Good morning and welcome. Today is
Thursday, September 12, 2019. I listened as the wife read the blog paragraph about the new lawnmower to her sister. They were both laughing, therefore, I assume I can continue to safely write for another day. Speaking of that, and with my apologies to Mark Twain, they tell me the average Holy Bible has 1200 pages and as for me, today's blog is number 3155. I'm not saying my grandfather was a prophet but think about it, when he said, "Will that boy ever come up for air?", he may have been on to something. As you know, I enjoy writing about my folks and my growing up days. I love the fact that others enjoy hearing those stories too. Our family may not have a legacy of prominence in terms of worldly accomplishments, but, the one we have is uniquely ours and it was grounded in love and values handed down from generation to generation. I am aware that embellishment and even fuzziness can become a part of storytelling over time. I've had those close to me comment on how their understanding of a particular event I've written about is quite different than mine. That's fine with me. I'm not testifying under oath here, just sharing as things come to mind. And, yes, I am very well aware of how two people can report on the same experience but with very different perspectives and points of view. Yes, even so-called eye witness accounts can differ. Some might think I see my background as a fairytale fantasyland type of upbringing. You obviously haven't read many of my blogs because I've written quite a bit about many of the challenges, struggles, tragedies, and sad times we experienced along the way. You have your stories. I have my stories. They help define who we are. And, as always, thanks for tuning in and thanks to those who let me know they have enjoyed a particular shared memory or story.
I like to read sentences written by those who are very skilled and are acclaimed as being outstanding examples of good literature. Google it. There are a huge number of lists of them. They have been compiled by professors, professional writers, and those who specialize in language and communication. One thing I've noticed. While some of the same excerpted prose might show up on different lists, they certainly do not agree, in the whole. That tells me that preference and even perhaps bias is a factor, no matter how they structure the compilation process. Some of these selected sentences were voted on by the experts. Others were chosen by the vote of readers. I read a story in the online Christian Science Monitor about a teacher who asked her students to submit their thoughts about the greatest sentence ever written. Charles Dickens, famed writer, was well represented. Excerpts from the Gettysburg Address were submitted. Shakespeare got his due. And, one young man, knowing the teacher's favorite submitted the inspired opening sentence from the Holy Bible, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He thought he had aced it. A new girl stood up and read from the back of a postcard. She simply read, "Charlotte, I love you." The teacher asked her why she had selected that particular sentence. She said it was from her dad who traveled a lot and when she received his card from overseas it melted her heart. The little girl's sentence won the day. I'll let us all consider exactly what that means.
I promised an update on our newly purchased 1970's Sears and Roebuck Waffle Maker. The wife is experimenting with it, but, thus far, we do know it is capable of producing the throwback crisp, crunchy waffles I am looking for. Her thoughts on its condition: It's like new. We do have thirty days to decide whether to keep it or not. I'm trying to pace our testings because it would not be good to eat them so often we wouldn't want them again anytime soon. Yes. I am aware there are many greater issues in life than trying to produce a thin crispy waffle. And, yes, our family, like all families, are, at any time, dealing with the vicissitudes that come with life. Some we know about. Others we learn about after the fact. And, yes, some are much more important than the waffle maker. However, the milieu of life is made up in many ways of 'all of the above'. The ordinary is also a part of life. It reminds me of a song by Joey and Rory Feek. Sadly, Joey, the wife, and mother, died very young from ovarian cancer, but, they left this tune for us all to think about:
"
That's Important To Me"
Not planning our day around a TV set
Paying our bills and staying out of debt
That's important to me
That's important to me
Opening the windows and letting in air
Holding hands when we're saying a prayer
That's important to me
Yeah, that's important to me
Having somebody to share my life
Loving my husband and being a wife
And the very best mother I can be
That's important to me
Telling the truth and being real
Feeding my family a home-cooked meal
That's important to me
That's important to me
Planting a garden and watching it grow
Keeping it country on the radio
That's important to me
Yeah, that's important to me
Always having you to hold
Being beside you when we grow old
And they plant us 'neath that big old tree
That's important to me
Believing our dreams will take us somewhere
Still being ourselves if we ever get there
That's important to me
That's important to me
Yeah, that's important to me
That's important to me
That's important to me....
Take care and I'll do my ever-loving best to show up with something, next time. May God bless.
Amen. ....More later.
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