Get goin' again...
I’m sitting by my window thinking about Judy, Daughter #4.
We are prayin’ and hoping she will soon be home from Medical City Hospital feeling much better.
I think my great-grandchildren think more of “Judy Puddy” than they do me. No, I’m not jealous.
Son #2 just came in with news that he saw two armadillos down by what I call the “Little Creek.” He said he wanted to try trapping them in a cage so the grandkids could see them. And I said, “Then take them back where you found them and turn ‘em loose.”
Some of you know I’ve been feeling “under the weather,” as Grandpa used to say.
I’ve missed makin’ my ‘rounds and not going to Sunday School and church.
But, I’ve enjoyed the pretty “get well” cards, the phone calls and visitors.
I’m now looking forward to putting my hat on and to get going again.
As I was saying, please remember Judy in prayer.

The Last Word:
With God all things are possible.
– O.T.

The View From Here

Things to think about when it is so hot...
With all these record-breaking days of heat, I hesitate to do anything in the afternoon and have been thinking of activities I can accomplish or enjoy.
One of life’s greatest discoveries is that happiness comes from the enjoyment and appreciation of life’s simple things. I also have learned that my greatest happiness springs from doing something or giving to another.
When we realize that a simple thing like baking brownies makes us happy when we eat the chocolate treat, we also can learn that baking two pans of brownies and sharing with a neighbor or a friend brings us joy. There is a difference.
Here are a few things I have noticed bring me joy. Compliment at least three people every day, even if it is just or the telephone or in a note.
Always have something beautiful within your sight, even if it just a jelly glass with a daisy in it.
Rub a dog’s belly, or hug a horse. Stroke a cat’s head and listen to the purr. Accept change in your life, because it is inevitable. Buy whatever kids are selling in a front yard. Go to a garage sale early in the morning, and buy three things that only cost a dollar or less.
Remember to eat more pancakes and fewer rice cakes because even if we live to a healthy old age, life is very short. Order a hot dog.
Learn to show cheerfulness even when you do not feel cheerful. The same goes for enthusiasm. Attend a class reunion and drink champagne for no reason at all. Borrow a box of puppies for an afternoon and take them to the retirement center or a nursing home. Watch all the smiles the visit brings.
Give someone the precious gift of forgiveness. Go to a movie on a hot afternoon when the discount is highest. Test drive a fast or sporty car.
Prepare one of your grandmother’s favorite dishes and call her to thank her. Get your picture taken with a friend in a photo booth. Learn to do something new.
When you visit a small town choose the café on the square. Go to a greeting card display and read the funny ones. If there is still time, tape record your parent’s laughter Call home.
Don‘t let your possessions own you. Have a yard sale and reduce the clutter. Take a bubble bath with music and a candle.
Refrain from envy. It is the source of much unhappiness. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

Take my advice...
“Please give me advice” must be painted on my forehead because I get my share of what to do regardless of the consequences, and I’m guilty of the same. I’ve given information, not exactly advice, and people ignore me.
One was that these high ceilings will use up energy to heat and cool the space that would be better spent on the sick, the less fortunate.
Several times I’ve reminded listeners I’d read of our large lakes rising from the bottom and lowering at the top, which seems bad to me, like really paying much attention to our drinking water. I haven’t seen many changes.
Then teaching friends (in the trenches) tell me “Leave no child behind started by Clinton and kept up by Bush and Obama assumes children are all average and develop at the same rate. This is not true. Some, who could pass to graduate, will go on to become much smarter in their twenties. High achievers later may falter, make bad choices, not succeed at anything. Teachers know how children vary at different levels, later blossoming into what their teachers, even parents never thought possible. Nobody listens, and one of my grandsons continues to throw up each year the day before formal testing.
High school is not a reliable time to let one test label our children for the rest of their lives. Sure, have reasonable standards, but take away the “life or death” conclusion.
Teaching friends say English should be the language of the school, not No. 2. They suggest tying welfare to passing subjects which might mean less TV watching and more respect for parents. Call me crazy because I like this idea. What we’re doing is not working.
What really was the coup de grace for my retiring was too many students knew I knew something important which they didn’t like or care for, and they were proud of their attitude. That will kill the heart of a teacher with compassion.
Then one day came when three older granddaughters telling me they didn’t want to hurt my feelings because I’d been married fifty years and had kids, but they had decided they didn’t need a man in their life and did not want to get married. Sure, they’d date, but they would be their own boss, taking orders from no man.
Did I think of ADVICE! But I said nothing, just looked off sadly into space. Now I can speak.
“It’s okay not to marry. Thank goodness people still do, but wedding bells are not for everyone. I thought about dying “alone” or having surgery “alone.” And I wanted to share the good and the bad with a man I loved, a soulmate.
But if by some miracle you find yourself a mother-to -be, you must be fair to that innocent babe and work to find him the best dad possible, a good man you can love. Sure, one parent can raise a child successfully, but two strong, loving parents are the best gift one can offer a child, two adults with a haven he can return to, someone to support him when he’s right, and teach him when he’s wrong. Looking for a man in all the right places is still fitting; you are going to get older, and children can give you delight you have never known. Share that with a worthy mate. Do your part to make this world a better place through the ages. Call or think me “out of touch,” but you know I have never been more right!