From my son Michael's pen..."An Ocean Fantasy"

“An Ocean Fantasy” – by Michael Carrington-Smith


My son wrote this piece yesterday and it was so cute I just had to share...:-)


It was a perfect day to take a walk. The orange of the sky was only interrupted by fluffy puffs of clouds which made me think of cotton candy. The sun was very warm, and its heat defied the cool breeze blowing in from the ocean, even if it was only six o’clock in the morning. I stepped on the sand from the wooden boardwalk, and loved the feeling of the sand under my feet. I looked over and saw waves erupting on the shore, white foam building on their crests as they approached the shallow side.

I was absorbed in my thoughts as I walked, and didn’t see a stick on my path. My foot tripped on the stick and I fell over, suddenly finding myself face to face with a beautiful blue rock which reminded me of an aquamarine my grandfather once showed me. I picked it up and placed it in my shirt pocket, happy to have found something I could claim as a small treasure from my outing. While I fantasized about giving the rock to my friend Paul and thought of a rich story to go with its finding, I didn’t see a bigger wave coming in and splashing on shore. The undercurrent made me lose my balance and I fell into the surf. Suddenly, I couldn’t feel sand under my feet any more, and I was quickly whisked away into deeper water.

All I could see around me was water, and my fear grew with each long second that went by. The sound of the waves was louder than I heard while walking on the shore, and the strong smell of salt assaulted my nose and throat. I was trapped! My mind started going in a million directions and suddenly I started thinking of sharks. What if one was nearby, looking for an easy meal? I felt something tugging at my foot and my heart almost stopped. My whole body was paralyzed from fear, and I had no strength to fight back. The further down I went, the darker the water became, and suddenly I felt light-headed. Everything around me was blurred and I couldn’t think straight any more. I knew I was getting ready to pass out.

When I woke up, I was still in the middle of the ocean, and I was surprised that I could breathe under water. I hung on to a fishing net caught on an old wooden sign. The only word written on the sign was “Atlantis”. I couldn’t believe it! The mythical Atlantis? How had I gotten there? I looked around and saw something amazing…Ferris Wheels glittered in the distance and candy of all kinds was laid out on marine plants. I stumbled on something and saw it was a treasure chest. I jumped up with excitement and started thinking of a way to take it back to shore. On my right, I noticed an old piece of wood, about six feet by four, and I used it to lift the chest and carry it to shore. When we finally got closer and I felt sand under my feet, I stood up quickly, and dragged the heavy chest on land.

I kicked the chest repeatedly to open it, but it wasn’t until I pried the lock open with a crow bar I found in a boat nearby that it finally gave in. My heart was beating a million beats a minute, and curiosity was making me almost light-headed. As the mysterious content came to light, the sun reflected on a display of gold coins and jewels that almost took my breath away. While I dug my hands in the treasure, I felt something moving underneath, and suddenly a marine elf popped its green-blue head out and looked at me angrily. I asked him who he was and what I could do to make him happy, and he replied that his mission was to keep the treasure of Atlantis safe. Now, everyone would know Atlantis was real. I promised I would hide the treasure and helped the elf jump back into the surf. I dug a very deep hole and hid the coins in it. I smiled while I filled the hole with sand and shells. Nobody would ever again lay eyes on it.

Something touched my face and made me jolt. A seagull’s feather was tickling my nose and woke me up. I looked around confused and saw the blue rock in front of my nose. I guess that I had passed out when I fell after tripping on the stick. I relaxed there, looking at the stone, while waves splashed on the shore a few feet away.

Back soon...

Good morning everybody!

I will be taking a short break from blogging to work on an important project. I will be back to my daily posts on Monday, October 12.

Many thanks for the wonderful support each and everyone of you offers every day by reading my thoughts.

Have a blessed week and I will "talk" to you again very soon. :-)

Turning a Negative into a Positive

“Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities — always see them, for they're always there.” ~ Norman Vincent Peele


When I went to bed last night I lay there and tried to recap my day. I spent hours arguing a point I felt passionate about, and wondered if all the arguing had indeed made any difference. As we delved deeper and deeper into discussions about pet care, about the fairness of contracts and their effectiveness when applied to specific situations, and about who was right and wrong, one of the comments caught my eye. The essence of this comment was that a wrong thing could be turned into something good if we just turned the energy around.

I’m sure it was obvious even to the people who didn’t agree with the posts that all the fuss was originated by a common ground we all shared – our love for animals. Looking back at the situation itself, who was wrong? Was it the shelter for adhering to their policies? Was it the family for admitting to a mistake yet loving the pet as a part of the family? In reality no one was truly wrong and everyone was to some extent - we all chose to look at things from our point of perspective and defended our views on the subject.

I agree with the poster who talked about turning a negative into a positive. In the heat of the discussion, we all forgot about the wonderful service rescue centers like Cat Angels provide for our animal friends. I, for one, am very grateful centers like that exist. That said, I think shelters have set rules that are too strict for people to comply with, and I am hoping that if we raise awareness to this fact, more animals will indeed be adopted and will enjoy happy lives in their new homes. As I had stated to someone on the board, why would anyone go through all the screenings, pay a fee and live under the threat of having their pet removed over a technicality, when they can just as easily adopt an animal they find advertised on Craigslist or on the newspaper, for free and with no strings attached? Unfortunately, this kind of sentiment leads to animal not finding homes, and from what I heard yesterday, it is quite widespread.

What if we can use the power of the internet to promote adoption, rather than discourage it? This wonderful virtual world is at our fingertips to help us promote awareness and educate people on the benefits of adopting animals, rather than buying one from a breeder. I apologize if I allowed my personal emotions to get in the way of my rational thinking, and I would like for everyone to see that if we invest the same passion into reaching a common goal, everyone is better off because of it.

I would like to ask Cat Angels to be willing to revisit their decision in the case of this particular cat, and to see that each case should be assessed individually. This family never meant the cat any harm, and they love him dearly. Please give them a chance. As for myself, I can pledge that if this situation is turned around, I will gladly use the power of words to help with future adoption efforts. We might not be able to change the whole world, but we can certainly try to improve it the best way we can by focusing on our common goals.