” A TIME TO WEEP, AND A TIME TO LAUGH; A TIME TO MOURN, AND A TIME TO DANCE” ( ECCLESIASTES)
I know just enough about the Bible to be dangerous. Dangerous in the sense of misinterpretation or misquoting the scripture. Being raised in a Southern Baptist home any of the two afore mentioned mistakes lead to immediate banishment from the will.
I have a granddaughter when she begins her sentence with “SO”, buckle up cause here comes the “Twilight Zone”. However for this entry I must borrow her “SO”.
“SO”, as we approach the Christmas season the eighteen words from the opening Bible verse seem “so right on”. Covid-19 has created weeping, and mourning the world over in one way or another. As long as the youngest lives 2020′ will go down in history as a world changer, just as 9/11 did for many of us. “SO” with all the horrors of 2020′ is there any room left in our souls for laughter and dancing? Yours truly is making every effort to push for the old adage, ” Is your glass half-full ( optimism ) or half-empty ( pessimism ).
Since January 1, 2020 the white elephant in the room has been Covid-19. With God’s guidance, fantastic scientist, and phenomenal first responders the vaccines hopefully will offer light at the end of the tunnel. Sadly, we may never return to what is considered normal, but maybe the new normal will be more doable.
Thanksgiving allowed me the opportunity to be in the presence of my ” thirty- something and younger granddaughters and grandsons. ( we did wear mask, social distancing, and wash our hands). For once I listened more than I talked, “SO” my grandchildren did not disappoint. Their conversations were filled with laughter, kidding each other, boy talk–girl talk, upbeat attitudes, making fun of the “old guy” and ( wait for it) acting normal.
Without sounding braggadocious, these are smart children that realize the status of an upside down world, but for a short period of time their glasses were half-full. It was quite contagious. Be safe.
I am feeling really good today. Just got released from the “Milky Way and Snickers Rehab. Center from Halloween candy addiction. I attribute part of my downfall to the four and five year old “Trick or Treaters”. This age group is vicious when it comes to negotiations. Try trading two bags of M&M’s for one Milky Way bar. Five year old, “Nope, not unless you throw in a Twixt bar.
Today’s assignment is a two part question. 1. How would you define kindness? ( no fair Googling). 2. Name five people you feel are kind and why? You are thinking ” easy-peasy”, just be sure to think through the “WHY”.
At my age I have amassed a long list of kind people. Rest assured it was not derived from the typical mundane, “It is so good to see you”. You’re thinking,” Really, where were you when I needed a friend”? Have you ever heard someone make the comment, ” I am a good judge of character, or you only have one chance to make a first impression”. And then ( wait for it) after a period of time you think, ” what the h*%# was I thinking”?
If I may get personal, my mom tops my list of kind people. I recall a conversation with my mom years ago regarding her safety ( widower- living by herself) and strangers knocking on her door. My question to her, ” Mom what would you do if John Dillinger ( notorious bank robber from the great depression) knocked on your door and said he was hungry”? Her reply, ” if he was hungry I would offer him something to eat”. Of course the food would include a healthy serving of Biblical content as well. She was a true giver.
In the world there are givers and takers. I propose true givers do it because of a kind heart. I also propose that some takers abuse the kindness. There is an old adage, ” A taker is someone who will steal your wallet and then try to help you find it”. I hope your answers to question 1 and 2 have more givers than takers. Be safe.
If you have followed any of my previous blogs ( thank you) you probably surmised I came from a small Southern town in Eastern N.C. We were blessed to have two doctors, that I will refer to as Dr. B and Dr. H. Their bedside manner was totally one-hundred and eighty degrees apart. ( personal sidebar–both made house calls in the day, and yours truly was delivered in a small wood frame house on a cold November day. Take that Grey’s Anatomy). If one looked up country doctor in Webster’s ( for the young I.T.’s out there, that is a dictionary) Dr. B’s picture would be beside it. If you looked up methodically, Dr. H’s picture would be beside it.
Several blogs ago, I gave a brief description of my two older sisters. Both quite different, but did have one thing in common. They loved pushing me into the double-dare world of my on stupidity, ” you can’t do that”. To this day I still have the scars to prove that stupidity. Examples of their double-dares: No, I could not jump from tree to tree as Tarzan did, ( stitches), no I could not jump off the roof of our house with a towel as a cape and fly like Superman (stitches), no, I could not jump on the bed and do a backflip ( stitches), and no, a wash tub is not a good idea as a boat in a flooded swamp ( stitches).
As my sisters would drag me screaming and yelling to Dr. B’s, the welcome became monotonous, ” what did he do this time”?. Dr. B’s practice was made up largely of textile mill employees. For the mere sum of three dollars a week deducted from your pay, your office visits were covered. Before you start comparing medical cost for today think. Dr. B was pulling three dollars a week from four hundred employees weather it was needed or not. If there was an additional charge it was usually for penicillin shots, that was the cure all for everything in the day. Unless you had one foot in the grave, a visit to Dr. B was about fifteen minutes. His class line, ” does it hurt when you do that”? Yes. “Well don’t do that”.
Dr. B’s office was located in the in the back half of the local drug store ( which he owned), privacy was not an option. Everyone in town knew exactly the ailments of the neighborhood. On this occasion as I was getting stitched up from one of my double-dares, when my mom happened to drop into the drug store. ” Who in the world is doing all that screaming back there” she asked. Mr. Todd the manager replied ” I think your daughters just brought your son in for stitches”. For the record, Dr. B preferred rubbing alcohol as a pain killer rather than wasting time with a shot of Novocain.
A few years later I gave up on Tarzan, Superman, and acrobatics. Still out to lunch on the wash tub as a floatation.
Modern medicine from yesteryear. If you are employed by Medicare, please disregard the above.
Having played some high school and college baseball years ago, there was a term often used by the players, ” He has lost his stuff”. That usually is in reference to a pitcher. The reason that term resonates with me today is my concern, “Has America lost it’s stuff”?
When I do my daily meditation ( right now I am up to three minutes a day) I ask myself, ” have I been living under a rock for the last decade”? If so when and where in God’s name did so much hate infest our way of life so quickly.
Pharmaceutical companies are the best brainwashers in the world when it comes to a cure all medicine for every aliment known to man or woman. The user is shown skipping across the meadow or watching a sunset holding hands with their significant other and all is well with the world. Then ( wait for it) a voice sounding like Darth Vader gives you the side effects of the miracle drug that seem worse than the cure, ” say what”?. How about just finding a cure for the common cold and when doing your research throw in a ” stop the hate pill”.
If Covid 19 was intentionally developed by a foreign country, Darth Vader forgot to give us the side effects. Pick your poison, social injustice, advocates to defund law enforcement, the new normal, rioting, and all the needless killings of ALL PEOPLE and *^&!#@$ POLITICS. Are you as sick and tired of being sick and tired with all the crap in our world, (except rice, love me some rice) as I am.
Has it occurred to you how we “cherry pick” Bible verses? ( WOW!! where did that come from–I’m beginning to sound like Tyler Perry’s Madeira) You know, John 3: 16, the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm. Here is one that works for me.
” In this life we have three great lasting qualities, FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE, but the greatest of these is LOVE. Without LOVE there cannot be genuine HOPE”.
Be safe. PS: My wife and I have already mailed in our ballots for the upcoming election, so would the television stations please refrain from airing all future political ad’s to our home
Hey guys. To use a line from Arnold’s movie, The Terminator, ” I’m back.”
Back in the day when I was teaching school ( yes, we did have electricity) it was imperative on the first day of class to establish an air of student empowerment. In layman’s terms, ” you think, I think, we think”. As my class of thirty settled into ” Introduction of Health 101″ I opened with the following, ” A mind is a terrible thing to waste”. Between the ” thinking thing and the terrible mind thing”, I was staring at thirty deer in the headlights faces.
Grouping for some form of follow up, from the back of the room a hand goes up. ” Yes Willard, you have a question”?
” Hey teach (lovingly) you are saying you are going to do my thinking and I am going to do your thinking”? ” Then I’m thinking you just give us all A’s and don’t bother us with the bones in the body or all the blood type stuff”.
Of course the room erupted in laughter. Trying to regain control of thirty freshman students is like trying to herd cats into a cage.
” Willard you are partially right. What I want to do is present the class with subjects that creates discussion from your perspective. Here is an example”.
“Everyone look at your fingertips. Would you believe that in the whole world no one has fingertips identical to yours”?
Willard again, ” So when my uncle was booked at the county jail and fingerprinted, no one has the same fingertips”?
“Yes”
Willard, ” wonder if my uncle knew that when he broke into the auto parts store”.
As if by magic everyone began to examine their fingertips. It was like a “flash mob” broke out. The students began to compare their fingertips with other students.
Realizing the sudden interest, my light bulb went from dim to bright. ( side note–if you are older than thirty you can remember chalk, a chalk board, and chalk erasers. If you are younger than thirty you are probably having a ” what moment”.) I proceeded to take the chalk eraser and tap a light film on the chalkboard.
” Who wants to check out their fingerprints”?
After a small chalk storm, all thirty students had pressed their fingertips on the board”.
Willard again, ” Hey teach what about our palms, do they only belong to me”?
” Great question Willard, that is tomorrow’s assignment”.
Willard again, ” hey teach are we going to do feet”?
To my small gathering of followers, “I’m back”. To those of you who’s world has been turned upside down since March 13, 2020, raise your hand. Yes, mine is in the air as well. Since all the news is “doom and gloom” these days, I have a quick fix. From five o’clock to seven o’clock put your tread mill on extreme workout, grab an adult beverage and good book and listen to that bad boy run. Most of the time it will drown out CNN, Fox and ABC News.
Okay, German chocolate cake or for the cake aficionado G.C.C. Until recently I did not know my son loved G.C.C. as much as I do, must be a DNA thing. On a recent beach trip with the family my two daughters surprised us with a freshly baked G.C.C. I declare,” how thoughtful they would do this for me”. Also to my surprise, one of my granddaughters best friends admitted she to was a G.C.C. junkie. As the ” prize” was sitting in the cake plate, we hoovered over it like it was the Holy Grail. The three of us criticizing the cake hoping it would dissuade the other two on their share. ” The icing is to runny, one of the layers has a sad spot, it looks over baked”. There was a time my daughters threatened to duck tape the cake plate hoping the adult cake vultures would perch someplace else.
After dinner and some down time, the magic words were spoken, ” who wants cake”? I must admit on my part, I did show a lot of restraint not rushing the cake. Ladies and children first, then my son as I hummed ” The Eye Of the Tiger” ( from Rocky sequel 12 ), then me. (Here is a tip for the cake aficionado’s, be the last to cut your slice of cake. This way you can scrape the crumbs and icing left on the cake plate) After wonderful G.C.C with milk, me and my big mouth announced, ” G.C.C. is my favorite breakfast food”. Much to my dismay the other two G.C.C. vultures said the same thing, surprise surprise. The next day when I was about to leave, my two loving daughters had salvaged me two slices for the trip home. I think I heard one say, ” breakfast is on us”.
In some of my recent blogs I do have a tendency to get long winded. I attribute some of this to all the Baptist sermons from my upbringing and/or the sermons my mom referred to as she disciplined me. Discipline is being politically correct for a ” whupping”. Her words, not mine, ” Lord forgive me for this punishment ( whupping), but I did raise him to know better. We have all heard people say, ” The Lord spoke to me”. During one of my discipline sessions I thought I heard the Lord say, ” Right on Lou, proceed. Spare the rod and spoil the child”. Then I said, ” Lord , what about that 70 x 7 forgiveness issue in the Bible”? The Lord does answer prayers, however in this particular matter there was some delay getting back to mom.
Have you ever heard cliches or quotes that in today’s world seem so relevant? Here are a few that resonant with me, with my sidebar.
A. ” be careful what you wish for” Our next president
B. ” what was I thinking” I wish to God I could turn back the hands of time for five minutes.
C. ” good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people” Personally, I never had much sympathy for a parent that abuses a child.
D. ” these are the times that try men’s souls” Coronavirus, racism, greed, politics that fail the common man, all lives matter.
E. ” how much is enough” What shall it profit man, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul.
F. ” always treat people the way you want to be treated” If questions, read “E” again.
G. ” those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” Our current world crisis.
H. ” conscious, a sense of right and wrong with an urge to do right”. Never could understand how a televangelist worth millions could sleep at night after appealing to the poorest to plant a monetary seed to aide God’s work.
Our spirits were high with the thoughts of a trip to Wrightsville Beach for seafood. At that time it was Fairclothes Seafood, more recent it was The Bridge Tender.
With two older sisters, one being smart enough to be a CIA operative. She knew all the right buttons to push if the opportunity required a favor to be called in. The other was a tom-boy that dared you to knock the chip off her shoulder. And was the mouthpiece to mom if things went sideways. As for me, my older sisters turned me into the guinea pig for “dare” and “double dare”. I still have the scars to prove the “dare’s and “double dare’s” that went wrong. Our trip to Wrightsville Beach was predicated on our behavior leading up to the Sunday trip.
Sunday finally arrived and we knew if dad passed the Clarkton Town Limit sign we were beyond ” the point of no return”. This was also the point and time our subdued good behavior took a back seat to normalcy. ” He’s crowding me, she just pinched me, are we there yet”? It only took one look from my mom’s piercing brown eyes to let you know you were treading on thin ice. The eleventh commandment in our house, ” Do not make your dad stop this car”.
At the break necking speed of thirty-five miles per hour ( dad was not an advocate of NASCAR or the fifty-five mile per hour speed limit ), we finally arrived at Fairclothes. After blessing the food, all you could hear was the consumption of Eastern NC’s finest shrimp, oysters, flounder, and hush puppies. With full stomach’s the return trip home would be less chaotic, or so we thought.
The November night had turned cold, with a steady rain. As we crossed the Cape Fear River Bridge the rain had turned into a fine drizzle. Two of the three siblings became bored and “yes” contrary. This was until we saw the Leland Town Limits sign. One sibling ( not mentioning names) yelled, ” Maco Light”, which was a short distance from Leland.
If you are not from these parts let me explain Joe Baldwin, and the Maco Light. Joe was an employee of Southern Railroad. He rode the tracks from Rockingham NC to Wilmington NC. On a cold rainy night at the Maco crossing Joe’s freight train developed engine trouble. Realizing there was another train bearing down on the tracks, Joe began to wave his distress lantern. The trains collided slamming a steel door across Joe’s neck severing his head. Rumor is Joe’s lantern landed upright, but the search crew never found his head. For years after the mishap, locals spoke of a strange light on the tracks. Joe was looking for his head.
In an effort to appease the restless, dad was bound and determined to expel the myth of Joe Baldwin. Apparently in an act of defiance our dad parked the little 55′ Ford directly on the tracks. Turning off the engine we waited, our eyes glued to the windows looking for the lantern. The steady drizzle clinging to the Spanish moss was straight out of Hollywood.
After fifteen minutes dad said, ” see I told you it was all a myth”. Before he got the last word out of his mouth my mom screamed, ” Wade, start the car the train is coming”. In horror, we looked East toward Wilmington. Coming directly toward us was a light approximately the size of large lantern. The light was moving in a slow arch giving a luminescence to the wet tracks. It was so close there was little to do except scream and fall to the floor board of the car. As we sped off the tracks waiting for the worst, the light disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The only sound was three whimpering children.
For the remainder of our trip home, there was little conversation. Mom returning to a degree of calm simply said, “There was a train coming down the tracks and it seemed closer than we thought”. End of discussion.
Many years have passed since that cold November night. There have been many things in my life that have made lasting impressions. 9/11, JFK’s assassination, UFO’s, That night lying in bed listening to the cold rain beating on the windows it is as vivid today as it was then. I had witnessed the ” Maco Light”.
Even I was a young whipper snapper when this song was made popular by Johnny Mercer in 1944. There is one verse from this song that resonates with me. ( For my young followers, as you get older you can remember a song from 1944, but do not ask me what I did one hour ago. ) Remember grey hair represents wisdom. As my granddaughters would reply, ” hahaha”- really?
The verse goes like this, ” You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mr. In-Between”.
Yes, Coronavirus is a monster and nothing to take lightly. However there is a POSITIVE. American pride and resolve are fighting back. Rather than dwell on the death rates, take time to ELIMINATE the NEGATIVE. What is that you say???. Americans are standing in front of hospitals at 7:00 a:m cheering on the doctors, nurses, first responders , and law enforcement that protects our safety. Teachers and educators working harder than ever making sure the youth of this nation are not huddled in a corner questioning ” what happened to my world”? Here are the silver linings. Neighborhoods are putting together make shift parades that shows more love than Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, flags are being displayed and communities are more involved than the trauma of 9/11. Industry is retooling their manufacturing process’s producing face masks, hand sanitizer, ventilators and hospital gowns. Hunger has always been a major concern, but today truck loads of food are being supplied to those in need.
The next time you walk around you neighborhood, you cannot tell me everyone is not more friendly thinking ” We are all in this together”. Even the daily newscasters are ending their broadcast with a heart felt story of promise. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of Japan made the famous statement, ” I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve”. Folks that’s America he was talking about!!!!. DON’T MESS WITH MR. IN-BETWEEN. By the grace of God and America’s resolve, ” This Too Shall Pass”.
WOW!!! What a world we are currently living in. Unless you have been under a rock for the past few months it is hard to escape the reality of what corona virus has and is doing to the world. Since the invention of social media it only takes minutes to hear about terrorist attacks, earthquakes, school massacres, etc. We immediately think OMG, but it happened there and not here. Corona virus on the other hand has become the judge and juror for where to go and when to go. It is taking no prisoners. At first it was the elderly that was most susceptible to the virus. Then the Millennium’s , thinking they were invincible became the next age group the monster attacked. With exception of a few children , they seem less susceptible to the virus ( thank God–and I do). In the caverns of my mind from college Psychology 101, I do remember a term, ” mind over matter”. When the professor asked for comments, I responded “If you are half crazy already paranoia will take full control”. Not sure if he agreed or not, but I got my “C” and life was good. My opinion paranoia may be tougher to address than the virus itself. Thinking you may have the symptoms pushes the mental envelope even though you are otherwise perfectly healthy. I try not to over think the ramifications of the virus, but on the other hand I do follow the rules of the road. ( Is that an oxymoron ???).
Other than stay-at-home, wash your hands, and keep your social distance, there is no antidote at this time. God bless the medical profession, the first responders and those putting themselves in Harms Way to keep the world as safe as possible.
If there is a positive to be had from this world turning crisis it is family, friends, and neighbors. Yes, we get bored looking at the same family members, the same four walls, the same reruns, and wondering ” why can’t I go to Wal- Mart “? But then ( wait for it)————- the light bulb comes on and suddenly your creative juices kick in. You begin doing things that have been on the back burner for years. Painting, yard work, exercise, reading, cooking ( even here) , assisting a preschool teacher to fine tune her ZOOM presentation. And yes, helping this old guy balance this blog with pictures. Isn’t it time to stop and smell the roses?? Not necessarily flowers, but thankful for life itself. As desperate as times are “The Man Upstairs” still provides us with a world of simple and beautiful pleasures. Allow me to share a few of those pleasures that before the Monster were taken for granted.
Joe's Bakers Dozen 