“Get all my ducks in a row? The only time you'll find ducks in a row is in a butcher shop window!” ~ Donna Flotre, Author

Today is THE day. It is Friday, July 11, 2014, but it turns out to be THE day the wife returns from her Arkansas teen camp adventure. That means I have to get my ducks in a row. (The origin of the 'ducks in a row' metaphor is vague and debated forth and back by word junkies. It most likely has to do with the often seen mommy duck leading her ducklings all in a row. The main competitor is the term 'duck' used in pool halls in conjunction with balls all lined up in a row.) At any rate, as it relates to my situation, it has to do with getting things shaped up so that when she returns it doesn't look like it was the way it did while she was away. I'm pretty sure I am exaggerating just a tad. (Tad: Thought to be associated with tadpoles or a metaphor for a small child but today's usage is an Americanism that came into vogue during the 1940's) I ask you: How much could one little guy like myself mess up? I can assure you that I will be using the proven pine-oil-method to freshening everything up. That comes from a lady we hired one time to help the wife clean when we were both working. That lady worked hard but mostly at not working. To cover her lack of attention to doing anything meaningful she was very liberal with the pine oil. A little here and a little there. This meant that when we came through the back door. Bam! It smelled fresh even if nothing had been done. Don't write me. I do promise to do more than she did which wouldn't be much, but, I think everyone should be allowed to hand down to others at least one of their skills. Therefore, I will honor this lazy lady by using liberal amounts of pine oil. After that, I will hope for the best, keep my fingers crossed, and keep all the blinds and drapes closed. You do know I am mostly kidding. Mostly. I'm almost certain I don't have time to get the windows tinted.

Perhaps I need to make me a 'to do' list. That's a good one. I thought I would throw it in to humor some of my more well organized readers. I'm not against making lists. I just happen to know that my limitations are mostly only needing a jump start where I get up off my backside and get on with getting some things done. Paw Paw Mac used to say that we kids sleeping late reminded him of a bunch of lazy dogs all laid up under a shade tree. His view of the word sorry had little to do with regret or remorse. He thought of it in terms of someone being lazy and low down. However, my grandfather may have been on to something. Many people have fretted over the meaning of this Albert Einstein quote: "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." At any rate, I will try to not find myself in any of the above as I supplement my energetic pursuits with Community Coffee and get on with the challenges at hand. Believe me, today I am trying to do the 'lighter fare' I promised. But I don't need to tell you there's plenty of the other even if I don't mention it.

Have you ever noticed the difference one person can make? There's a particular fast food place that I go to when I need to pick up something for our pot luck supper at Church. When this fellow is on duty the place is hopping. He is always on the move, in and out from the front to the back telling customers the status of their food and keeping all the workers moving and focused. The other day I went in and he wasn't there. You would have thought they were observing some type of mourning process. Everyone was dragging around. I almost had to help the person taking my order so that he could just make it through the exercise. Essentially, there was no apparent life, no zip and no zing. One person. But that one person was all in. He's not a young fellow. This job may not be what he saw himself doing at this phase of his life but he chooses to bring sunshine to his workplace. He's a good example of the adage that says: Work in a way that makes people notice when you aren't there. I noticed. That fellow encourages me just by the way he does what he does. Okay. That should do for now. You take care. Enjoy your Saturday and Lord Day's Sunday and I will do my best to show up with some sunshine and maybe even a little pine oil come next Monday. May God bless each one. Amen.  ...More late.