Springtime in Texas

It has been awhile since I posted anything here because I have been writing for SlightlyCreaky.com and have had my book--Destinations--published there. It was very exciting to have it published online, but not many people let me know what they are thinking about it as they read it. Hal Rosengarten has divided it into 'chapters' in order to manage the size of each section he puts online. It really doesn't matter to me how it gets on there as long as it can be read.

So much can and has happened in our lives lately. We are so grateful for all the blessings we have, but we are especially grateful for our children and our home. We even appreciate the silly ole black dog who likes to ride in the truck with us and the long-haired gray cat who sleeps on our bed with us. Oh, life is bound to bring some miseries around eventually, but right now we are just hobbling along together with love and laughter.

It's storm season now. Each year when I was a child we had a tornado on my birthday--or at least a storm. I guess we have a couple of weeks yet, so for now we could just use some nice rain on my new rose bush.

My work is cut out for me this week. Rachel colored pictures for her daddy's birthday book. She had to ask her mom what a couple of them were after she put them aside for a bit. I guess we may have to use more than one version or at least label what her pictures are supposed to be. She did a good job on a bicycle, however. I could not draw one that well.

Reece and Gary have gone on a trip to Austin and San Antonio for the fourth grade kids field trip to learn about Texas history. We took our children there one year and never regretted it. Even the adults have a lot to learn.

Well, back to Facebook to check on a post from the oldest son and then to bed. Posted a congratulations to our niece for graduating tonight with her master's degree. Sent her a check, but I think it is the idea that means more to her than the money. It took a lot of work to get that degree and she can be proud of it. Now we will watch Tracy graduate with her second masters and Lance with his first degree. Glad it is them and not me. I am too tired to study.

Do You Want to Know?

Customers are some of the most sensitive people in the world. When the product they are considering is a bit out of their normal sphere of knowledge, customers can be almost defensive because they may feel intimidated by the salesperson or what they consider to be the “expert” about the subject. Whether a person is buying a new tech gadget like a phone or a service such as rehabilitation exercises and classes, the customer should be treated as an intelligent person rather than as a child to be taught or as a negligent student to be scolded.

Recently we met up with an excellent sales person who rolled her eyes, growled, shouted, and otherwise showed her irritation with the phone service connection which was needed to activate our new phone. Never once did she show any indication that her displeasure had been caused by our inability to complete the same communication with that company. When she finished and gave us the paperwork, indicating the pieces of information that were essential to save, she made the comment that these companies who made products that required a call to a foreign country or to an automated system should have to spend their days shouting into a fuzzy call system in order to obtain a pay check. We thanked her for her patience on our behalf, and she went on about her business with a cheery demeanor. We were very glad to have had her help since she obviously knew what to do and what to expect.

Not every situation is so pleasant. Lifestyle changes involving foods meet those criteria. Recently published articles concerning genetic tendencies and a body’s ability to switch on or off certain enzymes have changed the way nutritionists have to look at foods and how their substances are absorbed within the body. Furthermore, scientists have observed that certain food combinations can change the body’s ability to convert foods into energy. Basically, changing one’s eating habits may help considerably when attempting to reduce cholesterol levels along with the use of drugs, but even certain changes or stresses on the body may change its ability to use nutrients.

No one minds putting forth his or her best efforts, but whether it is lifting weights, going to nutrition classes, or losing weight, the customer should be encouraged and appreciated rather than scolded or treated like a red-headed step child. Customers don’t come back when they expect negative feedback. Even teachers have to learn to cheerfully help students realize that the full load can be nibbled away one spoonful at a time. A nutritionist must learn to load her students with piles of good things they can choose rather than focus on the necessary restrictions. No one is so foolish as to expect to eat as much or any type of foods available, but it is nice to hear suggestions for healthy changes rather than doom and gloom about cholesterol, blood sugars, and weight loss. If you want customers to return, be positive!

Gifts and Gambles

Sooner or later—not just at Christmas time or for some other special holiday—we all end up giving a gift to someone. Now not everyone is as paranoid about gift giving as I am, but let’s just assume that someone else feels nearly as uncertain about what to give to whom and in what manner. Gift giving is NOT easy, despite commercials to the contrary. Expecting a pleased reaction is like gambling on the lottery.

Certain factors affect what can be given to whom and how. For instance, a beach pail with shovel and assorted summer accessories for the beach just doesn’t cut it during winter. Never mind that all those beach things were on sale two months ago when the stores were trying to clear out merchandise! Not many families with small children will be going to a beach during the winter—much less allow the kids to play in the wet sand.

Then there are those leftover boxes of Valentine candy that were on sale right after that holiday. True, Aunt Julie would love the candy, but she might wonder why it is frozen solid and question whether the chocolate Easter bunnies and Cadbury eggs would have stayed good even kept in your deep freeze. Personally, I think the combination of red hearts and colorful eggs would be quite attractive. I can skip the plastic grass easily enough—even if it was cheap.

Our family doctor moves into his new office next week. I have the perfect gift for him if I can just find a nice gold string for a bow. He is a cowboy type who has some carved cacti and spurs in his office waiting room. So my old antique barbed wire should be just about right for an ‘office warming’ present. That wire has been in the family for a long time—so long I can’t remember the last time one of the kids got cut on it. Like I said, it’s the perfect gift for a doctor’s office.

Gifts should be surprises and fun to give or get. I like the song that Rod Stewart sings that asks, “Whose gonna bring you a broken arrow; whose gonna bring you a bottle of rain? Here he comes, walkin’ across the water.” The only one I know who gave the ultimate gift to ALL of us still gives it to us every day. And I am still surprised that He loves us.

The Safety Catch

Each weapon I ever saw had at least one safety device to prevent unintentional discharge. We were always taught to treat each weapon as if it were loaded, even if we had just removed all the ammunition. We were taught to respect weapons for what they were—useful, but very dangerous tools.

In the past ten to fifteen years, we learned to use another dangerous tool—the Internet. However, the Internet has a less obvious safety device than any weapon. The first obvious safety device for any tool should be common sense. However, not everyone has or uses common sense. Obviously that is true of those who use the Internet just as much as it is of those who carry weapons.

Privacy on the Internet is a joke. Nothing that can be heard on a cell phone or seen on the Internet can remain hidden or private. This certain knowledge can be regarded as the warning on the carton of ammunition—potentially dangerous and explosive. User is solely responsible for outcome. Even if posted, this warning probably would be ignored by Internet users just as often as it is ignored by those who load weapons.

Whether it is a princess, an athlete, the son of a college dean, or a politician, what is said or written in private is no longer private when it goes to the Internet.

Words and opinions can be dangerous when used irresponsibly. But which is worse? Is irresponsible use of words any worse than the demands of those who feel they have the right to judge what was supposed to be a private message?

Many companies now control their e-mail systems to prevent unfair business practices or other insider damage control. But when did our high schools and universities begin to practice the same type of control? When young people post foolishness on a social Internet site, the foolishness is their problem—not that of the school. When a college student privately posts critical remarks about his school, does that give the school the right to harass the student?

One step further leads us to public words spoken, written, or posted online: does any government entity have the right to judge, condemn, or coerce a person who is critical of our government or any laws passed by our government? The obvious answer sounds like a safety catch—The Patriot Act. No one wants anarchy in our country or even acts or words to incite rebellion. But the Patriot Act can take away our right to express our honest—even though critical—opinions. Restricting freedom of speech is the same as saying that we are too foolish to be responsible citizens. Yet somehow freedom of speech always seemed like a good idea. Just as competition seems to help markets grow, freedom of speech seems to help us develop ideas and learn more about our fellow man. What happens when we remove the safety catch on democracy?

Perhaps it is true: it is the empty weapon which kills.

Not Your Mother’s Washtub

Our lives just seem to become more convenient every day, so it seems a horrible shock when, incredibly, something doesn’t work the way it should. If the TV should lose its signal, we hardly know what to do beyond griping and snorting—especially if we miss a play during the World Series. It is difficult to imagine the days when folks had to listen to sporting events on the radio.

My grandmother thought her life had become almost heavenly when she finally got a ringer washer out on the farm. Our fourth or fifth washer went out the other day, and we went to our local lumber yard the very next day and brought home another one because we consider that appliance essential. It is strange how some things have taken their own positions on our list of priorities. A telephone is one item on that list. Our cell phone isn’t all that technical. I can actually use it to make and receive calls and even have some numbers installed in its memory—which is extra nice now that my memory seems to balk on occasion. Most of the children in our extended family have texting on their cell phones down to a speed system, however. And eventually they will consider their ‘old’ phones too obsolete for use.

We seem somehow to have lost that sense of adventure that came naturally with living in the country. We never knew when we would find a snake in the hen house or an armadillo in the garden, but recently it seemed like a very strange inconvenience to have our dog make the acquaintance of a skunk. When HarleyB returned to the back door reeking of essence of skunk, I was able to access the formula for removal of skunk oil immediately by using the Internet. Using peroxide, baking soda, and soap to clean the dog, we were able to allow him to finish spending the night in the house. It occurred to me that I would not have known what to use to clean him if it had not been for the convenience of instant information from the Internet.

The contrast between what our lives were like 50 or 60 years ago and our lives today may seem silly in a few short years for one reason or another. When contrasted with much of the world, we are so blessed. Our forefathers wrestled with this land during years of drought, floods, storms, and other natural disasters. But the blessings came despite the circumstances. Opportunistic scoundrels or gifted individuals, they gave back to the world what they were given, full measure, shaken down. Giving back became the American way, but it was always with a generous willingness. That may change; and if it does change, the world will be a poorer place both literally and figuratively. I challenge anyone to look at the Copenhagen Climate Treaty.

When our President signs this legally binding treaty, our world as we know it will change drastically. You will never even remember your mother’s washtub and its wonderful convenience.

Heart Healthy

A few days ago Fang wanted vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, and nuts. Now that sounds like a good start on a banana split to me. Of course, all the ingredients have to be sugar free and low in carbs. That makes life interesting, but thanks to our country's lifestyle, so many people need sugar-free products that it is much easier to find a good selection of products in almost any store.

While I was picking out Fang's favorite Braum's ice cream, I noticed a man with a rather large protrusion from his chest to his lap. This protrusion reminded me of an article I read about measuring our diabetes risk with a ruler or--as it would have had to be in this man's case--with a yardstick. My thoughts were that the fellow needed to put back something or go for a nice healthy walk.

Now, I would never pick on folks who are overweight--if for no other reason than that I count myself among the many who are. But since Fang just returned from quadruple bypass surgery only this past Wednesday (September 23), I am more aware than ever of our need to control what we put in our bodies and how much exercise we really need. Genetics plays a big part in our tendency to become diabetic or to have heart disease, but we can do so much to help ourselves.

Fang was especially blessed to have a very healthy vascular system--except for four blockages. He has always been active and keeps his mind busy learning things and exploring the richness of being a grandfather. To put it bluntly, he is a happy man. But lack of oxygen to his heart has caused problems this past several months that just seemed to come out of nowhere. And we never suspected that his heart was the problem and would never have known had he not had a simple EKG done in our doctor's office.

The long and short of my thoughts today is that life is too wonderful to throw away or to treat carelessly. Happiness is a choice; to some degree, health is among our choices as well. Take care of yourselves; we need every gripey old man and woman around here to support the doctors who take Medicare.

National Gallery of Writing Badge

Sometimes I wonder why I enjoy writing. And then someone or something comes along to remind me. NTCE is one of those organizations that tends to encourage teachers and writers to do what they do best.


Carla Beard has been one person who has been an encouragement along this bumpy road, so shortly she will receive an e-copy of what I hope will be the final draft of my first novel. For some stupid reason, the name for this book has not yet solidified for me. I have thought of Family Connections, yet that doesn't quite do it. Well, time has a way of bringing things to ripeness. We shall see.


Meanwhile, today is our youngest son's 30th birthday: Happy Birthday Hanan!


We were told this past week that our world would be turned upside down for a bit as of next Thursday. We are walking quietly and waiting for the answer to prayers and thinking that life is never certain, to say the least. Maybe the wandering trip by the Mountain Jews in my book is a bit of a symbol for the uncertain destinations that we yearn toward. Sometimes we walk forward--or what we believe might be forward--with a determination that belies our fears and frailities. We try to walk in faith, and we stumble in the darkness of the dread of we know not what. As uncertain as our lives may be, we hold to them and to those we love with a fierceness borne of desperation simply because we cannot imagine a better way. And yet I am reminded lately that it is not MY will, but God's will that will be done.

In this life, nothing is ever finished.