Hello, Wonderfuls!

I love that you’re back, and here’s where you find me…

Context: Today is such a beautiful day, and I was tempted to wish it would last forever…but, then it hit me that I’m willing to take the rest of my days as they come, for—on the other side of any future trials—there will be countless moments far more wonderful than those dazzling me today! 🙂

And, dear hearts, part of what kept me in my happy place was imagining the nostalgic joys of a fabled summer camp.

I like the thought of friendships forged in a brief burst of sunshiny days, sparkling lakes, campfire songs, and bonfires…

Precious weeks where—once a year—

campers bond in a magical place far from their regular lives.

And, then, at the end of camp,

with earnest vows to be faithful pen-pals,

everyone says goodbyes, “See you next summer”,

and goes”Back To The Future”….

In my world, that means a return to ‘adulting’.

So, for what it’s worth,

here’s where I  started my drift,

and how I got my mind write:

Well, treasured Freds, after 14 glorious days, it’s back to work for me on Monday; and Me, Myself and I can’t help feeling a little like Eeyore as we approach the (no one wants to be at the tail) end of two-week summer camp.

For, Camp “Bee-Hee–Guffaw-Haw!” has given me s’more time to spill a good feel…I mean, deal of my guts.

It’s also been my(self’s) privilege to tag-along and hang on your every (Minnie) Pearl of Wisdom…

Heads-up, Wonderfuls: I need to digress a moment–

Fearing I’ve gotten lost in the country (theme), and about to cave in to “The Farmer In The Swell” “Chain of (old) Schools”,

part of Me wants to nip Myself in the bud and announce,

(*Oops–that nip/bud part came out wrong, Trules…but the show (yourself up) must go on…so, “don’t look back…every second, every moment, we’ve gotta make this last” bit make sense*)

“Let’s take another swing at this miss…for, that wasn’t a winning Open”, says Me,

So, let’s “Stop right here!”

“I got to know right now!”

“Before we go any further (with our fumbling old-school references)…”

“Where do broken starts go?  Can they find their way tome, back to the…?”

Wait, wait, Terrifics…

this isn’t leading to any kind of clearing…

I sense I better give you another break—fast (*or risk you thinking, “OMD (“Oh, my darn!”), I feel like I’ve been hit over the head with a club!*)

However, let’s not be hasty!

Now’s not the time to pin the fail on the Eyyore….

Here’s a bit more CONTEXT:

I used the expression, “cave in”, to set up my “Open Sesame!” pun (a nod to movie, “Aladdin”).

And—fearing a PG (-string) over the top scene—I used Whitney Houston’s (1988) song (“Where Do Broken Hearts Go…can they find their way home”) to hit a home-run- pun meant to deflect singer, Meat Loaf’s, sexually charged lyrics/ultimatums and false promises.

(Granted, by today’s standards, his (1977) hit,  “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”, can hardly be rated PG; but it was risqué in its time.)

Additionally, Whitney’s lyrical questions—

Re-framed, “Where do broken starts go?” (a pun tied to my mockingly-shaky opening; and the end of my leisurely chances to pen my thoughts)…

and, “Can they find their way tome?” (tome defined as a series of compositions)–

are meant to assure you (and me) that

“We’re not broken…just (hell)-bent to love (more leisure and writing time) again”. 🙂

And, this Delightfuls, brings me to the main theme of my offering:

There’s no way to overstate how much I was looking forward to two weeks off work, but…

on second thought,

I’ve come to understand that you don’t always miss your—”Well (now that I think about it”)—until your— “What-the-well…?!”—runs dry.

You see, another saving grace/life-lesson appeared a couple days ago when a pain-in-the-neck situation cropped up.

Suffice to say that—because I waited a few days before taking a particular action—the timing was such that I ran into an acquaintance in need.

Said person burst into tears when greeted with a smile and a, “Hi, how are you?”

Long story short, “X” was understandably heart broken and needed someone to talk to.

X’s situation (having arisen in the few days coinciding with my procrastination) put my inconvenient circumstance into perspective…

I came to see it as a blessing in disguise.

Had I, a couple days before, tended to the matter at hand (a dreaded car repair it turned out I could easily afford),

I would have missed the opportunity to be there for someone in need.

And, given that I recently had awesome training that’s increased my ability to attend to someone in emotional crisis,

I came to see that,

when it rains, it doesn’t always pour (and, the sooner one faces anticipated clouds, the sooner one will see the silver linings)…

So, in fact—

seen in the right light,

When it rains, it restores!

Furthermore, Dazzlers,

if I’d dis-counted the opportunity to count this blessing,

I’d be the epitome of an ungrateful Dudley Dursley who—

genetically “Born To Be Riled” by “Cheers For A Frown”—

kept score of the one less gift he believed he was owed.

So, although I still dream of the day when I’m “living a life I don’t need to take a vacation from”,

I’ve become mindful that

no matter which side of the fence,

and no matter how green,

there’s no landscaping the fact that all grass shares the same properties—it’s grown, then mown and moan and grown.

As such, working in my current field is a gift I’m going to embrace until,

having camped out in my (career) field of dreams long enough,

writing becomes my profession…

As always, thank you for being wonderfully-you; and for bringing me one step closer to connecting with countless souls looking for ways to embrace/spread the love, hope, and joy.

And, I hope my offering did a little something to brighten your day and your spirits 🙂

God bless you and your loves,

Affectionately, Truly

P.S. For greater context regarding Fred/”The Flintstones”; and “saving graces/divine interventions”, here are the links to my respective posts.

https://trulyunplugged.com/2016/11/20/nov-1916-thank-you-for-being-a-fred/

https://trulyunplugged.com/2017/07/23/july-2317-id-trade-an-ocean-of-luck-for-a-drop-of-divine/

P.S.S. My title-twist is a nod to (1978 musical) “Greece” hit, “Summer Nights”.  It’s opening line is, “Summer Lovin, Had Me A Blast—Summer Lovin’, Happened So Fast”; “Back To The Future” is an awesome 1985 movie; “treasured Freds is a nod to beloved cartoon, The Flintsones (Fred Flintstone, specifically), and my post, “Thank You For Being A Fred”; Eeyore (lovable and melancholy donkey)  is a a character from beloved children’s book-series, “Winnie The Pooh”; camp is not only defined as a summer/country get-away enjoyed by children–it also refers to satire/over-the-top silliness/humor; “Bee-Hee-Guffaw-Ha is my (mashup) nod to “The Flintstones” episode where Fred masqueraded as a Superhero (“Bee-Hee-Hee-Ha-Ha!” was his cry/calling card), guffaw is another word for laugh, Hee Haw is a (1969-1971) country variety-show, and Minnie Pearl was one of the characters–she always wore a hat with the price tag hanging from it; Farmer in the swell is my old-fashioned twist on “The Farmer In The Dell” (1820) nursery rhyme; Chain of (old)Schools is my nod to “Chain Of Fools” (1968) Aretha Franklin hit; OMD (“Oh my darn!) is a nod to band, Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark (AKA, OMD), and their (1986) hit “If You Leave”….among the lyrics are, don’t look back…every second, every moment, we’ve gotta make it last”).  This song was featured in the movie, “Pretty In Pink”–starring 1980’s it girl, Molly Ringwald.  She also starred in the (1983) movie, “The Breakfast Club”; pin the fail on the Eeyore is my twist on children’s game, Pin The Tail On The Donkey; “We’re not broken, just (hell)-bent to love (this leisure time) again” is a nod to Pink and Nate Reuss’s (2012) hit, “Just Give Me A Reason (…we’re not broken, just bent and can learn to love again)”; You don’t always miss your—”Well (now that I think about it”)—until your— “What-the-well…?!”—runs dry…is a twist on the expression, “You don’t miss your water until your well runs dry”; Dudley Dursley is a character from book, “Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone”; “born to be riled” is a nod to band, Steppenwolf’s (1968) hit, “Born To Be Wild”; “cheers for a frown” is my twist on Smokey And The Miracles (1967) hit, “Tears Of A Clown”; “living a life I don’t need to take a vacation from” is, as best as I can figure, a quote by public speaker/author, Seth Godin.