Author Archives: araneus1
LOved it or Hated it
Why reading the classics with your children matters.
Published in The Age newspaper
Why reading the classics with your children matters
- Date
- June 13, 2014
“These were grand adventures, often written in language I didn’t understand, and about events that seemed ancient but intriguing.” Photo: Getty
There are more books being written and targeted specifically at children than ever before. There are bookshops dedicated entirely to children’s books. And there are books to cater for pretty much every imaginable taste and ability. And what a wonderful thing, that our kids are literally swimming in stories.
It wasn’t always like this. When I was a kid, there were some books written specifically for my age and ability, but they were pretty limited. And so once I’d exhausted everything pitched directly at me, I read whatever I could find, and this often meant reading the classics. Charles Dickens. Jules Verne. Mark Twain. Books my parents had on their…
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Katie’s Magic Glasses
Something needed to be done!
Katie had a problem and she was looking for a solution.
The problem — very few people could see her friend Andrea.
The solution — a pair of magic glasses. At least, she hoped this would solve the problem.
Katie’s grandma supplied the magic glasses.
“Anyone who wears them will be able to see your friend very clearly, just like you do now. Be careful who you allow to use these glasses. Not everyone deserves to know your friend.”
“Where did these glasses come from grandma?”
“That’s a very good question Katie.” Katie liked asking good questions — you get the best answers that way.
“My grandma gave them to me a very long time ago. They were in the purple velvet lined case that they are in today. That case has kept those glasses safe for all these years. I knew that one day, one of my ancestors would need them and here you are.”
Andrea was a good friend to Katie, but she was not like Katie’s other friends — Andrea was invisible to most people. Only a few people can see Spirits.
Andrea grew up in the same street as Katie, but this was a very long time ago. When she was about Katie’s age she became very sick, and the doctors in those days did not have the amazing medicines that we have today, and so Andrea died. Everyone was sad — her mum most of all. As time went by, her mother and father and her brothers and sisters lived out their lives and joined Andrea in Spirit. They were very happy to see her again.
Andrea loved being a little girl living in this street way back then, so whenever she can she comes back and visits.
Katie was the first little girl who was able to see Andrea when she came for a visit. They hit it off straight away and became very good friends.
Everyone likes to make new friends, so Katie’s friends asked to meet Andrea. They were not frightened to meet her, but they did not have the ability that Katie had, so they could not see nor hear her.
Grandma’s glasses solved the ‘seeing’ problem.
When Katie told her friends about these magic glasses they were very excited and there was a lot of discussion about who should go first.
In order to decide, they played a game and the winner got to go first and decide who would go next. Michael won the game and he was amazed at how pretty Andrea was.
“She is dressed in unusual clothes and she has a beautiful smile. I wish I could hear what she is saying,” said Michael.
“I’ll translate for you,” said Katie, but she soon got very tired of that.
“Andrea is going to draw her words onto paper when I get tired and that way, whoever is wearing the glasses can talk to her,” said Katie.
Everyone agreed that this was a good idea, and after they each had a turn, they made a date to come back after school in two days so they could all play with Andrea again.
When the children had gone home Andrea talked with Katie.
“I like your friends. They were not frightened of me — which was good. They did look funny wearing those old glasses though. But I did not laugh at them because they were so pleased to see me. I liked Michael, he’s handsome and he reminds me of a boy I knew when I was alive. His name was William and he could run very fast and he always smiled at me. I like it when people smile at me. You have a beautiful smile Katie.”
“Thank you Andrea, I like your smile as well. Would you like to sit next to me at the dinner table tonight?” said Katie.
“I would but I don’t want to upset your mum and dad. I don’t think they believe that I am real,” said Andrea.
“Don’t worry about that, my grandma is coming to dinner tonight and mum and dad will listen to her if she says it’s a good idea for my special friend, Andrea, to sit next to me,” said Katie with a smile.
That night, all tucked up in bed after Katie’s dad had read her a story, she thought about suggesting that her mum and dad have a go at wearing the magic glasses. Before she fell asleep, she decided that she would wait for a little while and hope that they would believe in Andrea without having to see her.
Katie wanted this to happen more than anything else.
Andrea watched her friend fall asleep and she kissed her gently so as not to wake her. It was good to have a friend in the world of the living, and now she was becoming friends with Katie’s friends. She felt sure that there were many adventures to come.
The Blink Of An Eye
Our Children are grown up now and, as things go, there are more children in the world because of this process.
We also have young friends with young children and we find ourselves saying what all older parents say, “Don’t blink because this time in your life will be over so fast. Enjoy every moment.” We mean what we say in the same way that every person who spoke these words to us meant them. But, I can see that it is different for the parents who are in the middle of all this chaos. At some level, they would like their life back — who could blame them? I felt that way too, but my thoughts were projected beyond my time with my boys — I was in no hurry for it to end — it was a magnificent time in my life. Maybe it is the way I am wired, but I get a buzz out of being around people who are hungry for knowledge — hungry for life. This definition describes children — all children. To be the person who smoothes the way — supplies the tools — provides encouragement, this is the best way a person could spend their life.
5 years on….
Happy 5th birthday
The Princess and her Skill Set.
I don’t know why but I’ve always loved the story of ‘The Princess and the Pea’.
I know that it is meant to mean something else but I always thought that it was very cool that this girl could tell there was a pea under all those mattresses!
As a kid, when I heard that story I was impressed.
I’d always wanted some sort of superpower and to my young mind this was just that.
I had skills but I didn’t know it at the time.
I only became aware of my strengths because my mum would make a fuss of them. She was big on positive encouragement at a time when it was seen as indulgence. I thank her every day for her fabulous insight. She coped a lot of flack for the way she raised this wild adopted son, but she stuck to her guns because she believed…
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Four years old.
Tomorrow will mark the fourth birthday of SCHOOME.
A lot has happened in those four years.
In recent times a LARGE number of people have downloaded the first 15% of the book [as an ebook] and the two copies that are in our local library system have been constantly on loan. So, a lot of people have read part, or all of the book.
It would have been nice if a few more people had paid for the book, but you cannot have everything.
I worked out that if I live to be one hundred and seventeen, the book will have paid for itself at the present rate of sales!
Seriously, I’m pleased that my first book has found an audience. I hope that it has encouraged you if you have read it, and I hope that you have had as big an adventure as we had.
Terry [and family]
Paperback Copy of SCHOOME available now.
The second edition of SCHOOME is now available as a paperback [and hard cover].
Hit the link below and it will take you to an easy to use site for purchase.
http://blur.by/1t9ZVdJ
Rufus Finds The Murderer: Blue Smoke.
This story leads on from these two stories and it will enhance your reading pleasure if you read them first…..
https://araneus1.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/rufus-goes-to-the-country/
https://araneus1.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/rufus-finds-a-body/
I didn’t tell her straight away.
How do you tell your mistress that her boss, the person who helps her to get the money to buy dog food, pushed someone out of a window.
I have no idea why he did it, and it probably wouldn’t help even if I did.
Dogs understand that killing is serious. We only kill to obtain food and to protect our pack.
Humans, on the other hand, seem to kill for all sorts of reasons; sometimes, even for fun.
That I will never understand.
After I found the body in the garden all hell broke loose.
Pretty soon the house and the gardens were swarming with men in uniform.
I heard someone say that they were policeman.
I’d only met one policeman up until then.
His name was Officer Eric, and he was very kind. He worked in the police station in the village where we lived.
He knew my mistress and he saved me from the new dog catcher.
The old dog catcher knew me very well and he would scratch me behind the ears when he saw me walking by. He knew that I always went home when I was finished traveling, and he also knew that I don’t cause trouble.
The new bloke didn’t know me from Adam; or Eric, for that matter.
He grabbed me.
Now, normally I wouldn’t let anyone get that close without giving them a ‘back off’ bark, but he confused me. He smelled like the old dog catcher; he must have been wearing his uniform; that’s why he got close enough to grab me. I would have bitten the bastard but he had this long stick with a loop of rope on the end and I couldn’t get at him.
Officer Eric must have been driving by when all this kicked off because he came over and said something to the new dog catcher.
He had to raise his voice a bit and point to his policeman’s badge but eventually the new dog catcher let me go. That was my opportunity to bite the cheeky bastard but I thought better of it and went and sat next to Officer Eric. He gave me a pat and told me it was going to be okay. The new dog catcher gave me one of those looks, and I knew I was going to have to keep an eye on him in the future.
Officer Eric gave me a ride in his police car.
I love riding in cars.
He even turned on the siren which made me howl.
I wasn’t upset or anything, I just need to howl when I hear a siren.
Officer Eric often turns on his siren when he comes to visit, just to watch me howl. Sometimes he even joins in.
I like Officer Eric. He saved me, and one day I will get to return the favour.
Officer Eric wasn’t called to the house with the dead body but a lot of other policemen were.
They asked a lot of questions, but they didn’t sniff anyone which seemed silly to me.
It took me a little while to find the person I had sniffed when everyone came to see the body.
I’m still a bit annoyed that they would not let me keep it; I found it after all.
My mistress explained that humans don’t think like dogs, and dead bodies have to be examined [whatever that means] and then buried in the ground.
That bit I understood.
If you don’t bury stuff in the ground other dogs might come along and steal your stuff; so at least humans understand that bit.
I got to thinking about how long it would take to dig a hole big enough to bury a human in and I worked out that it would take at least half a day. That’s a lot of time, and I think that I would be very sleepy and very hungry by the time I had finished. Fortunately, they didn’t ask me to bury anyone; even though I could have if they’d asked me.
By the time that the short, chubby, French sounding gentleman with the funny moustache had gathered everyone together in the library most of the humans had changed clothes and bathed.
This made my job a lot harder; but not impossible.
On a good day, if you breathed on me after eating Spaghetti Bolognese, I could tell you what all the ingredients were, and whether or not you used enough Oregano.
I’m that good.
I thought I had narrowed it down to two people but I was hampered by not being allowed to wander around while the short French-speaking gentleman was talking. He got quite annoyed when someone called him ‘an annoying little frog’. Personally, I didn’t think that he looked like a frog at all.
I thought he looked more like a large possum but apparently he thought that he looked like ‘an annoying little Belgian’.
I’m not sure, but I think that is some sort of Hedgehog.
I was a bit confused by all this, but very soon I got my man.
I heard it before I sniffed it.
The sound was very soft.
The sort of sound that only dogs can hear.
My mistresses’ publisher farted.
My mistress calls farts ‘blue smoke’, which is silly because they don’t have a colour but they do tell you a lot about the person, or dog, who lets one go.
Roast beef, potatoes, peas, rice pudding, and a Cuban Cigar for ‘afters’; not to mention a rather nice Port.
But it was the Cigar that gave him away.
It was the same as the smell that I picked up when I found the body.
He was the only one who smoked a cigar that night.
I remember him making a big deal out of how much they cost.
“One of these would keep you in dog biscuits for a month boy”, he said to me. I considered peeing on his shoe, but I thought better of it.
I wanted to warn my mistress, but in the end I didn’t need to.
The little Belgian shaped person actually asked me who I thought had committed the murder.
I looked at my mistress and she said, “It’s okay Rufus, you can tell him”.
So I did.
I walked over and put my paw on the publisher. He looked at me with a mixture of amusement and horror.
The small Belgian shaped person said that he agreed with me and went on talking about it for fifteen minutes after which two policemen took the publisher outside.
Amazingly, the small Belgian shaped person never once mentioned how the killer smelled.
I just don’t understand humans.
My mistress was very happy with me and we went on an extra long walk.
I thought that she might be a bit upset that her publisher was the murderer, but she said that she was happy because it meant that she didn’t have to write anymore annoying romance novels. Now she could write crime novels and her first effort would be based on this weekend.
“We are going to be able to afford the large bag of dog biscuits when my new book gets published Rufus.”
I was very pleased to hear this but I wondered who was going to publish this book if her publisher was in Goal.
I didn’t wonder for long because that’s not my job.
My job is to protect my mistress, and I had done my job well.
I could hardly wait to get home and tell the other dogs in our neighbourhood about our adventure.
But first there would be that delicious ride in my mistresses’ Lagonda.
Only this time I had to ride in the back because the little Belgian shaped person was coming with us.
He needed a ride back to town.
I wanted to ask him what a Belgian was but it would have taken too long, so I let it go.
I wasn’t very happy sitting in the back seat, but what can you do?
.
By now, you probably know that Rufus has an interesting life for a small black dog. He has been on many adventures and you can find some of the here…..
http://barcaupthewrongtree.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/rufus-and-millie-not-a-love-story/
https://araneus1.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/rufus-goes-to-the-country/
http://barcaupthewrongtree.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/rufus-finds-a-body/
https://araneus1.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/rufus-and-the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-dog-biscuits/
https://araneus1.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/3-minutes/
https://araneus1.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/rufus-and-the-blackbird/
SCHOOME 