After the Thanksgiving feast I was enjoying family chatter, mixed with football, and the thoughts of a second slice of pie. Out of the blue one of my grandchildren announced, “It is five weeks until Christmas”. That grandchild was put in ” time out ” for ruining the mood. Of course one’s mind immediately turns to the commercial side of Christmas rather than the “REASON FOR THE SEASON”. Over the past few years at Christmas I have found my solitude in avoiding the stress factor by seeking simple pleasures.

Most of the simple pleasures are free of charge and/or only require a small amount of money. No matter your age, when was the last time you just sat outside under blue sky’s and watched cloud formations. It is amazing how you discover hearts, angel wings, and even face formations. Another freebie are our feather friends. They jockey for position waiting for a shot of sunflower seed thinking, ” Hey it’s my turn”. This is an oldie but goodie, ride through your neighborhood and marvel at how creative Christmas decorations have become. I kid you not, one of my neighbors has a twenty foot Snoopy dressed to the nines in Christmas attire, fantastic. And then there are the home made crafts ( yes we did ). We did twelve ( count them ) intimate mangers of baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. My fingers are still stuck together from the super glue.

Allow me to share my simple pleasure with you. Sitting in our living room with the beverage of choice, listening to Michael Buble Christmas music with soft Christmas lights, counting our Christmas lights. Before you judge, let me explain.

When I seem to disappear in the evening, my better half will say, ” Are you counting Christmas lights?”. Here is the deal, each light I count is referenced to a family member or close friend. The light is symbolic of a fond memory that occurred in past years or as recent as today. At times I find myself laughing out loud and other times there are tears that accompany that light. This year there is one light that is shinning brighter than all the others. Trust me, the old adage, ” I laughed until I cried” is alive and well.

So this Christmas season, find you a comfy chair near your tree, and count your lights. Bring the memories with you and maybe a Kleenex or two. Merry Christmas guys.

Be safe.

If I were to ask you, ” how many words are contained in Webster’s New World Dictionary ” ( yes young readers there are still dictionaries in today’s high tech. world ) what would you guess? Hmmmmm!–times up. Well, the answer is—not even Siri knows. The best scientific guess exceeds 1,250,000 words. Many words contain fourteen or more letters like congregational and ophthalmologist, but to me the most powerful word today contains three letters, WHY ?

Needless to say every parent hangs to baby’s first word, will it be mommy or daddy ? As the child grows so does it’s curiosity. Beware everyone because the day will come when the word ” WHY” becomes a major part of their vocabulary.

Allow me to name a few from yesteryear when we had to deal with that three letter word. ” WHY can’t I have more candy, WHY can’t I stay out later, WHY can’t I drive the car, WHY can’t I wear this outfit, WHY can’t I get a tattoo, I’m fourteen, and the worst of WHY’s, give me your cell phone? As chicken little would say, ” the sky is falling”.

With social media giving us a blow by blow of the world every thirty seconds, do you find yourself mumbling the three letter word “WHY”? ( and please spare this old guy regarding social media, OMG–TMI).

Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. Being in my very late seventies I thought the “WHY”s in my life would become fewer and fewer, wrong. Young or old, the ” WHY’s” will never go away. How can one little three letter word create such a tidal wave of adversity in our lives? From the song of the same name,” I Did It My Way”, I try to deal with the “WHY’s” replacing it with a positive. My positive, ” God has a plan, and is still in control”.

Be safe.

WARNING: This blog will probably ” piss off ” some of the people that take the time to read it. I will soon be eighty years old, sooooo!!. What are you going to do, come whip my butt? Been there done that.

Was it Forrest Gump that said, ” my mom says stupid is, is stupid does”. Is it just me, but when I see adults on television or social media downplaying the effectiveness of the vaccine, I cringe. There are comments like, ” what are the side effects, there is not enough data, I know what is best for me and my children, wearing a mask is a violation of my civil rights and what makes up the vaccine formula”?

For the ” doubting Thomas intellectuals ” out there, allow me to ask you one question, ” Do the following ingredients comprise the Covid 19/ Delta Variance vaccine? Colloidal silicone, dioxide, corn starch, croscarmellose, sodium, lactose, cellulose propylene, titanium dioxide”? WHEW!!

Three, two, one, times up. Answer NO! The above ingredients refer to aspirin, Tylenol, Allegra, Zyrtec and other various pain medications. The next time you have a headache, backache, sneezing attack, or runny nose, call the powers to be with your ” cause ” and let them know the sodium ( salt ) in your Tylenol is making me gain weight. Here is some food for thought. When you get your flu shot, pneumonia shot, or shingles shot do you question why? Maybe, but in most cases you do it to keep from getting the flu, pneumonia, or shingles.

In 1998, I knew this fifty-seven year old guy that was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. He was active, jogged, had his weight under control, a picture of health so he thought. After a routine company physical there were issues with his hemoglobin, x-rays revealed a tumor in the colon. The surgeon removed three feet of his colon to remove the tumor. Blessed with that news there was one other issue that needed addressing. There were thirteen renegade cancerous cells in various parts of his body. The chemotherapist prescribed twenty-four weeks of chemo treatments. After researching the side effects, he was very apprehensive about taking the treatments. He asked his doctor, ” what are my options”? The answer, ” if the cells are not destroyed they will spread through the body and probably in months or a year be fatal”. He had two options, do the chemo or roll the dice and hope you do not die of cancer. As tough as chemo treatments were , he chose life over ” cause “. You ask how do you know so many of the details, because that guy was me.

America and the world is now faced with two options, take the vaccine that does have some side effects but odds are you live, or roll the dice and refuse the vaccine hoping that you or a loved one does not contract the virus that might lead to death. Stats indicate over 600,000 plus Americans have died from Covid. Wonder what percentage of those may have lived if they had just taken the vaccine. How can you justify that question, especially if you lost a love one. Do not let your ” cause ” take the life of a love one.

Be safe.

PEOPLE: “WHAT THEY DID FOR LOVE “

Forgive me for rewording the great song from the Broadway hit ” A Chorus Line ” ( What I Did For Love ). However for this blog I would be remiss for not using ” They “.

In this world of uncertainty each of us has a grocery list of unsung heroes. Those who keep us safe, those who keep us healthy (vaccine), and those who care for us. One such group on my grocery list is a group of professionals that are tasked with the responsibility of molding our future generation. On a given day they teach, they discipline, they cry, they laugh, good or indifferent at the end of the day they take their job home with them. Yes I am referring to teachers and in particular preschool teachers.

On many occasions the teachers of the world are placed in as much of a learning situation as the student.” Ms.——, what is your favorite dinosaur, or why does the moon revolve around the earth, why do you correct me for using the word “hate”.

Every teacher that I have ever known has those ” magic moments” that stick with them forever. Let me know if any of the following resonates with you? Slime ( pardon me but it looks and feels like snot) but the children love it, Wacky Wednesday, where yes the inmates have taken over the prison, dressing up at Thanksgiving as Pilgrims and Indians ( sue me ACLU ) the children love it, and a child telling her mom she learned a new song at school called Lasagna when the song was actually Hallelujah.

Just as a carpenter’s belt holds his or her tools of the trade, teachers and preschool teachers also must have a belt of sorts. The belt must contain disinfecting wipes, band aids, Kleenex, nut free treats, hugs, shelter for the personal storm of a child and a double dose of patience.

You may ask, ” you seem to know a lot about teachers”? Well, before electricity I was one, but for the last thirteen years my better half taught preschool. I witnessed first hand the numerous times tears were shed for the happiness and sadness for her children. To attempt to mention all the wonderful children, parents, teachers and administrator would take volumes. However there was one special associate that my wife talked about constantly. She would say, ” we are like peas and carrots”.

Be safe.

Please take four minutes of your time and Google Brad Paisley’s country western video, ” I’m Going To Miss Her “, it is hilarious. And it does express one man’s love of fishing. ( side note: Paisley married the actress Kimberly Williams that appears in the video).

Being raised in my ” neck of the woods ” in Eastern N.C. we were blessed with numerous rivers, lakes, and large fishing ponds. Many dates and marriages were predicated on the question, ” Son, do you fish and hunt”? If you wanted to squire the daughter ( for the young folks that means date), the answer better be “yes”.

In my small town there was one luxury most of the mill villagers possessed, a plywood fishing boat. A person could have a two man boat, but that required a trailer. Your only method of control with the boat was two wooden paddles. You needed two in case you lost one in the river current. For the one man boat, you could wedge that sucker in the trunk of your car, put a red flag on it and off you go.

My fishing buddies were Richard and James. Richard could almost catch fish from a dry lake and then there was James. James was one of the most intelligent people I ever knew. He finished with honors in Industrial Engineering at NC State. However James never did grasp paddling a one man boat with one hand and holding a fishing pole with the other. He did have a boat trailer, so his fishing skills were more humorous than productive. In fishing vernacular, he stayed tangled up with fishing line and tree tops more than fishing”. On many occasions his antics would have made ” America’s Funniest Video’s”.

Fancy fishing gear was not required. A two day fishing trip consisted of the following: one man boats of course, three cane fishing poles ( which every general store kept in stock), small tackle box, worms for bottom fishing, crickets for top fishing, frying pan, cooking grease, cornmeal, salt, pepper, jug of fresh water, roll of toilet paper, and Pepsi. One quilt or sleeping bag for spending the night on a sandbar.

When it became to dark to fish, we headed to the sandbar to fry our catch of the day. James handled the fire, Richard cleaned the fish, and I handled the cooking. Cornbread fritters were first, then the battered fish. Dessert was Jonny cakes with hoop cheese. After talking about the ones that got away, it was bedtime. There was an old wives tale if you dug a small trench around your campsite it would keep the varmints out. ( black bears could care less about a trench if they got the smell of cooking grease in the air). Never the less, we always bunked out as close to the fire embers as possible.

Day two, we hit the river at daybreak. If we caught a mess of fish ( mess means lots ) they were taken home and divided among the neighbors. Life was simple back then. You did ” unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Hmmm!!! food for thought in today’s world.

Be safe.

No, I am not referring to Stan Lee’s ” Spiderman” introduced in comic books in 1952. ” Spider ” as he became known was a first grader and classmate of mine in 1947.

His Christian name was Carey, last name to remain anonymous. It was about the third grade when ” Spider ” began to hone his skills that lead to his nickname. At recess there was always a mad dash to the monkey bars and swing sets on the school playground. Attempting to muscle through twelve monkey bars was a feat for most of us——-until ” Spider ” made his presence. Tarzan would have been proud. He would swing three bars in succession, dismount to perfect landing, ( not a Simone Biles ) followed by two cartwheels and a forward somersault. From the third grade until graduation Carey was lovingly called Spider.

Carey was a ” tall drink of water ” with a lanky body build. Even though he was not blessed with the athletic skills the coaching staff expected, his comfort zone was hanging out with the ” jocks”. It would have been simple for Carey to get discouraged not making any of the athletic teams, but this was ” Spider “.

Spider’s pursuits were somewhat far fetched back in those days, but in hind site today he would be considered a visionary. He became enthralled with T.V wrestling to the extent of constructing his on ring, inviting all comers to take him on. He would gladly show you the techniques for an arm bar, body slam, or full Nelson. Need I remind you the WWE is one of the highest grossing events in the world. Spider’s second pursuit was to pitch on the high school baseball team. He did not have a blazing fast ball or anything close to a curve ball, but he did have his famous ” butterfly pitch “. The coaches loved Spider and agreed for him to try out for the team. Being the personality he was, the pitch was announced by Spider. Having failed miserably with any other pitches, he said with confidence, ” now I will throw my butterfly pitch”. With a slow deliberate wind up, he released the baseball arching it like a rainbow only to have in land on home plate. You guessed it, like a butterfly. Ironically two major league pitchers, Hoyt Wilhem and Phil Niekro made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame throwing a knuckleball ( the butterfly pitch ).

Our small high school would have assembly every Friday morning. The faculty always struggled for a program to ” soothe the savage beast” or student body. To everyone’s surprise, Spider volunteered for the assembly program. As the curtain rose, there was Spider in jeans and a tee shirt with the famous wrestler of the day Verne Gagne ( Google it young folks ) emblazed on the front. For twenty minutes Spider put on a performance that would make a seasoned gymnast wide eyed. He finished his routine with a slight wave, receiving a standing ovation.

There is an old adage, ” if you love something, let it go if it returns, it was yours to begin with”. After sixty-two years the memory of Spider returned.

Be safe

Customer: a person who purchases a service or product. Service: ( Webster’s definition was too wordy, so I cherry picked the definition that appealed to me) ” helpful”.

A week or so ago I picked up a nail in one of my tires. After inflating the tire for a few days I decided it was time to visit a national recognized tire franchise ( does the Indy 500 ring a bell ) for repairs. Silly me, thinking the repair would be a simple task or removing the nail, spraying the liquid for bubbles, and plugging the tire. I did wait late in the day in order to avoid the tire franchises most busy time of day. Approaching the counter ( me the customer ) asked the associate ( refer to helpful ) asked if someone could take a look at my tire issue. Without blinking an eye the associate ( refer to helpful ) stated it would be one to two days to work me in, they were very busy. I observed two open bays that silly me thought, “Wow what am I missing here”? Bet if I wanted to purchase $1200 for a new set of tires, time would not be a one or two day wait. I did the Christian thing, bit my tongue, muttered oh! h**l no and walked out. If the associate ( refer to helpful ) had only said, ” if you can leave the car for an hour we will take a look at it”. I love it when a commercial indicates ” no matter how large or how small, we are here for you”. When I do need a new set of tires rest assured, it will not be from this major tire franchise.

Maybe my thinking is considered old fashioned in our modern world. However one of the most successful chicken franchises in the world will always reply, ” My Pleasure” when your order is picked up and it is genuine . Yours truly will frequent a restaurant where the grits may not be homemade, but the service is fantastic, rather than a restaurant where the grits are homemade and the service is lousy.

As a servant of private industry there were numerous times I was asked questions not knowing if the request was doable. The life line for me was, ” I do not know if that can be accomplished, but it will be addressed immediately. Give me some time to get your answer and I will get back to you”. ( And I did. ) In our vast world of products and services, the competition has tires, computers, smart televisions, beer, food, etc. which in many instances is very comparable to what you are selling. What makes the difference ?????? buying the product or service from “YOU” ( refer to helpful).

Be safe.

OMG, another acronym from my grandchildren, ” Oh My God “. A second acronym they suggested WWJD – ” What Would Jesus Do”. Both of these acronyms seem appropriate for this blog.

By now you are aware I come from a small Southern town in Eastern N.C. As a youth, there was within reason a systematic rule for life. It was as follows: 1. Church 2. Family, 3. Preachers 4. Law Enforcement 5. Teachers.

Being raised in a Southern Baptist Church you could expect at least three revivals for the calendar year. It was a reckoning that about every four months your soul needed a spiritual boost. Unless you could not put one foot in front of the other, you attended the week long revival from Sunday to Sunday. Most revivals were conducted by a visiting preacher. His first sermon usually set the mind set for the next six. ( does ” fire and brimstone ” ring a bell.) The first sermon made you as uneasy as someone who smokes in the chicken house. I could see our regular preacher thinking, ” wish I had said that”. As I said to my mom as the week began, ” My soul is in good shape after about two sermons “. Not only did I get seven days of preaching at church, I doubled down on three more at home.

The tradition for the visiting preacher was to be the guest for dinner at the most loyal families in the church. In this case my mom. We were scheduled for a Thursday sit down supper with the visiting preacher ( refer to OMG ) prior to his sermon. Before the preacher’s arrival our mom reviewed every bad deed we had ever committed. Emphasis was placed on good table manners. “Son do not wipe your mouth with your sleeve”. After the dressing down I was thinking, ” Jesus thank you for not striking me with lightning before tonight”.

Here were the rules of conduct for the supper.” The preacher will bless the food, which may take a few minutes. You better be reverent. The preacher gets his choice of chicken parts. You will not groan if he chooses your chicken part. Do not mention that one of the deacons was napping during Tuesday’s sermon. You are to take marginal portions, in case the preacher wants seconds. Let the preacher control the conversations”.

Somewhere in the scheme of things my middle sister had a lapse in memory. As soon as mom announced, ” supper is ready”, my sister looked like an NFL fullback dodging linebackers. Her fork was in the fried chicken breast before anyone else was seated ( refer to WWJD). Mom, being the God fearing woman she was asked the preacher to bless the food as she led my sister by the ear to the back of the house. As the preacher blessed the food, my oldest sister and I prayed, ” Lord please do not let me laugh out loud”.

Be safe.

” Best Friends Forever “. I acquired that bit of text acronym from my grandchildren. Of course, they wanted to take me to a whole new dimension of acronym’s that even Einstein would have difficulty understanding. Just learning to mute my smartphone, I declined their offer. When one refers to their BFF’s is it a temporary feel good time frame or is it a relationship that truly justifies a ” best friend (s) forever”.

For me, one such justification just occurred this past weekend. Four of my college baseball teammates ( ECU ) and I met for a reunion that had been postponed from the beginning of Covid- 19. Prior to Covid this small group of friends would attend a baseball game in the Spring and a football game in the Fall. Thinking outside the box we were able to put together a meeting at a teammates residence. The war stories were still the same, how is your family, any new ailments, who was the most recent to get knee replacement, and my arthritis is worse than yours. One would have thought we were patients at a Medical Mini-Clinic rather than some washed up baseball players.

Since we have known each other for some sixty odd years, poking fun is a badge of honor. I can say unequivocally this team did have a lot of diversity. I am reminded of Toby Keith’s hit song, ” I Love This Bar “. Among the original team, there were major league baseball players, one NFL wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, a fireman, several teachers, government executive, banker and a successful Sporting Goods Store owner to name a few. Probably the single most important bond for this group was the similarity in our upbringing. Ninety percent came from blue collar working families. There were a few privileged players but the class status never became a problem. The old saying, ” There is no ( i ) in team.

For sure with facetime, zoom, skype, and smartphones staying in touch with friends is readily available. However for this small group after sixty years of friendship a hug, fist pump, or just eye to eye contact makes is so surreal. These are truly my BFF’s.

Be safe.

If you are younger than sixty, the term POLIO maybe a new word to your vocabulary. ( For the young readers, that is not Ralph Lauren’s Polo clothing line ). In the 1940’s and 1950’s polio would paralyze or kill half-a-million people worldwide. In the early 1900’s placards were placed on homes where there were confirmed cases of polio. Families were quarantined and business’ were forced to close. Polio remained a mystery to the medical profession. ( By now you are aware of where I am going with this, but be patient the history lesson is short lived ). In 1952 Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine, understandably named the Salk vaccine. In 1957 the Salk vaccine was administered throughout the United States for the prevention of polio. After a mass immunization polio was reduced from 58,000 cases to 5,600. Today polio is very rare in most countries.

In 1957 I vividly remember standing in line with my family at the national guard armory to receive a small cube of sugar infused with the Salk vaccine. In 2021′ as my wife and I sat in a long caravan of cars to receive the first Covid-19 vaccine, I was taken back to 1957′. It is easy to do the math, sixty-four years ago. Sitting in line I asked myself, ” Does history repeat itself”? My conclusion, ” Of course”. We will always have war, the wrath of mother-nature, or an epidemic that sweeps the world, but all three will happen. Not in my lifetime, but possibly yours two out of the three issues can be resolved in the interest of mankind and womankind.

Thank God for the wisdom granted to the medical and scientific community in developing the Covid-19 vaccines. Just like the cube of sugar, this too will become history.

Be safe.