Good morning and welcome. It's
Tuesday, January 5, 2016. Last Friday was, of course, New Year's Day. The wife was away in Louisiana with her brother and sister. Her brother Milton is not doing so well and it is a burden to all the family. Please continue to pray for them. This meant that I was home alone. Again. Earlier in the week I mentioned that fact to my mom and she reminded me not to be running up and down the stairs hollering. You know. Like little Kevin in the movie. How do you like that? A movie reference from my 91 year old mom. She no doubt connected that because I've written about it so many times over the years when I've been left alone at home. But, it was still pretty neat to have her say that out of the blue. On New Year's Day I got up and posted my blog, enjoyed a couple of cups of Community, spent some time in prayer and then set out to treat myself with breakfast. I've sworn off of I-Hop, therefore, I drove over to the nearby Shenandoah community to give Denny's a try.
All the younger staff there looked like they had been run over by a freight train. It was obvious they were operating with little or no sleep. I didn't have that problem. I was in bed by 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and for me I slept in until 6 a.m. The four early twenties college buddies sitting in the booth behind me were in bad shape. Very hung over. They had spent their night partying with cocaine and liquor. They were trying to figure out exactly where they had been and what they had done. Their language was peppered with all kinds of expletives. They were essentially stranded and were taking turns trying to find someone who would come and fetch them. They had not been to bed. They felt sick. I thought to myself, if this is what we have to lead our nation going forward we are in a world of hurt. Fortunately, the lady waiting my table was in her forties and had not spent the night out on the town. She appeared to be bright eyed and very much a contrast to her younger comrades. I ordered one of those senior dishes with one large piece of french toast without the sugar, one egg over easy, and a piece of ham. That and two cups of their bold coffee helped get my day started. (They called it that. I didn't.)
I then drove over to the big mall and made a couple of laps. Dillards was having some kind of sale. Their parking lot was overflowing. There were hundreds waiting on the doors to open. I tried to remember if I had ever stood in line waiting for a store to open. I have gone to the store early but I couldn't remember ever being a part of a huge group like that. All the other stores were still asleep. The mall maintenance and cleaning crews were doing their thing. I passed by the pet store and two young ladies were cleaning out the cages. I made a mental note to add that job to one I hope I never find myself doing. I passed by the pretzel shop and the fellow there was very slowly making preparations for the day. He looked a little dazed and I greeted him with a hearty hello and he broke into a huge smile. Those folks who clean all those brass rails impress me. That's a big job in that mall. The mall walkers were mainly those displaying either gray or white hair. You remember my campaign: White Haired Lives Matter. They were all cheerful and we typically said our hellos as we passed. When I walk I walk very close to the edge of the stores and I do not cut corners. This is how my wife does it. Her influence impacted me. After all of that I called the wife and we visited and I told her I missed her being here. She said she knew that I did and looked forward to being back home soon. I then called my mom and we visited for a while. Then back home to play one of my favorite games: TV Remote control roulette. Just keep it going and going and perhaps it will land on something worth watching. Roulette. Get it? Have a great rest of the day and may God bless us all.
Amen. ....More later.
No comments:
Post a Comment