
Trees shed their leaves and stand barren in their wake.
Shellie Sands

Pale sun
lights the waning December afternoon,
presents bought, but still unwrapped...
The house is for sale,
by either the bank or the tax man...
Your oldest girl just turned 35...
I know you never liked the season,
in fact, you were Mr. Bah Humbug himself...
we suffered somewhat from that.
My children and I are all together this holiday season,
it has been a long time...
You will be missed by some,
others, not
My hope is, that wherever your soul is
You will at last enjoy this season
of good tidings and good will
and accept it for what it is
Rest in peace my once husband.
Shellie Sands
A time to lay together
when comfort envelops us
like a soft, warm blanket.
The times are few and far between
but we relish them
like good food or fine wine.
Such hope laced with
trepidation;
such joy laced with
fear...
The joy courts uncertainty,
The fear carries sorrow.
the difference between sex
and love
Souls rediscovering each other
the other half to our own
hearts beating together
arms and bodies embracing
like two perfectly carved puzzle pieces
made to interlock
designed to complete one whole
I am at a loss to describe perfection;
it is unfamiliar to me.
One has to wonder
why certain events unfold
at the time points in our lives
that they do.
A chance encounter online
opened an unexpected
Pandora's Box,
erasing away years of time
This Pandora's Box released
great joy, love and passion,
comfort and trust
the likes of which had not previously come to pass .
You came and breathed new life into me
at a time when I thought
there was nothing left to inhale.
Stunned by our reaction to each other,
thinking about what we might have had,
could have been...
but it was not our time.
We moved on through our separate lives
almost not remembering,
yet never completely forgetting
Fate, however, has chosen our time
quite mysteriously.
The obstacles seem insurmountable,
the terrain rugged and unexplored.
The magnificence of the ocean
it's strength and sheer power;
it is wondrous and haunting,
and spellbinding all at once.
I watch in awe
as the waves do their sidewinding dance along the shoreline,
rising and falling,
pushing then pulling back,
like a hesitant lover.
Ozimals is always working to improve their products and this results in periodic updates for bunnies. An update totem can be purchased for zero lindens at several sites where Ozimals products are sold. Bunny owners/breeders have seen their share of bunny updates from the beginning. This is usually a smooth process and no bunnies are lost to hibernation. (If a bunny is not updated, it will eventually stop eating because the food and it will not be compatible.)
After a substantial pause between updates, another one was presented to the bunny community. Having obtained my update totem, I proceeded to begin the updating process. This is a long process for many breeders as only one update totem may be set out at a time. Having multiple warrens means the updating process must happen one warren at a time, one bunny at a time. In the meantime, those bunnies around who have not yet been updated will alert you with a message saying your bunny is out of date.
Satisfied that all my bunnies were up to date, I carried on with other SL business. Shortly, however, messages alerting me to an out-of-date bunny began appearing on my screen. Thinking "damn, I must've missed one," I set about in search of the little out-of-date critter. Moving from warren to warren, clicking off text on all updated bunnies, I found a couple out of date...now where did I leave that update totem? No sooner had I set out the totem near the bunnies in question, a message appeared on the totem itself advising "poor sim performance." The totem had stopped working. Frustrated, I popped over to the Ozimals store and got another one. This one also quickly stopped working. My frustration level and impatience on the rise, I teleported once again to the Ozimals store. Thinking I was smart, I purchased a couple.
Back at the ranch, I carried on with updating. Messages continued to flood my screen.Near tears at this point (ridiculous, Shellie, they are pixels, PIXELS!), I looked for my bunny friends on line to cry for help. Finding no one at the moment, I called it a day, deciding I would deal with it the next day.
I was greeted the next day with a barrage of out of date messages. "IMPOSSIBLE!" I thought. The Ozimals group IMs were flying. Then came a message about another update. With everyone in the bunny world flocking over to the Ozimals store, it was hard to get in. Searching my notes, I found other locations and off I went for the latest update. In the meantime, I had bunnies deep into hibernation because they were out of date. Setting out the newest totem, the long process began again. One by one the bunnies were updated. Those in hibernation, however, could not update in that state (I found out after trial and error). Taking up all the hibernating bunnies and not knowing what to do, I continued to update the bunnies I could. A friend told me to try the Rise and Shine drink for the hibernating bunnies. At 500 lindens each, this was an expensive proposition. I updated two hibernating bunnies and still have bunnies in my inventory. Bunnybury begins to sound like a good option at this point but I am hesitant.
But the nightmare wasn't over yet. Just when I thought the coast was clear, lo and behold, another update! This sent everyone into an uproar as you might imagine. This was becoming a chaotic and out-of-control situation. With a deep sigh, I collected yet another update totem. Totem in hand and thoughts of burying all bunnies and getting out of this business, I began the grueling process one more time of updating my 7 warrens...ugh!
All bunnies are now updated, but be careful kindling old nests, set that updater out! You will need it. In what I can only believe was an effort at maintaining some level of credibility, Ozimals offered an olive branch in the form of free Appreciation Food, which is valid through 14 July. On the 14th, all Appreciation Food will expire and vanish from site. At least we all got to hang onto our lindens for awhile.
Shellie Sands