My sister, Joyce, gives the best presents. Whether its a birthday or Christmas, she always seems to find that one thing you didn't know you wanted, but you really, really did. One year, she gave each of us in the family a place setting from the old dishes my mother's parents had. God only knows how many meals were served using those plates and cups, and how many of them I enjoyed. Oh my, I can still remember my Nanny's (for so we called her) fried chicken and the home-canned greened beans with ham bits and her pickled eggs!
Anyway, this year Joyce gave each of us a CD. Nothing from the record store, mind you. These were CDs made from old reel-to-reel audio recordings she found in my mother's house. As she described them, one recording is an audio letter my father sent home from Korea. The other is from a Christmas nearly forgotten when we got a brand new tape recorder. On it are recordings of the voices of some of my dad's family.
Now I've had this CD for a couple of days now. But the odd thing is that I've reached for it probably a dozen or so times. Each time, something has stayed my hand from picking it up and putting it into my CD player. I look at it. It's a pretty Christmas red CD. There's no label on it, so I know I'll have to do that otherwise it will get lost because I eventually forget what is on it. But as of yet, I have not listened to it.
Why?? There are voices of people on there that I have loved in my life. Some are still here and others who are gone. You would think, wouldn't you, that I would want to listen to these recordings. Not that there's probably anything really significant being said (Joyce warned us we were pretty lame when it came to thinking of things to say back then). But I have to admit that some part of me does not want to hear those voices again.
Whether the person is still living or has crossed over, whether the person was then a child or an adult, time has passed and change has occurred. And those changes will be only too apparent in these recordings. A hardly subtle reminder that I'm getting not just older, but old.
Perish the thought! And so, for my chicken-headed vanity, I am today's dog pile!
A daily, no weekly, no wait... when I darned well please... comment about something that has caught my attention.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
There Goes Breakfast!
Several people have noted their disappointment over my blog not being more dog related. Well, today's post is for you folks!
I have two small dogs and have never found it difficult to keep things up and out of their reach. But Mr. Coop has always presented me with problems in this area. Besides the very obvious advantage due to his height, he seems capable of coming up with some pretty clever ways to get to something he decides he wants to eat. On occasion, that includes getting one of the cats to provide some assistance.
What's the weirdest thing he's ever eaten? Well, if I restrict it to just food, I'd have to say it was the bowl of New England clam chowder he put down in one giant SLURP. Which was then followed almost immediately by a huge belch. Of course, the fact that he absolutely adores bananas is kind of weird.
So this morning I had three small cinnamon rolls wrapped in aluminum foil sitting on my counter. I had picked up the packet, intending to take it out to my computer and eat while working. But then one of the other dogs needed my immediate attention (Ceili needed to have her Snuggy put on), so I set the packet back down on the counter. Except that I placed it a bit closer to the front than before without thinking, although I still considered it out of his reach.
Now there was a long-handled wooden spoon just next to the packet. When I came back into the kitchen after getting Ceili dressed, I found: (1) the wooden spoon pivoted around, (2) the packet missing, and (3) Coop having very quietly opened the packet and devouring the last of the three rolls. I'm sure there are those of you out there who will say, "Oh, he just got up on the counter and got the packet." But I will argue against that. I was just in the living room. And if he puts his front feet up on the counter, he makes a thud loud enough when he comes back down that I can hear it in the back bedroom. Nope, the only thing I can think is that he spun the spoon around and used it to move that packet not off the counter (for I would have heard that, too), but just to the edge where he could easily reach up and get it.
And so for having eaten my breakfast, Coop is today's dog pile! Although we do have to give him an A+ for sheer cleverness and stealth in getting what he wanted.
I have two small dogs and have never found it difficult to keep things up and out of their reach. But Mr. Coop has always presented me with problems in this area. Besides the very obvious advantage due to his height, he seems capable of coming up with some pretty clever ways to get to something he decides he wants to eat. On occasion, that includes getting one of the cats to provide some assistance.
What's the weirdest thing he's ever eaten? Well, if I restrict it to just food, I'd have to say it was the bowl of New England clam chowder he put down in one giant SLURP. Which was then followed almost immediately by a huge belch. Of course, the fact that he absolutely adores bananas is kind of weird.
So this morning I had three small cinnamon rolls wrapped in aluminum foil sitting on my counter. I had picked up the packet, intending to take it out to my computer and eat while working. But then one of the other dogs needed my immediate attention (Ceili needed to have her Snuggy put on), so I set the packet back down on the counter. Except that I placed it a bit closer to the front than before without thinking, although I still considered it out of his reach.
Now there was a long-handled wooden spoon just next to the packet. When I came back into the kitchen after getting Ceili dressed, I found: (1) the wooden spoon pivoted around, (2) the packet missing, and (3) Coop having very quietly opened the packet and devouring the last of the three rolls. I'm sure there are those of you out there who will say, "Oh, he just got up on the counter and got the packet." But I will argue against that. I was just in the living room. And if he puts his front feet up on the counter, he makes a thud loud enough when he comes back down that I can hear it in the back bedroom. Nope, the only thing I can think is that he spun the spoon around and used it to move that packet not off the counter (for I would have heard that, too), but just to the edge where he could easily reach up and get it.
And so for having eaten my breakfast, Coop is today's dog pile! Although we do have to give him an A+ for sheer cleverness and stealth in getting what he wanted.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Now is the Winter...
...of our discontent.
Well, my discontent anyway. Let's face it--I hate winter. Always have and suppose I always will. Why? First, I hate being cold. Second, I hate being wet. So put the two things together and what do you have? Winter and a double dose of hating it.
But at least there's one bit of good news I always hold on to at this time of year. At this point, the days are starting to get longer. Sure, not by much right now. But tomorrow will be 20 seconds longer than today and Wednesday will be 23 seconds longer than tomorrow and so forth and so on. No wonder our ancient ancestors used to have a big ol' party on December 25th.
Oh come on, you didn't really think Jesus was born on that date now did you? Naw, it was the day the astronomers were able to confirm the sun had stopped moving southward and had begun its return to the north. And yes, I do know that's not how it actually words. But that's how it looked to them.
It was the promise that Spring would return and the process of planting, growing, and harvesting would all begin again. No wonder they celebrated! So now that we've had our play pretend Jesus' birthday gig, I'm going to hold my own little celebration of gratitude for 20 more seconds tomorrow than today. And as I do, I'll keep in mind those immortal words of Don Henley --"There's just so many Summers, baby; just so many Springs" (Last Worthless Evening). Because who knows? Maybe the Mayans really did have it right and on 12/21/12, that old sun might just decide to keep heading south and not come back!
Well, my discontent anyway. Let's face it--I hate winter. Always have and suppose I always will. Why? First, I hate being cold. Second, I hate being wet. So put the two things together and what do you have? Winter and a double dose of hating it.
But at least there's one bit of good news I always hold on to at this time of year. At this point, the days are starting to get longer. Sure, not by much right now. But tomorrow will be 20 seconds longer than today and Wednesday will be 23 seconds longer than tomorrow and so forth and so on. No wonder our ancient ancestors used to have a big ol' party on December 25th.
Oh come on, you didn't really think Jesus was born on that date now did you? Naw, it was the day the astronomers were able to confirm the sun had stopped moving southward and had begun its return to the north. And yes, I do know that's not how it actually words. But that's how it looked to them.
It was the promise that Spring would return and the process of planting, growing, and harvesting would all begin again. No wonder they celebrated! So now that we've had our play pretend Jesus' birthday gig, I'm going to hold my own little celebration of gratitude for 20 more seconds tomorrow than today. And as I do, I'll keep in mind those immortal words of Don Henley --"There's just so many Summers, baby; just so many Springs" (Last Worthless Evening). Because who knows? Maybe the Mayans really did have it right and on 12/21/12, that old sun might just decide to keep heading south and not come back!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas to All!
Today's message is a short one. I hope your Christmas Day is a happy and safe one. God bless us, every one!!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Calm Before the Storm
Today is Christmas Eve. It's that 24-hour period we all gather up our strength and energy for that most hectic holiday of all--Christmas Day! It's a day of reflection and for trying to remember what this whole business has been leading up to. It's the day when we probably most think about the birth of Jesus.
And I don't know why, but the one person who always comes to my mind when we tell the Christmas story is----well, Herod. Yes, that's right. I know he's historically viewed as the evil villain of this tale, but I've always had a real soft spot in my heart for him. Think about it from his point of view for just a moment.
Herod had a pretty tough time getting to be King of the Jews. He'd fought battles for it and he'd had a heck of a time getting the Romans to give him the title. But there he is, he's finally made it. Only to find out, of course, that the Romans aren't really going to stay out of it. Being King of anybody is never an easy business. There's always something going wrong that somebody wants to blame on you.
So there he is, just minding his own business doing kingly stuff like banishing wives and killing his own sons whom he thinks are becoming too powerful. And these guys show up in town. Now here's an interesting bit of Christmas trivia--we do not know how many wise men there were! Yes, I had always been brought up seeing the little nativity sets with three men. But go back to Matthew and read again, "behold, there came wise men from the east..." See? No number. We just all assumed there were three because three gifts were given. Some traditions say there were 12.
Anyway, some number of wise men show up in town and start asking where can they find a newly born King of the Jews? And poor Herod knows he doesn't have any newly born sons. Keep in mind, he was mighty old by 4 BCE, his last two wives had no known children, and the two before that only daughters. So its not as if he can pull out a baby and say, "Right here he is!" And according to Matthew, it isn't just Herod who's worried about this. All of Jerusalem is, too. I'll bet there was some pretty excited talk around the old water well when these wise guys start asking questions about where's the new king!
So Herod calls them into a private meeting. And he pretends that he, too, wants to find this baby so that he can pay his respects. And he gets the wise men to tell him what they know. And while Matthew doesn't exactly tell us how, they know this "star" they've been following portends the birth of a new King of the Jews. But I guess stars don't work exactly like a GPS. They get you into the neighborhood, but they can't give you the exact street address. Herod's priests and scribes have to provide the information that the prophet has foretold of the coming and that it will take place in Bethlehem.
Now here's the part of this story that has never quite made sense to me. Herod sends the wise men on their way to find the baby. He doesn't send his own men with them. He just tells them to go find the baby and when they've found him, to come back and tell him where he is. You really wouldn't think he'd be so trusting of foreigners running around in his territories. And Bethlehem is only about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. But that's where laziness will get you.
It isn't until the wise men have all left by a different route and Joseph, Mary, and the baby have skipped town that Herod wises up and realizes he's made a mistake in trusting those guys to come back. Then, of course, he orders the death of all babies under a certain age just to be sure he's got this potential usurper. And while to us this may sound like the most evil thing anybody could ever do, Herod (as I mentioned earlier) had no problem executing his own sons when he feared they might have ideas on taking over. So killing a bunch of other people's babies probably didn't cause him any sleepless nights.
So there you have it. While you're gathered with your family tonight to sip a bit of eggnog and look at your beautiful Christmas tree all aglow with little LED lights, and you see all the presents that tomorrow will be just more stuff in your life and a giant pile of paper trash, read again the Christmas story. And give just one moment's thought of how the name of Herod the Great has come down all these years in history as one of the most evil people to have ever lived. And that's why he is today's dog pile!
And I don't know why, but the one person who always comes to my mind when we tell the Christmas story is----well, Herod. Yes, that's right. I know he's historically viewed as the evil villain of this tale, but I've always had a real soft spot in my heart for him. Think about it from his point of view for just a moment.
Herod had a pretty tough time getting to be King of the Jews. He'd fought battles for it and he'd had a heck of a time getting the Romans to give him the title. But there he is, he's finally made it. Only to find out, of course, that the Romans aren't really going to stay out of it. Being King of anybody is never an easy business. There's always something going wrong that somebody wants to blame on you.
So there he is, just minding his own business doing kingly stuff like banishing wives and killing his own sons whom he thinks are becoming too powerful. And these guys show up in town. Now here's an interesting bit of Christmas trivia--we do not know how many wise men there were! Yes, I had always been brought up seeing the little nativity sets with three men. But go back to Matthew and read again, "behold, there came wise men from the east..." See? No number. We just all assumed there were three because three gifts were given. Some traditions say there were 12.
Anyway, some number of wise men show up in town and start asking where can they find a newly born King of the Jews? And poor Herod knows he doesn't have any newly born sons. Keep in mind, he was mighty old by 4 BCE, his last two wives had no known children, and the two before that only daughters. So its not as if he can pull out a baby and say, "Right here he is!" And according to Matthew, it isn't just Herod who's worried about this. All of Jerusalem is, too. I'll bet there was some pretty excited talk around the old water well when these wise guys start asking questions about where's the new king!
So Herod calls them into a private meeting. And he pretends that he, too, wants to find this baby so that he can pay his respects. And he gets the wise men to tell him what they know. And while Matthew doesn't exactly tell us how, they know this "star" they've been following portends the birth of a new King of the Jews. But I guess stars don't work exactly like a GPS. They get you into the neighborhood, but they can't give you the exact street address. Herod's priests and scribes have to provide the information that the prophet has foretold of the coming and that it will take place in Bethlehem.
Now here's the part of this story that has never quite made sense to me. Herod sends the wise men on their way to find the baby. He doesn't send his own men with them. He just tells them to go find the baby and when they've found him, to come back and tell him where he is. You really wouldn't think he'd be so trusting of foreigners running around in his territories. And Bethlehem is only about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. But that's where laziness will get you.
It isn't until the wise men have all left by a different route and Joseph, Mary, and the baby have skipped town that Herod wises up and realizes he's made a mistake in trusting those guys to come back. Then, of course, he orders the death of all babies under a certain age just to be sure he's got this potential usurper. And while to us this may sound like the most evil thing anybody could ever do, Herod (as I mentioned earlier) had no problem executing his own sons when he feared they might have ideas on taking over. So killing a bunch of other people's babies probably didn't cause him any sleepless nights.
So there you have it. While you're gathered with your family tonight to sip a bit of eggnog and look at your beautiful Christmas tree all aglow with little LED lights, and you see all the presents that tomorrow will be just more stuff in your life and a giant pile of paper trash, read again the Christmas story. And give just one moment's thought of how the name of Herod the Great has come down all these years in history as one of the most evil people to have ever lived. And that's why he is today's dog pile!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Where to Point the Finger
OK, let me first say that I'm really not setting out on this blog to rag on all the Republican Presidential candidates. No really, stop laughing now. I'm not. But did you see Michele Bachmann's interview with Anne Curry on Wednesday's Today Show? If not, please take a moment to watch.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41521818
Let me see if I get this right. Congress didn't pass the payroll tax bill before today because President Obama wasn't "willing to engage in the process." Really?! Congress couldn't do their job because the President wasn't there, standing over them, holding there little hands, and making sure they did? Seriously, Ms. Bachmann, you expect me to fall for that one?
Since when has it ever been the President's job to make Congress do their work? If I remember my civics lessons correctly, and I'm sure I do, both houses of Congress must generate a bill. Each house must pass their respective bills. If there are differences, then they are supposed to work out those differences. Once the differences are worked out, the final bill is voted on by both houses. If it passes, it goes on to the President for signing or vetoing.
See? No where in that description (which I actually got from a website) does it say the President goes to Congress and gets involved with a bill while its being worked on. His job is to either approve or veto the final version. If he vetoes, Congress gets another chance to pass it by a 2/3 majority vote. The President isn't supposed to write a bill or tell Congress what to put into a bill. Not his job!
Got it, Ms. Bachmann? I realize you're too busy campaigning to be doing your real job right now, but for heaven's sake don't assume I'm so stupid that I won't know when you're pointing your blame finger at entirely the wrong person. I understand its really, really hard when asked a question to point that finger back at yourself and say, "I'm the one to blame. Me and all the other members of Congress who left town instead of passing a bill that would help millions of Americans. We're the ones to blame for this."
And I suppose its all somewhat pointless now, as both the House and the Senate approved it by unanimous consent. Essentially, this is just a procedural trick since most of the folks in Congress had already left for the holidays. Maybe I'm just becoming cynical in my old age, but I can't help but believe the Republicans had this all planned out. Let most of the folks go home, then we pass this thing using the unanimous consent method, and that way those who weren't here can later say, "Hey, I never voted for it. I didn't cave in." Yeah, guess I'm just jaded. I watched the video of the proceedings today. It took them just a little over 1 minute to go through the complete process. And we couldn't have done this days ago? Really?!
Aww, well. So it goes. Happy Holidays, members of Congress. In a few days you get to come back and start the pointless bickering all over again. And that's what makes you today's dog pile!
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41521818
Let me see if I get this right. Congress didn't pass the payroll tax bill before today because President Obama wasn't "willing to engage in the process." Really?! Congress couldn't do their job because the President wasn't there, standing over them, holding there little hands, and making sure they did? Seriously, Ms. Bachmann, you expect me to fall for that one?
Since when has it ever been the President's job to make Congress do their work? If I remember my civics lessons correctly, and I'm sure I do, both houses of Congress must generate a bill. Each house must pass their respective bills. If there are differences, then they are supposed to work out those differences. Once the differences are worked out, the final bill is voted on by both houses. If it passes, it goes on to the President for signing or vetoing.
See? No where in that description (which I actually got from a website) does it say the President goes to Congress and gets involved with a bill while its being worked on. His job is to either approve or veto the final version. If he vetoes, Congress gets another chance to pass it by a 2/3 majority vote. The President isn't supposed to write a bill or tell Congress what to put into a bill. Not his job!
Got it, Ms. Bachmann? I realize you're too busy campaigning to be doing your real job right now, but for heaven's sake don't assume I'm so stupid that I won't know when you're pointing your blame finger at entirely the wrong person. I understand its really, really hard when asked a question to point that finger back at yourself and say, "I'm the one to blame. Me and all the other members of Congress who left town instead of passing a bill that would help millions of Americans. We're the ones to blame for this."
And I suppose its all somewhat pointless now, as both the House and the Senate approved it by unanimous consent. Essentially, this is just a procedural trick since most of the folks in Congress had already left for the holidays. Maybe I'm just becoming cynical in my old age, but I can't help but believe the Republicans had this all planned out. Let most of the folks go home, then we pass this thing using the unanimous consent method, and that way those who weren't here can later say, "Hey, I never voted for it. I didn't cave in." Yeah, guess I'm just jaded. I watched the video of the proceedings today. It took them just a little over 1 minute to go through the complete process. And we couldn't have done this days ago? Really?!
Aww, well. So it goes. Happy Holidays, members of Congress. In a few days you get to come back and start the pointless bickering all over again. And that's what makes you today's dog pile!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
It's a matter of trust.
I should have posted this when it was more timely. However, by now we all know that Republican hopeful Herman Cain has ended his bid for the White House. Or at least so it seems. See http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/03/cain-iowa-supporters-media-took-a-good-man-down/
Really?! I heard him say time and again that he didn't have an "affair" with Ginger White. Well, I guess that's what you consider an affair. Does an affair have to involve sex? NO, it does not! Let's go with just what he does admit to having done--he has known this woman for many years. He gave her money to pay for her rent and other expenses. He bought her gifts. And he says he did not tell his wife.
Does that seem right to you? He spent money for things as expensive as rent payments and didn't tell his wife. He kept a friendship with this woman secret. If there was no attachment, whether emotional, sexual, or whatever, wouldn't you think he'd at least have said at some point, "Hey honey, just to let you know, my friend Ginger is having some real financial problems so I helped her pay her rent this month."
And Mr. Cain tried very hard to make us all think this little incident in his life was a strictly personal matter and none of our business as the voting public.
Really?! He's running for the highest office in the land. A position in which the American people must have trust and faith that the person in that office is honest and forthright in all he does. And this guy's own wife can't trust him? Don't think so, Herman! A lie of omission is every bit as much a lie. We now know we cannot trust you. You'll lie to us collectively as easily as you lied to your wife.
So here's a fond farewell to another Republican Presidential hopeful. Goodbye, so long, and adios. I'd love to believe you will be a warning to all other men (sorry to have to be sexist here) who think power gives them the right to treat women like trash and who think it's OK to have affairs and cheat on your wife. And it doesn't matter if that cheating was by having sex or spending What his wife does after this is her business. But my advice to her--run, honey, run!!
Really?! I heard him say time and again that he didn't have an "affair" with Ginger White. Well, I guess that's what you consider an affair. Does an affair have to involve sex? NO, it does not! Let's go with just what he does admit to having done--he has known this woman for many years. He gave her money to pay for her rent and other expenses. He bought her gifts. And he says he did not tell his wife.
Does that seem right to you? He spent money for things as expensive as rent payments and didn't tell his wife. He kept a friendship with this woman secret. If there was no attachment, whether emotional, sexual, or whatever, wouldn't you think he'd at least have said at some point, "Hey honey, just to let you know, my friend Ginger is having some real financial problems so I helped her pay her rent this month."
And Mr. Cain tried very hard to make us all think this little incident in his life was a strictly personal matter and none of our business as the voting public.
Really?! He's running for the highest office in the land. A position in which the American people must have trust and faith that the person in that office is honest and forthright in all he does. And this guy's own wife can't trust him? Don't think so, Herman! A lie of omission is every bit as much a lie. We now know we cannot trust you. You'll lie to us collectively as easily as you lied to your wife.
So here's a fond farewell to another Republican Presidential hopeful. Goodbye, so long, and adios. I'd love to believe you will be a warning to all other men (sorry to have to be sexist here) who think power gives them the right to treat women like trash and who think it's OK to have affairs and cheat on your wife. And it doesn't matter if that cheating was by having sex or spending What his wife does after this is her business. But my advice to her--run, honey, run!!
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