"People are bewitched into believing that time slips away, and this belief is the basis of time actually slipping away." ~ Raoul Vaneigem

Good morning and welcome to where the rubber meets the road, but, given the usage, a new set of tires may be needed soon. It's Tuesday, July 17, 2018, I believe this is day 198 of our present year which means we only have 167 days left before we welcome 2019. I suppose that means I need to get the stuff off of my to-do list and get them on to the done list. That means as Snuffy Smith used to say in the comic strip, "Time's a wastin!" I know that is a dated reference to many who might read my blog, however, it harkens back to the day when we used to read the daily comics in the newspaper, and especially so on Sundays when they would be printed in color. But we were not allowed to read the comics on Sundays until after we attended services that morning. House rules. The TV might be on, tuned to Gospel music or preaching, however, when the coast was clear I may have switched it to wrestling. It may have been black and white, but, we knew blood when we saw it. If I heard the bathroom door open I switched it back to the preacher. And, watching that could be pretty entertaining. Take, for instance, we watched a young Oral Roberts when they filmed his tent meetings and then showed them on Sunday mornings. We enjoyed that healing line because he would grab hold of their ears and holler loud or slap folks around pretty good. It may not have been as good as watching Ray Gunkel do battle with Mr. Motto in a professional wrestling match, but, after all, we were getting ready to go to the House of the Lord.

Since dad passed away in 1954, one of the only memories I can call up is of seeing him at the table in our tiny kitchen listening to a baseball game on the radio. As I recall, he was very excited and vocal as he listened to his team play. We didn't have a TV, but, mom and dad had some friends who did. We would, occasionally, load up and go over to their house to watch their TV.  I seem to remember a program we watched over there one evening. It had something to do with the devil and I recall that it caused me some distress for some time afterward. Probably nightmares. What's that? Maybe that's it? You think that might account for me learning to sing "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"? Thanks for the suggestion because most folks are looking for that one thing that happened to them to blame the rest of their life on. Let me assure you, as messed up as I am, it would have taken more than one program about the devil to account for all of this. In fact, other than the spontaneous unexpected bouts of derangement and disillusionment, I really don't have that much to concern myself with. Just joking and I am not making fun of those who do have hurtful things in their past. I feel blessed because, in spite of all that has happened to our family and to me personally, I come away thankful to God for His provision in bringing me to where I am today. While I am quite certain I'm not in Kansas anymore, I need only to figure out where where is and then I think I will be okay. As in, I'm okay, you're okay. Right? Or, something like that.

Just for the record, I do not do my blogs while on the therapist couch. I thought I needed to clear that one up. I perused a list of 500 questions that might help to prompt personal narrative. In case you missed it, that's what I mostly do here each day, personal narrative. I used the word peruse because I got tired early on in reading all of those questions. And, no, they did not have a question about reading the questions. But, I suppose me looking at them helped come up with something. I just wrote a few sentences about it. Good. It wasn't a complete loss. I'm always looking for help anywhere I can find it, however, for now, I will continue to make it up as I go. I do like to find a good way to close out each episode. Here is the way George Orwell ended the classic 'Animal Farm': "The creatures outside looked from pig to man; and from man to pig; and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." I chose that one because it is highly regarded as one of literature's greatest closing paragraphs. You are right. It would likely require reading the book to get the full impact of that closing. As far as my wrap up for today, I leave you with an opening sentence that made the list of the greatest of all time. It certainly surprised me they would put it on the list but I do know it is great: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) Enjoy the rest of your day and get as many of those to-do items moved to the done list. I'll work on that one myself. Until next time, may God bless each one is my prayer. Amen. ....More later.