No one in the press can figure this President out. Thus far, I don't see that as a problem.

Made another trip over to Louisiana last Saturday to visit mom, dad, and sister Jo who is helping take care of mom. We so much enjoyed our brief visit. And, yes, that included sipping of Community Coffee together. She may have a ways to go, but, I can certainly see the progress she is making and we all are thankful to God for that. Amen.

Here we go again. Welcome to Monday, February 20, 2017, where we continue the journey. I am happy to report that since the incident with the fast food manager last week, I have not been confronted again by anyone accusing me of passing a fake Santa Claus photo card. As you can tell, I haven't given that situation another thought. I did watch most of President Trump's press conference last Thursday. According to insider reports, he came in Thursday morning and told his staff that he thought it would be a good day for a press conference. By now you have probably heard that he lambasted the press over and over again. His desire was to get the facts out to the American people. You know. The ones who elected him. When one reporter complained the President referring over and over again to their stories as being fake was undermining the freedom of the press. The President said if that was a problem he would change what he has been saying, from fake news to very fake news. I thought the information he shared to be very pertinent and very relevant. I read the other day from someone who said the press misunderstands President Trump. Completely. He is not frustrated by their stories because it will not deter him from his objectives. Right now that appears to be doing his best to keep his campaign promises. Really? Strange that a politician would do this. Oh yeah. He's not a politician and I, for one, am glad of that. What say you?

I notice one of the themes of those who teach Santa Claus schools is how people who portray the jolly old elf must do their best to be authentic and genuine. How? By being themselves. I think I understand what they are talking about. The Santa character is distinguished by his love for children. In my opinion, genuine love is hard to manufacture. I don't want to sound trite, but, if someone doesn't truly love kids, well, this would not be the job for them. I'm not saying there are not people who are in the business of being Santa that do it as a job only and they actually do not really and truly love the kids, however, that typically becomes obvious over time. One leading expert who teaches acting said that having people be themselves in whatever role they play is perhaps a whole lot tougher than one might think. I believe I understand their point. You can play Santa or you can become Santa using your genuine love as a way of bringing authentic joy to children of all ages. That would be my approach. Or, at least I think that's what I try to do.

It seems like I'm racking up the wear and tear mileage of late. The old body stays a little on the grumpy side, but, we do our best to follow Paw Paw Mac's advice, "Keep on keeping on." I do start this day with a heart of gratitude to our Great God for allowing me to wake up, get up, and the ability to get going. I do hope you and yours will have a wonderful rest of the day Monday and I'll do my best to catch back up with next time. Until then, may God bless us all is my prayer. Amen. ....more later.