Adventures in Word Experting

Long, long delay...

2009-09-19T22:20:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the unfriendly delay. Writers are fussy critters. I super promise the rest of this story will be posted not very far from now. And it is really exciting. Also not exactly what you are expecting (I hope).

Thanks.

Pugglysnoo and the Case of the Disappearing Rose Bush (Pt 4)

2009-04-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

Puggly examined the scene of the crime many times. He looked for hidden tunnels. He tested to see if someone could hide in a tree and come out at night. But he found nothing. His mind got unhappy and he thought about ways that did not really make sense – a rose bush that grew legs and ran away, an invisible monster that ate rose bushes -- but those ideas were just silly. Even if they were also neat.

By now the rose bush had been stolen and four times.

Puggly decided to stay the night at the estate. He could listen for anyone that would break in. When he woke up the rose bush was still there. He went to get a cup of coffee and talk to some critters so they could help him think up new ideas. When he went back to look at the rose bush to try to come up with yet more plans it was gone.

How could it have possibly disappeared at such a strange time of day?

Pugglysnoo and the Case of the Disappearing Rose Bush (Pt. 3)

2009-04-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

P.J. Sobbington’s estate was massive and there were many tress and shrubs to be planted and taken care of each day. There was a large staff and they all had different jobs, each critter nurturing a various kind of plant, tree, or grass. Some brought in the new vegetation, some kept the old looking lovely.

Puggly decided to talk to these critters. He did not want them to know he was trying to learn secrets from them so he had a boss introduce him as a new groundskeeper. Puggly had always been good at making friends and this time he did an extra good job. Soon many of the critters who took care of the estate talked to Puggly about so many different topics.

Critters who work on grounds and give their time to helping plants and rocks and grass look their best are good-hearted, hard-working, likeable critters, some of the best around.

Puggly was sure one of these critters would have seen something that might help him start to know what was happening, but it was not to be. No matter how much they told Pugglysnoo they were never able to tell him anything about the missing rose bush. It was a mystery to everyone.

Pugglysnoo and the Case of the Disappearing Rose Bush (Pt 2)

2009-03-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

All kinds of experts failed to solve the mystery and so soon had to admit they needed extra help. This is how Puggly got involved. He quickly went over the facts and searched their meanings for something that might give away the answer.

But even with Puggly’s extra careful looking he was not able to uncover how the rose bush vanished. This became even more of a problem when the rose bush planted to replace the stolen one was also stolen.

Puggly fretted. While it was not truly his job to make sure the rose bush was safe he knew that many critters might decide how they felt about him based on how he did with this task. P.J. Sobbington was putting his trust in Pugglysnoo. The staff was putting their trust in Pugglysnoo. And Pugglysnoo was putting a lot of trust in Pugglysnoo.

He had agreed to solve the mystery and Puggly could not rest easy until he made P.J Sobbington’s view from the window correct.

Puggly decided that if he was going to solve this case he would have to spend so much time on the grounds. He would make the place where the bush disappeared as familiar as his home or his reoccurring nightmare about adopting an unhappy talking apple tree.

Pugglysnoo and the Case of the Disappearing Rose Bush (Pt. 1)

2009-03-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

I said I would yesterday. And here it is.

Pugglysnoo and the Case of the Disappearing Rose Bush -- Part 1 (by Snugglypoo)

There was once, and probably still is, a critter with a certain take on life. He was called Pugglysnoo and he saw the good in many, many things. He was small. And a hippo.

When Pugglysnoo found himself short on funds he knew it was time for him to get a job. But Puggly also craved adventure. He wanted his life to sparkle. Luckily, there was an old estate. How old an estate was hard to know. But it had been there longer than most critters’ memories.

Pugglysnoo went to interview for the job of security guard. He was very suited for this work. He had eyes that often found things other eyes could not. And ears that heard sounds lost on less careful ears.

Puggly had not been on the job long when strange goings on begun. A rose bush that was a favorite of the critter who owned the estate, P.J. Sobbington, disappeared. It was not a prized rose bush or a famous kind of rose but it sat outside a window that Sobbington stopped at when he wanted to sigh and admire his grounds. There were no suspects and the staff was confused. Who would steal a single rose bush?

Sorry

2009-03-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and friendly strangers.

I am sorry for the long delay in my writing. I wish I had a fun excuse or a story to tell you. But wait! The reason for my going away was because I stopped wanting to write so much about my life. I wanted to write stories. So my story is I was writing stories. I hope that makes you smile like me.

Tomorrow I will post the first part of my first story. Friday I will post the second part. After that every Friday you can come find the newestly written part.

Hug's Work

2008-07-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

I wish Hug could like his job more. I think sometimes you get lucky and what you like to do is something that you can do easily. Like me.

Hug loves this city and knows more about it than anyone. He also seems to hate it more than anyone. Hug is like that.

I think his tours are really great and would take them all the time if I didn't have to work. Though I do get to help with most of the tours he plans now and I can go walk them and see what he is talking about. And he points stuff out when we are in town.

Hug works hard. It is too bad he does not have a C.P. Dibbington to tell him how good he is at what he does.

Politics

2008-07-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Politics is one of those things that you are not supposed to talk about if you want anyone to like talking to you. But sometimes you have to.

I want to vote for the best candidate. But I think that the nicest candidate is not always going to be the one who will do the most good things for the biggest number of critters. I don't know which super smart and wise critter said that is the reason for politics, but I am pretty sure politics is about picking the candidate who will make laws and give money to the right places so that the biggest number of citizens get the most improvements to their lives. Hug is rather insistent that it never, never, never works this way.

But even if one candidate is only just a little bit nicer or a little bit kinder than the other and will do their work in a way that spreads that kindness and niceness just a little bit further then that is who I should vote for.

Who that is in this election I have no idea.

More Rocks, More Work

2008-06-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

After I'm done with work, when the evening is super cool and refreshing, I'm allowed to look around the grounds for interesting rocks. Mr. Dibbington trusts my judgement. He knows that I know what to keep for myself and what has to be left where it is for the grounds to be the healthiest that they can.

You might not think it is so important where one rock is but you would be surprised. Getting plants to grow is tricky. Sometimes they have relationships to stuff you would never think of. Like rocks.

There is a friendliness to the grounds. To the rocks and the grass and the trees. You might not be able to notice it if you are just hurrying through but if you slow down, like I do when scouting for a good rock, you feel how the grounds welcome you and want you to be happy.

Philosophical Wax

2008-05-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when Hug gets to waxing philosophical he says stuff like how there are as many different ideas about what the world looks like as there are critters in the world.

Like how everyone you meet thinks everything is about them and gets confused and can't agree about what actually happened or what someone meant by what they said. At least that's how Hug explains it.

Here's how I see the bridge we take to get to our spot by the river.

P.S. I know this is not what he means but I like the picture.

Paddy Paws

2008-05-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Like I promised last time this time I'll tell you about Paddy Paws. He is kind of my assistant and kind of my co-worker. He is nice. But a goof off. Not in the good way like Hug but in the bad way where he doesn't do his work.

Paddy Paws likes to ask me a million questions and tell me about all kinds of stuff that he does so he can hear what I have to say about them.

I've taken him under my wing to help him see how the estate works. But also so I can show him how if you look at things right it helps you act right and acting right helps things run more smoothly and everyone likes being around a lot more when things are running smoothly.

I like working with Paddy Paws. He is a good sort.

Work

2008-04-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

I am lucky because I live where I work.

A lot of critters have to wake up, get themselves together, and then spend a long time getting to where they will spend their day. I wake up and look out my window and already know what is needed of me.

My home is a shed on the grounds of C.P. Dibbington and I am employed by his estate as a groundskeeper.

I love my work. I do a lot of raking because Mr. Dibbington appreciates my attention to detail. Mr. Dibbington has a beautiful estate. There are large lawns and so many different kinds of bushes, trees and plants. I could get lost for hours just walking around and seeing all the care that goes into making everything look so nice. More than once I have.

I am sure Mr. Dibbington likes it to, but we never get to hear him say so because he's never really around.

Next time I will tell you about Paddy Paws. I work with him the most. He is very good hearted but a bit too much of a goof off. Everyone likes to have fun, but the lawn isn't going to rake itself.

Fun

2008-04-11T21:27:00.001-07:00

It seems like I have fun no matter what I do. I know that Hug thinks this is a moral failing on my part, but what is life for if not to enjoy? Lucky for me the stuff I enjoy is pretty easy to come by. I’d be in serious trouble, like Hug I guess, if the stuff it took to make me happy was hard to get.

Next time I will have more details about my life. I will continue my quest to know it better. And to share it with you. Promise.

Old Money

2008-04-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hug calls the part of town where I live "old money" Villeville. I think he means that if you live here, you have money, but some of the stuff you own got old because you have been rich for so long.

One guy has a shed with a caved in roof. You might think this is a bad thing. But when I passed it one snowy day all the snow had come off and there was still snow on the brand new roofs.

Just because something is broken, doesn't mean it can't be useful. Like Mr. Huggins. When he tells me to stay away from something it's usually because he got hurt by it. He's like a caved in roof with no snow.

Rocks Are Neat

2008-03-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

It isn’t just that rocks are pretty (rocks are pretty). It’s that they are old.

Rocks are the oldest stuff that is. No matter what thing you could think of that you could pick up in Villeville or what thing you might think of collecting, or how old your coin or your stamp or famous, snooty family might be, a rock is older. So a rock wins.

Intro

2008-03-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Somebody super important and truly very smart once said that if you want to make yourself happy you have to know your life.

That sounds right to me. So I am going to use this blog to do just that. And you can follow along and get to know me (Snugglypoo) and my very bestest friend ever, Mr. Huggins.

More soon. I promise.