"The Dog and the Bear with Cactus Paws" an Evolution of a Story Tale

This story was created by 3rd and 4th Graders at Coal Creek Canyon K-8 School. When you're done watching Eric's version, you can read mine below.

"The Dog and the Bear with Cactus Paws" video

As told by Paul Vincent Rodriguez

Once upon a time there was a dog and a bear who were friends. The bear had a nervous habit of patting the dog on the back which was kind of annoying. The dog lived in a house with a human family which made his life easier than the bear’s. One day the bear wandered in to the human’s yard. The man got his cactus gun and shot the bear on his paws making him run away. The dog ran after his friend the bear and found him in the woods. The bear was so glad to see the dog that he tried to pat him on the back. The dog ran away because he was afraid of getting hurt by the cactus stuck in the bear’s paws. He ran by a Jello tree and got an idea of how he could help the bear. He spray-painted a picture of his back on the Jello tree then ran back to get the bear. The bear was again happy to see him and tried to pat him on the back but the dog moved each time the bear tried. Each move the dog made away from the bear made the bear more and more frustrated and moved him closer and closer to the Jello tree. The bear swatted harder at the dogs back and moved quicker in the dog’s direction each time he missed with his pat – which was quickly becoming more like a slap or a swat. The dog knew it was really going to hurt if the bear connected with one of these. Finally the dog reached the Jello tree with his back painted on it. He sat in front of the tree and waited for the bear to catch up. While he waited he looked deep into the Jello and noticed that it had fruit in it. He liked Jello with fruit in it. Especially oranges and cherries which were both in this tree. He was starting to get hungry when heard the bear approach. He sat still until the last moment when the bear's paw flew toward him. He jumped out of the way just in time and the bear's paw, and the cactus, stuck in the Jello tree. The cactus was so stuck that it stayed in the tree when the bear pulled his paw back. The bear was free from the cactus. This, of course, earned the dog a nice, big pat on the back.

Dying without enemies

A man died last week who had no enemies. I wondered if that was good.

While many people might strive to have the number of friends this man had - might want to fill a church twice over with mourners - I could not help but wonder why no one disliked this man. I reflected on what I knew about him and realized that he seldom had confrontational conversations. He was a master at talking about seemingly generic topics and at avoiding issues that might be controvercial. When a discussion began to get heated, he chuckled and said "I'll have to look into that" before it reached a boil. He fought no battles. He championed no cause. I thought this was not good.
 

If it is true that each of us has a special purpose in this world, then it seems to me that we all have something about which to be passionate. Those who disagree with our beliefs create dialogues that open minds and create even more dialogues. As long as the discussions are based in truth and started in an attempt to broaden our knowledge and understanding, all conversations have value whether there is agreement or not. It's when these discussions become heated that they stop being discussions and become arguments which are much less productive.

So how does a person live a life in which they have no enemies? I guess the secret is not in never disgreeing with someone but the manner and respect with which you do it. It's knowing when and how to diffuse a situation so it never reaches the boiling point of an argument. Maybe it's knowing right time to chuckle and the right thing to say after. I'll have to look into that.

Things I've Seen #3 - Country Pride

The effort it takes to mow the lawn in a normal way is enough that fathers have hoped to have a son as their first child just so they could pass on the responsibility sooner. I've got about two more years before turning over my Toro.

This photo was taken shortly after the summer olympics in 2012. I assume the people in this house were rooting for the United States.

Tooth Fairy Rates change with the economy

According to a survey done by Delta Dental with 1,224 parents, the average tooth fairy gift has risen 15% since 2007. I don't know if the Delta Dental association means everyone interviewed has insurance. Check out Tooth Fairy Gift story.

Things I've Seen #2 - Ice Cream Bridge

On a hot summer day, nothing is more tempting than a big ice cream cone. But these were really big. Each one stood 2 feet tall and, though I pride myself on my ice cream eating ability, I questioned whether I could defeat one of these gigantic frozen treats. I perched on a fence post in the 90 degree heat and planned my approach. I contemplated chocolate or vanilla and, if vanilla, hand scooped or soft serve. With soft serve, there tends to be more ice cream in the cone but hand scooped takes longer to melt. That's when it dawned on me; this ice cream wasn't melting.
Was this magic ice cream? Maybe this was used to lure an unsuspecting animal, or worse, a child. I had heard fairy tales of witches who used these types of candies and sweets to trap children who they would eat. But those witches always seem to meet a horrible fate left to die in their sugary house. I looked around and did not see a house of gingerbread and gumdrops. The idea of magic ice cream was fading but my curiosity was growing. I had to know. I jumped off the fence post and flew directly toward the soft serve cone on the left. I hovered above the mound of frozen cream, opened my  mouths as wide as possible and bit down.
Plastic.
I think I chipped a tooth.

From Aynil the Traveler

Things I've Seen #1

It was a warm spring day and I was driving through a townhouse complex near a freeway. Townhouses are homes build side-by-side-by-side in a row. These were in rows of eight in each building and surrounded by a beautiful, green lawn. There were big cottonwood trees throughout the complex and a nice, paved road that ran between the buildings. Through the middle of the complex ran a creek. The creek was about twenty-feet-wide and was framed by trees on both sides. In the creek were medium sized boulders and smaller rocks - all polished smooth from years of water running over them. What was unique on this day was small stacks of rocks distributed around a section of the stream. When mountain climbing, there are times when there is no "real" trail to follow. Hikers stack rocks on top of each other to create a marker called a "cairn." Someone or someones had taken a lot of time to build many cairns atop the larger rocks in the stream. The combinations of shadows of the trees, the sunlight breaking through the small openings in the leaves and then glimmering on the water was already beautiful. But these small stacks of rocks (none more than one-foot-tall) were unique. I thought I should take a picture but that would require getting out of the truck and walking down an embankment. Who has time for all of that? I promised I would go back soon and I was back there within a week. Unfortunately the cairns were gone. At first I was disappointed in myself for not capturing the image with my camera but was more depressed when thinking that someone would knock down the work of another. Maybe their destruction was accidental - knocked over by small wildlife in the area. Maybe they were picked apart wistfully by a young heart using the stones instead of a flower pedals while determining whether he loved her or loved her not. Quite possibly they were used as target practice by the people who built them. Who could deny them that right since, after all, they built them. No matter the reason, I vowed to not take those opportunities for granted again. I am pleased to say that I have kept my promise.

Things I've Seen - introduction

Like Aynil, you could say I'm a traveler. When I'm not writing, I spend my days driving around the Denver metropolitan area. I see some interesting things. As many of you know, Denver is very close to the mountains and I can be in relatively untaimed areas in a few minutes. Nature is pretty amazing but the stuff unusual enough to write about are those things I've found in the suburban areas of the city. Once I figure out how to put photos with these posts, I'll show 'em to you. Until then, I will share one thing that I did not take a picture of and have regretted ever since. Check out "Things I've Seen #1" tomorrow.