"All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own." ~ Plutarch

Here's my greeting for today, taken from The Truman Show movie, "Good morning! And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!" I actually saw that movie, some years ago, on television of course, and thought it to be somewhat interesting. In any event, it is Monday, August 5, 2013, and I do bid you welcome. Some days you feel older. In fact, some days it seems that older kind of slips up on you. Last Wednesday evening I had one of those in body but out of mind experiences. I had come home from work, hurriedly got ready for the evening fellowship meal and Bible study, then went and fetched some food from the fast food joint since my wife was out of town and went to the Church. Got there but all the ladies who typically are there to set up everything were all out, either on vacation, or out for some other reason. Uh oh. I had seen my wife do it, therefore, I scrambled here and there and got some tea made, got the eating utensils out, and generally got it mostly all together. Had the meal, then taught the Bible study, and I got back home about 8:30 p.m. I sat down in the recliner and all I know from that point forward is that I didn't wake up until 9:22 p.m. I always call my mom at 9. Here's the funny thing. When I woke up I didn't know where I was or how I had gotten there. Just for a moment or two. Fortunately, grandson Alexander Benjamin came over and blurted out, "Are you awake now, Poppy?" That helped me get back on track but I was a little woozy for a while. Sometimes I really wonder about myself.

What is that saying? A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Or maybe it's a terrible thing to lose. Or maybe it's a terrible thing to misplace. Misplaced sounds better because it indicates it's not lost, just unavailable until it is back up and running again. I recently read about a disease that causes people to constantly go around acting 'whacky', and often making jokes and using puns compulsively. It is thought to be caused by a stroke like attack and it's called Witzelsucht. (Look it up.) One lady featured in the article had always been an extremely shy and quiet person. After having this type of attack she suddenly became the life of every party, even when there wasn't one. While it seems to be humorous, it's really quite serious since the person who suffers from it can't turn it off. Before you jump to any unfounded conclusions, let me assure you that while I'm not sure what my problem is, I am always on the look out to find out. When I do maybe they already have a twelve step program to deal with it. Or maybe not. Until then, I will just keep laughing, especially at myself.

I found out the other day that in addition to there being so many phobias or fears, there's also a condition called Phobophobia. That's the fear of fear itself. Talk about chasing your tail in circles. There's at least 530 documented phobias. Some on the list are pretty funny. One I saw that I definitely don't have is the one called Logophobia. That one is associated with a fear of words. I didn't say my lack of fear had anything to do with knowing how to use words properly, but, in general, I am fairly busy each day slinging them about, here and there. I also would never want to violate that prophetic utterance by my grandfather when he said this about me as a young lad, "Will that boy ever come up for air?" I'm sure some of my readers have wondered that exact same thing. Maybe I have a predisposition to try and win the wordiest of all contest. I didn't write this one but I do like it: "Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I couldn't help wondering to myself, 'what in the world happened to the ceiling?'" Need I say it again: Sometimes I do wonder about myself. Have a great day and may God bless each one. Amen.     ....More later.