"Thank God I'm a Country Boy!" John Denver

  

Yesterday our eldest son and his wife observed their 27th wedding anniversary. When he reminded me of it, I told him I had it documented in my calendar book for next week. I had it down for the 26th. He informed me that he should know and the 20th was the correct date and then he explained how that I had done the same thing last year because it was their 26th and I had it down on the 26th last year. Uh oh! It could have been one of those days when I forgot to mark my hands Right and Left. I copied it from last years' book and that's how being wrong becomes institutionalized, in case you wanted to know. We do thank God for our Chris and his wife Sherrie. Happy Anniversary to our children and may God continue to bless is our prayer. Love, mom & dad

Left to right: Layton, Conner, 
and Barrett.

Hello and welcome to the Friday edition on this June 21, 2013. You might recall that I mentioned my nephew and his family are living in South Korea for the next year. He has a big job with an oil drilling company. They have three boys. Three boys from the country. That's the three boys who went turtle hunting in the pond by the big hotel in our area when their daddy was in a conference. They are outdoor boys. They are some of Louisiana's finest. They've only been in South Korea for a couple of weeks and already they have been doing one heap of exploring in their neighborhood area. The other day they had come in from being out in some nearby waters where they had been diving. They had some artifacts including starfish they had found. Our niece put up some photos on Facebook. The starfish were beautiful. One looked very odd. It was blue with a unusual design on it. A friend who had previously been stationed in the same area sent an immediate message that the blue starfish could well be an endangered protected species. She said she remembered some fellow paying a large fine for keeping an exotic protected starfish. I had said when they left Louisiana that South Korea was not even beginning to be ready for these Toledo Bend boys. I love all the photos of the memories they are making, and I do know these guys will come back having learned so much from their home away from home. And, I would almost bet there will be some learning going on by the South Koreans as well. I wonder what 'you might be a redneck sounds like in Korean?'

The South Koreans are very much focused on and sensitive about their culture, respect, and tradition. The titans from the American high tech world have been in South Korea this week mostly to make their pitch to sell even more of their goods and services. Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, Mark Zuckerman, Facebook, and the CEO of Google, Larry Page, all had an official meet and greet with South Korea's new president, Park Guen-hye, the first ever lady to lead the country. One would have thought the media's focus would have been on the technology discussions. Nay nay. They instead examined the appearance and protocol from each visitor and went into great detail to describe how each presented themselves to their President. According to the article I read, the TV crews did close ups of their body positions, their movements, their method of extending their hand and the way in which they actually grasped the President's extended hand. The only one who appeared to have done his homework was Mark Zuckerman who not only dressed appropriately but also had mastered the proper handshake. The media had issues with the others and thought they were less than respectful in not observing these traditional rituals. See what I mean? I can see our three young Louisiana lads responding to culture questions. When asked about culture on TV back home they will likely say they do watch documentaries. Reruns of Hee Haw. (I just threw that in for fun.)

I guess I can throw my lot in with Mr. Rogers. It has been an interesting week here in the neighborhood. But then again, it's pretty much always interesting around these parts. Speaking of food. (Not every segue can be smooth folks.) I know I wasn't writing about food but it popped into my mind because of me remembering that I will be having to fend for myself over the next few days. The other evening my wife prepared some delicious fried green tomatoes. She had gotten them from her sister. She makes them just ever so slightly on the crispy side. Prepared that way provides just enough acidity to give them some bite. And that's what I did in return, bite, bite, bite. You have to wonder who came up with frying green tomatoes for the first time. Maybe it was someone who likes fried eggplant. I know I sure do like eggplant prepared that way. But, I don't want to turn my daily visits into a can you top this cuisine commentary. By the way, I've never had any fried green tomatoes in a restaurant that even came close to the way we serve them up at home. I think I've done my part to litter up the electronic world with my keystrokes this week, therefore, I bid you a farewell for now along with a sincere wish that you will enjoy your Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday. As for me, Lord willing, I will do the same and then do my best with His help to show up next time. May God bless each one. Amen.    ....More later.