Dale Po's New Phone

Dale Po is the son of Lance and Emily Po of Cloverdale. He is a child of remarkable concentration and shows evidence of giftedness. Last week he sat through the entire showing of Shrek at the Grand Theater. The flickering images on the large screen kept his attention. His mother says he even laughed at the right places in the film. Mind you, she isn’t claiming he understood the words, but he seemed perceptive to his surroundings and mimicked the sounds coming from the people around him.

Yesterday Lance Po found a pink plastic toy cell phone while picking up milk and eggs at the local Piggly Wiggly on his way home from work. It was was in a bin of old Christmas toys still waiting for loving homes and kind children. The price was right and Lance thought that if his son had his own phone he wouldn’t keep reaching for his every time it rang.

Lance returned home to find Dale in his high chair and Emily feeding him his mashed carrots. "Look what Daddy's got for you!" he said as he pulled the pink toy from the brown paper grocery bag. Dale clapped his hands in anticipation and reached with both hands to take the phone from his father. Lance handed the phone to the boy. Dale examined it to see if it had all the right buttons. He stuck it in his mouth to get the feel of the plastic on his tongue. Taste was another issue. Dale wanted to determine if the toy's plastic was similar in taste to his father’s cell phone. He squirmed to get out of his high chair. Emily picked him up and sat him on the floor. Dale put his new toy down and layed next to it. He stared at his new toy intently.

Several minutes passed. The boy blinked by did not move. He didn’t take his eyes off the phone. He waited, patiently.

Lance and Emily Po were bewildered. Didn’t he like his new toy? Why wasn’t he playing with it? Had he lost interest that quickly?

Several more minutes passed. Dale still stared and waited.

“He’s waiting for it to ring,” Emily said after thinking about her son's thought processes. “He doesn’t see us playing with our phones. We leave them be until someone calls. That when we pick them up. He doing what he sees us doing.”

“Remarkable,” Lance exclaimed. “But what are we going to do. Take the phone away from him?”

“I have an idea,” Emily said as she reached for the cordless phone next to the sofa. She dialed her husband’s cell phone.
“What are you doing?” Lance asked.
“Shhh, don’t answer,” Emily replied with the smile of a bright idea.

Lance’s phone rang. Dale immediately picked up his pink toy phone and began speaking Gibberish - the International Toddler’s Language. Emily’s idea had worked.

Lance and Emily Po spent the next hour listening to Dale’s conversations. It made for a wonderful afternoon.

Johnny Butler Got In the School Newspaper.

The Head Master of Confederacy Primary School in Cloverdale started a school newspaper club to write a monthly newspaper to celebrate the accomplishments of the students. The club's charter has one undisputed rule; every student in the school had to be honored in the paper at least once during every school year.

Some students were easy to write about. They were the ones that got on the Honor Roll for outstanding marks in their subjects. Then there were the ones that won the science and history fairs. They were also the outstanding athletes, musicians and artists - all easy to write about. The monthly newspaper was full of their stories.

Things got tough toward the end of the year when the newspaper club reviewed the students not mentioned at all in the September to April issues. That meant the May edition had to include them to meet the administration's rule of "every student honored".

Student members of the club found the 'forgotten' students and interviewed them for the May edition. It took some digging but they found something printable.

Little Johnny Butler of 354 Maple Street proved to be the club's most difficult challenge.
"I can solve the Rubik Cube in 14 seconds!" Johnny announced during his final interview with the club's 6th grade reporter.

Johnny took the cube off the teacher's desk and 14 seconds later handed it to the reporter, solved - or so he thought. The reporter looked at the unsolved cube and was about to refute Johnny's statement when Johnny's teachers stopped her by putting her index finger up to her lips. The teacher led the reporter out of the classroom to speak privately.

"Johnny is color blind," the teacher said.
"oh, that makes sense," the 6th grade reporter replied. "Well, we will go ahead and report it as if were true."

Little Johnny Butler had is picture in the paper and the school newspaper ended another school year with its mandate met.

Cloverdale Weekend Television. Songs of Praise. For All the Saints

Clovershire Weather.

Yesterday's torrents of rain from multiple cloudbursts subside today bringing slightly warmer weather throughout the Shire and its communities. Unusually cool temperatures for a mid June day may cause some to wonder whether we are on Summer or Autumn's Eve. This confusion will be answered with much warmer temperatures mid week. A sweater or jacket with umbrella would be a wise choice for your walk to Sunday worship in one of Cloverdale's many churches.

Mary Gold Whiffle, Cloverdale's Brilliant Delinquent Mind

Last night little Mary Gold Whiffle was caught stealing flowers from the Desmond’s back yard at 24 Elm in Cloverdale.

“I didn’t steal any flowers,” Mary Gold said while being questioned in the Police Station's interrogation room.

“That’s because you were caught before you could!” the Constable interrupted. Mary Gold’s face turned sour. She wiped away the newly formed tears from the corner of each eye and stared coldly at the officer.

“Took ya long enough to catch me,” she said without blinking an eye. “I thought I’d get away with it all summer long. Aw well, ya win some and ya lose some.”

“Matt Desmond put the fear into you with his gun didn’t he?” The Constable said as he sat back in his chair and looked through the window to see if Mary Gold’s parents had arrived.

“I wasn’t expecting a gun. I suppose it wasn’t loaded?” she asked.
“No, it wasn’t. You could have gotten away with it again. Lets see, how many flower patches have you plundered this year alone?”

“As I said before. Ya win some and ya lose some.” Mary Gold reached into her little unicorn purse and took out a piece of Double Bubble Chewing Gum. “You don’t mind if I chew do you Chief?”

“Knock yourself out,” the officer responded. Mary unwrapped the gum, put it into her mouth and tossed the wrapper into the trash on the opposite side of the room.

“One question Mary Gold,” the officer asked after an uncomfortably long pause of watching her chew her gum.
“Shoot,” Mary Gold answered while attempting to blow a bubble.
“Why?”
“Ah, now that’s the question isn’t it?” Mary thought for a moment as she studied the Constable’s face. He thought she was looking for someone that would appreciate the workings of her criminal juvenile mind.
“Why did I steal flowers from the best homes in the village? Well here it is. I have this side business going at school. I act the part of little miss perfect. You know the kind, always laughing at the teacher’s jokes, always saying please and thank you, always helping the teacher whenever possible, always getting the highest marks and ALWAYS bringing FLOWERS to the teachers and Head Mistress.”

“Teacher’s Pet?” the Constable said to shorten the length of the tale.

“Got it in one,” Mary Gold responded. “Now the real bad kids in school need someone like me who sleeps in both camps, using a figure of speech here I hope you will appreciate,” she said looking for some form of acknowledgement from the Constable. She got none, and continued. “So, for a certain amount of money and a whole lot of attention from the ‘bad boys‘ I vouch for them whenever they got into trouble.”

“And how do you do that?” the Constable asked.

“Well, lets say that Tommy Miller wanted to kick the chair out from under Toby Mackey because Toby leans back all the time and sits right in front of Tommy. Tommy tells me ahead of time so I’m ready when the time comes. Toby leans back, Tommy leans forward from his desk and kicks out the chair. Toby hits the ground and starts to cry. The teacher blames Tommy because everyone knows Tommy is a bully.”

“And you step up and tell the teacher that it was an accident and Tommy had nothing to do with it,” the Constable said moving the story along.

“And again you got it in one,” Mary Gold proudly replied. “Tommy is off the hook and I get a couple bucks for my effort.”
Mary motioned the Officer to bring his head closer to hers. She leaned forward and whispered, “It keeps me in gum. I’ve got a nasty habit. I’m my dentist’s best customer.” Mary Gold laughed while unwrapping another stick of Double Bubble.

“Ah, your parent’s have finally arrived. I’ll want you to tell them exactly what you told me,” the Constable said while standing.

“No, I told you and no one else. My parents will get another story. The sad story of a little girl who loved her mother and wanted to give her flowers and couldn't resist the temptation.”

“But that isn’t the truth Mary Gold.”

“The truth is what I say it is. Who’s not going to believe me? I’m Mary Gold Whiffle.”

“You’ve been stealing flowers from one end of the village to the other," the Constable warned. "One day you’ll be caught again Mary Gold and then your perfect world will come crashing down. Now get up and let’s meet your parents at the front desk.”

Mary Gold stood up, took the gum from her mouth and stuck it under the desk in the interrogation room. She stopped at the door for a moment to partly blow her nose to produce drainage. This would give her mother something to wipe away with her handkerchief and thus producing sympathy. Mary Gold squinted forcefully in a struggle to produce a few tears, all to complete the charade.

Mary Gold was going home, after a "Feel Better Stop" and the Moss Wonderland Bakery.

Cloverdale Weekend Television: Songs of Praise: Sing A Long. "The Lord is My Shepard"

Clovershire Weather:

Abundant sunshine fills the Clover Valley for the greater part of the day. Clouds in the A.M. clearing in the P.M. Temperatures are expected cooler , then warming as the clouds thin. Beautiful weather all in all making this Sunday a delight.

On today's Songs of Praise, An Anglican "The Lord is my Shepard".
Songs of Praise is brought to you by Cloverdale's Council of Churches. A Happy Sabbath Day to all!