If you will click on the above link it will take you to my web albums.
once there you can click on the slideshow button is the upper-left corner of that page and see all my photos.
Thanks for your time and effort.
You know what really impressed me recently? It was the fact that more than two million people could gather together in Washington for the Obama thing and when it was all over, there was NOT one reported arrest.
Now; that must be a historical event in anybody’s book.
I am tempted to say something about the weather we’ve been having but unless you have been spending all your time hiding under a rock, you already know how lucky you are if you live somewhere other than the central part of the country.
We’ve been holed up now for about four days. Maureen has been keeping the driveway cleared as best she can. It has been a challenge.
I got out this morning before six o’clock and slid her to work and made it back without any serious mishaps taking place. I feel very fortunate.
We have four local TV stations around these parts. It strikes me as strange how everyone of them become Weather stations whenever we are being affected by any type of inclement weather. Local news is non-existent. If you want to know what going on around you, you’ve got to read the crawler at the bottom of the screen. I don’t do crawlers so I remain supremely ignorant. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I feel blessed because we have only lost power once during all this mess and it was back on one and a half hours later. The temperature didn’t drop one degree in this house during that time. That fact being true, now I am wondering why the old heat pump feels it’s necessary to run so much when the power is on to keep the old homestead comfy?
Gail made a large pot of the best vegetable/beef soup she’s ever concocted while we were house-bound and we’ve been enjoying it frequently.
I was going to get out and take some pictures of all this snow and ice to share with you but then I thought…they’ve seen deep snow before and besides, it’s so bland, all white and stuff. No kidding though, the snow is so deep, Maureen goes outside and stomps down a small area of the yard so she can take Jenny out to do her thing. She hates it when she drops her butt down to pee or poop and her little urinary tract opening touches snow. I can’t say that I blame her for feeling that way. I don’t like a cold toilet seat so I understand completely how she feels.
Well! I hope that everyone is warm and safe out there. Go slow when you do need to go out and stay at home when you don’t. That’s the best advice I can give you. Please heed it.
Last Saturday, Maureen and I went to see a movie and what a movie it was.
Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood's most recent endeavor.
I'm not going to tell you "You've got to see this movie!"
The truth is, it's not for everyone.
The PC people would hate it.
We and everyone else in the place laughed a lot.
I'm not accustomed to hearing others laugh like that in a mega-plex theater.
Then we all wept.
No one was prepared for it.
I never take tissues with me to a movie unless I have a serious cold.
So, I had a wet sleeve when I walked out into the cold.
I loved the movie.
So did Maureen.
Throng.
Now there's a word one doesn't hear every day. I doubt that I've ever had cause to use that word even once. It simply doesn't compute in my way of thinking.
This morning I heard some talking head on one of the news channels use the word to describe the mass of people who had gathered on the mall there in Washington, D.C..
It certainly struck my ear as the perfect word for the situation.
Now I can say I have actually seen one and return to not ever using it again.
I do not know by what process or how much time it will take for racism and bigotry to be purged from America’s social structure but I am very sure that one great leap takes place today in our nation’s capital.
”I didn’t think I would ever see the day that a black man would be voted into the highest public office in the land” is not the comment of the hopeful ones. Those lips say “We can! and We will and we have, Overcome.”
I for one, knew that it was possible for I have witnessed a slow, methodical transformation taking place within my own heart, mind and soul. The powerful influence of God’s Spirit searched out and up-rooted that hateful disease; revealing it to my spirit man so it would recognize it on sight should any sign of it show up later on. One must know their enemy before they can stand against them.
I shall never forget who first planted the seed of bigotry in my young heart. At first it was the ones whom I’ve always believed loved me more than any other. Then it was all around me, everywhere I turned; friends, neighbors, my own sisters, etc. How could anyone expect a child not to learn it. It was so prevalent, it soaked through young skin, laid heavily upon young ears and pained young eyes because of its powerful, relentless glare.
“Love one another as I have loved you” Jesus taught his disciples. He did not pause, then add, “except for those who are not exactly like me.” He didn’t say it would be easy. He knew we would come up short many, many times before we were successful. I prayed that no one was permanently scarred by my many failures.
This is not the end; I am also sure of that fact, but it’s a giant, first step toward that end. Change comes slowly but it will come.
Martin Luther King did not live to see it and I, myself may not live long enough to witness it, but the generation that does see it, my oh my! How blessed that generation is going to be.
Many will shout, “God Bless America” today.
I pray that He continues to do just that.
Thanks to my sister Phyllis, who came to my house with her car filled with boxes of pictures, I was able to scan a few of the older black and whites she possessed.
I don't remember having this picture taken but I am the oldest and largest person seen here. The Older Brother was one thing I liked being.
I have a couple more to share so scroll on down and take a gander.
Here I am in the military and 21 years old.
Man'! that feels like eons ago.
Every time I study this image I'm thinking "Why the long face Clarence?" LOL
The caption says it's 1963, I don't think that's correct.
It has to be 1960 right after basic training in Ft. Knox.
Here I am standing in front of the unit headquarters.
This is in 1961 in Baulmholder, Germany.
This is my Dad and myself, shortly after Mom died in March of 1963. I had just been discharged.
Don't I look glad to be free once more?
This is my first cousin,
Richard in 1963.
I believe he was up here from "down home" for Mom's funeral.
Can you see any family resemblance?
He could have been mistaken for a brother instead of a cousin.
My hope is that I can talk some of my other relatives into sharing their snapshot treasures too.
Thanks for spending a few minutes here.
If there is any justice in this world:
Bernie Madoff would be in Jail and not living in luxury,
Every earthly possession that he owns, has his name on it, regardless if it is now in the hands of a friend, acquaintance or business cohort,
would be confiscated, liquidated and the resulting sum divided up among his many victims and no one would be able to find the key to his jail cell.
Then, after he has expired and left this world, he would find himself in Hell’s kitchen, serving shit sandwiches to all his friends.
