Repent, O Scottish Sinner......
There was a Scottish house painter named Smokey MacGregor who was very interested in making a penny more where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further.
 
As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Baptist Church decided to do a big restoration job on the outside of one of their biggest buildings. Smokey put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the job. So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with water.

Well, Smokey was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down, washing the thinned paint from all over the Church and knocking Smokey clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint.
Smokey was no fool.  He knew this was a judgement from the Almighty,
Smokey he got down on his knees and cried: "Oh, God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do?"

And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke,

(you're going to love this)
 
"Repaint! Repaint!
And thin no more!"

 Beautiful 10 short stories worth reading.

1) She was very excited
     today, after all the
     school was re-opening
     after a long summer
     break. Now, once
     again, she could start
     selling stationery at
     the traffic signal to
     feed her family.

2) She, a renowned artist
     and a strict mother,
     often scolded her 6-
     year-old son for he
     could never draw a
     line straight. As he
     breathed slowly into    
     the ventilator, she
     begged him to make
     one more crooked line
     on the ECG.

3) "Everyone goes with
      the flow… but the one  
     who goes against it
     becomes someone
     remarkable.” Before I
     could explain this to
     the traffic police, the
     man issued me a fine.

4) Their love was
     different. She was
     happy every time he
     kicked her in the
     stomach. Every time
     he kicked, she loved
     him more. She waited
     for the time she would
     hold her baby for the
     first time.

5) All my toys are yours..!
     Read her brother’s    
     death note.

6) They took his father,
     and only returned a
     flag.

7) At 25, I became a
     mother of one; at 27 I
     became a mother of
     two; and today, at 55, I
     have become a
     mother of three!  My
     son got married today,
     and brought home his
     wife!

8) “Born to rich parents,
      this boy is so lucky,”
      exclaimed the
      neighbors!
      Somewhere in
      heaven, three unborn
      sisters cried.

9) “You ruined my career,
      I was supposed to be
      an Executive Director,”
      she thought to
      herself.  The little
      angel held her finger
      tightly and she forgot
      everything; A mother
      was born.

10) Once a 5-year-old boy
       was standing
       barefoot in the
       shallow water of the
       ocean. He was
       repeating the same
       sentence to the
       waves, “Even if you
       touch my feet a
       thousand times, I
       won’t forgive you for
       taking my parents    
       away."

Breath taking! Aren't they?  Short stories with deep meanings.

For the lot of us who grew our ears in the late 70s,the ride to adulthood was one mind blowing trip on the back of the humble cassette tape.

Elvis made us dislocate our bones. Dylan helped us discover poetry.

Abba made us fall in love with blondes and brunettes. Beatles inspired us to imagine and live in an octopus’s garden.

Cohen gave us a baritone complex. Marley taught us to stand up and fight. Boney M lit us a rocket to Venus.

Osibisa brought us the sounds of Africa. Eagles flew us to a hotel in California.

Dire Straits put us with some sultans high up on swings. Jimi Hendrix spoke to us with his guitar.

BeeGees did us in with very deep love. Carpenters led us to the top of the world.

Queen brought us the legend of Mercury. Rainbow invited us to the Temple of the King.

Kenny Rogers told us about cowards. Doors opened us to a certain Mr Morrison.

Deep Purple set us on fire with smoke on the water.

Smokie got us Alice. Don McLean fed us Pie. Cliff Richards congratulated us. Dolly Parton distracted us.

Santana hypnotized us. Tull broadsworded us. Floyd pinked us.

Michael thrilled us. Kiss kissed us. And Jim Reeves, Harry Belafonte, Tom Jones and others left us with memories that will never leave.

Long Live the Music of our Time!

 These are photographs by Krutik Thakur.

 

 

 When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

Cranky Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

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The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart!