Once again my good friend Colleen has bestowed an award on me. And a beast of an award it is. Before I could acknowledge and post this fine award, my sister, Clara, drops the Zombie Chicken Award on me. And here it is in all of its magnificent glory:

The rules of the zombie chicken say…

“The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all…”

With that in mind, I pass this award on to the following bloggers:

Humorsmith — I’m not sure if the Zombie Chickens are protecting or attacking my good friend. Since he has moved to Seattle, things have gotten weird for him. Maybe he’s just fogged in?

Justine — This gal is a stitch. And I mean that in the best possible way. You know what I mean?

Jill — Rumor is that she used to run around with a gang of Zombie Chickens. Is that true?

Lin — Refuses to drink coffee with bratwurst at the ballpark. She is under suspicion of working with a pack of Zombie Chickens. However, I can neither confirm nor deny that.

You — That’s right. You! But only if you believe.

This brings us to the Blogger Award. This comes to Secondary Roads from Carnation, who is a terrific person and friend. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

I want to pass this award in the same way I received. This award is made, with sincere thanks, to the following blogs just for being present in the blogosphere, making it worthwhile for me to stumble upon them and read their posts. They are:

Sherri — Her mother is afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease, as was my mother. Each of her three blogs is a daily “must read” for me.

Mikki — This brilliant young mother and High-School English teacher has celiac disease. She also has a terrific sense of humor and two fantastic children.

Ida — Shares her life with us plus some excellent advice.

Cacai — A very special and fun person. Makes you wish she lived next door.

Rita T — Filled with wisdom. I leave her blog feeling blessed.

Clara — Has been through a lot, but her anchor holds!

Fearless — Great sense of humor and, as advertised, completely fearless.

The Crotchety Old Man — You can believe that this old guy is crotchety. I suspect it’s all a front to hide a tender heart and a caring person. Oh, on second thought he really is crotchety. 😉

I enjoy my daily visits to each one of these blogs. You should check them out, if you haven’t already.

Colleen is a friend, a writer and a very neat person. You should visit her if you haven’t already. You can click on her badge below.

Recently, Colleen made some very nice awards to Secondary Roads, RedPineMountain, ShortyBear, Windows to my Soul and Simply Fifty. These are:

The Generosity Award

The I Heart Your Blog Award

And The Life is Grand Award

Thank you Colleen. Your kindness and generosity are much appreciated.

I am supposed to pass this on to five worthy recipients. What? There are more than five blogger friends (pallies to you Lin) out there that deserve these awards. However, I’ll have to limit myself to:

Lin

Donna

Rita

Sharkbytes

Fearless

They are each requested to pass these awards on to five other worthy bloggers. I thank each of them for the generous spirits, their fine blogs and their optimistic view of life.

Do you have an idea how difficult it is to narrow it down to five? Certainly these are great folks. I suggest you visit their blogs if you haven’t already met them.

I was recently granted this attractive award by my friend Rita T. It is attractive for two reasons, it is pleasant to the eye, and it is an expression of a personal connection. I thank you Rita. You have become a very good friend. The award comes with these words:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

It is difficult, but I chose:
Mikki
Reggie
Lin
Caregiving Daughter
Jackie
Julieta
Vanilla
Meghan

There are other friends out there, some of them I have yet to meet. Thanks to these friends. They are all special people.

I have been given the Marie-Antoinette award by my friend Lin at Duck and Wheel with String. In making that award, she said, “I have decided to share this award with fellow bloggers who show courage and a wicked, sometimes dark, sense of humor. I think they will find some pleasure in receiving an award named after a strong, brave woman who held her head high her whole life, all the way to the guillotine . . .”

Here are the rules for this award:
1. Please put the logo on your blog.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate at least 7 or more other blogs.
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

For that wicked, sometimes dark, sense of humor and for that held high on the way to the guillotine it would have to be:

The Humor Smith — This guy is wicked funny! I suspect he is man enough to accept this award in the spirit in which it is granted.

Justine & Jill — I had to put these two sisters on the same line. They’ll probably still squabble over the order of their names. (I was tempted to link Jill’s blog to Justine’s name and vice versa.)

The image that we associate with Marie Antoinette is of a beautiful woman, refined and with impeccable taste. In that spirit, for style and elegance one blogger comes quickly to mind:

Mandy Harvey — her work and her blog speak for themselves.

Marie Antoinette was 14-years-old when she left her home in Austria to marry the crown prince of France. That takes courage. It was a few years later that the marriage was consummated. Her husband was the kind of guy who spent a lot of time “off with the boys.” More courage needed. Came the revolution and her husband, the king, was beheaded. She was separated from her children. She was falsely accused of many heinous acts, and 9 months after her husband’s death, she went to the guillotine.

Toward the end she is said to have said, “Courage! I have shown it for years; think you I shall lose it at the moment when my sufferings are to end?” For courage in their life situations these three receive the award:

Cacai — Has already received the award. This is further recognition of her courage.

Ev — You are an inspiration. Best wishes on your book project.

Clara — Quietly has her own struggles. She faces them with courage, determination and optimism.

One of these last three recently received this award from another source and confided that she was reluctant to place it on her blog. “Marie-Antoinette was unengaged, haughty and aloof” was the reason given. Out of curiosity, I did some further research into the life and time of Marie Antoinette. I came away with a different opinion.

She probably did not say, “Let them eat cake,” when told that the people had no bread to eat.

Her last words reportedly were, “Pardon me Sir, I meant not to do it,” to a man whose foot she stepped on before she was executed by guillotine. Gives you a different picture than the one that is so popularly held, doesn’t it?

As someone recently said, “It’s good to win. The winners get to write the history.” Don’t you think they demonized this woman? Keep that in mind the next time you have an unkind thought about this emperor’s daughter who left home and family at a young age and found a life that was difficult and short.

Congratulations to the winners with thanks to all of them for being part of my life.

There is no significance to the fact that today is Friday the thirteenth. Or is there?