“I always enjoy cutting Barney's hair. His ears kind of wing out and it gives you room to work.” — Floyd Lawson, the Barber, The Andy Griffith Show, Season 5

Good morning and welcome. Today is Tuesday, September 22, 2020, and I bid you welcome to another day here in our neighborhood.  I watched an old documentary special examining the Andy Griffith Show and why it became such a runaway hit. The late Andy Griffith was the main source but many of the well-known stars were interviewed as well. At the outset, Andy said Mayberry was not a real place. Many came to believe it was but it wasn't. He also said in reality, a place like Mayberry didn't exist because the world is filled up with complexity, troubles, and difficulties, therefore, most of them could not be solved in a 30-minute program. However, he went on to speak to how most of us want to think about a place like Mayberry because much of the storyline depicts life as we would like for it to be. I have often mentioned my growing up in a small rural town as being somewhat Mayberryesque. I believe I typically tried to include the caveats concerning the stuff that wasn't so pleasant, but, on the whole, the way folks conducted themselves, the way they cared, and, the way they looked out for each other, well, that made it my 'Mayberry' if you will. Interestingly enough, I know fellows who grew up alongside me and some of them can't get past those ugly realities and they see a very different story when they think of their hometown. I suppose that is part of how it works. Perception is the reality to the one doing the perceiving. One of the interesting tidbits coming out of that documentary was how much caring and respect there was among the actors who played on that show. Maybe that is what showed up on the small screen and maybe that's why we still watch it today. 

I know I should be more tuned into the political machinations saturating the airwaves 24x7. Just me, but I pretty well get as much of that as I can stand if a very short update period. Sorry. From all sides. I do try to stay informed but I do it as best I can without becoming a part of the neverending cycle of stuff flying around on every platform known to humanity. I support people and their passion to be involved. I'm not as much in support of some of the sick stuff many of them post in support of their passion. It's as if people see something and since it came from the internet, well, that automatically makes it 100% fact. Some of what I see is downright hateful. Other stuff is downright inaccurate, wrong, as in, you know, fabrication. Throw in media bias and you have the roar of an ocean of confusing rhetoric that just keeps pounding the shore, wave after wave after wave. From all sides. I know a few people who nearly have a stroke over materials they see and those materials are made up, to begin with. If you attempt to inform them of that fact they typically get angry. Not at being apoplectic over false information but at the person for trying to help them find out the truth. Oh well, that's my throwdown on the situation for today. Will I vote? Lord willing and even if the Creek Indian Nation rises, I will. (One of the leading contenders for the meaning of the old saying Lord willing and the creeks don't rise.) 

Today is a great example of how my approach to blogging works. I sat down at the laptop this morning at 5 a.m. and I have finally gotten to this paragraph at 5:58 a.m. I didn't know I was going to write about Mayberry until I wrote about it. I didn't know I was going to go off on the incessant political stuff until I wrote about it. Now I come to the end of today's edition. Some read what I write and nod in agreement. Others come to different conclusions. Aren't we thankful that we still live in a country where we can do just that? I know I am. I told you the other day about the folks living here in our neighborhood in how many have Trump signs up in their yards while a few have Biden signs. On one particular street, next-door neighbors have opposing signs in their yards. I noticed the one with the Trump sign has now added a Trump banner hanging from the eave of their home. There may be a Biden banner coming soon. Let's hope they can live in peace and harmony even though they have differing views regarding politics. I actually see good God-fearing people on social media telling their friends if they intend to vote a certain way to please 'unfriend' them now. Oh well, I know I am being a broken record here. If a young person happens to accidentally read that sentence and wonders what a broken record is, send me a comment and I will explain it, explain it, explain it. Have a great rest of the day and may God bless each one and may He bless our great country. Amen. .....More later.