My looks and a story about Dragonfly Farms

I saw this video today and I was compelled to write about it. 

Before I get to my point I do have to giggle and admit I can relate to her about the flesh in between her and her husband. My skin was so stretched from my kids and not all of us look pretty during pregnancy.  I was so pumped full of steroids due to complications that it's amazing I didn't gain 100 pounds. I was bloated, tired, and NOT cute but it was all worth it.  Anyway, I have been on both sides of this situation. Years ago after working out very hard I had plastic surgery that I now regret but I wanted to maintain that youthful look. Mike and I were in the car today on the way to work and he started talking about how the time we spent with Jude was almost 2 presidential terms. We always say that the president goes into office lean, spry, and with color in their hair but most come out heavier, tired, and full of grey hair. We feel the same way. We loved our time with Jude but it did take a toll on us. Of course I still think my husband looks great but I have been ran over. I hear that I look tired from people A LOT and I have gotten to the point where I nicely want to respond, "Yes I am tired I have been through hell and back and I may be tired the rest of my life," but I know people mean well.  I wear my tired and looks with pride because it was a battle and I fought very hard and learned that what's most important was keeping my child well and then comfortable. I feel like our society just focuses on the wrong things sometimes and this isn't pointing anyone out even my sweet family thought I looked tired. 

So I wrote a little story that I thought about publishing but I am just going to share it. I hope your kids enjoy it.  I am sorry the structure of the story is off for some reason Blogger is defaulting it that way and won't allow me to fix it. 

Dragonfly Farms

The Great Adventure

The sun rose brightly at Dragonfly Farms on the day Emily brought her piglet Buddy home.

Emily was a bright young girl who had begged her father for the tiny piglet with the little

spotted nose. At first, her dad was hesitant, but Emily just knew the little pig would make a great addition to their wonderful farm. Emily loved animals so much that she had many different ones living at her place. Some were work animals, like horses, cattle, and chickens, and some were her pets, like the dogs, cat, and, now, the little piglet.

     Emily took Buddy inside their ranch-style house and set up a dog crate for him to stay in,

since he was so little. Buddy would need to grow much bigger before he could stay outside

because there were so many animals out there that could be a danger to him. Emily put a little

bed in the crate, with several blankets to keep Buddy warm. She then fed him his bottle full of

warm milk and placed him gently in his bed; Buddy fell fast asleep. Since Emily lived on a farm,she had a lot of chores to complete, so she left Buddy to get his much-needed rest.

Soon, Ollie the orange and white tabby cat came running down the stairs. Ollie was so

full of excitement that when he ran up to Buddy’s cage, Buddy was frightened. “Who are you?”

Ollie quickly and happily asked. Meekly, the little pig replied, “I am Buddy.” “What ARE you?

You barely have any fur, and you don’t look like a cat. You also don’t look like the big dogs that

run around here,” Ollie said. “I am a pig!” Buddy replied. Ollie looked at Buddy, and then he

slowly stuck his paw through the wire of the crate and touched Buddy on the back. Buddy

jumped and asked “what are you doing?” Ollie replied, “I just wanted to see what you felt like

without fur. My fur is beautiful and keeps me warm. You must be cold; do you need a sweater?”Buddy just shook his head and went to lie back down.

       “Oh, don’t go to sleep! Come out and play with me,” Ollie said. “I don’t think Emily wants

me to go anywhere. Plus, I am stuck in this crate and cannot get out,” Buddy replied. Ollie

looked the crate over and noticed a latch at the top, just out of his reach. Ollie climbed up the

stairs beside the crate and looked down at the latch, studying it as best he could. Suddenly, he

had an idea. Ollie went running to the other room and dragged a fishing pole back to his spot on the stairs. He positioned the fishing pole upward and pushed it under the railing for stability. He then lowered the hook all the way down and caught it on the latch. Next, Ollie started reeling the line back in, and BOOM! it lifted. Ollie ran back down the stairs and yelled,

“Come on, let’s go!” Buddy wasn’t sure about this, but Ollie was insistent. “My mom always

told me I shouldn’t listen to a bad influence,” Buddy said. “I am not a bad influence. I am an

adventurer, like a great heroic pirate!” Ollie insisted. Buddy looked confused and said, “I don’t

think pirates are heroes.” Ollie replied, “Well, I am still an adventurer. Now, come on!”

Ollie went flying through the dog door separating the pair from the outside. Buddy

looked concerned but slowly climbed through the door, too. Suddenly, a big brown coonhound

bounded toward them. Buddy was terrified, but to his surprise, the dog gave him a big lick on the face. As Buddy wiped the drool away, the dog, in a slow Texas drawl, said, “Hi ya, I am Blue. What’s your name?” Buddy told him who he was, and then Blue wanted to know what the pair was up to. “We’re going on an adventure!” Ollie piped up. “What kind of an adventure?” Blue asked. “I am not sure yet, but I will know it when I see it!” Ollie replied. Blue looked at both of them and decided he wanted to join the party. “Alright, I’mma comin’ with ya, but we gotta look out for Lee,” Blue said.

Just as Buddy was wondering who Lee was, a large German Shepherd appeared from

around the corner. Buddy was frozen in place he was so scared. Ollie hugged Buddy and

told him not to be afraid of the big dog because, even though she was big, she had a very soft

heart. Lee walked over to the three and peered down at the little pig. In a regal voice, she said, “I am Lee, and I am the queen of this farm. What are you doing here?” Ollie spoke up, “Oh, come on, Lee, don’t scare the little pig! We are going on an adventure together!” Lee didn’t seem impressed with Ollie and looked down at him with disapproving eyes. “You know this little pig is far too small to go on an adventure and far too little to help anyone.” Just then, the little pig felt quite strong and said, “I may be small, but that doesn’t mean I am not brave.” Lee looked a  bit shocked, smiled, and said, “Okay, little pig, whatever you say.” She then turned to Ollie: “I don’t approve of this adventure, Ollie; you’d better watch for hawks because they will snatch your little friend.” Buddy nervously looked to the sky, as Lee turned and walked back toward the house. He realized then that acting brave was not the same thing as being brave.

So, Buddy, Ollie, and Blue began walking through the tall trees that lined the acreage

of Dragonfly Farms. The leaves whistled in the wind like they were playing a song just for the

cheerful trio. Through the winding paths they went, dodging large rocks and enjoying the tall

grass. They passed squirrels, a friendly owl, and a sweet fox named Gina. They asked if anyone

knew of an adventure for them, but alas, no one did. So, they laced through a large brown gate

with a hole in the front and saw a big green chicken coop up ahead.

The three walked up to the coop and saw all of the hens with their babies, digging in the

dirt and eating their lunch. “Hello, in there!” Ollie yelled. The white alpha hen turned her

big feathery body around and gazed at the three. She lifted one eyebrow with interest and said,

“Well, this is an odd combination of animals. What are you three up to?” Ollie looked at her with pride and said “We are going on an adventure!” “Now, Ollie, you know that baby pig shouldn’t be out here, and how can he go on a proper adventure? He is way too small to be of any help!” Buddy looked up at her and cleared his throat, “I am NOT a baby. I am old enough to be without my mom, and I am brave—well, kind of brave!” The hen looked again at the little pig and shook her head. “Well, nice to meet you, little pig. My name is Felicia, and I am the queen of this farm.” Buddy looked confused and said, “Wait, I thought Lee, the big dog, was the queen?” Felicia laughed and said, “She may think she is queen, but I rule the roost around here, and everyone knows it, don’t they, girls?” Felicia, with her head held high, looked around her coop,as all of the other hens bowed to her. Felicia looked back at the little pig and said, “See?” Buddy suggested, “Maybe Lee is the princess, then,” and everyone chuckled. The chickens seemed very amused by the pig. They were so entertained that Felicia didn’t notice one of her babies make his way through a small hole in the coop and head toward the front pasture. Quickly, Felicia looked up and realized little Jimmy was heading out toward territory

laced with snakes and other scary creatures. “MY BABY!!” Felicia shouted. She tried to fit

through the small hole in the coop, but she couldn’t get through. Ollie looked at Buddy and Blue and said, “This is it! This is our adventure!” Felicia looked at them, desperate but doubtful, and pleaded with them to save her baby. So, the three ran toward the pasture in pursuit of the little chick. Since many bushes and much ground cover stood between them and the front pasture,Ollie told Buddy he needed to stay close. Buddy grabbed Ollie’s tail with his little mouth, and the three headed into the thorn-laced bushes in search of the wandering chick. Abruptly, a large commotion erupted above them, and they saw a hawk land neatly on a branch. The hawk could not get through the thorny branches, but he could easily spot the trio from his perch.“Hmmmmm, well, this is an interesting situation, don’t you think?” the hawk said. Buddy was petrified of the intimidating bird with the sharp beak and large talons. Buddy looked at Ollie and Blue in fear and then looked out into the pasture and saw the little chick hiding under a rock by a big tree. “I cannot go out there and help that little chick; the hawk will eat me!” Buddy cried. Ollie and Blue exchanged looks of concern.  Ollie was so little the hawk could get him too and Blue knew he would need help defeating the great bird.

            Presently, a beautiful dragonfly with glittering wings flew into the bushes and landed

next to Buddy. “I have been watching you,” the dragonfly said, in a sweet silvery voice. “You  

know, Buddy, you are braver than you think.” Buddy just shook his head “no” and then looked

miserably at the ground. “Would you like to hear why Emily’s parents named this beautiful place Dragonfly Farms?” Buddy wasn’t sure what that had to do with him, but he agreed, and the dragonfly began to tell Buddy the story. “Several years ago, Emily had a lovely little

brother named Jude who she loved very much. They played and played, but one day, Jude got

very sick. He was so very brave, and he fought so hard to get better, but...” the dragonfly stopped talking and lowered his head. Ollie and Blue lowered their heads, too. Buddy looked around at his new friends and asked, “Is Jude an angel now?” The dragonfly sadly shook his head “yes” and then continued to speak: “Emily’s parents thought Jude was so heroic that he reminded them of a dragonfly. You see, dragonflies have survived for over 300 million years because, even though they are little, they are very strong and are very good flyers. So, Buddy, just because you are little doesn’t mean you can’t be brave!” Just then, Buddy felt stronger than he ever had felt before. He looked out into the pasture and noticed a large rattlesnake slithering up the rock near the chick, whispering “Here, chickie chickie...” Buddy looked up at the hawk and then looked at his friends and said, “I have an idea.”Buddy leaned over and whispered his plan to Ollie, Blue, and the dragonfly.

“Let’s do this!” Ollie proclaimed. Blue backed out of the bush and leapt up toward the

hawk, scaring the angry bird off its perch. Then, Ollie and Buddy dashed out into the pasture as fast as they could. At that moment, the hawk spotted them and took off flying after them. The dragonfly, showing off his speed, raced in front of the hawk to distract him. The hawk, thinking of what a tasty little morsel the dragonfly would be, quickly chased after him. Ollie and Buddy approached the rock, just as the rattlesnake saw them heading his direction. “What a treat this will be, like Thanksgiving, with all of this yummy food coming my way,” the snake said in his slithery voice. Now, if you didn’t know, piglets are very fast runners and hard to keep up with. Buddy darted to the left of the rock to get behind the snake, and this caught the

attention of the hawk, who was still chasing the dragonfly. The dragonfly changed direction

to fly directly toward Buddy, and the hawk became very excited. “Looks like I will get two

meals in one,” he said and flew faster. Just then, Buddy jumped onto the rock and, with his

mouth, grabbed the back of the snake’s neck, pulling him backward. Ollie sprang into action,

scratching the snake, who yelled “OUCH!” Then, Blue rushed up from behind, grabbed

the snake from Buddy, and threw him at the hawk, who caught the snake in his claws. The hawk was so happy with his impending feast that he forgot about everyone else and flew off into the sunset with his prize.The farmyard trio and the dragonfly rested, panting in exhaustion, and then they all hugged. “Why did you help me?” Buddy asked the dragonfly. The dragonfly thought for a moment and replied, “I guess I did it for Jude and Emily.” Then, he flew away.

So, Ollie grabbed the baby chick and placed him gently into Blue’s big mouth, and they

all headed back to the chicken coop. As they came around the corner, they could hear Felicia

crying with joy. Ollie told Felicia exactly what had happened. Felicia looked at the little pig and

said, “I should never judge someone based how big he looks, but only on how big his heart is.

Buddy, I have an idea you may be king of this farm someday.” Buddy smiled with pride as he

marched happily back toward the house. He and Ollie popped back through the dog door and

saw Emily standing by Buddy’s crate. She looked at little Buddy and gently picked him up,

wiping some dirt from his face. She smiled big and said, “Now, have you two been on some

grand adventure?” and tucked Buddy back in his bed, and the brave little pig fell fast asleep.

  -The End

Below are Buddy, Ollie, Felicia, Blue, Lee, and of course Emily.