Month: April 2019

From 2012- I still feel this way. I’m glad that in late 2014 I decided to start exercising and walking. It’s helped my physical well being a lot:

The forecast is for beautiful days over the next week. Many of us are going to be able to get out and work in the yard, take a walk, enjoy a cup of coffee on the patio or the porch and watch the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.

We have so much. I am trying my very best to concentrate on all these good things which I have been given and not dwell on the things which are not so good.

I want more than anything to spend more time with my family. I realized yesterday while watching two of my granddaughters at a Band concert that it was just a blink of an eye ago when they were babies…toddlers, preschool. Now, one is going into High School next year.

I cannot do the things I used to do. I tried to work a little in the yard yesterday and almost made myself sick. Physical work is out of my ability to perform as I want to, because of my limitations.

But perhaps my heart was changed beyond what they did to repair it, while I laid there without a heart beat for 40 minutes. I think it changed my needs. I can let the grass grow long, and the bushes go untrimmed and the digging left undug in exchange for being able to love my family.

Our creator’s gift which came along with my infirmity was time…that most precious thing, and the ability to use it to love, that most divine thing. I am thankful. Never let anything that I say convince you otherwise.

In all of human history there has been no time like now. The only thing which sometimes bothers me is the tiny shiver which runs up my spine thinking about where “now” is.

We live in a world where smart humans have subjected the other 98% of we less technical and scientific “normal” humans to such dangers as nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants, overuse of chemical agents for war, agriculture and insecticides, massive military forces, industrial pollution, poison industrial byproducts, germ warfare, and political strife over land ownership by countries and individuals.

As on of my friends stated just yesterday, homo sapiens may be the very first species to precipitate its own extinction. It’s a sobering and distressing thought. There has never been a time like now.

A time of practically instant communication. A time of world travel which is so quick, that there is no longer a real sovereignty of nations. A time when human knowledge has outpaced our capabilities and the morality of the human psyche to be able to exercise constraint in our dealings with one another, so we therefore treat each other badly.

We are at a crossroads where the spiritual part of humanity’s brain must be nurtured and nursed into a state where a deeper and more compassionate conscious develops. We have to somehow develop a system of learning which fosters the responsibility for our existence faster than our capacity for self destruction. How do we do this?

We turn the keys of power over to the new generation of young leaders who are rapidly developing not only in America, but all over the world. Our children and grandchildren who are anxious to overcome the problems this generation has created, and to create a more harmonious world. They are out there, and we must step out of their way, and demand this generations crop of old and dishonest leaders move out and give the new crop time to grow. It won’t be easy, but I believe it’s our best chance.

Otherwise turn out the lights, the parties over.

My advice to people…speaking from experience is too not accumulate too much “stuff” At least not stuff of the physical kind. There’s a difference between the physical stuff and the spiritual stuff. Over the past almost 43 years I have accumulated WAY too much physical “stuff” I hate to throw anything away. I have things which will NEVER be used again, but…I start to throw them on the “give away” truck and I say “well, I MIGHT need this again someday” and back it goes into the pile. I have been battling this demon a lot lately and I think I have won. I have gotten disgusted with all the physical stuff we accumulate in this world. I have gotten rid of several truckloads last week, and will continue to haul it off until there is not much left except what I really need. I don’t think you can accumulate too much spiritual “stuff” though. At least not the good kind. There’s a possibility you CAN accumulate to much of the bad kind: hate, envy, spite, vulgarity….such as that. You can never accumulate too much of the other kind: love, caring, compassion, giving. Their is a space in our heart for these kinds of things which can NEVER be totally filled. There is always room for more. The more you drive out the negative spiritual feelings the more room for the good feelings. Keep that in mind today when one of the “baddies” jumps into your head. Oh and by the way…..could I interest anybody in a load of junk??

We need to all remember during this election year that nothing, and I MEAN nothing you are going to hear on TV (99.9%) will be totally true. Some of it will be WAY untrue…some of it will be a little untrue. No matter which side it comes from, extremists are the ones now controlling what we see and hear about what’s going on. Running the gambit from MSNBC to Fox. We must remember that out of all we hear, the truth…the real truth lies somewhere in between, somewhere in the middle. Neither candidate will be as good or as terrible as they are depicted. This is American politics in the 21st century and we should get used to it. We should also try and hold back our most “passionate” comments….things we may regret saying later, and simply remember that 90% or more of the people in this country already have their minds made up about the election and the negativity that occurs between now and November is a dogfight for the other 10%. (my statistical “guessing” I haven’t seen any polls…nor would I believe them anyway) We can discuss and debate, but let’s don’t cuss and hate.

The creator gave me some wonderful souls with whom to be associated. My wife, our children and grandchildren. Those who have passed on, who I have loved and missed so dearly. They have been and continue to be my anchor.

I have an obligation to fulfill to each person I meet, in the name of honesty as well as I can discern it. People deserve honesty, fairness, and caring. I revel in showing little tots how to hit a ball off of a tee. I am awed by the speed with which new babies learn so quickly as they transition into toddlers. I am surprised at how most people react when you simply smile and say hello.

This is a crucial and critical time in our country. It’s a time when families of all kinds must learn to understand themselves, and then learn to bond with other families. Some say the church is one place to do this, and perhaps it is, but I think we should come together at the level where ALL families can be involved. If the church cannot accept all types of families then it is not the ideal place for families to learn to bond. I see SO many good families both in person and online that I know if we worked together there is nothing we could not accomplish. We only lack a leader with the strength and fortitude to pull us together and not apart.

Most of all we, me must practice our kindness. I am afraid for the most part it is a learned trait. Start small and grow larger. Kindness often costs nothing but careful thinking.

We can bring this world back from the brink of disaster if enough of us want to. Our worst enemy is apathy and our worst trait is hesitancy to get involved in trying to make a difference. We humans are better than this, we just need to get our heads out of the sand and into the fight.

May is almost here, and on the 10 day weather forecast I see 80’s starting to show up. Hot weather. Where I’m not much of a fan of it now, I certainly once was.

May meant school was almost over, and a three month vacation was just around the corner.

The fishing rods and cane poles could be dusted off, and new nylon fishing line would replace the previous summers scum encrusted old stringy line. We’d cut the old rusty hooks that had been holding the line to the top of the rod off, and tie on a shiny new barbed hook and lead sinkers, or a snap leader, so we could use a shyster or a plastic black worm to entice a bass.

The Chattooga river was barely a rock throw away, and I could hear that water pouring over the dam, and feel the spray hitting me as I stood on one of those limestone rocks, casting out towards the middle…looking for a sweet spot. I can still smell it even now.

We’d get our baseball gloves out of the closet and rub a tiny bit of Vaseline into the dry leather, and then just put the glove up to our nose, and smell the scent of baseball. Visions of games with new clean uniforms, and wooden bats contacting those brand new white baseballs, perhaps even shattering the bat if you hit it too high up on the handle, well…those visions danced in the heads of us Trion boys more so than any candy cane at Christmas time ever did.

I can see Jess Emory chewing on a cigar, and hear J.W. Greenwood or Cherry Crisp calling: “strike three, you’re out” more often than I wanted to!

I took a Brillo pad and shined up my golf irons. I took a Phillips head screw driver and made sure the metal plates on all my woods were tight. Me and Dad, and Tommy and Mike Brown would go golf ball hunting to stock up for the summer. We boys would spend hours a week playing and practicing so we could be as good as Darrell Broome, or Faye Brown. We’d caddie during the times we couldn’t play for Otis Tanner, or Mr. Florence. We would get real good tips during the Trion/Ware Shoals match. I’d always try and get Donnie Davis or Mr. Munns from Ware Shoals. They paid good.

It’s funny the things you remember when the weather starts to turn. I’m glad I grew up where I did, when I did. I could write more, but the sandman calls.

My advice to people…speaking from experience is too not accumulate too much “stuff” At least not stuff of the physical kind. There’s a difference between the physical stuff and the spiritual stuff. Over the past almost 43 years I have accumulated WAY too much physical “stuff” I hate to throw anything away. I have things which will NEVER be used again, but…I start to throw them on the “give away” truck and I say “well, I MIGHT need this again someday” and back it goes into the pile. I have been battling this demon a lot lately and I think I have won. I have gotten disgusted with all the physical stuff we accumulate in this world. I have gotten rid of several truckloads last week, and will continue to haul it off until there is not much left except what I really need. I don’t think you can accumulate too much spiritual “stuff” though. At least not the good kind. There’s a possibility you CAN accumulate to much of the bad kind: hate, envy, spite, vulgarity….such as that. You can never accumulate too much of the other kind: love, caring, compassion, giving. Their is a space in our heart for these kinds of things which can NEVER be totally filled. There is always room for more. The more you drive out the negative spiritual feelings the more room for the good feelings. Keep that in mind today when one of the “baddies” jumps into your head. Oh and by the way…..could I interest anybody in a load of junk??

I sometimes wonder when the Universe was created, what the creator had in mind?

Is the Universe like the wonderful, super high quality pocket watches that the immensely talented Swiss watch makers create? So good a product, that you simply wind them up on a regular basis, and they keep on running day after day for decades. They rarely ever needed cleaning because the cases were so tight and dust proof. The jeweled movements were so accurate that men in the streets would look at their watches when “Big Ben” chimed in the streets of old London, and say: “Hrummp, forty seconds off according to my Bregeut..”.

Yes, they were that good, and today’s modern timepieces are even more accurate! But wait, the discussion started out with a discussion about the creator of the Universe! I regress a bit, or do I?

When God created the Universe, Time was also created. We humans, in our tiny attempt to understand God, have created our own small way of attempting to keep up with one small aspect of that incomprehensible creation. It’s one of the most logical and true ways, however. Would that our philosophy of all other things having to do with religion and the treatment of our fellow man, be as logical, humane and high quality as our ability to keep up with time.

When the bill comes due one day, I suspect that even our logical ideas concerning God’s time will be archaic and childlike. Where then will the sum and substance of all our other less logical philosophies fall? I can’t even really wrap my mind around it.

If faith is really the answer, what then is the real question?

“When I was a kid I watched a black and white TV, Cowboys on that tiny screen were like superman to me.”

The opening line in a song I wrote a while back. I loved that old Philco television with the round dial that had the numbers 1 through 13 on it. We only got three channels back then though. All 3 out of Chattanooga. I thought the world emanated from there.

My world was small back then.

I worried over nothing. Then suddenly I grew up. The world became a complicated and dangerous place. People hate each other for every possible reason. Makes me think of the song “Every day People” by Sly and the family Stone. Google it and read the lyrics. They say it all. Hate…

Sometimes I wonder if there will ever be a day when humans are at peace with one another. When Jesus comes back? When the Aliens come back? When the two mile comet hits us? When the bombs fly? When will we learn? When will we ever learn? (Dylan)

I swear to you, I will be at peace with anyone and everyone who will be at peace with me. I swear I hate nobody for no reason.

I’d like to go back to that small world for a day. Watch Hoppy and Roy and Gene. They had guns….yes that’s true. They always got the bad guys. You knew who was who because one wore white hats and one wore black. Now, you can’t tell. It’s all so muddled. It’s all so complicated. We have made it that way.

Can we undo the damage we’ve done? Can we leave a world for our descendants? I’m gonna sleep on it and hope I dream a solution.

Don’t lose hope.

Why is it that although we know “scientifically” that human thought and emotion comes from the brain, we FEEL as though the emotions and thoughts we have for others come from the HEART?

I believe that Love comes from the heart.

When someone hurts you, your heart is broken…..

When you feel grief, does your head hurt, or do you feel the tightness and pressure well up from inside of your chest?

When you pick up a baby, so sweet and innocent….do you hug them to your head?

I’ve looked at all the explanations of how it’s all a “chemical reaction” that takes place in our brain.

But, I wonder how scientists know where our soul really resides within us? I think we all have that spark within us, and I think it resides in our heart.