Welcome to the place where I live, the fine state of Confusion!

It's Tuesday, March 24, 2020, and, I showed up again to repackage and re-sort what is mostly, at least at this late date, a continuous series of reruns. This sentiment is actually one that was stated in Holy writ, Ecclesiastes 1:9 "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun." Those are the inspired words from Solomon who was recognized as being given the gift of great wisdom from God. I know many of you think I could use this time we have on our hands, being stuck at home, to improve my blogging skills. While I am the first to admit the vast amount of improvement that could be made, I'm afraid that from where I sit today, that ship too sailed some time ago. That doesn't mean I am not trying every day to produce a readable and hopefully interesting grouping of topics to send out. I just think what you see each day is pretty much what you have seen, are seeing, and will see, going forward. I used to spend time checking my own archives to see if I am repeating something I used before. That train has also left the station. I know it is polite to ask if you have already heard this one, but, in the blogging domain, I just have to fall back on Solomon's insights where even the new stuff I share isn't really new at all. If this opening paragraph is a little confusing, don't worry, it most likely is to me as well.

Mr. Bentley, "What can I say, they told me to smile big!"

Okay. Bentley here. Let me see if I can shake things up a little. I do love having my caretakers here with me. I really do. But, 24x7, every single day! Are you kidding me? I have to act up every once in a while to get them to put me in my kennel for a time out. Let's face it, we all need our space. Right? When I go outside to take care of my 'business' as they call it, well, where did everyone go? My neighborhood looks like a ghost town. I haven't bristled up and acted all ready to attack for some time now because no one has their dogs out. The other morning around 4:30 a.m., Mr. Bossman got all bent out of shape because I became fascinated by the hoot owl. What a voice that dude has! I thought I would stop and enjoy it for a minute, but, oh no, we need to get back in the house so he can get back to his laptop. I really don't understand his hurry, it's obvious he has nowhere to go. They seem to have begun watching more TV these days. Sometimes they try to get me to see something on the screen. I hear it all the time, "Look Bentley, look at the doggie." Really? I do occasionally hear a dog barking on TV and lookup. When I do you would think I had just won the Westminister or something. My thought is they really do have way too much time on their hands. I will concede he still takes me on my morning rides around the neighborhood but it's not really the same when everyone appears to be locked inside their homes. Maybe this will all be over soon. For the sanity of us all. I know they are praying about it. A lot. Until next time, keep those cards and letters coming. Not really, but, I heard him say that was a good closing. See you soon. Sincerely yours, Sir Bentley Barksalot, Esq., aka Mr. Bentley.

There continues to be a segment of our population who think it's okay to party during this ongoing pandemic. The experts are wrestling with why this continues despite all the curfews and curtailments. Simply put, they have come up with some reasons why, 1) Plain ignorance; 2) Selfishness; 3) A sense that sacrifice is needed but they are not in need of sacrificing; and the last one is a little more complicated, 4) We've never had to attach moral restraint to such common activities. Okay. I actually think there are more than these. I believe there are many who just continue to believe that most of the threat is hype, fake news, and, it does not reflect reality to them. This thinking does drive behavior. The more than 35,000 infected in our country and the deaths closing in on 500 are not taken seriously due to all of the above along with the age thing I talked about in a recent blog. Meanwhile, we older folks continue to shelter in place and hunker down, hoping those who are out and about do not bring it to our doorstep. Just within our Facebook friends circle, I've seen lots of Springbreak vacation photos, group gatherings, and things like that. I don't have an answer. Just thinking out loud. Do what? Turn the volume down and try not to worry about it. Good advice. Take care and know that God does. He cares. Amen. ....More later.