FIVE BY FIVE

While I'm on a roll, like a good librarian, I would like to point out the highest rated and the most popular posts in the last five years. For your reading pleasure, I present the top five in each category.


THE TOP FIVE POSTS RATED BY THE NUMBERS ACCORDING TO GOOGLE


1.     BJORN BORG HAS A PIMPLE ON HIS TEMPLE     August 19, 2018  
   
"There WAS a defining moment for the writer in me. My Daddy said, “You can always be on the newspaper!” the crushing after-second I found out I did not make the drill team at my new school. I probably fell out on the floor. My life was over...

My trusty cassette tape recorder was shaking in my lap. His fur coat was draped across a Razorback director’s chair. I was sixteen, he was twenty with brilliant blond hair and blue eyes... "
                              
https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2018/08/bjorn-borg-has-pimple-on-his-temple.html
                  
2.     THE DEFINITION OF A GOOD MAMA     May 13, 2018

For her, it has been a wonderful addition to her life...But this nutto cat is one more example of my mother's tremendous love and devotion...in her circle of family. And this cat is quite elevated...She gets away with mayhem because she has the ability to purr.

Leftovers are only tomorrow's meal in three weeks from the freezer. Waste not, want not.  But it was the chili, just that once.

Standing on the tarmac in her winter coat in Morocco.  Left waiting by her Naval Officer because he was right in third grade but wrong about her arrival time. 

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-definition-of-good-mama.html


3.     BUT LATELY, I'VE LEARNED ALOT     February 18, 2018

I didn't know a collarbone could get old. But, lately, I've learned alot. I have learned my sixteen year old mind is attached to a little bit older physical body...I learned I was most likely watching Trump in escort to a function. According to my experts.

I have learned that you can lose your boarding pass but not your cool while the TSA agent is nothing but nice. Of course, no one was in line, thankfully, while you pull little receipts out of your crossover bag and lipstick and a credit card and the "pill" tin and the phone.

I have learned that 4,000 miles in one month is alot of travel.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2018/02/but-lately-ive-learned-alot.html

4.     OH SAY, WHY CAN'T WE SEE LIFE AND LIBERTY?     July 4, 2017

You can see Washington D.C. from her kitchen window.

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."  The exact lyrics when this man from Togo tells me he is dreaming of the day he can bring his family to America.  He is working on the Dream.

When and why does our dream for freedom, two hundred years ago, one hundred, thirty years ago matter more than the least of these?  Life and liberty- a gift not a given.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2017/07/oh-say-why-cant-we-see-life-and-liberty.html


5.     VACATION RECESS: A GOOD MATTRESS WILL GET YOU THROUGH   July 2, 2017

We had four because we were four, traveling the country in a packed to the gills Yellow Ford Galaxy...The best ever air mattresses were dual purposed, a necessity for camping.  By night, soft pillows of air tucked under flannel lined sleeping bags.  In the light of day and within sight of water, buoys across whatever beach, river, or lake called our name to a day of water-filled adventure.

We didn't have anything resembling an air pump but two pairs of lungs.  Oh the joy for the lucky children who got to blow up the mattresses.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2017/07/vacation-recess-good-air-mattress-will.html

MY TOP FIVE PERSONAL FAVORITES (in no particular order)

1.   THE BRIDE WORE RED TENNIS SHOES   (The Series)  Part 1  September 12, 2013

   
The bride wore red tennis shoes.  And she was running down the street as genteel as a bride, who is running down the street in a long wedding gown and veil, clutching a bouquet and her groom...can run.

This was just a few days into my writing sabbatical... But this was the very first time in my life that I had driven off to spend time all by myself.

I unloaded the car...and found a perfect writing spot for my laptop, an old antique box in front of the sofa.  The one room cottage was ...charming in the fashion of this popular bed and breakfast mecca where uniqueness, artistic freedom and spiritual enlightenment mesh together harmoniously.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bride-wore-red-tennis-shoes-part-1.html

     THE BRIDE WORE RED TENNIS SHOES     Part 2   September 18, 2013

 Our honeymoon bed and breakfast was for sale... The roadside was weary with for sale signs... Here and there, new was beginning to replace the old...but unfortunately, most dreams do not last forever.

When I stepped out of the store, giddy with my new purchases, I was surprised to see a new bank of clouds in the western sky.  The colors were not pretty, the blue, green, grey of nothing good will happen.  I had no choice but to head the car ...right into the threatening storm.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bride-wore-red-tennis-shoes-part-2.html


     THE BRIDE IS STILL WEARING RED TENNIS SHOES   Part 3   September 21, 2013

Thursday morning had hardly begun when both mothers started calling about the pending weather...the thunder and lightening were shaking the ground so badly that I had crawled under the bed, not into the bed but under the bed, for cover.

One day...the manager ... introduced me to the yard man.  They were both distinctive looking, reminding me of the description of Ichabod Crane, twisted scarecrows with bad teeth.  Nice but kinda' creepy.  But as Sister says, "We don't know, what we don't know."

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bride-is-still-wearing-red-tennis.html


     THE RED TENNIS SHOES (FINAL)     Part 4     September 24, 2013

Hot tea sounded good to me.  Walking back to the sofa, I spied the guest book.

Curling up on the sofa with my travel blanket, I put my mug down on the antique chest...My laptop and paperwork were stacked about...I had a cozy little nest even with all the lights on.

I slept with a light on...I woke up wild and wired.

Nothing got better as the day wore on, not my mental state, not the weather, not the color of the sky, not the possibility of a rescue...The sky was darkening and turning green black.

I had never gone into a motel and gotten my own room... Now I was facing the coursing clouds...My heart was racing.  I wanted shelter.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-red-tennis-shoes-final.html

2.   KUDZU     November 18, 2013

The last morning in Maine was ending in a late afternoon in New Jersey...With all of his energy, Daddy went inside, returning with a map and directions to our room.

In its halcyon days, this motel had offered the best accommodations...The place was not seedy or dirty, just past its prime.

The young man sitting next to me was from New York City.  He asked me if I was from the South...Touring Graceland had been his personal highlight...he loved the South.

I told Buddy I had been on the road with my parents...now we were heading home. Daddy had been a trooper but he was worn out... we were headed back to the South.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2013/11/kudzu.html


3.     TUMPED, RATTLED AND ROLLED     August 14, 2015

This great adventure began with a surprise and a birthday... I told him to pack his basics. I packed tricks up my sleeve.

 Neither one of us had ever floated or tubed down a river...this was going to be a nice little float down a lazy river with a little rapid here and there.

You are at the mercy of the river.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2015/08/tumped-rattled-and-rolled.html


4.     DROP DAY      October 21, 2017

I woke up this morning and realized today was the day, the primary day of acorn flinging, Drop Day. Elephants running across our roof.

Drop Day is a big deal at my house.  We have oak and hickory trees circling the house.  The acorns are so big...The dog has had his legs crossed for days. 

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2017/10/drop-day.html

5.      TO SEE AND HEAR     December 17, 2017

Ezekiel. Sarah. Mary. Wondering, running, hoping.

https://tocatchathought.blogspot.com/2017/12/to-see-and-hear.html









5 X 5 The Top Recipes and the Top Poems soon to follow, completing the anniversary celebration series.