Today, I spent from 10 to 2 reading poems, essays and short stories written by middle schoolers for a contest the Sheboygan County Writer's Club sponsored with the Sheboygan Press. The Press has been VERY helpful with this project. They printed the ads totally free and have agreed to print the winning compositions and the names of ALL the participants. We received entries from most of the middle schools in the city mostly from the private schools. Most of the entries were pretty indifferent but there were glimmers of wit and talent and some of them were quite good. We found the poetry winners and narrowed down the essay and story entries to a managable number. The other four judges will meet on Monday to finalize those.

The five of us who judged the entries then went to lunch at the Mucky Duck. I had a tuna melt. Love them.

Jane, one of the fellow writer friends, has a Welch Corgi who has back trouble. The dog's name is Daisy and she is a sweet thing. Jane says she is usually a goofy playful thing and it is just heartbreaking to see her so subdued and uncomfortable. The vet she is seeing has not been able to help and she is going to try a second opinion. I remember when Chelsea had a bit of back trouble but that was when she would grab on to her rag and we would swing her around a bit and she would wiggle and fuss. We don't do that any more and fortunatly that has not reoccurred. It is so hard to have pets in pain. They keep looking at you expecting you to fix it.

We discussed pets. Jane said that when she taught she had all kinds of animals in her classroom including snakes. Ann Pirrung said that she hates snakes and it reminded me of an event that Aunt Velma told me. Joan, her daughter, was just a little and sitting in a high chair. A garden snake crawled into the kitchen as Velma was feeding her. Velma panicked and ran screaming out of the kitchen AND the house, leaving poor little Joanie sitting in the high chair. That is fear.

Tomorrow is quite a full day AGAIN. I am just about caught up so that I can leave this town for Branson with a clear conscience and nothing hanging over my head.

Here is a poem for you, I don't know the author but I like the poem.

"He stumbled home from clifton Fair
With drunken song and cheeks aglow.
Yet there was something in his air
That told of kingship long ago.
I turned and in me burned with grief,
The one so high should fall so low.

Bur the plucked a flower and sniffed its scent
An waved it toward the sunset sky.
Some old sweet rapture through him went
And kindled in his blood shot eye.
I sighed and in my cried for joy
That one so low would rise so high."

Have a nice Friday.

Mary