"Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said: 'You're really doing great, aren't you?' Morris replied: 'Just doing what you said, Doc. Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.' The doctor said: 'I didn't say that. I said, You've got a heart murmur - be careful.'" ~ copied

Hello and welcome. It's Thursday, May 17, 2018. If you are reading this today it must mean that I made it through my physical examination. I would say with flying colors but I'm not 100% that would be accurate. Timeout. Let me check something first. Here's what I found on the use of flying colors as a metaphor: "To pass with flying colors means to pass with distinction. This term has a nautical history. It derives from when ships would return home with their "colors" (another word for flags) flying to show they had been victorious." I think it best to wait until all the reports are in before I make any further comment. However, I did enjoy my time with my doctor. He is very businesslike and both the wife and I like him very much. He has his medical background to support his conclusions. I have about a 35-year headstart on him in terms of age, therefore, I can offer my gained experience as we talk about medical matters, family stuff, and other topics as well. The connection and the results have worked well over the past seven years. I haven't used any doctor jokes on him yet. Except for him dealing with me. At least it gives him something to talk about later. On a sad note for us, he and his wife will be leaving this area in the fall. I sure hate to lose our doctor. When I talked to him about it, he told me that he and his wife (a pediatrician) are going to be on staff working in Nairobi, Kenya as doctors in a mission hospital. I told him I guessed it would do no good to argue with the Lord. He smiled. May God bless these two and their two small children as they answer the call to the mission field. Amen.

Things do change as we get older. These record-setting hot temperatures seem to really zap me. Back when I was a teenager, those hot temperatures meant that it was swimming hole time. We would get there early and stay all day. We would take turns swinging out on a rope for hours upon hours. Nowadays I try to be on close terms with the air conditioning system as much as possible. And, I remind everyone one more time how those who yearned for summer to get here, I do hope you are satisfied. I really do. We are early on in the season and it has already hit 95 degrees here. I looked at the records for temperatures for the month of May in our area. The average low is 68 degrees and the average high is 86 degrees. I did see one record low for May that I really liked. It was 44 degrees. Thank you very much, I will take that one any day of the week. Sadly, the lower temperatures are typically within the first week. After that, the song made famous by June Carter Cash and husband Johnny comes to mind. It's the one with the line, "hotter than a pepper sprout". Oh well, we are blessed to have a brand new a/c and furnace system at our residence. It was installed this week. It's supposed to save us money. I will be the judge on that one. Meanwhile, I will try to think cool thoughts and watch videos showing blizzard-like conditions. It may not help much, but, I will take any of it that I can get.

I'm all for having a day set aside to honor folks and to celebrate great remembrances. Mothers, fathers, teachers, police, military, nurses, and so many others we never even knew existed. Just in the month of May, there are many that are somewhat obscure. To me, at least. A national tourist appreciation day; military spouses day; birth mother's day; dance like a chicken day; visit your relatives day; waiters and waitresses day; lucky penny day; leprechaun day; no socks day; brothers and sisters day; and the one I liked but didn't know about: older Americans' month. There were many others but I am somewhat baffled how many of these do end up showing up on social media. If you designate a 'love your pet' day, well, you are guaranteed to get at least a million photos of pets with inscriptions about how much they mean to their owner. I'm not sure owner is politically correct today. Maybe it is now called a pet provider or pet facilitator. I'm not up to date on how that goes. At any rate, there are so many days of adulation, they, in my opinion, run the risk of all running together. You know. They are all so special, we end up with nothing being really special. However, now that I am aware that the entire month of May is designated to celebrate older Americans, well, for some reason that one resonates with me. It has a nice ring to it. If you get my drift. Take care, and remember that God loves us all regardless of whether there's a day set aside in our honor. Amen. ....More later.