"And since we've no place to go Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow! ~ Sammy Cahn

I had previously warned that no one could predict what might show up for our time together on this Monday, February 10, 2020. Having written that, I am awaiting the release which I do hope will be forthcoming. Soon. You know. To fill up the white space on the electronic page. Still waiting. Speaking of white space, late last week, I saw oodles of photos of Facebook of those folks we know who actually received a good dusting of snow. We didn't get that dusting but last Friday morning we had us one widespread heavy-duty frost. I'm talking all the roofs glistening. The windshields had real ice on them. That brought back memories of growing up in Louisiana in the 1950s in a rural area where it could get really cold and we were not the best prepared to deal with it. All of us had coats. That was about it. If we needed more than that we had to improvise which typically meant wearing multiples of the clothes we already had. Two pairs of socks. Two pairs of jeans. Two shirts. I do not remember us having caps or hats. On the rare occasion when we would get some snow, we, like kids everywhere, went crazy. We would wear what we had until it became so wet it was hard for us to even move around. By that time, we would be so cold we would have to go back inside and hover over the space heater. You remember them, you would heat up one side at a time. How long did we play outside? Until all our clothes were used up. No clothes dryer for us except for that big fiery ball in the sky. Bottom line, today when I see kids out having fun in the snow, most of them dressed so much better than what we had, it makes me aware of the truth that prevails: Kids. The more things change, it is the more they stay the same.

I've mentioned before about how I at times think the cellphone is vibrating in my shirt pocket only to discover my cellphone is in the house. The other day I added a new one. I began to hear a whistling sound and it sounded exactly like my hearing aid was making a strange noise. You guessed it. I don't have a hearing aid. I suppose the next stop is when I begin to hear voices, but, that may not be too bad depending on who it is that is doing the talking. We have a fairly large number of older folks at our local fellowship. We do not go many services without at least one or two cellphones going off. Typically, when it does they can't seem to find it. When they do find it they don't know how to stop it. The wife and I remind each other to mute ours because we really don't want that to happen to us. The good news is how our preacher never stops unless he is wanting to play along. One day, he paused long enough to say, "You might want to get that." He usually just keeps on with his sermon. You have to admit that living in the world of older folks is not for the timid or fainthearted.

I saw one older fellow lamenting how he learns something new every single day, but, alas, he is never able to remember it. Don't get me started on the 'forgot what I was looking for' situation. A really good outcome is when I find something I wasn't looking for while forgetting what it was I was looking for. That may not make sense to some out there, but, I am sure it does to many. Sometimes, you just have to give in and cooperate with it. The wife often tells me to remind her to do something when we get back to the house. I am doing well when we get home to tell her I remember that I was supposed to remind her about something. She often can fill in the blanks at that point. See what I mean? Teamwork! You just have to go with it. The other day she observed me getting frustrated while working on our 2019 Federal tax return. The software I use was not cooperating. She said she thought it might be time for us to give in and let someone do our taxes for us. I've done tax returns for over 55 years and I'm not ready to throw in the towel. I did what any self-respecting person would do. I forced the software to do what I told it to do. It informed me that because I did override it, I could not file my return electronically and would have to mail it. Okay. So, I will buy a few stamps. See how we solve our problems around here. Have a great rest of the day and may God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.