoe store in Huron. They asked me to please come home. They had seen Gram and was scared.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Balanced World

Different perspectives are the engine that keeps the world spinning
Marian Dixon Beatty
1952-


Balanced World

Who is to say I'm right?
It may only be a form of perception
Or how I see it through my eyes
It may clearly be deception


Who is to say I'm wrong?
Have you reviewed the pertainant facts?
Perhaps I was misled
By suspicious kinds of acts.


This life is filled with people
Who have so many perceptions
And we can only hope they all
Are complete with their inspections


If the world were tilted my way
She would never spin very true
But will balance by other perceptions
Presented by people like you


Our world will spin so pefectly
Balanced by knowledge and truth
That is why we grow and change each day
From the inception of our youth


Marian
May 24, 2010

Fighting Back

QUOTE

The directors of the CFR make up a sort of Presidium(social countries that act on behalf of legislation) for that part of the establishment that guides our destiny as a nation.


Fighting Back

Forget about our liberty
Forget about our rights
Step firmly on our dignity
As you clearly set your sights


Control us with your legisltion
Use democracy as a rouse
Make laws in secret behind our backs
Any way you choose


Ignore our pleas for representation
As the lobbyists have your ear
It's they who pay for your lifestyle
That's really very clear


Swing left, swing right it doesn't matter
You are all filled with deciet
Propose toasts when our taxes make you fatter
It makes your life complete


Blame each other for failed plans
Burn each other at the stake
As you sit on the hill with your demands
Being instituted for your own sake


Never mind the people here
We are used only to make you rich
But as we grow sronger you'll know your fear
Hey, ain't life a bitch!


Spend, and spend, and spend some more
It really ain't your money
As our country falls to unsustainable debt
In our land of milk and honey


Spread the wealth of those who earned
And made this country sail
While you in government take control
Of industry you've made fail


Be the ones who have the say
About anything we do
Put everybody in their place
But it doesn't pertain to you



Elephants and asses
It makes no matter now
For We The People are coming
And about to show you how


The Constitution has been waddded up
Into a tiny ball
By politicians just like you
Progressives one and all


Americans have been asleep
Frankly, for too long
We the People are coming
We're about to prove you wrong


So Congressmen in bed with those
Bent on our destruction
Step aside, you're finished now
As we begin reconstruction



Marian
May 24, 2010

As The Door Swings Shut

The real rulers of Washington are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes.
Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. (he said this in 1952)

As The Door Swings Shut

It was meant in the beginning
This country is to be
For the people, by the people
Folks like you and me

As lawmakers were to heed our wishes
And others were to enforce them
The president would be in charge
With his staff to re-enforce them

We were to be the ones who ruled
Far behind the scenes
It was our country after all
By every way and means

Come forth we have progressives
With ideas planted in their heads
To transform our republic
Away from what our founders said

They didn't expect the fallout
Of Americans tried and true
They didn't expect us all to stand
To do what we could do

Step aside, you Socialists
And Marxists hit the road
We true Americans are determined
To restore our founders' code

As quickly as you took your power
With your lies and false pretense
We'll take you down lawfully
As our hearts are so intense

There will not be the violence
You predicted when your plans were questioned
We'll peacefully and lawfully
Steer our country in our direction

Your adminsistration thought we could be nudged
Into complacency
But you found that patriots can't be budged
As we're borne to decency

The laws will again be written
With The Peoples' welfare in mind
Take that for what it means today
As the door hits your behind

Marian
May 2, 2010

Saturday, May 22, 2010

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom"

QUOTE

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom"

Thomas Jefferson

3rd President of the United States

Honesty

Not at all as simple as a little white lie
When dishonesty is meant to get one by
When lies are nothing but your foundation
Your life becomes an abomination


Not all as simple as stretching a truth
When it becomes a way to show your couth
When it's stretched beyond what will snap back
It's time to set your sails and change your tack


Not all as simple as twisting the facts
There comes a time when your credibilty lacks
When twisting facts is a daily grind
It's clear you are the dishonest kind


When books of fiction are all about you
In everything you say and do
It's time to untangle your fictional ways
And find that truth is all that pays


When people are tired of hearing lies
And your credibility shrivels and dies
Nothing you say is to be seriously taken
And soon you are one to be forsaken


Marian
May 22, 2010

My musings on Illegal immigration and unions

One of the top resons people give for allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the USA is that they will work the jobs that Americans do not want to work. That may be true in a booming economy, but as it stands right now, Americans need the jobs that they shunned in the past. More and more people are finding it neccesary to find work at minimum wage. Employers who do not want to pay minimum wage give jobs to illegals who will actually work for less. In my honest opinion, employers who do not adhere to the minimum wage laws are just as guilty, and maybe even more-so, than the people crossing the border to take these jobs. Those employers should be held accountable.

I live in the north central part of the good old USA. Here, we do not have an overabundance of illegal immigrants to take these lower paying jobs such as hotel maids, laundry workers, amusement park personnel, etc. These jobs are for the most part filled by legal Americans of all races and nationalities who need work. It also supplies jobs for teenagers and young people wo are newly graduated and need to have some kind of employment to get started or work their way through college. People will take these jobs at minimum wage AND pay taxes in doing so. We do not need illegals here to do these jobs. I, myself, worked sevral minimum wage jobs (many at the same time) before I finally found my life's career at the age of twenty eight.

On another note, I have in my own mind concluded that today's unions are doing more harm to our economy than good. The big unions are sucking our economy dry and chasing away businesses that could be employing Americans. They have bargained Americans right out of jobs by pricing the workforce so out of reach of many companies that they have no other recourse but to move their compnies overseas. Don't people realize that the higher the wages and benfits, the higher the prices that have to be charged for goods and services? So you get the hourly wage increase and better benefit package. Fine, but you are going to be spending it all on higher priced cars, groceries, and services. The only people who benefit are the unions who are paid by YOU to bargain for all this smoke and mirrors. The big union heads bask in their riches and watch as you think you are moving up the ladder of wealth only to be paying even more to exist than the lower wages you had in the beginning. Think about it. And of course, the big unions are funding your government representatives with their lobby to pass all the laws and regulations THEY want.

Just my thoughts and opinions on this day, May 22, 2010.

Marian

Arizona's Immigration Law

PHOENIX - As the debate over Arizona's new immigration law continues, there's a growing debate about the difference between Arizona's law and the existing federal immigration law.

Governor Brewer said she signed SB1070 in April in response to “the crisis the federal government has refused to fix.”

Brewer and the bill's sponsor, Sen. Russell Pearce, also said it "mirrors" federal law.

The comparison is one of several questions that are hanging over the new law. And since it passed, some of the facts have been twisted and exaggerated.

So what's fact and what's fiction?

1. Will SB1070 force police to racially profile?

SB1070 says police cannot solely consider race, color or national origin.

It also says officers can only ask during a valid traffic stop or an investigation with probable cause.

In short, for those who say it allows officers to profile... it doesn't.

2. Will you need to prove that you are a U.S. citizen if you are stopped?

The bill is clear, if you're a U.S. citizen you need local, state or federally issued identification, like a driver's license.

If you're a naturalized citizen you need your green card or proof of citizenship. But that's already required by the U.S. government, not Arizona.

So do you need proof? Yes.

3. Another concern is if SB1070 will cost governments and taxpayers.

The law will require every officer to be trained. The governor just ordered it.

There will also be extra costs for prosectuing, transporting and jailing suspects.

How much? Police and correction departments are still figuring that out, but it will cost us.

4. Other issues have come up about if the bill is constitutional and if it "mirrors" federal law.

The bill is based on U.S. statutes and gives Arizona police the power that federal officers have.

It's not a new idea. In 1996, the U.S. trained local officers to enforce national immigration laws under the 287(g) program.

This bill is a bigger extension of that program.

To see Arizona's law, the federal law, and more analysis, check out the links below:

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (raw text)

Federal Immigration Law
- Section 8 USC 1324 (Bringing in and harboring certain aliens)

- Section 8 USC 1324a (Unlawful employment of aliens)

- Section 8 USC 1324b (Unfair immigration-related employment practices)

- Section 8 USC 1324c (Penalties for document fraud)

- Section 8 USC 1324d (Civil penalties for failure to depart)

- Section 8 USC 1325 (Improper entry by alien)

Friday, May 7, 2010

My Oath

QUOTE

By a Declaration liberty is born, with courage she is nourished and with unceasing commitment she is guarded.

Eric Schaub

Individualist, Activist, Speaker and Author


My Oath

I'll declare my right to freedom
And in liberty I shall thrive
I'll nourish this right with courage
As long as I'm alive

I commit myself to protect my liberty
In every peaceful means
And stand up with other patriots
My fellow human beings

I pledge allegience to our flag
And to the Constitution for which it stands
Alone and with others I will fight
To whatever degree it demands

I will shun the revolutionaries
Bent on making changes
To prohibit all our liberty
To what level that need engages

I will use my votes as best I can
Choosing those who take an oath
To uphold the words of our founders
Against the elitists that I loathe

I will go hand and hand with patriots
To march for what is best
To preserve the Constiution
Which for years has passed the test

Marian
May 7, 2010

Our Treasures

QUOTE

Can we truly expect those who aim to exploit us be trusted to educate us?

Eric Schaub

Individualist, Activist, Speaker and Author


Our Treasures

Each day we hand over all our best
To educate and be made to test
We trust that each day we will find
We do right by our children's mind

If someone comes forward to exploit us
Change our lives and reannoit us
To take the life that we have cherished
To spit on the blood of those who perished

Will we still trust those who came to betray us
Who've turned our sun to days of grayest
To take the minds of our children dear
And educate them with words we fear?

There comes a time when we need to stand
And protect what is valuable in our hands
The riches will be the children we bore
The treasures we are living for

Marian
May 7, 2010

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Saul The Divider

Good Day Dear Prunes...

Here's a quote to consider by Saul Alinsky.

QUOTE

A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family.

He was a Community Organizer and writer, born 1909, died 1972

His teachings influenced our Prez and is our Prez a racist?


Saul The Divider

Is Saul Alinsky saying
The white race shold make their exit?
Is that really what equality is?
Is that really how to fix it?

Is equality someone stepping down
For another to step up?
Should not we all be equal
To share the water cup?

Why must there be division
In one race to the next?
Don't all the people here deserve
The same amount of respect?

Is Saul Alinsky saying
Some have had their time?
And others are to be the ones
To top the mountain that we climb?

The mountain top is big enough
For all to stand and wave
In this country of equality
The free and and of course the brave!

Marian
May 6, 2010