"Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest attention to colloquial speech." ~ Thornton Wilder, Author, (1897-1975), winner of three Pulitzer prizes for writing

Howdy, howdy. I bring you greetings from the ole blogger ranch to wherever you happen to be hanging out as you travel the highways and byways of the internet connected world. We open the page on the chapter marked Today and we find that it is further defined as Wednesday, February 4, 2015. I am not a prophet and not the son of a prophet but sometimes I notice things that other people also notice. The wife and I were watching the local news and a report came on about the increasing dangers of having so many 18 wheelers saturating the roadways in our area. I said, "How do you like that? I wrote about that the other day." In a few minutes she was telling me about something she had heard about that ended in a sad and tragic way. I said, "How do you like that? I wrote about that the other day." She didn't start humming the tune from The Twilight Zone because a) I'm not sure she remembers it; and b) these were just examples of ordinary coincidences that we all experience as we make our journey in this life. Growing up when something odd would happen and you might experience a fleeting situation where a sensation would come over you, a quiver or chill, often you might call it: "A rabbit just ran over my grave." What's that? You never heard of such a thing? That's okay. Calm down and get yourself another cup of Community and we shall proceed. It was just one of those colloquialisms handed down from the folks who inhabited my old stomping grounds.

No. I will not try to explain stomping grounds. Look it up. Folks are still talking about the Superbowl. With an almost slam dunk (I know, basketball metaphor.) opportunity to win the game, the decision to throw a pass by Seattle that was intercepted instead of choosing to hand the ball off to the best running back in the game is being called the worst ever call in the history of the NFL. How would you like to carry that moniker? The worst call ever made in the history of professional football. This is being hung around the necks of the head coach, the offensive coordinator, and the quarterback who threw the ball. And it happened in front of a record TV audience of some 114 million. The second most important discussion is about the commercials shown. Commercials during the Superbowl have become almost as big an item as the teams that play. Many folks were not impressed with one by an insurance company that showed a child talking about all the things he missed out on in life. Why? Because he said he was killed in an accident. That didn't go over so well with the party crowds. While the critics thought the one about the lost puppy being rescued by the beer wagon horses was like: Enough already with the puppy angles. Well, it works. It looks like it might be the winner because people have the last say and they always love a puppy lost, puppy found, live happily ever after story. At $4 million for 30 seconds, those advertising surely were doing their best to hit a home run. But, that again would be in a different sport, so I had better quit while I am behind. 

The good news is that it is February and we all know what that means. You don't have a clue, do you? Daytona. We are just 17 days away from the Daytona 500. Here's what I have to say about that: Yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay! You still don't get it, do you? NASCAR begins a brand new season. That exclamation is a good one. Try to channel some Frank Sinatra as he sings 'I'm An Old Cowhand': "I know all the songs that the cowboys know 'bout the big corral where the dogies go 'cause I learned them all on the rad-ee-o Hey, yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay Yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay" I was going to use Happy Days Are Here Again but I thought that might be slightly over the top. The Superbowl of football comes at the end of the season but in the estimation of many of the drivers and teams, NASCAR starts it's season with their version of the Superbowl because that's how important Daytona is to the sport itself. Oh well, I'm glad we all are able to like different things. I suppose that's why the good Lord up above allowed the Hallmark Channel to be created. Now, you do know that's a joke. I know this, it brought a smile to my face when I wrote it. What say you? This has all been fun but it's now time to turn to something much more important: Go out there and have yourself a blessed day, and may God bless us all is my prayer. Amen. ....More later.